ENGINEERING LIBRARY

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The University of Auckland Engineering Library contains engineering materials to support teaching and research programmes in the departments of the Faculty of Engineering : Chemical and Materials Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Electrical and Electronic Engineering (including Computer Systems Engineering and Software Engineering) ; Engineering Science; Mechanical Engineering; and the Bioengineering Institute.

The focus of collection development is on undergraduate and research level materials for all areas of engineering. All prescribed and recommended texts are purchased.

The budget is divided between monograph and serial acquisition.

2. HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION

In 1947, when the Faculty of Engineering moved to temporary quarters at Ardmore Aerodrome, the Library possessed 500 aged volumes and 5 current periodical titles. Between 1947 and 1960, the Library grew at a great rate and by the end of this period, there were 8000 books and 500 periodical titles. A move to larger quarters took place in 1961 and an additional staff member was added. The Library returned to the main campus and the current Faculty of Engineering in 1969 and was extensively upgraded and expanded in 2006. It now has a staff of 9 and a collection of approximately 140,000 volumes.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

The collection consists of some 80,000 monographs and 57,000 serial volumes and is strong in most branches of engineering.

Material is collected primarily in both traditional printed copy and electronically. There are over 400 electronic journals and more than 70 databases. The audiovisual collection includes CDs, DVDs, videos, cassette tapes and films. A closed access Documents Room houses New Zealand, British and ASTM standards, sets of Faculty of Engineering reports, and theses, outsized and Glass Case items. There is a Short Loan collection of texts, recommended reading, computer disks, DVDs, and CD-Roms. Some material is held in the Off-Campus storage facility.

There are several areas which have split collections. Applied mathematics, mathematics, computer science, geology and management titles may be found also in the General Library and environmental science in the Architecture, General and Tamaki Libraries.

4. USERS

The collection is available for use by all university staff and students and may be consulted by members of the public. Heaviest use is made by engineering staff and students, but significant use is also made by the School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Sciences, and by Science, architectural and medical students and staff. The community also uses the library - specifically engineering consulting firms and AUT students.

5. SELECTION

The final decision for the purchase of all library materials rests with the Library Manager, Engineering.

Members of the teaching staff, through their departmental liaison officers and subject librarians, recommend materials for purchase. Attention is also paid to purchasing basic entry level materials for new undergraduates.

Publishers' announcements, reviewing journals, acquisition lists from libraries with similar collection policies and consultation with Faculty of Engineering staff all provide awareness for collection development.

The Library Manager pays particular attention to updating new editions of standard works, the Reference Collection, textbooks and recommended reading, history of technology, and replacing missing items. Preference is given to online serials and in many cases online books. Foreign language material is rarely collected.

The Chemical and Materials Engineering Department selects in the areas of process plant design, process control and simulation, heat/mass transfer, multi-phase flows, food processing engineering, tissue engineering, biotechnology, pulp and paper processing, materials processing and behaviour and standard textbooks in chemical and material engineering, with special attention to biochemical processing.

The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department purchases fall into the following broad categories: structural analysis and design, transportation, public health, fluid mechanics, geotechnical engineering and earthquake engineering, with special attention to the areas of masonry, engineering seismology and geotechnical engineering, hazardous and toxic waste management, environmental engineering, wastewater and waste management, groundwater, sustainability, general structural analysis and fundamental texts on concrete and steel design, and water resources.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department purchases materials to support teaching and research programmes in the areas of circuit/networks theory, electromagnetics, telecommunications, power systems/power electronics, embedded systems, image processing, signal processing, control engineering, robotics, computer systems engineering and software engineering.

The Department of Engineering Science covers the broad areas of engineering mathematics, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, operations research and bioengineering. Texts on mathematical applications relating to each of the disciplines of engineering are purchased as are materials relevant to the research areas of each staff member.

The Mechanical Engineering Department collects under the following subject headings: thermodynamics, mechanics of solids, production technology, manufacturing systems, design, dynamics, metal forming, computer-aided design, metal deformation processes, vibrations, structural dynamics, active control, expert systems, artificial intelligence, ergonomics, manufacturing processes, engines and mechanisms, fibre-reinforced composites, aerodynamics, and fluid mechanics.

Patsy Hulse
Library Manager, Engineering
January 2009