Hello everyone

Rosalind Patrick Award This year, due to the economic downturn, the Library has been informed that the funds which can be drawn from the Rosalind Patrick investment will be $500.
The usual process has been to use the funds (as per Rosalind’s wishes) to provide a staff member or members with a staff development opportunity plus to have a party as well. However, in the past the dividend was much larger than the $500 we will receive this year.

With the firming up of staff development spending, both Anne and I thought it would be good to offer the money for staff development and to forgo the party this year. Hopefully next year the investment will perform better and we can restore the party.
When Anne returns, we will discuss the timeframe for the applications and advertise the opportunity on CounterCulture.

Learning Resources Christmas Party The Learning Resources Directorate at its meeting this week confirmed that the Christmas Party would be held on Friday 21st December.
This is the last day of work. The party starts at 1.30 p.m., this will mean that the libraries will all close at 1.00 p.m. for the year to allow all Library staff members to attend this end of year function. The Christmas party is funded by the Vice-Chancellor and will be a catered lunch at the Foundry.

Heather Jenks
Co-University Librarian

As from today, 27th August, 2012, Bronwyn Matthews has accepted a change in her position title and with her reporting line and will be reporting directly to Jill Durney, Macmillan Brown Library Manager. Bronwyn’s job title has been changed to Special Collections Librarian and reflects her stronger links with the Rare and Special Collections.

There are great synergies to be explored with this position being based within the Macmillan Brown Library.
Jill and Bronwyn are currently working on the logistics required to pack up and move the Rare and Special Collections from Level 1 in the James Hight Building to the Macmillan Brown Library.

Browyn will remain located on Level 5 of the James Hight Building until staff are moved to Level 3 in the Rutherford Building, and once the collections have been relocated to Macmillan Brown Library, Bronwyn will follw and also be based in the MB Library.

My thanks to all the staff involved in the preparation work for these changes to take place so smoothly

Heather Jenks
Associate University Librarian.

Thanks to all of the good work undertaken by many staff on the Level 3 Clearance Project, it is a pleasure to announce that from Monday 13th August work commences on stock movement between levels 3 and 4 of the Central Library and Library storage areas as part of the Level 3 Clearance Project. This may cause some inconvenience as physical stock moves from one location to another, we apologise in advance for this. Please be aware that there may be an increase in academics and students who approach the Information Desk during this period looking for resources that are on the move.

All Library Staff will be working to ensure that this project reaches its deadline of the 3rd September. There will be a minimum of two library assistants rostered in each library, while other library assistants are involved with the stock movements. It would be greatly appreciated if all other staff could make themselves available to assist on the information desk as and if required. If anyone has any concerns in relation to the arrangements for this project over the next three weeks then please feel free to approach your manager.

Heather Jenks
Associate University Librarian

Kia ora,

Following the interviews over the last couple of weeks Coral has confirmed that the following staff have been appointed to the new roles;

Central Library – Fiona Tyson starting on the 30th July 2012

Education Library – Lisa Matthews starting on the 30th July 2012

EPS Library – Jenny Owens starting on the 3rd September 2012
The late start for Jenny allows the current vacant post at MB to be filled and training to take place. It also allows Coral time to look at the EPS staffing as a result of this appointment.

Law Library – Caroline Anderson starting on the 30th July
This post will be the temporary position and Caroline has been appointed in the first instance to the 1st March 2013.

The original business case for these four positions was written for three continuing positions and one fixed term position. At the time of advertising it was expected that the EPS Library was going to have space removed to house the Faculty offices. This idea has been discarded and Faculty offices are to be housed elsewhere ensuring that the EPS Library space will continue to function as a library and learning space for the foreseeable future. However one of the positions needed to be offered as a fixed term position, and Caroline has kindly accepted the fixed term contract.

I am sure you will all join Coral and I in congratulating all of the Customer Services Co-ordinators and that you will support them as they move into their new roles.

Heather Jenks
Associate University Librarian

As you are all aware, the Library ran a series of four workshops for undergraduates, post graduates and academics, facilitated by Enzyme staff, in April. On Monday 14th May, Library Managers meet to work through the gathered data with Brett from Enzyme. The purpose of this workshop was to create an interactive model that allows us to move from strategy to action.

Anne and I will present the outcomes of that workshop, and show how this feedback interlinks with the Task and Finish Groups undertaken last year plus how this will dovetail with the Library strategy for Library staff next week.

There will be a workshop at Dovedale at 10.00 a.m. and a workshop on the Ilam campus at 2.00 p.m. on Thursday 24th May. The Dovedale Workshop will be held at DA04. The Ilam workshop will be held in room 210, Level 2, Central Library. There may need to be a room change if the AV gear is not fully installed by Wednesday.I will update this message when rooms have been confirmed.

Anne and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Anne Scott and Heather Jenks

Hello everyone
It is that time of year again where the statistics for the previous year are to be collated and reported to CAUL (Council of Australian University Libraries) by the 31st March.
This is the second year where the statistics are being collected by the CAUL statistical tool and then the CONZUL (Council of New Zealand University Libraries) statistcal report is created from that data.

I will be in touch with staff if and when I need clarification of data.

Heather Jenks
Associate University Librarian

Some of you may recall that at the end of last year at the combined Library strategy meeting, we discussed the need to complete the feedback loop which had begun in 2011 with a series of workshops facilitated by Enzyme staff. The outcome of the workshops in which library staff participated were a set of issues that were agreed to be of greatest importance, which then had task and finish groups set up to explore opportunities and barriers. Five groups worked on a set of issues each and these were; Easy access to relevant collections, Embedded academic literacy, Selling ourselves and our services, Re-engineering the use of physical spaces, Delivering customer centred support and Supporting and enabling cultural change.

The outcomes from these task and finish groups has lead to work being successfully undertaken in a variety of areas including (but not limited to) the establishment of an academic skills catalogue, a marketing and publications working group, as well as informing the decision making process for shelf ready resources arriving in the Library not to mention highlighting and providing additional information on the organisational culture of the Library. The Enzyme process was used to help bed down the new structures of Library Support Services and Library Research & Information Services and the outcomes will continue to be incorporated into the strategic and operational planning of both teams.

Later in 2011 the Library attempted to set up sessions with students and academics to hear what they had to say about the services that the Library offers, how the Library could objectively measure its performance and its service development. However the timing for the process was inappropriate. The environment that we were all surviving in last year was very challenging. We promised that this feedback would be gathered early in 2012, and we are now starting the process to find an appropriate time period for this activity to take place. In order to do this we will be working with members of the Library Committee, UCSA, other student links as well as academics to find a suitable time for this exercise to take place.
As before, there will be a number of roles for library staff in this process. Library staff will be asked to work as observers during the workshops and Liaison staff will able to contribute their knowledge of academics who can help provide that constructive feedback that we are aiming for and of course once the feedback has been received we will be using a mechanism to work on the issues which are identified as having the greatest importance.

Why do we want to do it?We need to hear what our stakeholders have to say about the services we offer and those services we don’t offer.
We want to deliver better or perhaps different services.
As a provider of services, we need to periodically review what we are doing and make sure that the services that we are delivering are what the environment we are working in requires.

Why are we using an external consultant?Enzyme uses a process that works well for gathering information and distilling it into feedback that can then be successfully worked upon. The process is non-threatening and the majority of people who were exposed to Enzymes technique last year felt comfortable and able to give full and frank responses.
Using an outside consultant ensures that an objective view is maintained over the information gathered and how it can be applied to the existing environment. A non-judgemental approach removes the “blame and shame” aspect of obtaining feedback.

Why undertake this process now?We need to close the feedback loop and work on implementing the services changes that are identified. If we wait too long, the responses that were received in 2011 will lose their relevance.

I will be in touch again as we work through the process of setting up this feedback opportunity and will keep you informed of progress. I look forward to working with many of you as this important information gathering exercise progresses.

Heather Jenks
Associate University Librarian

I am pleased to be able to inform you all that Mary Watson has had her secondment to the Library Research & Information Services team extended until the end of December 2012.
Mary has been working on a variety of Library wide projects and is presently involved with the Clearance of Level 3 project, the Library SharePoint project and later in the year in the EPS Library project (yet to be fully scoped).
Mary is based on Level 5 with some other members of the LR&IS team.

Heather Jenks
Associate University Librarian

Hello all

This item from the Level 3 project working group will appear on Library News sometime this week –

Taking Level 3 to the next level

Finding that ideal spot on campus to get through your study can be a challenge, especially around exam time. So to help make your study experience a little easier, throughout the latter part of this year we’ll be refurbishing Level 3 of the Central Library along the lines of last year’s Level 2 refurbishment. This will mean you’ll have access to a lot more study and discussion spaces, with the kinds of facilities you’ve been asking for (including lots of power points for laptops and plenty of wireless access).

To accommodate this extra study space, all print resources will need to be cleared from Level 3. This won’t take away access to any of the resources you use; it’ll just make that access a little different. Some items will be shifted to open shelving elsewhere in the Library system. Others will go into storage onsite or offsite. Other items may be withdrawn permanently from the Library collections as they no longer meet collection criteria , or are held electronically or elsewhere in a UC Library. Academic staff are being consulted throughout the process to ensure that the items you need for your learning and research remain readily accessible. If you need assistance on accessing the Library’s electronic resources, consult a librarian or take one of the many tutorials the Library offers.

Level 3 was closed off following the December earthquakes due to some minor damage, and will remain so until print resources have been cleared. But if there’s something held there that you want, Library staff can retrieve it for you at any time. Just ask a librarian or make a request through the catalogue.

We know that when it’s complete, Level 3 will be one of the best study spaces on campus. While we can’t guarantee we can make your work any easier, we’ll do everything we can to ensure you have the best environment in which to get it done.

Heather Jenks
AUL