Kia ora koutou

We are still waiting on approval of our application for Library staff to go onto campus during Alert Level 3. It appears that the approval process will take several days.

It is now unlikely we will be able to access campus until Monday or Tuesday next week, so items will not be able to be scanned or posted until then.  I will keep you all updated if we hear any more news.

Jenny

During Alert Level 3, the Library is offering to scan material required for learning, teaching or research for all students or staff.

Requests are to be sent by email to library@canterbury.ac.nz.  More information can be found on our Covid  Alert Level 3 tab on our website.

If you get a request for this service, please put details into the  Scanning Requests tracking spreadsheet on Sharepoint.

LAC staff will check the requests in consultation with subject librarians and decide if purchase, scanning, or putting on Learn is most appropriate.

Jenny

Kia ora koutou

Firstly a huge thank you and ka pai to everyone who is answering Asklive queries.  You are all doing a great job being the front face of the library at this time and contributing so much to student learning and wellbeing.
Below is some guidance on answering Asklive queries about UC Covid related queries or generally stressed students.

1. If someone just wants to chat (not library related) – If you have time, then have a chat with them. Sometimes people just want human contact and someone to interact with. Be polite and positive. If they want to chat more, then direct them to Student Support

2. Questions from students related to  UC and covid, then refer them to:
UC Covid page

Connectivity issues or Technology assistance, then email  UCProtect@canterbury.ac.nz

 3. Mental health support https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/support/health/mental-health/
UC online wellbeing hub 

4. Physical health support
Government Covid Page
UC Health Centre

Noho ora mai
Jenny

Kia ora koutou
Hope you are all doing well and adjusting to life during lockdown again. Your wellbeing is the most important priority.

If you have any concerns, or just want to chat then please reach out to someone. Helen and I are looking after Wellbeing/Manaakitanga on behalf of all the Library and you are welcome to contact us.

A few of us are having issues with less than ideal workstation setups – reminder to take plenty of breaks and do plenty of stretches, and drink plenty of water as well. We acknowledge your working hours may be restricted due to ergonomics and that’s okay. We hope to get access to campus to retrieve some equipment at alert level 3.

Here are some tips:

Mentemia tips Resources to support Level 4 Lockdown — Mentemia

UC HR resources UC & ME – Our Wellbeing & Benefits Partnership – People and Culture (canterbury.ac.nz)

This message below from TEU is worth repeating (click to enlarge to read)

Ngā mihi nui
Jenny

****Update**** – if you can’t access the spreadsheet, and don’t want to wait, then just email your manager with the details.  only 1 person can access at a time.

Kia ora koutou

Due to the rushed nature of this lockdown, managers are aware that not all staff were able to take home devices or other equipment. We would like you to let us know which equipment is essential for you to work from home and which equipment is “would like to have”.

Please can everyone update this spreadsheet in Sharepoint.

In the Staff summary tab:
1. Add your name if not there
2. Update your details to current status (existing details were from 2020)

In the Equipment tab
1. Note any equipment ESSENTIAL for you to work from home and add your name against it and update the total number
2. Note any equipment or furniture it would be nice to have

If you don’t have access to Sharepoint then please let your manager know of your needs by email instead.

We will likely not be able to access any equipment until covid level 3, and are still waiting on news of how we go about this.  In the meantime, just do what you can.  If your setup is not very ergonomic and you are having issues, then please take lots of breaks, stretch and don’t work if you get ongoing pain. Your wellbeing is more important than the work.

Ngā mihi
Jenny

Kia ora koutou
This is what Library Digital Services have done about items out on loan.

• All due dates have been pushed out to Tue 24 August 2021 (if they were due before this date).
• Recalls – auto recalls have been turned off
• Recall fines – fines for recalls have been turned off
• Items already overdue before lockdown have been left as they are. Once returned, we can waive fines as necessary.
• Fines – these should not be incurred  during lockdown because the due dates have been extended. We will continue to extend the due dates until the Library re-opens, and allow extra time for students to return to campus.

Ngā mihi
Jenny

Kia ora koutou. Welcome to Inside Out 3.  I’m on leave next week so this issue is slightly earlier than usual.

Microsoft Teams and Onedrive
By now you should all be aware that UC is moving staff to Microsoft Teams between August and December this year, as part of the M365 project. The schedule is not yet available for the date this will happen for the Library. Our Library Digital Services team will get moved onto Teams as early adopters, so they have some knowledge of using it before other library staff get access to it. Other staff who have volunteered to be early adopters will also have access to Teams and OneDrive from 23 August. Training and training material will be available to all staff before they are given the software.
I haven’t used Teams but my understanding is that it is an all-in-one application where you can message and call others, share files, schedule and attend online meetings.  It won’t replace our regular personal email entirely but some of you may find most of your communication with others is done within Teams rather than email or skype. You will have a “team” for each main group you are in.  For example for me that means a team for Physical Collection Project, Library Managers, Distance, Library Digital Services, Metadata Librarians etc. You can also have subgroups or “channels” within each team. At the same time we will get access to OneDrive to store our files to replace the P drive. See FAQs to find out more.

OpenAthens
The Library is purchasing OpenAthens which is an authentication system to replace our current Ezyproxy system. OpenAthens is a single sign-on system so users of our online databases only need to sign in once during each browser session, regardless of the number of different resources they access. It can also provide us with statistics on how often content is accessed.
Helen has been negotiating the purchase and Romy is taking the lead for this within Library Digital Services. We hope to have it up and running to use with SciVal in October and other online resources will start to be added in a staggered approach. Find out more about OpenAthens here.

Physical Collections Project Update
This large project has made good progress this year thanks to the hard work of many staff. Subject Librarians have created criteria for withdrawal/relegation which involved consultation with academics. Using the criteria, we have focussed on journals in the Law Basement this year.  We have withdrawn 48,000 items or about 50% of the journals in basement so far, with about 5% of the withdrawals lists still to process. We have also withdrawn duplicate copies in PJH which have not been checked out in several years.
Level 4 of PJH will be where you will see visible changes by the end of this year. We have recently had budget approved to replace most of the furniture on Level 4.  Te Paea is working with suppliers for furniture proposals. Sue Thompson is coordinating working through withdrawal lists then relegation lists for monographs on Levels 4 and 6, excluding Te Puna Ako material. Once the stock has been moved and shuffled, we will be removing a small proportion (20%) of shelving on the West side of Level 4 to create more light and study spaces.

GreenGlass
The Library is purchasing GreenGlass, a product from OCLC. It is a collection analytics tool which will enable us to run reports and get data about our collection and compare our holdings to comparator libraries which will help with deselection decisions. I’m very excited about this tool and the impact it will have on the Physical Collections Project work.

Academic Structure
I attended one of the workshops for staff on the proposed new Academic Structure. We were given an introduction by the VC and then in our table groups of 5-6 people, we were asked to discuss and comment on the proposal and later feedback to the whole group.  My table consisted mainly of support staff and it was good to hear viewpoints from other areas.  There were lots of good ideas put forward and it will be interesting to see the outcome of the proposal.

Ngā mihi,
Jenny Owens

The Library has lots of empty cardboard journal boxes which we don’t have room to store and would like to give away.  There are varying sizes as shown in photo below. Please let me know if you have any contacts with school or volunteer libraries or organisations for which we can donate them to.  The organisation would need to arrange pickup and give us an indication of size and number they would like.

If I don’t get any offers I will put a notice up on the nz-libs email.
Ngā mihi,
Jenny

Kia ora koutou

A reminder that the first Library Staff Forum is on today at 3pm in Rm210, PJH.  The second one is Thursday at 11am in 210.

Don’t forget to ask your questions on Sli.do.  

The 2 forums will be identical and we will answer the Slido questions at both sessions so choose which session to attend.

Bring your own cup if possible for the refreshments provided.

Ngā mihi,
Jenny