The University of Melbourne Library

Minutes of Meeting
Friday 24 July 1998

The meeting was chaired by Mr Bernie Joyce.

1. Attendance.

Bernie Joyce (Earth Sciences), John Cain (Map Section), David Jones (Map Section).

2. Apologies.

Bess Secomb, Brian Finlayson, Susan Bray, Margaret Charlton, Di Hodge, Alan Mayne, Joe Leach, Priscilla Stott.

The low turnout was noted. It was agreed that meetings in the last week before second semester should be avoided in future (though the previous MCUG meeting, in the last week before first semester, had been very well attended).

3. Minutes of previous meeting.

The minutes were accepted.

3.1 Business arising from the minutes and from the previous meeting:

3.1.1 Map Section 1998 Materials Budget. As a result of discussions at the last MCUG meeting and further consultation with academic staff, a total of four serials paid for from the Maps bookvote have been cancelled:

Cartographica ($250 p.a.),
Monumenta Cartographica Neerlandica ($245),
Surveying and land information systems ($100), and
Tirol Atlas ($65).

Two serials considered for cancellation were retained:

Tubinger Atlas Des Vorderen Orients was kept at the request of academic staff, and
the Atlas of the Republic of Poland was kept as only one further instalment is outstanding to complete it.

The total saving through serials cancellation was $660 p.a. The remaining eight serials paid for from the Maps bookvote should cost about $1400 p.a. from 1999 onwards (allowing 25% for inflation and the declining dollar) which reduces the serials percentage in the Maps bookvote to about 8%. As of 24 July, about $1000 is available in the Maps bookvote to be expended this year (most of this years funds have gone to pay for serials and orders carried forwards from last year). This money must be expended by 31 August and orders in hand will easily use up this amount.

4. Operational Plans.

4.1 1998 Operational Plan:

John Cain spoke on progress on some objectives from the 1998 Operational Plan. Some of the objectives completed since the last meeting are:

A six-month staff exchange (one afternoon a week) with the Information Resources Division has been completed and has developed useful knowledge for both participants.
Over 1000 books held on closed access in the Map Section have been re-labelled and had their Library catalogue locations changed to reflect this status, reducing user confusion.
Initial training of Information Resources staff in the classification of maps is complete and IRD staff are now classifying maps as part of the cataloguing process, reducing double handling.
A new computer with Windows 95 has been installed, providing increased user access to the latest digital mapping software.
A new map cabinet has been purchased to replace a cabinet which had deteriorated to the point of being unusable. Also, two map cabinets purchased last year and being temporarily used for storage have been relocated into the main M sequence of the collection to provide additional space for over-crowded maps.

4.2 1999 Operational Plan:

John Cain noted that planning for 1999 is now underway and suggestions from MCUG members and others for 1999 objectives would be very welcome. Just about anything can be considered, including objectives for materials, services and equipment. Suggestions should be forwarded to John Cain before the next MCUG meeting (by Monday 12 October 1998 at the latest).

5. Additions to the collection.

Given the constraints of the materials vote this year, only a trickle of new material has been arriving recently (mostly materials ordered last year). Amongst the more notable items are:

The 9-second Digital Elevation Model of Australia (AUSLIG) has finally arrived.
1:500,000 Tactical Pilotage Charts (TPC) produced by the US National Imagery and Mapping Agency have arrived for most areas of the world where this series is available.
Some historical plans of various cities around the world have been relocated from the Archi & Planning Library, most were duplicates but about 20% have filled gaps in the Map Collection.

6. Departmental map needs (standing item).

John Cain reminded MCUG members that the Map Section continues to seek requests from academics for materials relevant to their teaching and research needs. Feedback on this and other collection matters is always welcome. Bernie Joyce asked about holdings of regolith mapping. It was agreed that Bernie would forward a list of current regolith mapping to John Cain and purchases would be considered.

7. Other business.

John Cain noted that Brendan Whyte, a PhD student from the Geography Department, has agreed to join MCUG as a student representative.

8. Next meeting.

The next meeting will be on at 11:00 am on Friday 23 October 1998, in ERC Seminar Room 2.

John Cain, 31 July 1998.
e:\maps\mcug\98jul-mi.doc

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Map Collection Users' Group

Minutes of Meeting Friday 24 July 1998