Since 2018 the Library has been conducting a strategic review of print collections taking into account changing patterns of usage, an increasing preference for electronic resources and the need to provide modern study spaces in the refurbished TL Robertson Library building. Whereas in the past print collections were heavily used in learning and teaching, we are moving to a situation where most learning materials are available electronically and loans of physical books have dropped dramatically. Our print collections will be increasingly unique and research-focussed with relatively low use. Accordingly, we have been removing superseded textbooks and reference materials, items duplicated electronically and other redundant items from the Robertson Library shelves.
| Robertson items | May 2018 | December 2021 |
| Books | 401,737 | 240,780 |
| Quartos | 50,743 | 30,538 |
| Booklets | 27,459 | 9,824 |
| Audio-visual | 6,437 | 4,305 |
| Teaching resources | 15,044 | 4,270 |
| Journal issues | 26,000 | 5,368 |
| Total | 527,420 | 295,085 |
At the same time we have significantly increased the number of ebook titles accessible to Curtin clients (an increase from 451,686 in 2018 to 731,300 in 2021).
Parallel to this exercise, we have also been reviewing low-use journals which had been transferred to off-site storage in 2012. A high proportion of this content is duplicated electronically and so is no longer required for the Library’s collection. A small number of unique or valuable items will eventually be returned to the campus. In 2018 there were 171,743 journal items in storage. At the end of 2021 there were there 95,843.
Written By:
David Wells, Manager, Collections
Curtin University Library
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