Inside Out #14

Kia ora koutou, welcome to Inside Out #14

UC150 Celebrations

UC turns 150 in 2023 and as part of the celebrations a social history of the University of Canterbury is being produced. Currently being written by historian John Wilson, it will be published by Canterbury University Press and include images from Macmillan Brown Library collections. There is a fixed term opportunity for a research assistant to support with the sourcing, selection and showcasing of images of UC past and present in the Macmillan Brown Library collections.

The Macmillan Brown Library tīma is also working on a project to showcase 150 taonga from the UC Library Collections. At the moment we’re brainstorming items from the collections and particular themes that will structure the collection of 150 items. We’re envisaging creating social media content and print collateral to share these taonga.  We’ve in the initial planning stages and will have more to share on this soon. If there are particular collection items that you think would be good to showcase, please share them with me!

CONZUL Strategy

CONZUL (aka The Council of New Zealand University Librarians) has recently released its strategic priorities, which you can find here: https://www.universitiesnz.ac.nz/sites/default/files/uni-nz/CONZUL%20Strategic%20Priorities.pdf. Many of these goals align with our work here at UC, with a numbers of goals under four stands: Kotahitanga, He Tāngata Rawe, Sustainable Access, and Open Scholarship. If you’re interested to know more about CONZUL, including its membership, you can find more details here: https://www.universitiesnz.ac.nz/about-universities-new-zealand/unz-committees-and-working-groups/council-new-zealand-university

Open textbooks

UC Puna is starting to gain traction with our open textbook advocacy, and we currently are supporting the creation of two original open textbooks and one adaptation of an open textbook.  We have a budget for supporting open textbooks and to ensure that our funding is perceived as equitable and transparent, we are setting up a process for academics to apply for funding, including criteria on which applications will be judged (similar to the existing open access fund). This will be available online and shared when it is ready. Other exciting news in open textbooks, is that UC Puna has officially joined the CAUL OER Collective (Details about this collective are here: https://www.caul.edu.au/programs-projects/enabling-modern-curriculum/oer-collective). We are expecting that we will be able to publish the three open textbooks we’re supporting on the Pressbooks platforms through this collective, and hopefully many more to come.

Ngā Hau e Whā o Tāwhirimātea

Kia hiwa ra, kia hiwa ra! Our hoamahi Lisa Davies has co-edited a book with a number of our esteemed academic colleagues in the College of Education on culturally responsive teaching practice in the tertiary sector. Edited by Matiu Tai Rātima, Jennifer Pearl Smith, Angus Hikairo Macfarlane, Nathan Mahikai Riki, Kay-Lee Jones, and Lisa, Ngā Hau e Whā o Tāwhirimātea: Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning for the Tertiary Sector is a guide for adopting a Kaupapa Māori approach to teacher/learner relationships. is published by Canterbury University Press, available for purchase in print and will be available open access online in the next few days. Ngā mihi nui Lisa!

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