Dili update

Jill Haynes, a Canberra librarian in Dili, gives an update on the UNTL Library:

This is a brief report on the current status of the UNTL (University of Timor) Library. My initial contract is due to finish shortly. I have, however, extended my stay in Timor until the end of the year and hope to still be able to continue to assist at the UNTL Library in some capacity until my departure.

The UNTL library is open and being well used by students. It is open Monday to Friday 8:30am-11:30am and 2:30pm-4:30pm. Books in open access are loaned and there is also a closed reserve section for books to be used in the library. The collection is small for over 6500 students, a situation exaggerated by the fact that the material is in 3 languages. The most popular material is that in Indonesian.

Cataloguing

Cataloguing is working well using the Athena system. Three staff catalogue items in 4 languages - English, Tetum (very few resources), Portuguese and Indonesian. There is still a huge backlog of mainly English language material to be catalogued, about 20 000 to 30 000 items, some of which are not suitable for the university and will need to be discarded. There are currently nearly 9000 bib records and about 18 000 items on Athena. I have recently started going through the records and making corrections for the English language material. I found a number of duplicate records which I have cleaned up.

Shelving

The library was closed for two months mid-semester. This was an opportunity to erect the metal shelving held at the library. 15 double bays of shelving were erected by library staff and the books transferred from the wooden shelving. A number of tables were also constructed, provided much needed space for students. This process was a good team building and training exercise, with all staff involved in the setting up and moving. Some of the wooden shelving was placed in the courtyard where it is being used for storage of the awaiting cataloguing material. This provides easy access and is much tidier than the piles of boxes previously used.

Circulation module

Circulation module went live last week for checkout, checkin and renewals. Students will no longer need an additional library card, their student card will be used. So far, the staff are handling the new module well, but it is early days yet.

OPACs

I have set up two OPAC's for students use in the library. Unfortunately the screens are in English, but they are being well used.

Branch library at Hera

The Teknik faculty has moved to the old Polyteknik at Hera that has been refurbished by the Japanese. The library is very small, but looks professional and is air-conditioned. The books have moved, but the staff have yet to move. Three staff are due to move to Hera, leaving only seven staff at the main library. The library will be very understaffed at the main library. This situation has yet to be resolved. All the books moved to Hera were given an H prefix and had spine labels printed. A standalone copy of the Athena database will be kept at Hera with a subset exported of those records available at there for easy searching. It is yet to be decided where cataloguing will occur, it depends on staffing at each campus. Backup and restore procedures will be developed once these decisions have been made.

Photocopier and power supply

APHEDA (the Australian trade union (ACTU) aid organisation) have purchased a new photocopier for the library. The photocopier is available for staff to copy material for students. All staff have been trained in the used of the photocopier. Four new Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) units have also been purchased, these have yet to be delivered.

Collection development

There are a number of agencies publishing material in Timor. I have approached these organisations and received gratis copies of their publications for the library. This is an ongoing process and something that needs to occur as it is vital these materials are held at the university.

Future needs (in random order)

Backup circulation system - lack of power is still a problem in Dili. Athena software allows remote circulation which could be used when no power is available. The hardware would need to be purchased to enable this to happen. The hardware recommended in the Athena manual is either a model T62 TriCoder or a SPT 1500 (plus Athena-in-Hand) - there may be other options available now.

UPS - more UPS are still required. The APHEDA IT Technician will be undertaking a stocktake of the IT equipment currently held at the library. There are many dead computers here, some as the result of power surges and some were dead on arrival in Dili. Following this, I will have a better idea of IT needs.

Further training - Ongoing training is required in the finer points of the circulation module.

Reader education - a simple reader education program for students is needed in addition to some simple signs in Bahasa or Tetum explaining how the OPACs work and the arrangement of the library.

OHS - the library has had no water since I've been here. Attempts have been made to fix the problem but to no avail. The lack of water makes cleaning very difficult, particularly given the amount of fine dust everywhere in Dili.

Stocktake - the transfer of the material to Hera has highlighted a number of problems with the database. Duplicate records, some items without barcodes on the shelves and some items with barcodes not catalogued, and many items appear missing. A stocktake will help to fix some of these problems.

Security system - despite bags not being allowed in the library, it appears books are still being stolen. A security system would assist in the detection of would-be thieves.

Multimedia area - more on this after the IT stocktake

Internet access - very expensive and currently the university does not have internet access.

Other library developments in Timor

While in Timor I have been approached by many organisations asking for assistance in the development of their libraries. There is a real groundswell of interest in libraries at the moment, their importance is being recognised as a means of empowerment, to improve literacy and to assist in the rebuilding of Timor. The approaches have come from universities, NGO's, public libraries and government departments.

As a result of this I held a workshop last week supported by APHEDA to look at the issues facing libraries in Timor and some possible solutions. There were presentations on library software options and one by the Asia Foundation who have about 15 000 books to distribute to libraries (English language material only). About 35 people attended the workshop and there was plenty of interaction and commitment to keep meeting. As a result of the workshop, I have created a draft directory of libraries in Timor and will distribute this with the outcomes and copies of the presentations on CD-R to those who attended. There was interest in looking at the Winisis software, a free UNESCO library package as a system for smaller libraries in Timor. A common template could be used enabling transfer of data between libraries. There was a lot of interest in this process and any training that could be provided. There was also interest in setting up a fledgling library association to lobby the government on issues relating to libraries, particularly the setting up of a national library.

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