Victorial Institute of Technology (VIT) is one of the pioneered institute in Melbourne with degree and diploma programmes diversified to computing, business and Vocational Training. In order to cater to its growing need of knowledge the institute maintains a manual process to record the activities of the library, connecting Melbourne CBD, Sydney and Abosford campuses. Each holds a latest collection of books and periodicals, particularly in the field of Information Technology, business management, engineering, general English, architecture and quantity surveying. The library of the Melbourne Campus acts as the main resource center through which all library development activities are coordinated..
The major requirements of the library involve following;
a) Adding library materials
VIT library catalogue is constantly updated to accommodate resource materials relating to new developments in core teaching areas. The newly added material can be a book, a standard, a journal, a CD or an article. To add a new item to the catalogue requires following information; item number, item type (a book, a standard, a journal, a CD or an article), category (Information Technology, business management, engineering, general English, architecture and quantity surveying), title, publisher, year of publication, place of publisher, abstract, medium (english, Sinhala, tamil), edition, ISBN/ ISSN number, shelf number, Call number, bar code number and number of pages.
b) Library membership
Students of one VIT campus are allowed to use the Library of another VIT campus for reference while Academic staff is eligible to borrow books from any campus they teach. To borrow books one has to become a member.
To become a library member a student have to keep a refundable security deposit of 50 AUD and submit a completed membership form to the library assistant.
Upon registration a member will be given a membership ID and a password. A mebbership email will be sent to the VIT email address with the membership details.
c) Members borrowing books
Once registered, a library member will be given the borrowing rights. Members have access to core textbooks, reference books, general reading materials, CDs and DVDs.
Students who have library membership are allowed to borrow one book for a period of 5 days. Books on high demand will be issued for overnight use during the demanding period. Books issued for the weekend may also vary depending on the demand during that period. Post Graduate students are allowed to borrow one book for a period of 7 days.
If a member student needs to borrow more than one book at a time he/she is allowed to do so after depositing an additional refundable deposit of 50 AUD.
d) Members returning books
Members are required to return the borrowed material according to the retuned date mentioned in the material. If the member is unable to return on the due date, the library will be charging a fine for the additional number of days the materials are kept.
e) Fine on borrowed material
Members are required to return books on time. If a book is overdue a fine of 50 Cents per day per book will be charged. Absence is no excuse for delay in returning a book.
The students can avoid this by login to the library website and by extending the due date by clicking the extend button. Student can extend the date of returning the books are allowed for 3 times. However, if some other user have requested the book (i.e. if the book staus is on hold) the student is not allowed to exten the deu date and alternatively the book should be returned on or before the due date.
f) Refund of the library deposit
Students may claim the refund of the security deposit after handing over the duly filled application form available at the library. Application for refunds will be entertained at the end of a semester during periods that will be announced periodically.
Accordingly, a student may request for a refund:
• At the end of the course for which he/she is registered
• If he/she no longer wishes to continue with the borrowing facility
However, if a student leaves VIT for any reason, such student may claim the refund at the time of leaving. The system sould calculate the refund considering the records of the damages, lossses and the fines.
g) Replacement of lost library material
If a book is lost or need to be replaced, the borrower responsible should pay the replacement cost of the book and any other appropriate charges as determined by the VIT Management.
A user may be permitted by VIT to replace the lost item with an identical one acceptable to the Librarian within one month. The person responsible will be required to pay to VIT the replacement cost of the particular item + 50% of the value of the book.