I am super excited to announce that Caroline Syddall is the Library’s new Pacific Library Liaison. Caroline brings her experience, relationship building skills and Pasifika community focus to this new position. Caroline will begin the role on 17 January 2022.
Caroline’s position will be replaced after a review of options to increase support of our priority student communities and cover Caroline’s myriad current tasks!
So the new traffic light system goes live at 11.59pm on Thursday. The proposed guidelines for our services and spaces are shown below. These will be tweaked over time so if you spot a problem/challenge/error, shout out!
This is an evolving situation and everyone is still trying to get their heads around it. It is okay to feel a bit anxious. It is not okay to feel anxious alone, so do talk with your manager/colleagues.
Beneath the guidelines are implementation notes, again if you have suggestions or comments, please speak with your manager.
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| QR code scanning mandatory Masks Recommended No Vaccine Certificates |
QR code scanning mandatory Masks Highly Recommended No Vaccine Certificates |
QR code scanning mandatory Masks Mandatory Vaccine Certificates mandatory |
ITS are working on replacing our current intranet. As you know, this looks like it was designed in the late 1990s.
Stage one of this work is a replacement for Tū ki te tahi. This will become the homepage of UC’s new intranet. This change is likely to take place on Monday 22 Nov.
The new Tū ki te tahi will enable you to post work-related news and events instantly (no waiting for Comms & Marketing to sign these off). The aim is that all of UC has access to the latest UC-related news and that all staff have more freedom to post.
There will be a feedback button for comments. The team welcomes your ideas as this is a pilot site for the wider intranet development.
On Monday, you may find that your browser homepage is now Tū ki te tahi as Comms are keen to promote this change.
We have changed the Information Resource Assistant job title. The new title is Resource Access Assistant.
We have not changed who they are (Chris, Fiona, Glenna, Joanna, Maria, Simon, Wendy), where they are (in the LAC office on Level 5 PJH) or what they do (far too many tasks to mention… but a non-exhaustive list includes acquisitions, record amendments, copyright query wrangling, distance service servicing, interloans, serials binding and just generally being awesome).
The second of our two annual Library Liaison Officers meetings is coming up on Tuesday 16 November @ 12pm.
The attendance at these is small, normally around 10 academics. But the presentation is sent to all 44 representatives and is a good chance to publicise existing services, talk about a new idea or ask for feedback.
If you’d like to take part, please tell your manager.
The last session covered
The environment benefited from the changes you made to your printing practices in September.
Whereas we were previously looking at being solidly over 8,000 b+w pages and 3,000 colour each month, in September our usage dropped to 7,862 b+w and 1,919 colour.
Thank you!
Tomorrow’s walk will take in the spring colour on campus.
Start: 12pm
Duration: 30mins
Meeting place: Book returns boxes, Level 1 Puaka-James Hight
As posted in early September, Rā is leaving us to work for the New Zealand Library Partnerships Programme (NZLPP) at the National Library. This role runs from Oct 2021 to June 2022.
Her last day before heading out, is Friday 1 October. The NZLPP role is a fixed term appointment, so Rā will remain a UC staff member. But why miss an opportunity to be able to wish Rā well on her new challenge?!
If you’d like to share a kawhī/coffee and pass on your good wishes, Rā will be in Therapy café from 2pm-3pm on Friday 1 Oct.
The Information Resources Policy is due for revision. This explains how we manage our collections and content.
After consultation with various people including our Kaiārahi (Mary Boyce), Library Committee, the UC Policy Library and Library Managers, we have drafted a new version.
This is much shorter. It focuses on a more biculturally appropriate approach. And cuts out duplication with other policies and our website.
It’s on K:\Management\Policy “Information Resources Policy 2021-final”. Comments or thoughts to helen.thomas@canterbury.ac.nz
So, another fortnight has passed and it’s time for a sixth update from inside and outside the Library. This was due last Friday. But last week was a bit of a whirl, so it’s happening on Tuesday instead. As previously stated, this is not a synthesised managerial view but direct from my head so “all views represented below are those of the author’s and do not represent UC’s… etc etc etc”
So we’re drawing to the end of the third quarter of 2021. Each quarter, we measure our progress against the Operational Plan. So over the next week, all managers have to update the 2021 Ops Plan. This can be a moment of celebration or a quiet elbow nudge to refocus on a particular area or task.
This is an area of focus for the plan for 2021. And work has been happening. But building relationships takes time. And assessing what we can actually do, and deciding what is a priority, also takes time. And co-creation of anything is a bit of a new concept for the Library, and for UC.
So we’ve done a lot of talking. Firstly, with our Kāiarahi (first Jeanine Tamati-Elliffe and now Mary Boyce), then with CONZUL and with the National Library of New Zealand. And there have been lots of Librray tīma (team) discussions.
We’re now improving records for core Māori publications. The improvements mean our Māori students and staff will find useful content more easily. We’re also updating agreements and policies, like the Information Resources Policy, the Kaitiaki Agreement and Research Data Policy. So these reflect our bicultural approach. And because UC loves a policy, and you’ve got to get them in the feels.
The deadline of 2023 is a little bit closer again. Rā and I have been ensuring that the Library is included in the UC-wide discussions. We hope the Digital Voyages platform could be used to support the new book on the history of UC, which is being written now. The book aims to capture different voices and stories than the previous histories… and may even be slightly contentious! Gosh.
Doing is my happy place… so this year I’ve been working on strength building in my weaker areas, which are self-reflection and listening. UC is also trying to change. UC aims to not just create but to support the UC values. One area is reducing negative social encounters. I attended a course yesterday called DARE. (Yes, the title totally sounds like management gubbins). However, the session was attended by professional and academic staff from across UC. I’m sharing below one of the slides which spoke to me about the small changes we can all make to improve our workplaces.
If these have sparked any thoughts for you… feel free to pop into my office to discuss. Always happy to chat listen.