Hello everyone

A summary of the status of the physical spaces for the Library as at this point in time today, subject to possible changes –

Macmilllan Brown – open

Education – open

EPS – retreivals for restricted times and by restricted numbers of staff as from today, 5th April. 3 day loans and items from the pick list were retreived today and are being processed as I type this message. Work is contiuing on setting up a temporary space for EPS Library in the Engineering Common Room, slow progress at this point in time.

Law – remains closed (original estimate 6-8 weeks no dates available as yet), no retreivals

Central – access granted to Level 3 for packing up, very restricted access to Level 2. Working with Hawkins and the Project Office people today on getting staff areas packed up, awaiting confirmation which areas they want cleared first. This has been confirmed this evening as the Liaison and Interloan team areas. An induction will be held tomorrow for these staff, and the area will need to be cleared to allow the cracks to be injected. Joan and her team have started clearing and packing the Level 3 resources, they are waiting on cartons to come through from Crown (which should have eventuated this afternoon), and the mouldy items are being disposed of into a skip, I have asked that the skip area be fenced off. Some items were found from the requests list, and those items will be processed through to the people that sent in the requests. No retreivals from Levels 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 until the stairwells are accessible again and this could be sometime.

Curfew has been lifted – both libraries will operate 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9-5 pm Sat and 10 – 9 p.m. on Sunday as from 11th April.

The Liaison Librarians have a work space in the Wairarapa building and if I get a PC I will also be based there from tomorrow.

Please check with me if you require access into any of the Library physical spaces, apart from the two fully functioning libraries, the other areas are construction zones and only those inducted into the hazards are allowed to enter. I would prefer to keep access minimal as it is difficult to work where there are falling and tripping hazards.

A huge thank you to all those staff who volunteered to work in the Central Library doing the packing up, retreiving from EPS Library and those undertaking desk shifts, off-desk activities and working from home so that the libraries that are open can function “as per normal”. Those of you who have carried out PSRT duties have done a wonderful job and also deserve a huge thank you.

There have been a couple of complaints made about safety in the Library Warehouse.

One aspect has been that people have been eating and drinking in this space, this area is not an area in which food and drink is to be taken into. The majority of the resources that are stored in this area are there for perpetuity and greasy choclatey finger marks and coffee or tea stains are not aceptable. Also rodents do get into this area and if there is an infestation of these wee beasties caused by delicious food smells, this will be detremental to the preservation of the resources held in this area.

Another issue has been that books have been replaced on top of the books on the very top shelf. This is a very dangerous practice. If you see an instance of this either rectify it if you can do so safely or report it to me, as I am ultimately responsible if a Library Research and Information Services staff member is injured. I spent a small amount of time in the Warehouse today and have filed a number of items away safely.

This is a shared storage area and right at this moment in time it has to be admitted that is a shambles, however with all the various projects that are currently being undertaken, tidying up of this area has a lower profile. It will not reamin in this category for long. There are boxes of items that require shelving, and they may well be blocking access into some of the map cabinets, they were stored in order, however if they need to be moved please do so safely, and the items will be shelved as soon as staff are released from the other projects.

As you will no doubt have heard or read, the draft Macmillan Brown review document is being used for consultative purposes. It is still very much a draft document with the outcome of discussions still able to influence the final recommendations. Jill Durney, Manager Macmillan Brown Library and I have meet with Sue McKnght to talk through the review process and its impact on the Library as a whole and particularly on the Macmillan Brown staff. The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Ian Town, is coordinating the Review. SMT will receive the final review document soon after which time the review document will then be released for all to read.

I will update you all when I have a firm timeline to report.

Heather

Hello everyone

You may have noticed that there has been a change made to the search box on the Library home page with the catalogue search box removed.
This step was taken to declutter the page and to give one point of access, the multisearch search box, for searching library resources.
Access to the Library catalogue remains on this page, and on every page that you click through to, it is now just not as obvious as it was on the home page.

There are a number of access points e.g. course codes, that are not available via the multisearch option, and the search results for Archival material reads “Full text” however it will be the inventory that will be displayed listing the items, not the full text of the item. Library IT continue to work with Serials Solutions to improve the multisearch experience.
Please send in your feedback via CounterCulture as I am interested in how people are able to utilise, or not, this point of access.

Heather

EPS Library Stage 2 refurbishment – EPS staff are moving into their new work area and out of their temporary accomodation where they have been located since late November. The EPS project is running on schedule, despite a number of sub-projects coming on stream later in the planning cycle. The refurbishments and the earthquake remediation have vastly improved the entry level of EPS. The entrance area and the foyer are still to be completed. Print resources in EPS are nearly all tagged and EPS Library will be open on the 21st February as a fully functioning RFID library. Photos of the early stages of the refurbishment are available from the Library FaceBook photo board.

Law Library – There have been a few hold ups in the otherwise smooth running of this project. The completion of the installation of the additional shelving has caused some delays in execution of the project. The Law resources have been relocated to Level 2 with a small area on Level 3 housing the end of the collection. The Commerce resources are being returned from Crown storage and are being reshelved. In addition to all of this activity, the collections are also being tagged. Thank you to every one who answered Barbara’s call for assitance, it has been greatly appreciated.

Education Library – tagging of the collections at Education has begun this week.

Central Library – the collections now start at A on Level 11 and carry on down the Tower in sequence. Fantastic work from all those involved in tagging, moving and shelving the resources.
Another successful book give away was hosted this week. There is so much activity going on it is hard to pick out particular instances, and for those of you who are in James Hight or just visiting you can see the incremental changes that are happening – the walls and columns being painted, the self loanarea being created, the walkways created in the shelving areas in the Tower and on Level 3, the seismic joints being repaired and books in boxes and books on shelves. Level 4 has areas carpeted with the new carpet and has new shelving installed. Many of the books being retruned from Crown storage are to be reshelved on Level 4.

Thank you to all of you who have contributed your time and expertise to ensure that we are at this point in these projects, it is greatly appreciated.

Heather

The applicants for this position were all of a high quality and it is with great pleasure that I am announcing the appointment of Isabel Milward to the position of Team Supervisor (Branch Libraries & Learning Hubs).
Isabel is currently working in the Education Library and will take up her new appointment on the 24th January.
I know you will join me in welcoming Isabel to the Information Research Services Group management team next week.

Hello everyone

Some of you may be aware that there was an email sent out yesterday stating that SMT have agreed to close the University at 4.00 p.m. today.
The Libraries have been advertising a 5.00 p.m. closure for today. The email arrived while the Learning Resources Party was in full swing and I was unable to consult with my team. Having talked it through this moring, I feel that the Library needs to honour the advertised 5.00 p.m. closure. Therefore Law, Education, Macmillan Brown and EPS libraries will still close at 5.00 p.m. today.

I have spoken with HR and it is agreed that all staff who work until 5.00 p.m. will be granted an hour as TIL.
So please make sure that it this is noted within each branch who worked through until 5.00 p.m., and that you all take your entitlement when you return to work in the new year. I will try to visit all of the branches in that last hour of service.

I will note in my diary for the year end 2011 that there was a 4.00 p.m. closure and will ensure once it is confirmed that this time is the advertised closing time in 2011.

Happy holidays everyone – we all deserve a fantastic break.

Heather

Hello everyone
Due to the gusty winds today (Wednesday 22nd December) the Central Library needs to ensure that all windows are shut and fastened.
Security have reported that a window in the History Building and one in the Engineering Building have already been blown out.

Hello everyone

During the earthquake UC Library items that are stored in boxes with Crown were dumped from their racking onto the floor of the storage facitiy. Sadly, an external water tank burst causing water damage to a number of items – 1208 volumes of these belong to UC Library. There were delays before Crown was able to gain access into their storage areas, and further delays when the damaged items were reboxed but not handled in a manner that could have salvaged some of the items. The wet items were reboxed and reracked and the damage only came to our attention when an item was requested late October.

At the moment, UC is looking at an insurance claim for these items, which includes 26 volumes of Nature and various other journal runs plus some individual monograph titles.
This is a very regretable situation which can not be made any better, however there are lessons learnt and these lessons will help the Library in future contracts with Crown or similar vendors.

Heather

Hello everyone

I am very pleased to announce that Peter Lund has accepted the Academic Liaison Mangaer position, his area of interest is research.
Peter is currently working at Loughborough University in the role of Academic Services Manager. As yet there is not a definite date when Peter and his family will travel to New Zealand, however I am expecting that he will be able to take up his position by the end of March or in early April 2011.

I will update you when I receive further information.