Stuart and I are very happy to announce that Jacqui Tither will be joining us as our new Kaitiaki Kaupapa | Subject Librarian.  Jacqui will be known to many of you through her excellent work with the Academic Skills Centre and she is already a trusted partner in a number of our information literacy teaching programmes.  She brings a great depth of knowledge, experience and passion for teaching as well as energy and enthusiasm for supporting our community.

Jacqui will be based at EPS Library and will be starting on Monday 29 January.

Ngā mihi nui,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

The management team are going through a disaster scenario exercise tomorrow morning (Tuesday 12 September) from 9.00 – 11.00am.  We will be based in the breakout room next to the staffroom on level 5 of Puaka James Hight.  It is a paper-based exercise, so we will not be running around with our first aid kits, but instead we will be testing the Business Continuity Plan in theory to make sure we are all familiar and comfortable with the processes.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with me or Helen.

ngā mihi,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

Just a reminder that we are having morning tea in EPS tomorrow at 10.30 to farewell Brian.   It would be great if some of you bought a plate, and do bring a cup as there are many people coming!

We look forward to seeing you there,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

I am very sad to announce that Brian will be leaving us to take up a new position as Research Excellence and Impact Team Leader in R&I.  This is such a great opportunity for Brian, yet such a loss for us. We will miss his expertise, professionalism and willingness to take on a multitude of tasks with enthusiasm and goodwill.  One silver lining is that we will have a Library ally in R&I and we will be working closely with him in his new role.  Brian’s last day with us will be Friday 8 September.  We are planning a morning tea on Thursday 7 September at 10.30am in EPS.  Please do come along and wish Brian well.

ngā mihi,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

The 2023 10,000 Steps Challenge is happening soon!

This will be the 4th year in a row that we have entered a Library team for the challenge and we invite you to join the Library team.

What is the 10,000 steps challenge?

10,000 steps is an Australasian University Health Challenge, which encourages NZ and Australian universities to compete in tracking physical activity over a period of 6 weeks. This year the competition runs from Monday 21st August to Sunday 1st October.  The goal is to complete 10,000 steps each day for the six week period.  It sounds daunting, but it is surprising how quickly steps add up over a day.

What if I can’t do that many steps per day?

It doesn’t matter!  All steps are useful for wellbeing and for increasing our step total. Some days will be filled with more steps than other days.

More details will be coming very soon on how you can join the challenge.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.

ngā mihi,

Sara

Mōrena koutou,

We will be serving hot cross buns at morning tea today in all three libraries.  Please do come and help yourself.  There is a selection of traditional, chocolate and gluten free.

Wishing everyone a restful break after a very busy term!

ngā mihinui,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

We are currently doing an update of the laptops from the laptop trolley based on level 5 of PJH.  Just quietly, we may have lost track a little of who has borrowed laptops over the last year or so.  So, could you please let me know if you are using a laptop from the trolley?  Photo below just in case you need a visual.

They don’t need to come back but it would be helpful to know where they all are.

ngā mihi,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

In my role as one of your Departmental Safety Officers, I am getting all our Health and Safety ducks in a row for the year ahead.  As part of this process, could you please make sure your personal information is up to date on PeopleSoft?  This is vital information in the case of an emergency so we can contact you easily.

If you are unsure how to do this, let me know and I’ll  lend a hand.

Could you please do this by 24 February, so your manager can update the emergency contact spreadsheet.

ngā mihi,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

UC is undertaking a project to implement a document management system that will ensure we can store, find, and manage our documents in an easy and intuitive way(!).  The plan is to use SharePoint and to create a taxonomy for use across all functions of the university.

This is a massive (and possibly thankless) task, and past experience shows us that it is not easy to create a system that is used consistently by all and enables us to be compliant with our document management obligations.

The first step of this project is to create the taxonomy that represents the work of the university.  Dale, Erin and I have met with the project team to discuss what the Library needs from a taxonomy and we have agreed some top-level functions.

If you are interested to see the structure so far, or to have a chat about the project and what it means for us, please get in touch.

We expect this work to continue for some years as our document systems are reorganised retrospectively.

Ngā mihi,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

It is my great pleasure to announce that Lani Tukariri has been appointed into the permanent role as our third Kaitakawaenga. Lani will work alongside Lisa and Jemma to support our tauira Māori.

Lani started working at UC as a Library Assistant in July 2022 and is currently back filling part of the Kaitakawaenga Māori role while Jemma is seconded to the NZLPP project. She is also a Kaiāwhina with Te Hapu o Ngāti Wheke.

Lani has an in-depth knowledge of tikanga and Mātauranga Māori and a passion for supporting her community.  She will make a valuable contribution to our Kaitakawaenga team.

We look forward to welcoming Lani into her new role on Monday 27 March.

ngā mihi nui,

Sara