Dear University of Auckland,

I am a member of the public.

The University of Auckland is a public University.

I am interested in viewing the hardcopies of theses that have been submitted in fulfilment of regulations for various degrees over the last 5 years.

I am not requesting a particular title.

I would like to do such things as count how many there are, see if they are submitted with information about enrolment dates for the project, see the range of subjects. Etc.

This information can be gleaned by walking the shelves upon which they have been stored.

Where are they?

Yours faithfully,

A person in New Zealand (A New Zealander)

Kelly Roe

Dear Rebecca Ewert,

The link you provided states:

'We are here to support students, researchers, staff, alumni and the wider University community'

I am not a University of Auckland student or an employee of the University of Auckland.

Perhaps you can answer the question I asked (since the asker is a member of the public) or perhaps you can clarify for members of the public whether the University Library system is accessable to members of the public. E.g., storage items, medical library desk reserve items, online access items that require university of Auckland login where the University of Auckland does not participate in reciprocal lending (ULANZ) agreements with other universities in Australasia.

Yours sincerely,

K Roe

Dear Rebecca Ewert,

I don't want to slip the librarian a $20 and see what she may decide is available to / accessible to me.

I also don't want to slip the librarian a $20 and see what policy document she chooses to supply to me that states for me what is available to me / accessible for me.

This is not a comment on the librarians at the University of Auckland.

This is a comment on the lack of information / the lack of transparancy in the way in which the University of Auckland conducts its business.

I might be a member of the public who has a sick kid. I might wonder whether my kid is getting the current best standard of care and I might want to access the books on desk reserve to try and find out what is going on. The University of Auckland is a public University adjacent to the public hospital. Is it's resources available to members of the public or not?

I might be a member of the public who is enroled in a different University in NZ who is engaged in research. Are the University of Auckland's resources available to me as a member of the public or not?

I might be an autodidact. I might be learning medicine the only way the NZ system will let me (which is to say I might have paid money to overseas courses). Insofar as the University of Auckland has happened to purchase materials that might actually be relevant are the University of Auckland's resources available to me, as a New Zealander, or not?

I shouldn't have to say which (if any) of the above pertains to me. Because it isnt' anybody else's business. I shouldn't have to write a thesis to get a freaking answer to the question: I am a member of the public (a New Zealander). I would like to see the theses. They don't appear to be on the shelves of the library.

What did Auckland do with them?

Did it burn them, or something?

Kelly Roe.

Yours sincerely,

K Roe