Planning, collections and moves

• As foreshadowed in earlier updates and consultation the uplift of collections from Fisher to our off-site store has begun. The move of material to store follows extensive consultation, and the processes set out in the Collection Review guidelines - http://sydney.edu.au/library/about/fisher-dev/collections/index.html. The off-site store is managed by Grace, and is located at Campbelltown.

  The uplift from Fisher will take place over the next 35 days with the vendor working on a 24 hour roster. Actual transfer of material to the new store will be done at times that will minimise disruption to clients.

  Teams from Grace will work systematically through each floor of Stack removing material.

  Material moved will be indicated in the catalogue with the location as Storage. Material can be requested from the Storage through the online request form linked to the catalogue record "Request from Storage".

Planning, construction and moves

• Last week's images are available here [ PDF size 7.77 MB].
• Rare Books reading room spaces are still in progress.

• Clients will be able to use toilets on level 1 – the corridor has been fenced off, construction running down one side and access for staff and students down the other. Doors at the end of the corridor will be marked ‘staff only’. Unfortunately the tunnel between Law and Fisher won’t open for several weeks.

• A temporary area for client computing and study has been set up on level 5 stack.

Collections

• The Fisher Short Loan transfer is complete. The process of interfiling the old ‘short loan’ titles into the Fisher collection continues with only floors 7 and 8 to be finished.
• Fisher Curriculum - The review of lists of the Curriculum Collection by Liaison Librarians has been completed.  Material appropriate for the Fisher Curriculum collection are marked with a yellow FISHER CURRICULUM label and the collection will be reviewed by the academic staff.
• Fisher AV - Library staff are continuing to transfer DVDs and CDs to the general Fisher collection, repackaging and applying classification stickers as needed. Material in older formats will be reviewed next.
• Fisher Microform collection - Arrangements to allow the review of this collection are in process.
• Fisher High Demand has been renamed Fisher Reference and is located in the rooms at the back of the 2 Hour loan area.
• Conversion of serials lacking online catalogue records is near completion.
• Work to ensure that multi-volumes are correctly marked for retention has been completed.

 Communications

• We have completed a signage review of Fisher and old signs have been removed and new ones are in place.

• Quiet study signs will be replaced on carrels throughout stack next week, new areas are being sign-posted and current signs updated.

Planning, construction and moves

• This week's images are available here [ PDF size 8.55 MB].
• We expect Level 1 to open up around 24 February – with a small amount of work to be completed after occupancy.
• Discussions about staging plans for the stack phases started this week and we are working on a plan to clear Level 3 and 4 first. Depending on how these plans work out we might be able to set up a temporary study and computing space on Level 5 until Level 2 is ready – this will be confirmed next week.
• The information desk/foyer setup is under review as part of plans to prepare the foyer for first semester. The desk is being trialled in various locations.
• Discussions with access consultants are continuing to ensure we are complying with the Disability Discrimination Act and Building Code continue.
• Due to the shortage of facilities, all toilets up through stack are now shared client/staff toilets. The toilet for disabled users is closed in this area until next week but the accessible toilet at the stack end of the corridor on Level 5 is available.
• Fisher Library will continue to be open for limited hours during February to allow construction to move more quickly. We are considering the need to vary hours for first semester and will take a decision about this early next week.

Collections

• Fisher Curriculum – the process to review this collection has commenced. Material appropriate for the Fisher Curriculum collection will be labelled with a yellow FISHER CURRICULUM label and the collection will be reviewed by the academic staff.
• Fisher Microform collection. Arrangements to allow the review of this collection are in process. A list will be provided for academic review.
• Fisher High Demand will be renamed Fisher Reference.
• Work in Fisher stack to ensure that multi-volumes are correctly marked for retention is still in progress and nearing completion.

  Communications

• A general update for Faculties about the project will be sent out early next week.
• The Library will be working with academic staff and students at SCA to run a competition for Art installations during the construction works. SCA will also be curating some of the exhibition cases in the renovated Fisher.

Planning and moves

• The staging plan for the UG part of the works is being finalised now that the areas have been handed over. We are hoping to have level 2 open early in semester to provide student workspaces and computing spaces. It is likely that Reserve will continue to stay where it is until May and other floors will open up progressively through first semester.
• Planning for moves around the building is being finalised. Workstations will be set up on level 1 in the refurbished area, which will be complete near the end of February.
• Discussions about staging plans for the stack phases will begin next week.
• The information desk/foyer setup is under review as part of plans to prepare the foyer for first semester.
• Meetings regarding non-library colleague and collection locations in the Fisher building continue and ‘test-fit’ plans of level 9 and 1 will be prepared for review. The architects are continuing with ‘test-fit’ plan of levels 5-8.
• Discussions with access consultants are continuing to ensure we are complying with the Disability Discrimination Act and Building Code.
• The tender report recommending the new storage solution is with the Tender Board for approval.
• The students in PGARC have temporarily been moved to facilities in the Old Teachers College. We will be using the PGARC space for temporary homes for staff as areas are renovated.
• Fisher Library will continue to be open for limited hours during February – please check the website for more details.

Construction

• Construction continues on level 1, 2, 3, 4 of the UG side of the building.
• Major demolition including potentially disturbing jack-hammering and drilling will continue to take place outside service hours.
• A PDF presentation with photos for your viewing pleasure is available [size 7.18 MB].

Collections

• We received approximately 700 recommendations from academic staff for changes to location of items either marked for retention in Fisher or transfer to Store. This was a great result and we are very grateful for the academic input into this complex process.
• Fisher short loan - All Fisher short loan books and serials were removed from the old short loan area on Floor 4 undergraduate before Christmas.  The majority of items have been transferred to the Fisher collection, transferred to storage or written off (multiple copies that are not required).  There are still around 15,000 items in the catalogue that display as Fisher Short Loan.  It is likely that a significant number of these were shelved in the Research Collection before we undertook this move so we will locate these items next week and alter the location as appropriate. As a large volume of material needed to be moved into the Fisher Research Collection and the available space on each floor did not match the incoming material we are still incorporating this material- most visibly on Floor 4.
• Fisher Curriculum – this collection has been moved to Floor 9 and will be reviewed by the academic staff.  Material accessioned/borrowed after 01/01/2007 will be marked with a yellow Fisher Curriculum label in the same way the material in the Fisher Research collection was marked.  This material has been given the new location fhcug which at present displays in Millenium as Fisher Curriculum.  Some theoretical material will be transferred to fhgen. 
• Fisher AV – Material in older formats (non DVD or CD) has been moved to Floor 9 and is being reviewed.
• Fisher Government Documents - this collection was split into three components- significant quantities were transferred to the Law Compactus and Storage late last year.  A smaller amount was retained in Fisher for the Fisher Compactus and is currently shelved on Floor 9.
• Fisher Microform collection was moved to the old Archive of Judaica Room on Floor 2 and the remainder to Floor 9.  Arrangements to allow the review of this collection are in process.
• The Archive of Judaica – is in storage awaiting transfer to Rare Books accommodation on level 1.
• Fisher High Demand and Fisher Reference have been moved into the Old Arts Workroom Area on Floor 3. The Fisher High Demand location will disappear shortly and materials incorporated into other collections.
• Creation of brief bib records for items with on-the-fly records for Floor 3 and 4 were completed before Christmas.  A limited amount of work continues on items on Floor 9
• The number of staff working on adding records for serials lacking online records has been increased and work  is ongoing on floors 7, 8 and 9
• Work in Fisher Research to ensure that multi-volumes are correctly marked for retention and on withdrawing duplicate copies of research material destined for offsite storage but already held in storage has commenced.
• Withdrawn material is being held in storage offsite and will be offered to the University community later in the year.
• We expect the ‘uplift’ of material from Fisher to be transferred to store will begin in February.

Communications

• Signage is being improved: there are new signs in the foyer and up through stack.
• A general update for Faculties about the project will be sent out later this week.
• Art installations on the hoardings are under discussion.

Collections

• The process of transferring the Fisher Short Loan books and interfiling with the Fisher General collection will be completed early next week.  
• Library staff have completed transferring DVDs from Fisher AV to the Fisher General collection and have been working on the repackaging of CDs.
• Major moves of  to free the undergraduate wing of the building for the builders by 16th December have been completed.
• Transfers have included:
• Rare books to Storage,
•  transfer of material from the Law Compactus to Storage,
•  transfer of books from Fisher Short Loan to Law Short Loan/Research,
•  transfer of material from Government Publications to Law Compactus and Storage,
•  transfer of Fisher Reserve to the Old Arts Workroom, transfer of Curriculum to Floor 9,
•  transfer of Archive of Judaica to short term storage,
•  transfer of the microform collection to the old Archive of Judaica room,
• storage of material written off from Fisher collections for disposal in early/mid 2012
• Tenders for off-site storage solution being assessed and finalised.

Communications

• Display boards in the foyer have been updated with  a new graphic and updates of collection moves.
• This website is being updated regularly as the project progresses.
• A general update for Faculties about the project will be available next week.
  
  

Construction

• Major demolition of walls on level 1 is complete.
• Construction continues on level one.  Delays in procurement of some items for level 1 is expected due to manufacture and delivery over the break.  
• eWall hoardings erected on for work on toilets on UG levels 2,3,4.  Impact from noise and dust will be minimised with this material.

Planning

• The staging plan continues to be documented.
• Handover UG floors 2 and 4  and western area of floor 3 for construction by 16th December,
• Reserve collection/service to be moved to old Arts team area on level 3 stack for duration of work in the UG wing
• Loans desk in the foyer will operate as Information and Loans Desk for the duration of work in the UG wing
• The architects are proceeding with a ‘test-fit’ plan of levels 5-8.

Collections

• Approximately 1600 metres of backfiles have been removed from Fisher Research to make space for the Fisher Short loan collection to be interfiled with the Fisher General collection.  The records for these titles have been suppressed .
• Labelling of the East Asian Collection has been completed and the academic review commenced.
• Labelling of the Government Publications titles has been completed.
• The process of transferring the Fisher Short Loan books and interfiling with the Fisher General collection is continuing.  A significant amount of reorganisation of the Fisher collection is needed to fit these items on the Fisher shelves.  Some material for Floor 4 is temporarily shelved on spare shelves on Floor 3. 
• The Cat Team has completed transferring DVDs from Fisher AV to the Fisher General collection and have started on the CD’s most of which will need to be repackaged.
• Finalisation of quotes  to undertake a number of major moves to free the undergraduate wing of the building for the builders by 16th December by Monday 5th December with work commencing soon after.
• Transfers include:
• Rare books to Storage,
•  transfer of material from the Law Compactus to Storage,
•  transfer of books from Fisher Short Loan to Law Short Loan/Research,
•  transfer of material from Government Publications to Law Compactus and Storage,
•  transfer of Fisher Reserve to the Old Arts Workroom, transfer of Curriculum to Floor 9,
•  transfer of Archive of Judaica to short term storage,
•  transfer of the microform collection to the old Archive of Judaica room,
• storage of material written off from Fisher collections for removal in early/mid 2012

Communications

• Display boards in the foyer have been updated again. The plans on the boards are indicative only and will change as final drawings are delivered.
• This website is being updated regularly as the project progresses.
• A general update for Faculties about the project will be available next week.
• Heritage photographer David Liddle continues to document the building this week.
  

• Planning
• The staging plan is being finalised.
• Meetings regarding non-library colleague and collection locations in the Fisher building continue and a discussion paper will be developed shortly.
• Discussions with access consultants are occurring to ensure we are complying with the Disability Discrimination Act and Building Code. A review of policy will occur as part of this discussion.
• The architects are continuing with a ‘test-fit’ plan of levels 5-8.
• Costing of large equipment including security gates, returns room sorting equipment and self check is being finalised. It is hoped that we can RFID the Fisher Reserve collection as part of the process, which will act as a trial for other collections in the Libraries. Self check machines will be hybrid.
• Furniture requirements have been confirmed – much of the original furniture will be reused including the black armchairs, many large tables and some of the carrels.
• Collections
• Recommendation forms about the location of items are being received from academic staff. Some lists have also been received.
• Labelling of the East Asian Collection continues.
• Preparations for moving Curriculum temporarily to level 9 are continuing. A meeting was held last week with academic staff in the Faculty of Education and Social Work to discuss the review of the Curriculum collection and plans for accommodation on Level 5.
• 1600 lineal metres of serial backruns covered by electronic equivalents will be removed to a temporary store starting later this week. Long term they will be transferred to our consolidated storage facility when the tender process has concluded.
• As serial backruns are removed from the building and exams end, the Short Loan collection will begin to be interfiled. Staff are marking a list of items for transfer and assessing the requirements for duplicate copies in preparation for the move.
• Work on creating brief records for material without MARC records on the online catalogue has commenced and the first file of records has been sent to the company Marcadia so they can supply MARC catalogue records automatically matched to the brief entry.
• Material in the Law compactus to be transferred to Storage has been labelled.
• Government Publications on Floor 9 to be housed in the Law compactus will be labelled next week, as will the Government publications to go to Storage.
• Transferring books in the 340s from Fisher Short Loan to Law Short Loan will commence in the coming week.
• A review of microform collections and other multimedia/AV continues. Old technology including VHS is being replaced with new formats where possible. Faculty Liaison Librarians are reviewing microform titles and advising on locations. Electronic equivalents are being checked as part of this process.
• The tender for a new storage facility has been finalised and is now quickly moving through University Procurement processes. The move of material to go to storage from Fisher is likely to take place in January/February.
  
  
  
  

• Planning
• The staging plan continues to be documented.
• Meetings regarding non-library colleague and collection locations in the Fisher building continue.
• Specifications for compactus and shelving on levels 1, 3 and 4 have been finalised.
• The architects are proceeding with a ‘test-fit’ plan of levels 5-8. Level 5 will include the Curriculum Collection and level 8 the East Asian Collection. These special collections will be distinct areas in different coloured shelving to the ‘general’ run through stack which will now run continuously from level 4 to end of 8 (with no gap on 5 where our visitors often get lost). Stack shelving will be 6 shelves high and 1.2 metres apart to support better access.
• Collections
• The process to label the books and journals that will remain in the Fisher building in the current ‘research’ collection has been completed and the invitation for academic review sent through to Faculties.
• Labelling of the East Asian Collection will begin this week. Some of the East Asian Collection will be transferred to Rare Books, lower demand items will go to storage and other material will be housed in a specially designed area on level 8.
• The process of transferring rare materials from the Research Collection to Rare Books Collection has been completed. 
• Material reviewed by academic staff in the Law compactus to be transferred to Storage is being labelled and the Government Publications on Floor 9 to be housed in the Law compactus will be labelled in the next two weeks, as will the Government publications to go to Storage.
• The processing of monographs lacking online records is underway.
• Criteria for review of the current Short Loan collection are being applied to an item list. Short loan will be interfiled into the general collection when space is available and items will be holdable.
• Quotes to remove 1600 lineal metres of serial backfiles (covered by digital equivalents) from Fisher to offsite storage to make space for the Fisher Short Loan collection should be finalised this week and work will commence next week.
• Transferring books in the Law subject area from Fisher Short Loan to Law Short Loan will commence this week.
• A review of microform collections and other multimedia/AV is underway.
  
  

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• Plans for the final layout of level one (UG side of the building and mailroom) have been reviewed and are in final design stage.
• A staging plan is currently being documented. It is subject to change, but here are some likely highlights:
• The Short Loan and the AV collection will be reviewed and interfiled into the general ‘Fisher’ collection (replacing the idea of ‘research’ after the collection review is complete) by the end-of-year break.
• UG levels 2, 3 and 4 will be closed to access from mid/early December until the middle of February and Reserve will be moved temporarily to level 1 for access during this time.
• Reserve will move to its final destination on level 3, training rooms will become available on level 2 and quiet study spaces on level 4 will be opened for Semester One 2012.
• We will move through stack as part of the second phase of building works, compacting collections into current shelving after the transfer of material to store. Planning for this part of the staging continues in consultation with stakeholders.
• Meetings regarding Museums and Art Collections, Archives and Chancellors Committee and other non-library colleague and collection locations in the Fisher building are taking place with the relevant Directors/Convenors this week to establish requirements and possibilities. Follow-up meetings and briefings will take place in the next two weeks before designs are further developed.

Collections

• The process to label the books and journals that will remain in the Fisher building in the current ‘research’ collection will be completed next week. As floors are completed invitations for academic review are sent out.
• Labelling of the East Asian Collection will begin next week.
• We are currently recruiting students for Fisher Project work through the student employment service. We are also seeking staff who are currently working part time and available for additional hours. Contacts are David Andersen and Jenny Langenstrass.
• Academic review of stack level 3 and 4 continues. Review of levels 6, 7 and 8 will begin later this week.
• The Fisher Law collections have been reviewed for possible inclusion in the Law Library collection and academic consultation has taken place
• The process of removing  rare books from the Research Collection will be completed next week. 
• The processing of monographs lacking complete catalogue records is underway.
  
  

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• The staging plan is currently being finalised. Disruption will be minimised through high demand periods, but this will require greater disruption during quieter periods particularly through the December/January period. It is probable that levels 2, 3, 4 of the ‘undergraduate’ side of the building will be closed through January with Reserve running via level 1.
• The process to label the books and journals that will remain in the Fisher building is nearing completion.  Monographs on Floor 8 and serials on floors 9 will be labelled in the next 2 weeks.  The large number of books returning from loan in the next week or two will also be labelled. Academics from all faculties have been invited to review collections on stack
• level 3 and 4 and recommend location changes if necessary. Invitations for other levels will be issued this week.
• We are currently recruiting students for Fisher Project work through the student employment service. We are also seeking staff who are currently working part time and available for additional hours.
• The Fisher Law collections are being reviewed for possible inclusion in the Law Library collection.
• The process of transferring  rare books from the Research Collection to Rare Books is drawing to a close. 
• The workflow to deal with books lacking complete catalogue records is being finalised and work will commence immediately on this material.
• A plan to replace high demand multimedia items such as VHS and sound cassettes with updated formats is underway. All multimedia items, with the exception of Reserve items will eventually be interfiled in the general Fisher collection.
• Criteria for review of the current Short Loan collection are being finalised. Short loan will be interfiled into the general collection when space is available and items will be holdable.

  Communications

• Display boards have been set up in the foyer. The plans on the boards are indicative only and will change when final drawings are delivered.

  
  

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Floor 1 of Fisher has now been cleared of desks, collections and staff areas in preparation for stage 1 of the re-development.  It is expected that this area will be formally handed over as a building site during the next few weeks

During the re-development access to the Law carpark via Barff Road, at the back of Fisher, will remain open.  However some delays could be experienced with building traffic.  Pedestrian traffic at the back of Fisher will be curtailed.  More information will be provided as traffic management details are worked out.

The Curriculum Collection has been moved from floor 1 of Fisher to a temporary location on floor 3, behind the Information Desk.  That collection will eventually move into the Stack building.  More information will be provided as collection moves proceed.

The safety of all Library users and staff is paramount during the entire re-development project. Occupational Health and Safety protocols have been agreed between the Library, CIS and the building company. It is important that anything that may be a potential safety issue be reported. Library users should report any issue immediately to the Information Desk

We have begun the process of identifying those books and journals that will remain in Fisher, based on the criteria advised in the Collection Review Guidelines [link].  Each work to stay is being labelled with a new ‘Fisher’ label.  All new acquisitions and books returned from loan will be similarly labelled.  Academic consultation on those works not identified as staying in Fisher will begin shortly. Emails will be sent to faculties.

As advised in the Collection Review Guidelines books that are considered rare will be transferred to the Rare Books collection in Fisher.  The Rare Books criteria have not been reviewed since the opening of the existing building in 1963. Identification of rare books material is a complex process, but to begin this part of the collection review all books published before 1875, and 1920 for Australian material, will be considered for transfer to Rare Books.  Comments on other works outside these date criteria that may be moved to Rare Books would be welcome.

The University has announced the successful tender for the re-development of Fisher Library.  That company is ISIS . 
ISIS will work from plans developed by Suters, the project architects and interior design company, Geyer.

The Fisher short loan collection from (843 – 999) will be moved on Friday 9 Sep and Saturday 10 Sep.
Access will be restricted in those two days, to avoid any inconvenience, please borrow books from that collection earlier in the week.

2 Sep: Fisher collection review guidelines
After consultations with stakeholders around the university, the University of Sydney Library has released the Fisher collection review guidelines; a PDF version is available from here.

As part of the Fisher Library Redevelopment Project the Curriculum collection will be moved from Level 1 of Fisher Library to the area directly behind the Fisher information desk on Level 3.
The move will take place after 5.00 pm on Thursday 1st of September through to Saturday the 3rd of September. Whilst the collection is being moved access will be restricted.  Please borrow material from the collection as early as possible in the in the week commencing Monday 29th of August.
Please contact Philippa Crosbie if you require further information philippa.crosbie@sydney.edu.au

Level 1 of Fisher will be redeveloped shortly as part of the Fisher Library Redevelopment Project.

As part of this re-development project all public access computers will be moved from level 1 of Fisher into the Law library.  They will be moved in the week beginning 27th June 2011 to ensure minimum impact on students during the exam period.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The Fisher Library Redevelopment Project is about to begin and the first collection for review is the Reference collection on level 3 of the Library. While the collection contains some important tools for research and teaching it had also become very dated.

Library staff have worked though the collection to identify the appropriate location of the material.

A large number of works will be relocated into the Research collection.  Important multivolume and serial works relocated into the Research collection will be marked as not for loan so you will always have access to them.  Due to time constraints we have begun relocating this material from Reference into the Research collection.

The remaining material has been classified into four main categories for review:

• Into Storage
• Into Government documents collection
• Remain as part of the Reference collection
• Material no longer required (because the works are duplicates, the information is either available electronically, or has become superseded or is out of scope for learning / research)

The collection has been arranged into these categories available for you to consult from today until Friday 8 July. A form is available from the Information desk if you wish to change the Library proposed placement of the item into a different category.

The new reference collection will be a very small part of the new high demand collection which will comprise of Reserve and the recently used material from Short Loan.

For more information and updates about the project please go to the Fisher Library Redevelopment Project

We look forward to your assistance in this review process

Thank you

Ross Coleman
Acting University Librarian