UQ library awarded for referencing excellence

Academic referencing can be tricky to get right, but an award-winning support service has UQ students breathing a little easier.

Librarians from The University of Queensland were among Australian university teaching and support staff honoured with a prestigious Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation on August 18.

The ceremony at the Gallery of Modern Art recognised the referencing software support team for “ongoing service innovation supporting scholarly writing by providing internationally renowned expertise in support of referencing software, training and individual services for students.”

The development of the referencing support service is just one way the UQ Library network addresses its priority of enhancing the student experience.

“Libraries are central providers of information, space and technology – all integral to learning and teaching – but this citation recognises in particular the specialist support provided by a dedicated team of experts whose contribution adds to the experience of students, from undergraduates to higher degree researchers,” said University Librarian and Director of Learning Services, Keith Webster.

“An important role for the library is to foster information literacy in students and that includes helping students to manage the information they collect as part of the research or discovery process as well as using that information ethically,” Mr Webster said

The referencing support team provides access to software to help students manage information with training and ongoing support provided through multiple channels.

Mr Webster said the students valued the assistance of the team and appreciated the access to such an invaluable resource.

“Our primary reward is helping the students, but we are very pleased to be recognised with this citation for our contribution to student learning,” he said.

“The student experience is about learning but also about the satisfaction derived from other activities undertaken during their time at university. The library has a long-standing commitment to contributing to a positive learning experience for UQ students.”

Heather Todd, John East and Noela Yates accepted the award on behalf of the rest of the team, which includes Birgit Culloty, Pam Schindler, Fei Yu, Gisela Possin, Phil Yorke-Barber, Miranda Newell, Jacky Cribb, Kathy Hibberd and Julie Hansen.

Media: Tanya Ziebell (07 3365 6315, t.ziebell@library.uq.edu.au) or Trudi Saul at UQ Communications (trudi.saul@uqconnect.edu.au)