Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 21. August 28 1978
The Environment Resource Centre and the Library
The Environment Resource Centre and the Library
Sir,
Environment Week at the Students' Association Building helped to draw attention to the new Environment Resource Centre in the library.
When the Resource Centre was described in the Evening Post of June 19, mention was made of the inadequacy of the library to cater for the needs of students of the environment. There was implication that inadequate funding of the library meant that material was not being bought, and complications in using the classification system were preventing rather than aiding students from finding what was there.
There is no doubt that the library already possesses virtually everything which the new Environment Resource Centre plans to obtain except, perhaps, pamphlets; and very much more besides. There are cards representing about 400 books in the Subject card catalogue under the headings Environment or Environmental alone, and this takes no account of the many hundreds of periodical articles in journals which the library possesses, articles which are easily found through the periodicals indexes which the library has. These indexes are a big library's major tools for finding information. The Environment Resource Centre is most unlikely to be able to afford them, if, indeed, they have even been heard of by members of the Centre. The Environmental Impact Reports, of which the library has an almost complete set, are very easily located through the card catalogue. They have been asked for by only 8 students this year, who between them wished to see only 12 issues.
This points to the fact that the trouble may lie in lack of familiarity with the techniques needed by students to locate material in the library itself. Admittedly no classification system will permit all books on different aspects of the environment to be shelved together. However, by consulting the Subject card catalogue first, books should be located easily.
Students who have any difficulties finding material on the environment (or any other topic) should ask the Reference Dept. staff, who are there to help them. Both Reference and Periodicals Dept staff are always glad to show students how to locate periodical articles on a particular topic. We are interested in you and want to help you. We cannot approach you, but you can approach us. I hope this letter will encourage more of you to do so.
Yours, etc.
Dorothy Freed
Reference Librarian.