Unmediated document delivery and academic staff at Central Queensland University

Reports on a trial at Central Queensland University Library between March 1995 and March 1996 whereby staff and postgraduate students undertaking research were given direct, unmediated access to online databases, plus the facility to request documents online. Databases included Chemical Abstracts (GAS), Current Contents, UnCover and the databases available through FirstSearch. It was hoped that the trial would determine if users could acquire the skills to search the databases without the assistance of a librarian, order documents themselves and if the rapid delivery of documents to the end-user would provide an acceptable alternative to serial subscriptions. Prior to commencement of the trial on 20 March 1995, sessions were held to show the academic staff and postgraduate students how to access and search the databases. Although users initially were slow to accept the changes a survey at the conclusion of the trial indicates that users were enthusiastic about end-user access.