- KPA's
- Feedback from the Circ Forum Meeting
- Charging bays
- Maintenance
- APK meeting with Dr Bawa
- How to win a laptop
KPA (Key Performance Areas)
As was the practise previous years, our KPA documents had to be revised, updated and signed. We all went through this process during the last two weeks of March. I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions in this regard. I am proud to say that by the end of March all KPA docs have been updated and signed. Good luck to all of you in achieving your goals for this year.
The meeting was held on 30 March at the Soweto Library and chaired by the current chairperson of the forum: Mdu Madondo of APB. During the meeting all Campus representatives reported that the blocking of students with outstanding library fines are going according to plan. Currently students with outstanding fines are blocked form:
- Receiving their exam results
- Re-registration
- Graduation
- Receiving their academic records.
During this year attention will also be given to the interface between ITS and Millennium in order to provide library staff with more accurate student data.
All campus representatives raised the concern about the incomplete lists for text books. The possibility of using SA Textbooks was discussed.
Circulation income and float management was discussed in detail. Spot audits have been done at all campus libraries and recommendations were made where necessary.
The meeting concluded with a discussion regarding April's resignation and tasks he had in the forum had been distributed to other members of the forum.
Charging bays
The university is currently investigating the possibility of providing students with a place where they can charge and store laptops and mobile devices. The Campus Librarian attended a meeting on behalf of Dr Bawa on 2 April. During the meeting the library has been identified as one of the areas where these bays could possibly be placed. In order to get an idea of what these bays look like and what they do, click on the link below:
http://www.lapsafe.com/
Maintenance
The maintenance of the library remains a thorny issue. This is mainly because the building and related equipment is becoming dated and the high usage of the library contributes to the maintenance issues. In order to start building a case for improvements, an audit was done regarding the number of people in the library as well as heat generating equipment. The results were forwarded to Dr Bawa.
Meeting with Dr Bawa
This morning APK (Client Services staff) had a meeting with Dr Bawa. This forms part of Dr Bawa's campus visits. It was decided that four contact sessions per year will be scheduled - you will be informed of the dates in due course.
During the meeting Dr Bawa mentioned that she has noticed how busy and well used the library is. She acknowledged that this places staff under huge pressure,but mentioned that it can also be seen in a positive light as it means that a case can be build for enhancing/extending the current facilities.
She also mentioned the big projects of UJLIC and that is, to establish a learning commons (for undergraduate students) and a research commons (for postgraduates) in each campus library. An architect will be working with the Campus Librarian and staff in order to develop a floor to floor plan to enhance the current library building and make better provision for the electronic environment. The rolling out of WiFi is still a priority and should be established in all libraries by August this year.
Improving communication was discussed intensively and during my visits to departments within the next two weeks will be discussed further. Should you have any suggestions on how to improve communication, you are welcome to forward it to me via email.
Concerns regarding the move of the archives and special collections to DFC were raised by staff and Dr Bawa responded that the lack of space on APK is a grave concern and the decision was taken against this background, combined with the number of students and staff on the APK campus.
Dr Bawa reminded the meeting that our core focus is to assist and support faculty and students.
How to win a laptop!
Need a laptop, but too cash strapped to buy one - why don't you enter the competition of suggesting a funky new name for the new catalogue? To enter, follow the link below and then on WIN. Suggest a funky new name and voila, you might just be the owner of a brand new laptop. The closing date for the competition is 18 April 2012.
http://ujlink.uj.ac.za/
No comments:
Post a Comment