UTech, Ja Annual Report 2017-18

University of Technology, Jamaica “Pioneering Past; Bright Future ” ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018 17 Adjusted Opening Hours The library continued to provide a secure environment conducive to study and research for clients, providing 24/7 access to the collection as well as physical access to the facilities at all hours of the day. By the end of the year, plans were firmly in place to introduce extended operational hours, including Sunday opening. This was proposed to begin in April 2018 for the Papine and Dome Street campuses. Clients at the Arthur Wint Drive Campus would also have extended opening on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Facilities Throughout the year, attempts were made to improve the facilities and services to students and other library users. This included enhancing the spaces where students meet, such as in the two functional seminar rooms downstairs for group study. Reference, Research and Caribbean Collection • The library’s reference services continued to play an integral role in the support of the university’s academic and research programmes. During the period under review most of the reference requests included informational and directional questions, assistance with accessing the online catalogue and databases, self-guidance and APA citation and research questions. The figures for 2017-2018 recorded 216 requests compared with 323 requests during the corresponding period of 2016-2017. • There has been a fair increase recorded for loans from the Caribbean Collection. The period 2017-2018 recorded 338 loans compared with 204 loans in 2016-2017. • The library continued to offer social media tools to connect with clients, promote its services and highlight resources. During the period usage by way of the Facebook page stood at 901, compared with 842 usages in 2016/2017. This showed a relatively fair increase over the period. Also, Twitter followers increased slightly from 61 during the previous year of 2016-2017 to 67 during the current period. In addition, an Instagram page was set up to be activated soon to serve also as an informational tool for staff and clients. • The most impactful decrease related to the Virtual Reference Service. The Ask-A-Librarian service recorded only 20 users compared to 58 users the previous year. This low usage may be as a result of the local hardware and networking problems experienced during most of the year. However, clients made greater use of face-to-face services as well as the reference query forms. This resulted in a total of 420 requests compared with 292 requests for the corresponding period 2016/2017. Archives The Archive serves as the repository for the historical records of the university. During the period under review the following requests were made: • Request to view maps, past examination papers, Calvin McKain Information Booklet, history of the library and the type of integrated library system (ILS) used, The Making of UTech: From CAST to UTech, scanning of photographs, the History of UTech, the History of Farquharson Hall, the History of the Alfred Sangster Auditorium; • Requests for academic board papers for the period 2000-2001.