North Island impressions

• Some New Zealand polytechnics are called Institutes of Technology for no obvious reason.
• They all offer certificate to bachelor level degrees, and most also offer post graduate and masters degrees, which require a higher level of research and need for library services.
• They resemble our Australian institutes of technology from the 1990s, such QIT and VIT before they became universities of technology.
• They have very few students under 18 years of age.
• They have all set up “learning commons” to varying degrees. However, the libraries are just one component and all are called the “Library.”
• While student computer areas are located in the same building or adjacent to the library, only some library managers are responsible for them.
• All the computer areas have a dedicated staff person, who is not a library staff member, available to assist students with computer problems.
• They are staffed mostly by librarians with a few library assistants. They do not have library technicians in New Zealand.