Fine day Friday. In my opinion best day of the week. Why is that, you ask?

For one it’s just a hop, skip and slump into the weekend, although I understand that many of you (you know who you are) will be of the opinion the weekend just gets in the way pure workplace enjoyment. That’s fine – you be you.

But this Friday is particularly fine, in fact possibly the fineiest of all, because today you’re getting your latest issue of Pānui. So for those mourning the interruption caused by the weekend, you can spend Saturday and Sunday reading our latest offering and imagining yourself back here. Don’t fear, it’ll be Monday before you know it.

You can find the finished PDF copy here at K:\Management\Communications\LTR-Newsletters\Pānui 2.0\2023\2023-07-LTR-Pānui.pdf

Kathryn, Hugh and Simon

Kia ora koutou!

It’s that time of year again! We’re looking for volunteers to help with our Rā Tōmene | Open Day stall on Friday 8 September (9am-5pm).

Event Info:

Rā Tōmene | Open Day 2023 will be taking place on Friday 8 September, and there are currently over 1600 registered attendees! This is our key recruitment event for future students, parents and whānau, and its success depends on all our involvement!

Library activations:

• LIBRARY101 sessions and tours – all now fully booked! Attendees will learn how the libraries can support them in their studies at UC. Sessions will cover general library support, subject expertise, MB expertise, and how Te Rua can support their time at UC. All attendees will receive a UC Library branded tote bag filled with branded merch and library brochures –  if you have anything you’d like us to include, please let me (Isabella) know!
• Library Stall – a stall located in the Open Day market with other UC teams. The stall is a chance to engage with a wide range of people interested in UC as a place of study, and is the perfect opportunity for whanaungatanga and to make our prospective students feel welcome and supported by the library! If you would like to help out on the stall, please add your name to a slot (or two!) in the roster sheet currently saved on the K:drive here: K:\Operations\Marketing\Events&Promotions\Rā Tōmene (Open Day)\Open Day Rā Tōmene 2023\Stall\Open Day Puna Stall Roster_2023.docx
• Te Rua and Library Lounge – Te Rua will be on display for prospective students to walk through and see what’s on offer! The Lounge space behind Te Rua will be a quiet and peaceful zone for whānau to take a break and rest their feet.

Ngā mihi,

The Library Rā Tōmene tīma (Isabella, Dale, Lani, Brian, Kerry)

“We are pleased to let you know that the recordings of the presentations from Research Support Community Day 2023 are now available from our RSC Day YouTube channel here (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw5U_dVzZWnXXfcD2Wtc1WHgLjj65LnFS).

If you’d like to know more about the Research Support Community Day event, or view recordings from previous years, please head to our website: https://rscday.info/ or email contact@rscday.info.”

The UC Research Repository upgrade is scheduled to take place next Tue (1st Aug) around 9am. This is a major upgrade from DSpace 6.3 to 7.6.

In order to allow time for us to migrate the data over to the new server, there will be a change freeze on all edits to DSpace records from Friday evening until we give notice. Any changes made to records during this time will be lost.

We will also be switching off Elements deposits during the freeze. Digital Services will be putting a notice banner on Elements to inform academic staff, but library staff may need to field questions from academics about why there is no deposit option in Elements during this time.

There will also be a period of time after the upgrade when handle links (e.g. https://hdl.handle.net/10092/105745) won’t be working while we coordinate the switchover with the handle organisation.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with Library Systems.

Ngā mihi,
Donna
Library Systems

Kia ora koutou

An action-packed week, a highlight of which was the managers’ field trip to Rolleston to visit Te Ara Ātea, following recommendations from the ELS team who visited recently as well. 

This is a simply beautiful space, and it was so uplifting to see how many people (library kaimahi included) were using, treasuring and enjoying all that was on offer.  I took a screed of photos, and will be sharing an approved selection through IFLA Library Building channels in due course.  We’ll look forward to the chance to share some of these images and our experience of this visit, at the next Staff Forum, as well.

Library managers also engaged in a TMP (Team Management Profile) workshop, facilitated by People & Culture colleagues.  This was a great chance to come together to understand more deeply each other’s preferences and styles, and to see how and where we complement each other across the team.  We’re keen for P & C to undertake further TMP workshops with all staff, so stay tuned for developments!

My week was also filled with a number of very positive meetings, with regards to finance and 2024-2026 budgets, Facilities Management planning for future maintenance and upgrade works in our physical libraries, and the Library Committee with its updated Terms of Reference and new Chair (Arindam Basu, as announced in last week’s update).  Great progress on all counts!

For now, happy and safe weekend all,
Kat

Kia ora koutou

FYI from Digital Services – they will be upgrading the MS Office version from 2019 to 365 on all the student computers in the library over the next 2 weeks.

Shouldn’t have too much of an impact on the software installed on these computers as most people with newer computers have been using this version for a while.

Ngā mihi,

Romy (on behalf of Library Systems)

Kia ora koutou,

The annual UCSA Winter Wellness Expo is coming up and I am looking for volunteers to help engage with students at our stall!

When and where is it?

Thursday 27 July

10am -2pm (you don’t need to stay this long!)

Haere-roa (UCSA building)

What do I need to do?

The team will set up and pack down the stall. All you’ll need to do is turn up and engage with students!

What should I talk about with students?

Good pātai! Primarily, we want to let students know we’re here for them, and to promote our services. As the focus of this event is wellness, our focus will mirror this and we will be primarily promoting Te Rua Makerspace as one of the key wellness services (or spaces!) we offer (although it will also be a fabulous opportunity to engage students about the other fantastic services we offer!).

Haven’t spent much time in Te Rua? Not to worry! Jess or Ryan (our fabulous Te Rua duo) will also be at the stall to field technical Te Rua enquiries.

Okay I’m in! How do I sign up?

We’re glad to have you onboard! Please add your name to your preferred timeslot(s) in the Word doc saved on the K:drive here:

K:\Operations\Marketing\Events&Promotions\UCSA Winter Wellness Expo\2023\UCSA Winter Wellness Expo roster 2023.docx

Contact

Need more information? Please contact myself (Isabella) if you have any questions about this event! More info can also be found on the UCSA page here.

Ngā mihi,

Isabella

We have recently reduced the DVD collection in PJH, and the withdrawn items are available as a free giveaway.  There are trolleys of DVDs in the room next to the tearoom on level 5 of PJH, so help yourself.

We will leave them here for a week for library staff to have first dibs at, then they will go down to level 2 for a giveaway to everyone else.

Bring a bag, a box, go wild!

Jenny

Kia ora koutou

My gratitude for some wonderful food-focussed celebrations this (short) week.  We had the fudge extravaganza on Tuesday – so delicious!!  And then the Matariki shared kai earlier today.  This was a special moment to come together, contemplate the past and look ahead to what the next and new year will bring.

On which note, various initiatives continue at pace!  We’ve had a focus on collection and shelving moves over the last few weeks, in all libraries and all locations (Meremere basement, Henry Field Store and the Annex, PJH Central Library and Archives as part of the Shelving Replacement Project).  Thank you Jenny for a tour of the Dovedale campus yesterday as well – great to see things firsthand!

Our Library Committee has a new confirmed Chair, with Associate Professor Arindam Basu stepping into the role.  Arin’s tenure as Chair commences at the next Library Committee meeting (Friday 21 July) and will provide the opportunity to set the scene for the year/s ahead, particularly in light of opportunities emerging from the review panel’s findings and recommendations.

Just a reminder that there is the ongoing opportunity to provide your thoughts or feedback to the panel, and I know groups of staff are preparing this now – thank you! We also have the project room and Padlet available for anonymous ideas sharing, too.  The panel are working to an end-of-August timeline, to have a first draft of their report ready for us to receive.

You may have picked up that I am currently reporting direct to the VC, with Ian being on medical leave for the next couple of months. I had my first one-on-one with Cheryl earlier this week and found her interested in and engaged with both the Library and the review process.  Great to see!

I hope you all have a safe, happy and very restful day tomorrow, and weekend ahead.
Mānawatia a Matariki!
Kat