The University of Canterbury Alumni Community Facebook page asked new alumni to mention one thing that they were going to miss about their time at UC. The Library was mentioned in 11 of the 61 comments. The comments that mentioned the Library are below. If you click on the image, it should expand so that you can read them.
Caroline A.
Many of us have experienced the frustration of not being able to find books that are not where they should be in the Library. Spare a thought for the staff of Cambridge University Library who have been looking for the past 20 years for two very valuable notebooks written by Charles Darwin. Details are in the link below.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55044129
Caroline A.
The CRIG (CAVAL Research and Information Group) Seminar of 2020 is being held online this year due to the impact of social distancing regulations. The usual full-day event will be replaced with three 90-minute webinars with some exciting speakers on the theme of Access, equity and inclusion. These events are free.
Caroline A.
In the latest Tū ki te tahi newsletter, you may have noticed the post about the UC Values workshops that are to be held on Friday 2nd October and Friday 9th October. Having participated in the recent UC Values workshops that were held as a precursor to those, I recommend that you attend one of the workshops if you would like to have a say in the creation of our organisational values. If you cannot attend on one of those days, but are interested in further sessions, you can let Karen Mather know.
Caroline A.
A distance student made the following comment at the end of an AskLIVE chat today and I thought I should share it with everyone:
“I’m a distance student and I’ve been so impressed how helpful everyone is. Great work guys!”
Caroline A.
If you have any spare plastic supermarket bags with handles, or any other soft carry-bags with handles that you no longer need, we could make use of them for patrons who have forgotten to bring a large enough bag in which to carry their books. Please just drop them in to me in the level 2 workroom.
Caroline A.
The following information appeared in today’s Insider’s Guide.
The following cafes will be open on campus from Monday 18th May. All cafes will be open Monday to Friday.
Coca-cola vending machines will also be operational. More vending operators will open over time once their health and safety plans are in place.
The UBS bookstore will also be open to customers on a face to face basis as of Monday but with a customer limit of 30 in-store at a time.
Remember that the Uni Pharmacy is also open and working normal hours: Monday to Friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm.
There is a further post about the Uni Pharmacy in the following link too.
https://blogs.canterbury.ac.nz/insiders/2020/05/14/uni-pharmacy-at-covid-19-level-2/
Caroline A.
Judy from the Academic Skills Centre has provided the following information with a note to please pass this information on to students, and to staff who may want to refer students to these workshop/s.
The UC Health Centre will run distance workshops on stress management, to assist students as they head towards the end of semester exams in these new settings.
There are three opportunities for students to attend workshops on dealing with stress. Further information of these workshops and enrolment details can found – http://www.lps.canterbury.ac.nz/lsc/lsc-course-LSAS.php
The Academic Skills Centre will also provide distance workshops for Revision and Exam Skills on:
More information about the Revision and Exam Skills sessions can be found at – http://www.lps.canterbury.ac.nz/lsc/lsc-course-LSEX.php
Caroline A.
In case you missed it, here are two pieces of particularly useful information from UC’s COVID-19 webpage.
The University Bookshop is open for contactless sales and can help students with educational needs (including the provision of paper). Please email ubs@ubscan.ac.nz; the team is present in store each day from 8.30am to 12.30pm. They can also be contacted by telephone at 0800 827 266. Free shipping is available within New Zealand.
IT are also providing extended support for the first two weeks of Term 2 to help with password resets, unlocking accounts and general IT support. From 22 April 2020 to Friday 8 May 2020 the extended hours are 7am to 9pm Monday to Friday. The contact number is 0508 824 842 / 03 369 5000 (extn 95000)
https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/support/covid-19-updates/
Caroline A.
It is possible to answer AskLIVE from a mobile device. You need to install an app in order to do so successfully, as the normal way we use AskLIVE on a PC does not provide sound alerts if you use it on mobile device, and there are other problems are well.
The instructions are in the link at the end of this post. Androids use the Xabber app, and iOS devices use AstraChat. Be sure to follow the ‘Configuring mobile clients’ instructions at the bottom of the page. I found that I had to put a full stop after my first name in my username, not an underscore, although the instructions said to use an underscore, i.e. caroline.anderson@libraryh3lp.com
Depending on how you have configured your settings for the app on your device, it might not persistently alarm when a chat comes in. It might just beep once, but you shouldn’t miss it if you’re active on your device. On the iPad, I experimented with the notification settings in ‘Settings’ – ‘Notifications’ and then chose the AstraChat app. You need to experiment with the settings on your own device in order to find out what works best. Romy said that eServices are not likely to be able to provide much support for these apps as a lot will depend on the device set up e.g. notification settings, etc. You can usually find an answer via Google to any questions about notification settings on your device.
One of the neat features of AstraChat for iOS is that you can use the microphone button on your keyboard instead of typing. You have to check carefully before sending your reply though, because the app doesn’t always interpret words correctly.
It’s very important to follow the relevant instructions for your device in the link below when you wish to stop staffing AskLIVE. For example, on an iPad, double-click the home button and swipe the AstraChat app up. If you don’t follow the instructions, it will appear to patrons that you are still available for chats. This is particularly important at the end of the day.