Kia ora koutou

Thanks to those of you who were able to join the Demystifying CONZUL webinar earlier in the week. We (CONZUL) are committed to providing opportunities to kōrero on why we exist, what we focus on, and how members of teams at each of the eight university libraries can pitch in and be involved in CONZUL initiatives.  In this vein, we’d like to keep offering such sessions, and have a short (anonymous) participant survey here, to help us find out what you thought of this week’s session, and what you’d like for the future.

The University’s Research Committee and Learning & Teaching Committee met for their respective monthly hui this week.   There was some discussion at the former on the Open Access support we provide (e.g. via our Open Access Fund, and via the raft of Read & Publish Agreements to which we are signatories).  I also took the opportunity to “headline” our commendable year-to-date progress towards the Universities New Zealand pan-university statement for 70% of published research to be open by 2025.  We’ll talk in more detail on this at next month’s Research Committee hui, but if I say the words “62% so far this year” and “first equal with Otago”, you’ll probably know what I mean.

The Learning & Teaching Committee looked at progress on Faculty Learning & Teaching plans, currently in development across UC. These are being shared on a Teams channel, to which a few of us have access.  A common theme in every Faculty is the scarcity of time available for the large scope of work ahead.  I’m aware this is a shared sentiment here in our Library teams too, as our keystone projects hit their straps with breathtaking momentum, calendars are full and workloads are substantial.

We also have the Library Review Report on the radar, as being ready to share, socialise and discuss in the next few weeks.  This is exciting, as it will give us a ‘roadmap’ of recommendations to guide our future.  But I appreciate our road ahead can feel a bit too vast at times, and it’s reasonable to wonder from where we’re going to drum up all the energy required.  Especially when we’re immersed in the day-to-day of significant and all-consuming mahi!

Library managers are keenly aware of this, and experiencing the same, too.  So I’d encourage us all to take care with our energy levels and wellbeing, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your manager, or with me, at any time.

Finally, what happened to the balmy spring weather offerings of last week?!

Mā te wā,
Kat