Kia ora koutou,
We have had some queries from isloating students who are anxious that they cannot access the high demand textbooks for their courses. If you encounter this kind of query, please direct students to the subjectlibrarians@canterbury.ac.nz email address. The subject librarians will check what is required and arrange for material to be scanned, purchased or posted.
If you have any questions, please get in touch.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
Since I last wrote, nearly 5 months have passed and we are almost reaching the end of the year. I find that we are tipped helter-skelter into the holiday season very quickly at this time of year. Here is a fairly low-key collection of “things I have been working on”.
Recruitment
I initiated the recruitment process for the new Kaitakawaenga role in October, although the person who takes this role will report to the Kaiwhakahaere Taonga Tūku Iho, Fiona wasn’t yet in post and we wanted to get the process started. The applications closed on 4 November but we didn’t get any candidates at this time. This was a very disappointing outcome, but we will readvertise this role next year, when we will have appointed a new Pou Tuarua | Associate University Librarian and have a clearer management and support structure in place.
We are also currently recruiting for a replacement Kaitiaki Kaupapa | Subject Librarian, who will support Te Kaupeka Pūhanga | Faculty of Engineering and support the promotion and adoption of open educational resources. Applications for this role close on 5 December.
Covid Restrictions Planning
The emergence of local cases of Covid has put us back on the roller coaster of uncertainty but I am pleased to have got to the end of the academic year without having to change alert levels. There was a lot of frantic work done just before exams to put a plan in place for Library services to be offered even if we were to go back into Alert Level 3. We did end up with a plan that would ensure the safety of staff and students while still offering access to the Libraries, but much to the relief of everyone involved, it wasn’t needed.
I also recently attended a practical exercise with the Incident Management Team, where we all worked through the theoretical scenario of a Covid case on campus and how we would coordinate the response of the University. I sat back and mostly listened, but came away with confidence that the IMT have good processes in place!
And now planning around the new traffic light system begins.
LIANZA Conference
I hope you enjoyed any sessions that you viewed during the LIANZA Conference. Fiona, Lisa and I enjoyed the opportunity to present some of the findings from our research project exploring the attitudes of academics towards textbooks. As we were meant to attend the Conference in Wellington, we spent the three days based in the Camerata Room at the Arts Centre. This enabled us to recreate the focus of the conference environment and provided us with some great choices for lunch each day. It felt strange to pre-record our session then watch it on the day, regretting the stumbles and mumbles, but unable to correct anything. We had some interesting questions from the audience, and we will make the survey data openly available on Figshare.
Library Regulations Rewrite
The “Library Access and Borrowing Policy” was due for review in November, but we decided that the policy was no longer needed as it duplicated the information in the Library Regulations and on the Library website. As a result of getting rid of this policy, the Library Regulations needed some tweaking to make sure they were comprehensive. This became a tangled mess as I grappled with the terms ‘user’, ‘borrower’, ‘member’, ‘reader’ and the consistent use of one throughout. However, with the help of Helen, we have now submitted a coherent set of Library Regulations for Academic Board approval.
If you have any questions, or just want to have a chat about the above, please let me know.
Ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
We still have plenty of space in the Rainbow Awareness session on Monday 29 November from 9.00am – 1.00pm.
An outline of the workshop content is here:
K:\Management\Rainbow-workshop-2021.docx
You can register for the workshop at this link. It will be held in Room 224 which allows for ample physical distancing in this space.
If you have any questions, please get in touch.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
The job advert for the recruitment of a new Kaitiaki Kaupapa | Subject Librarian is now live. We are looking for someone to support Te Kaupeka Pūhanga | Faculty of Engineering, who has passion and drive to advocate and develop open educational resources at UC.
The full job advertisement is here:
Kaitiaki Kaupapa | Subject Librarian
Please let your networks know and come and kōrero with me if you have any questions.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
UC Puna is currently advertising two roles – Kaitakawaenga and Pacific Library Liaison. These brand new positions will strengthen support for our Māori and Pacific students and will report to Fiona as Kaiwhakahaere Taonga Tuku Iho | Manager, Cultural Heritage and Macmillan Brown Library.
The position details are available on the University site now.
Kaitakawaenga
Pacific Library Liaison
If you are interested, or know of someone who would be great for either of the roles, please come and kōrero with Helen or me.
Applications close at midnight on Sunday 14 November.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
The 10,000 steps challenge continues and there is some great stepping going on. It isn’t too late to join if you are keen. I have made us all one team, so we now have a Library team of 15. Did you know that a day in the garden, or even doing the vacuuming can count towards your step total? You can record any activity (moderate or vigorous) and the web site (or the app) will caluclate the equivalent steps. If you don’t have a way of counting your steps, you can use an estimation – 30 minutes walking is around 4000 steps.
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
The 10,000 Steps Challenge starts today. You can still join the Library team by either reactivating your account from last time, or by registering on the website here: Getting Started | 10,000 Steps (10000steps.org.au)
Once you have done that let either Helen or me know and we will add you to the Library team.
I suspect we might all struggle to make 10,000 steps a day when working from home, but don’t let that discourage you from joining the challenge. All steps are helpful and as soon as we are back on campus we will start daily walks at lunch time again.
Any questions, let me know!
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
The Library has entered a team into the 10,000 steps challenge for the third year running. I really can’t believe it has been a whole year since we counted our steps so diligently. And perhaps lockdown will give us more time and motivation to walk? I invite you to join the effort this year, where you can record your steps or other activity towards the goal of 10,000 steps a day.
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 Sept 6 – Oct 17, with 18 universities entered (6 NZ teams). 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 from your desk to the kitchen, from the laundry to the clothes line….
What if I can’t do that many steps per day?
It doesn’t matter! All steps are useful for your wellbeing and for increasing our total. Some days will be filled with more steps than other days.
How do I count my steps?
Find the device that suits you best before the event launch on September 6. If you want you can also download the 10,000 steps app to help upload your steps via your mobile device.
Where do I sign up?
NOTE: There is a section for health goals asking for body measurements, which can be ignored entirely!
We have less than a week before the competition starts, so enter now.
If you need help signing up, or have any questions, let me know: extension 93882, or sara.roberts@canterbury.ac.nz
The UC Rec Centre has a website with resources available here.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
I hope you are all managing after day one of Alert Level 4. I am feeling less cheery than last lockdown – I think the slight novelty has well and truly worn off! The Library managers will meet daily during this period, and will post the main points from our meeting on Counterculture. So today’s update is below.
What has happened today:
What happens next:
If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.
ngā mihi,
Sara
Kia ora koutou,
On Monday 30 August, Ari Nicholson will be leading a rainbow Awareness workshop for Library Staff. The workshop is open to any interested Library kaimahi and runs from 9am -1pm.
An outline of the workshop content is here:
K:\Management\Rainbow-workshop-2021.docx
You can register for the workshop at this link.
If you are keen to come but can’t make the time or the workshop is full, please let Gabrielle know. We will arrange another workshop if demand is high.
Any questions, please let me know.
ngā mihi,
Sara
