Kia ora koutou,

A reminder that we are seeking a Library Committee staff representative.  Full details here:

https://blogs.canterbury.ac.nz/counterculture/2017/03/17/library-committee-staff-rep-required/

Please have your nominations in to me by the end of the day tomorrow.

Ngā mihi nui,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

I have been the Library staff representative on the Library Committee since 2013 and it is time for me to step aside.  We are therefore looking for a keen person to take my place.

The Library Committee is an Academic Board committee that meets monthly and reports back to Academic Board.  It is chaired by Mike Grimshaw, and has representation from all the Colleges.  The role of the Library staff representative is to provide a staff-focused voice and to report back to the library staff on the business of the Committee.  In practice it is a very interesting and stimulating committee to be involved with, and it provides a very useful barometer for us to gauge academic opinion on library issues.

The workload involves reading papers once a month to prepare for the meeting, and time to write up a Counterculture post to keep staff informed.

Would you like to be the staff rep?  Or do you know the perfect person to fill this role?  If so, could you please nominate yourself,  or another (with permission).  If we have more than one nomination, we will run a ballot.

Please let me know your nominations by 5pm on Friday 31 March.

I am happy to chat about the role and to answer any questions you might have.

Ngā mihi,
Sara

Kia ora koutou,

It is my pleasure to introduce to you the new LibApps Governance Group.  This group has been formed to oversee the Library’s use of the SpringShare LibApps products – LibGuides and LibCal (MyScheduler and Course Bookings).  The group will monitor any updates of the software and will consult with affected teams and make recommendations for change.

The group members are:

John Arnold
Donna Barber
Elizabeth Cooke
Rebecca Fisher

They would appreciate your involvement!  Please get in touch with the team if you have any suggestions or questions.

Ngā mihi,
Sara

Kia ora koutou,

On a planning day a few years ago, the idea was raised of creating a knowledge base, hosted on our website that would provide answers to frequently asked library questions.  A project team was tasked with exploring this idea further and over the last 18 months we have been doing just that.

The team created a test knowledge base which had the tightly defined scope of answering some of the trickier APA referencing questions that we get asked either through AskLive or at the desk.

Using this as our test knowledge base, and after doing some user testing,  the project team presented their findings to the Library Managers last month.

The outcome of the project is that we will not pursue this idea any further at this point in time.  The idea is a great one and definitely one we will come back to, but first we need to rationalise the help we offer through our web pages.  We need to ensure that we are not duplicating effort and that we have the time and people available to build and maintain a tool of this kind.

I would like to thank the project team:

Angela Berry
Anne Milligan
Donna Barber
Jan Scandlyn
Sandra Gover
Swee Hoon Goh
Wendy Dowsett

But also those who assisted in getting the pilot database ready to use:

Kerry Gilmour
John Arnold

Ngā mihi nui

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

I look forward to seeing everyone at the morning tea on Monday.  There will be some formal speeches, and I wondered if anyone else would like to say a few words?  I would be very happy for others to share their memories of working with Max.   Could you let me know if you are keen?

Ngā mihi,

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

We are planning a farewell morning tea for Max on Monday 12 December at 10am.  It will be held downstairs at the Shilling Club and I will send a library-wide invitation to you all, so it is in your diaries.  There will be a card and collection circulating very soon.

Ngā mihi,

Sara

Update:  Instead of a card, I have bought a notebook that I thought would be a good way of writing our messages to Max.  Feel free to take a page and write a message, long or short as inspiration dictates.  It doesn’t matter how many pages we use, but it gives more flexibility that those cramped messages on a greeting card. SR.

Kia ora koutou,

If you have ever desired to delve into the mysteries of Legal Research, this is your chance! I am offering an introductory session on Legal Research Skills on two dates in December.  This session is aimed at complete beginners and I would welcome anyone who is interested in knowing more.  The session will cover:
– An introduction to the structure of legal information
– The legal research process
– The Law Subject Guide
– The legal databases
– Finding New Zealand Legislation
– Finding a case with a citation

Book for 5 December at 2pm
Book for 7 December at 2pm

If you can’t make either date, but are super keen, please let me know and I can run an individual session.

Ngā mihi,
Sara

Kia ora koutou,

Thank you for all your excellent ideas on the UC Ideas Generator. Please do keep adding your ideas.

These ideas will be reviewed in our team meetings and can be picked up by anyone interested in pursuing them .  If you see a good idea, please add your endorsement by creating a new box and positioning it next to the idea that caught your eye.  I have endorsed an idea so you can see how it might look.

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

Fiona Tyson will be starting with the Learning Teaching and Research team on 22 August.  She will be joining Kathryn, Kim and Nick in the Education Library.  The official subject division will be as follows:

Kathryn – Education Studies and Leadership
Kim – Sport Coaching and Physical Education
Fiona – Teacher Education

Of course, in reality, all will assist in each subject as required!

Sara

Kia ora koutou,

The Library Committee met today and the theme was “Customer Services”.  Te Paea gave a presentation about the aims and role of the Customer Services Team, which sparked some useful discussion.

Other business included:

• Discussion of the Librarian’s Report (available here: K:\Management\Reporting\UC-meetings\Library-Committee\2016)
• Summer hours and hours for 2017 were discussed, and a request made that we extend the hours that Central Library is open during exam periods
• Helen outlined the IRAG recommendations for new subscriptions, and the proposal to cancel WoS and JCR
• The changes to the  Information Resources Policy as suggested by SMT were highlighted
• The UCSA undergraduate representative gave his report:
  • The UCSA elections process has started
  • He raised the issue of high levels of anxiety among  students, and encouraged us to know who to refer students to
  • The USCA building will start to be demolished next week, and the site should be clear by November

Please let me know if you would like any further details on the points above.

Ngā mihi,

Sara