Self-service library trial at Waite
Beginning Monday 29 July 2019, the Waite Campus Library will operate as a self-service library, as part of a University Library pilot program for Semester 2.
Opening hours for the library will remain the same, with University staff and students able to access the library between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm using their University ID card.
Staff of co-located partners at Waite (AWRI, CSIRO, PIRSA, SARDI) will also have building access to the library, and will be able to swipe and enter with their access card in the same way as University staff and students.
Alumni, community and retired staff members will be able to access the library via a visitors card which can be collected from any of the co-located partners at Waite, or the security office.
Title holders are entitled to be issued with a University staff card, which can be collected from Ask Adelaide at North Tce campus or requested online.
While there will be no Ask Library staff located on site, high-level support to library users will continue to be provided via phone, email or chat.
As part of the trial:
- Ask Library staff will continue to provide advice and assistance via phone, email or online chat.
- While opening hours will remain the same, University staff and students will need to use their University ID card in order to access the library. Staff of co-located partners (AWRI, CSIRO, PIRSA, SARDI) can use their access card to enter the library.
- The group study rooms will be easier to access, with users no longer needing to borrow a key in order to access the rooms.
- Requesting and document delivery services will continue to be available.
- There will be upgrades to the swipe card system at the library entrance, and additional security cameras will be installed.
- The high-level research and information skills support provided by the Liaison Librarians will continue as normal.
Why a self-service library pilot program?
“We believe that the Waite Campus is ideally suited to trialling a self-service library” said Teresa Chitty, University Librarian. With a significant proportion of the science-related collections used by Waite students and researchers available online, the library is increasingly being viewed – and used – as a quiet study hall.
The self-service library pilot is in response to a number of factors, including:
- Changing needs at the Waite Campus.
- Collections supporting the sciences that are predominantly online.
- A change in usage patterns within the Waite Library.
- Growth in popularity of online communications channels.
The pilot will run until the end of Semester 2, 2019, at which time it will be evaluated and further consultation will be held. Please note that Ask Library staff are being relocated to the central team based at the North Terrace Campus, and there are no overall staffing level changes associated with the pilot.
For more information, please contact Kate Sinclair, Associate Librarian, Library Experience.