We’ll be completely rebuilding the VuFind/Library Catalogue index tomorrow morning, which means there will be a period where searching is either unavailable or will retrieve only partial results. We’ll aim to start the reindexing before 8am to minimise the impact on users.

We’ll add a notice on the catalogue homepage so that users know what’s happening.

Ngā mihi,
Donna
Library Systems

As noted in my Library All Staff Teams post earlier today, I’d like to thank everyone for taking time to welcome, meet, guide and kōrero with the external review panel so far during their visit.  They have visited all libraries, seen a fair bit of the wider campus, and will have an all-staff morning tea with you next Tuesday 27th June at 9am (210 in PJH).

The panel also invite all of us to provide additional thoughts and input in the project room (PJH 524A, next to Helen), via anonymous post-it notes. Please feel welcome to pop by anytime (the door is open when the panel is not based there) and share your post-it note thoughts for Challenges, Opportunities and Ideas.  Just had a quick look and can see things have been taking shape through the course of the day – fab!

Some updates to share from the Macmillan Brown Library, and ka pai to the team!

As part of the Archival Shelving Replacement Project, 300 linear metres of archives have been relocated to offsite store this week.  These collections remain discoverable on Kā Kohika with a note that the items are offsite but still retrievable. (There will be a slight delay in fulfilling requests as we need to give Archives NZ 24 hours’ notice.)

And amongst much ongoing mahi, the team has also been focussed on preparing collection items for loan to the Teece Museum for the UC150 exhibition at the Arts Centre (Whiria te tāngata: Weaving the people together – 150 years of College and Community’, Pūmanawa Community Gallery at the Arts Centre, 20 July-10 September 2023).  Archives, published works and artworks have all been requested for the exhibition, including the Apirana Ngāta bust that is located in Aotahi.

In other news, the winter solstice passed this week, which means we’re officially on the countdown to summer!  Take care all – there are still a raft of nasty illnesses doing the rounds.
Kat

All library staff are invited to join in on some fun in Te Rua on Friday 7 July!

Drop on by between 10-11 am to mingle with the whole team before the busyness of semester two really kicks into gear!

Te Rua staff will be putting on a bunch of activities to peak your creative interests, as well as answer any makerspace questions you have. Morning tea will also be provided.

This is the perfect opportunity to gain some insight into what Te Rua has to offer so you can help give recommendations to students or even make use of the space yourself!

Keep an eye out for the event invite appearing in your outlook soon.

Hei ākuanei!
The makerspace team

Kia ora koutou,

Children’s University are coming into Central Library next week for tours and activities.

Tours will be coming through on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 – we are hosting the activities on Thursday only.  Activities will be in Te Rua Makerspace – which will be closed to other visitors while we have the children, and a scavenger hunt/bingo on the 4^th floor.

Ngā mihi,

Isabella

We are getting a few questions asking how to reference  a set of newly published brochures on the Ako Aotearoa website. RESOURCE SET | Te reo Māori rerenga kōrero and waiata » Ako Aotearoa

John created an exemplar for this and it can now be found on the Education subject guide ‘Frequently cited’ page. Thanks John, it is appreciated.

Citing with APA – Education – Subject Guides at University of Canterbury (libguides.com)

It’s coming – just 4 days of exams to go!

A quick reminder that as we go into the Inter-Semester break, our hours will alter as below.

Monday 26 June to Sunday 16 July 2023

Puaka James Hight / Central
Monday to Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (open slightly later on the Sunday)

Engineering & Physical Sciences
Monday to Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: Closed

Macmillan Brown
No change to hours

Ngā Mihi,

Simon

CAUL is aware of complaints about Elsevier’s author submission page (should be clearer now), so happy to take any feedback you receive back to CAUL.

Kia ora koutou

Happy 150^th birthday to UC today!  I’ll try to keep this brief, as you may be off shortly to join in festive celebrations!

This week has been focussed on a few important themes.  We’ve seen semester 1 exam period kick off, and a ‘flash mob’ of eager students crowding around our library doors just before 8am each morning!

Many of us are working on preparing our Library CAPEX (capital) and OPEX (operational) budgets for 2024 – 2026.  Our information resources budget line is a particularly complex beast to wrangle, and I applaud the sterling efforts of the team to bring this to bear!

The revised and updated Terms of Reference for the Library Committee were approved at Academic Board last Friday, and so this morning’s Library Committee monthly meeting signalled the end of Assoc Prof Mike Grimshaw’s notable tenure as Library Committee Chair. Mike’s tireless advocacy and support for our Library over many years has been immense, and we thank and value his significant contribution.

And we are, of course, gearing up for the Library external peer review panel visit next week. There is a lot of organisation going on behind the scenes (or indeed, front and centre, in some cases!).  I appreciate all the efforts and energy afoot, and your collective patience as we bring it all together. Once finalised, and as mentioned in last week’s update, I’ll share with you the schedule of interviewees, who’ll be meeting with the panel members at some point during their visit.

Also as discussed at our recent Staff Forums, a reminder that this is such a rare chance to get our aspirations aired in front of an expert and receptive audience, to help them help us shape our way forward.

I thank you all for engaging with this opportunity, and know you’ll join me in in providing manaaki and a warm welcome to our wonderful panel, when they arrive onsite next Wednesday morning!  They’ll be visiting all libraries, and there is the all-staff morning tea on Tuesday 27 June, so I do hope each and every one of us has the chance to say “kia ora” and engage with them, at some point during their time with us.

For now, a safe and restful weekend all. There are a lot of winter illnesses doing their rounds just now, so do take care.
Kat

Kia ora koutou

Firstly, thanks to all who came along to either (or both!) of the two Staff Forums over the last fortnight. I appreciated the levels of attendance, and the flexibility for short-notice rescheduling when I was absent for a week due to sickness. We have attempted to record this week’s session, but in any case, we’ll collate a potted summary of the great questions from the floor and those received through Slido in advance, along with the answers provided and follow-up discussions that have taken place.  I really appreciated the energy and openness of our kōrero together and welcome such interactivity at all times!  It’s such a great way to air issues, share insights and collectively broaden our understanding on key matters. Ka pai!

I’m attending the monthly Academic Board meeting this afternoon and am hoping the revised and updated Terms of Reference (TOR) for our Library Committee will be approved there today. The former TOR dated to 2016, so were well (over)due a review.  The main difference and improvement, I believe, is the expansion of the membership from 16 academic and professional staff, to a total of 24.  In my view and as mentioned as this week’s Staff Forum, the UC Library Committee is a real gift, in terms of the commitment, energy, advocacy and support all members provide. The fact the Library Committee is a subcommittee of Academic Board is another notable positive – we are so often helpfully in the spotlight of Academic Board discussions, in relation to a range of issues (e.g. Open Access, space constraints due to increased student numbers, and how popular all our libraries are to visit). Such regular, enthusiastic and high-profile engagement is a real asset!

Also this week, we’ve been focussing on preparing a pack of key documents to share with our external peer review panel. As mentioned at this week’s Staff Forum, I’ll share the Document Index with you all, early next week.  Almost all the documents contained in the pack are available to us all to refer to and read at any stage, with just a few exceptions which are commercially sensitive and will shared directly with panel members (who have signed a non-disclosure agreement).

Once finalised, I’ll also share with you all the schedule of interviewees, who’ll be meeting with panel members when they’re here for their site visit later this month.

For now, a safe and restful weekend all,
Kat