Matt is headed for Canada in a few short weeks and his last day at UC Libraries will be this Friday 4 March.

We will be having an afternoon tea at 3:30pm on his last day to wish him bon voyage and say thank you for his contribution to UC Libraries over the last 9 months. Please bring a plate to share.

I hope you can join us.

Kia ora everyone,

I will be putting in an order for new name badges next week. Please email me if your badge needs replacing or one is required for a new team member, and I’ll add it to the order.

Cheers, Fiona

Kia ora koutou,

All four libraries have been caught out by the removal of photocopiers today.

When I was advised verbally by ITS that photocopying would be free until the implementation of FollowMe Printing, I was told that the diebold readers would be turned off rather than entire machines removed.

I have subsequently learnt after the fact that photocopying has been activated on the new printers in each library and that the old copier machines are just being removed – as they won’t be compatible with FollowMe Printing anyway.

 I have emailed ITS with my concerns about a reduction in service in each library with no communication. Particular concerns are having only one printer/copier on Level 1 of Eudcation, losing the copier in the EPS foyer, having only one copier at MB and the timely replacement of the copier in the Self Loan Area at Central (so far the machines have just gone with no replacement).

Please show users how to photocopy on the new printers. I will continue to advocate for the return of the copiers as detailed above and let you know how I get on.

Cheers, Fiona 

I am delighted to be able to announce we have a new late team for 2016, who are starting work this week.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, Helen Jackson (returning from last year), Thaddaeus Hadaway and Jonathan Ling will be providing the Late Service in the Central Library.

On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, Cherilyn Clark, Sophie Gray and Georgina Patterson will provide the late service.

A warm welcome to you all.

I’m interested in feedback from all staff about how frequently you have casual users in your library photocopying (if you notice – some users likely have had cards for several years and fly completely under the radar) and the requirements of these users.

ITS is looking at alternatives to a casual photocopying card on the rationale that the cost of casual photocopy cards is cost-prohibitive. This doesn’t mean there will be no copying service but they want to look at more cost-effective means. e.g. Offering a scan to email service.

Please email me with feedback. We will meet with ITS in a few weeks to discuss this in more detail. ITS will collect data on casual photocopying user; it would be good to have qualitative data from our customer service experience as well.

Thanks!

Last week I posted to let you know that Canterbury Cards produced in 2016 could not be used to photocopy. (They are set up for Follow Me Printing which has been delayed).

ITS’s solution has been to disable the diebold devices attached to each photocopier. ie. make photocopying free.

However, if this solution proves to be too expensive for ITS (ie students find out and start photocopying anything and everything), they will turn photocopying off and ask all users to scan to email (and then print if required). This could easily happen as all photocopiers can now print in A3 and colour. Ensuring copyrights are respected is another issue.

If photocopying is turned off,  casual users of the library will have no photocopying access.

So, please please do not publicise to our users that photocopying is free. If someone asks for assistance with photocopying, show them what to do and let them know that copying charges will be reinstated shortly.

I will keep talking to ITS about solutions for our casual library users.

Kia ora everyone.

I have been advised that all students with new Canterbury Cards will be unable to usethe existing photocopiers until FollowMe Printing goes live (currently delayed until April).  The device cannot read the Canterbury Cards.

The current workaround recommended by IT is to scan documents and then print them out. I will post more once I have further information as this is not the most customer friendly workaround.

As of today, the Central CD Collection is located in the Self Loan Area on level 2. The seating in the Self Loan Area has been moved to Level 4, where the CD collection was. (There are still two casual seats in the self loan area where users can browse books before issuing.)

The catalogue will be updated to reflect this shortly and signage is in place to alert our users to the change.

I anticipate we may receive some complaints regarding the loss of study spaces in the Self Loan Area. This change is in response to user and staff feedback. Some users were using high demand material without issuing it – this resulted in other users being unable to find material that according to the catalogue should have been on the shelf. This change should reduce this problem.

A project group has been established to document and review our current lost book process.

We have (we hope) now fully documented the process in a flow chart that is now available on the wiki. We hope this will be useful for staff in explaining to borrowers what happens when a book goes lost.

We think this process is currently too complex – for both library staff in managing it and our users in trying to comprehend it – and are investigating alternatives.

If you have any feedback on the accuracy of the flow chart, issues you experience with lost books, or ideas for solving current problems, we would love to hear them. You can email any member of the group with your feedback: Nicola, Jan, Romy, Swee Hoon, Janette Winks, Angela Berry, or myself.

I promised photos of our Fudge Day Celebrations and am now finally delivering:

A very excited Dave at EPS:

A bounteous feast at EDU:

An elegant affair at Central (as much is possible while gorging on sugar):

The bar was set high with the many types of fudge. Can we beat it next time?