An [un]likely partnership! Transcultural psychiatry and information professionals

Abstract

The academic library cannot remain immune to the extraordinary dynamic of the internationalisation of education, and its impact on the Higher Education Sector (HES). Universities and tertiary institutions in Australia have responded to the needs of a culturally diverse student cohort—whether on—or off-shore—in a number of ways. This paper focuses on a particular action-research program designed by psychologist/educators of the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit/Centre for Cultural Studies in Health (VTPU/CCSH) working closely with an academic librarian/researcher with extensive experience in international education. The program was developed in response to the University of Melbourne Libraries’ endeavour to translate the university's Cultural diversity awareness policy into practice in the library workplace. If frontline library staff can operate with confidence in an internationalised workplace, the entire university sector—operating in on-campus or distance education mode—will benefit. Outcomes of the study indicate that the benefits of the program have the potential to extend beyond a single institution, or the needs of a specific international cohort. [Paper presented at the IS AN A Conference: ISANA beyond 2000: renewing the vision, Canberra, 1–4 December 1998]