Out and about #csguk2014 #altc #sconul2014

During the last couple of weeks I have been at various conferences and events.  I enjoy attending events especially if they are one day. I'm not so keen on half days nor two/three day events as it is either too short to get involved or too long so an overload of information and networking.  But a whole day, in a good venue with nice refreshments and lunch and lots of interesting people presenting, is very appealing.  As well as finding out and learning about stuff, it's good to have an external reference point to place what you are doing in context.  It helps keep everything in perspective and frames developments.  For me, it is beneficial to talk to external people to share experiences and ask opinions.  It's equally important to have a 'safe' work place to come back to and a place that you can feel confident working in and share what you have learnt.

I attended the
Customer Services Group UK Conference #csguk2014
http://www.donlantechnologies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/customer-services-group-uk-conference.html

SCONUL Winter Conference 2014 #sconul2014
http://www.donlantechnologies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/sconul-winter-conference-2014-sconul2014.html

I also attended the Association for Learning Technology Trustees meeting in London at the Institute of Education.  I have been a trustee of ALT for the last four years and was on the FE Committee before that.  It is a great experience and has given me knowledge not just of learning technologies but also about policy and about committees.  It has given me the opportunity to meet and work with a variety of interesting and effective people.  

Reviews and staffing

A couple of weeks ago we had an Academic-Related Review of Information Services.  It involved a panel made up of external and internal people who interviewed students, academic staff and staff within the directorate about the services that we provide.  It went well, I think although we have not had the report yet so will wait and see.  A review is quite good really as it encourages you to focus on what you do and why and what the impact of the service is.
Last week I was 'out of the office' for a few days so am catching up this week especially as I'm out again Thursday and Friday.  More staffing and recruitment matters to sort out - requesting permission to recruit for an Information Assistant and changing hours and shifts for Library Assistants.
Trying to find a solution that everyone is happy with for chairs at the Library Service Desk - the problem is that they have to be suitable for a wide variety of staff to work at the desk and this means a variety of choices....  Meeting about support that we provide for the MFDs.

Tuesday - meetings, lost property and engineer visit.

This morning was the Academic and Learner Services meeting. It is a monthly meeting for staff in the Customer Services Team and in the Liaison Team. It is a summary of what is going on operationally and developments that are coming up. It's a good opportunity to keep up to date with what other colleagues are doing and to add a bit of detail to what we are doing in our team.
This afternoon had a meetng with Head of Security about lost property. We need to improve our procedures so that things don't get mislaid especially during hand over times especially as we have so many different teams and staff members. Anyhow he seems ok with my plan so we can start using that from next week.
A good thing that happened this afternoon was that the engineer from Bibliotheca came to mend one of our self service book kiosks. It had stopped reading the RFID tags so he replaced the reader inside the machine.

Monday - statistics and staff shortages

Mondays in November usually means that there is going to be a shortage somewhere. One of the admin assistants is off which means no lunch cover for telephonist so we have to cover from customer services. Actually it worked out ok as I volunteered and it was quiet so had an hour away from the hurly burly (and the steady stream of people coming to my office to ask me about stuff) and got quite a bit done. Plus read some articles about sustainable libraries.
This morning, collated stats - IT Helpdesk enquiries and Library enquiries.
Had a catch up meeting with my line manager and another colleague.
This afternoon, emails and weeding lists. Also trying to set up the online room booking system.
We had a last minute staff shortage this evening too....tomorrow's another day