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The 2025 planning process was centred on the Library’s strategic positioning statement, Inspiring connection, exploration, discovery and the creation of new knowledge, which underpins all our programs and services. Using the statement as a guide, the Library has identified a number of priorities, grouped into four categories – connection, exploration, discovery and new knowledge. It is these priorities on which we will focus our efforts to contribute towards the University’s goal to make a difference for people and our planet.
A range of priorities has emerged, spread across the four themes, touching on all aspects of the Library’s operations. Work will be undertaken to enhance staff culture, visualise collections, improve services for incarcerated and regional students, incorporate Indigenous perspectives and ways of working, embed the principles of Curtin’s Learning and Teaching strategy, and embrace the opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI).
Planning is currently underway for the refurbishment of the public-facing areas of the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library (JCPML). This project falls under the theme of Connection, which is described as inherent to our services, spaces and workplace in valuing diversity and empowering individuals to achieve their goals. The proposed refurbishment is an opportunity to reimagine the JCPML, creating welcoming spaces to enable greater interaction with John Curtin’s legacy.
Exploration fosters curiosity and creativity by asking what else might be possible. Under this theme, the Library will establish a Sensory Lab, completing a project that began in 2024. Focus groups, interviews and surveys conducted with students established what our clients wanted from a Library sensory space. This year, the project team will work to turn those ideas into reality. Operating within the Library’s Makerspace, the Sensory Lab will provide a space for students to decompress with comfortable furniture, custom lighting and interactive objects that encourage emotional regulation and stress relief.
Discovery uncovers what’s invisible, underpins learning and research, and breaks down barriers to access. In response to this theme, the Library seeks to increase the visibility of our collections through the implementation of Unstacked and a new institutional repository. Unstacked allows real-time collection visualisation, displaying items from the collection as they are accessed. Unstacked has been implemented in libraries across Australia as a way to highlight the ways that library collections are used in the course of study and research and also how they inform understanding of global events. The Unstacked feed will be displayed on screens throughout the Library, enabling the Curtin community to discover the collections alongside those who search them.
While Unstacked aids in the discovery of content, the Institutional Repository makes Curtin’s own research available. The institutional repository is a key piece of research infrastructure, and its upgrade has been planned for over two years. This project will deliver three distinct outcomes: the upgrade and migration of the university publication management system, Symplectic Elements; the implementation and migration of the espace institutional repository to Figshare; and the implementation of a new staff profile system. These projects will modernise Curtin’s research infrastructure, enhance the user experience and the discoverability of Curtin’s research outputs.
New knowledge sustains researchers and students, challenging existing ways of thinking for ourselves and our clients. In support of this theme, the Library will raise awareness of the issues relating to textbook affordability, continuing a project that began in 2024 with the Curtin Student Guild. Textbooks remain central to learning at university, but a survey of students last year found that a quarter of students will go without an essential textbook if it’s not available through the Library. Compounding this issue, a recent survey of academics revealed that a third of academics are unaware that there are often stringent license restrictions on libraries making ebooks available. This project will use infographics and case studies to highlight the cost of textbooks and access limitation issues, promoting the adoption of Open Educational Resources as a mechanism to ease the financial burden on students.
The priorities listed are just some of the projects the Library will pursue in 2025. Future issues of this newsletter will continue to highlight others. The Library team are looking forward to another challenging but rewarding year!
Written by Claire Murphy, Deputy Director, Learning and Engagement
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