HSL Access Notes - January 3rd

Hello Everyone,

Happy 2014!

A few notes to begin the New Year….

 

New Term and Term Loans

We have seen a number of graduate students at the desk this week asking why their term loan items are only renewing to January 31^st rather than the May 15^th term loan due date.

This will happen if their registration process for the new term is not yet fully processed in the system (ie. Fees not yet paid or not yet processed due to holidays), so their library privileges show as expiring on January 31^st.   Once the registration process is complete their privilege date should automatically update to September 30/14.  Their library items will not automatically renew beyond January 31, 2014, however the client will receive a renewal reminder 3 days prior to the due date.  I am pleased to follow up with any clients who would like additional assistance or information.

 

Student Assistant

I will be interviewing for a new student assistant next week to cover our Tuesday evening shifts.

 

Service Walkarounds

As another way to bring service to the client wherever they are in the library, staff at the desk are asked to do one walkaround during each shift to provide a helpful presence and offer assistance to anyone who might have questions.

Thanks.

 

NVivo

A doctor called in before Christmas asking about access to the software NVivo. 

The University of Calgary IT website does make available free software downloads to members of the university community with a valid IT Account, that includes Nvivo and quite a list of other software.  The full list, that also shows eligibility for faculty, staff and students is available at: http://www.ucalgary.ca/it/software/downloads.

 

Withdrawal of Vet Med DVDs

The decision was made late last year to withdraw Vet Med DVDs from the Health Sciences Library collection because, given the nature of these products, we could not ensure compliance with Canadian licenses and copyright terms.  A few examples would be: The Art of Equine Auscultation, the Glass Horse and The Glass Horse Equine Colic.

Please let Lorraine T.  know if you get vet professors who ask about Vet Med DVDs.

 

SharePoint on Service Desk Stations

Since the service desk workstations have not yet been upgraded, we have been seeing some odd file behavior when working with files saved in SharePoint.  ITS has provided this easy work around for the time being.  This will apply mainly to the student project files.

 If you are going to be working on project files that are saved in SharePoint at the service desk workstations, it is best to:

·         First open Word 2007 and/or Excel 2007 and minimize these windows on the desktop,

·         Then open SharePoint  and find and open the files.

The files should then automatically open in the 2007 version of the Office program.

 

Excel Resources

Chelsea shares some Excel resources that she has found helpful:

·         I most often references Excel Magic Trick #… videos through the Excel is fun youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ExcelIsFun?feature=watch

·         And sometimes MrExcel videos through Bill Jelen’s youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bjele123

·         I also sometimes find help through Contextures Inc. as well: http://www.contextures.com/

 

Sessions Next Week

The Photoshop, Xibo and Colourbox Toolkit session scheduled for January 9^th will likely need to be rescheduled – watch for more details so you don’t miss out on this fun and interesting session!

 

Outlook Tip

One Outlook feature that I like is the Autocorrect to help expand acronyms.   It is a great feature – I type AHS and it automatically expands this to Alberta Health Services and I type UofC   and it automatically turns it into University of Calgary.  You can create your own autocorrect rules to use this in many different ways.

Select the File tab: Select Options: Select Mail: Under Compose Messages click on Spelling and Autocorrect button: Select autocorrect options: then in the dialogue box fill in the appropriate fields.  Replace : type in your acronym or short form word With:  type in the expanded form

Would anyone else like to share on Outlook tip?

 

Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns.

Looking forward to an interesting year ahead at Health Sciences Library!

Mary

HSL Access Notes - December 17th

Hello,

 

A few notes for the week with holidays just around the corner........

 

 

Closed Dates in Sirsi

Information from Discovery Systems regarding Sirsi and holiday dates.

 In December we have library closed dates. In the system:

U of C is closed Dec. 21 to Jan. 5, so that no items will become due between these dates.

 

At U of C, since we are actually open Dec. 21^st to 24^th at noon, and then Jan. 2^nd to 5^th, there are some circulation issues to be aware of:

·         Starting on Saturday, Dec. 7^th, any DEFINITE or 2WEEK checked out items will have a due date of January 6^th.

·         All items recalled from Dec. 8^th through Dec. 24^th will be due on January 6^th.

On the closed dates:

·         Hourly loans must be adjusted at checkout time or they will be due on January 6^th.

·         Hold items charged to a "transit-to-branch" card may result in recall notices as they exceed the two week loan period with closed dates added. These can be ignored.

Some reports will be stopped:

·         the clean hold shelf list will be stopped after Dec. 21st so that the shelf gets cleaned on the 21st but then not until January 2^nd when we start the report again.

·         the on shelf hold lists will be stopped after Dec. 21st so that holds are pulled on the 21st but then not until January when we start again on Jan. 2^nd with a catch-up report.

·         The hold request lists to the LAS system (HDL) will be stopped after the 12:30 p.m. report on Dec. 21^st and will start up again on Jan. 2nd at its usual time of 1:30 a.m.

·         The 3+days old On shelf holds list will be stopped until Monday, Jan. 6^th.

As per the U of C’s request to shut off all equipment over the break, we will shut down the return chutes, the return-sorter, and all of the Self Checks including those in Gallagher and HSL.

 

Term Loan renewals

Term loan items will have a new due date of May 15th will begin January 3rd.  Clients who have term loan items charged out will receive several renewal reminder notices prior to the current January 15th due date.

 

Card Chart

I have sent an expanded client card/service chart out to all staff for feedback.  This has been added to the SharePoint site.  Shared documents>Circulation>

 

TFDL Phone Contacts

A reminder from TFDL of the Learning Commons phone numbers.

 

Main Service Desk:  (403)220-3730  Please call this number if you have an immediate question for Service Desk staff.  DO NOT give this number out to patrons, we are often not able to immediately assist them. 

 

Reference Phone Number:  (403)220-8895  Please give this phone number out to patrons.

 

Service in the Stacks

Beginning in the New year we will be asking service desk staff to walk around the library at least once a shift to offer assistance to any clients in the stacks, or at their workstations.  Watch for more details.

 

Printing at Back up Station

 

We have seen some UofC medical residents (in system as UofC graduate students, but who also have AHS badges that say student) recently using the back-up workstation and printer to access free printing.  This raised a good question - should residents who are UofC students but who also carry AHS ID badges have access to free printing?  Since residents can print health related information at other KRS sites, we  can allow medical residents to print free b/w work-related information (though this would not generally include school related papers) if they present their AHS badge.

 

We do not want to get involved in policing this service, however it is easier for both staff and clients if we are consistent with the information we provide.

Our standard back up printer information:

• UofC: While most UofC clients access print jobs at the Network printer using their Unicards, they are also able to use the back-up printer and pay .08 b/w and .39 colour using Unicard, cash or credit/debit card.  These costs for UofC printing are noted on the back up work station.
• AHS:  Printing is free at the back up printer for AHS staff work-related printing and .08 b/w and .39 colour for personal printing.  Staff should be able to show you their badge.
• Patient/patient family:  Printing is free at the back up printer for health related printing and .08 b/w and .39 colour for personal printing.

Hopefully the client will then be able to let us know which category they fall into.  While this is our standard information, I understand that there are always exceptions.  If staff are making an exception please let the client know so that it does not become an expectation on every visit.  Thanks.

 

HSL Staff Sessions/Meetings this week

 

Tuesday, December 17th:  Instruction staff session.  2:30 - 4:00

Wednesday, December 18th:  Service staff meeting. 2:00 - 3:00

Thursday, December 19th:  RefWorks presentation.  12:00 - 1:00

Thursday, December 19th:  EndNote presentation.   3:00 - 4:00

 

 

Outlook Tip

Too much junk mail from the same old senders?  I find that using the ‘ block’ email function works well.

Right click on the junk email in your inbox > select junk from the drop-down menu > select block sender.

 

With holidays around the corner we will be using our ‘Out of Office’ tool .  Click on File tab and select Automatic Replies button.  Create your message and set your dates.

 

 Mary

 

 

HSL Access Notes - November 27th

Hello,

 

I will be away this Thursday and Friday, so am sending out the notes a bit early this week. 

 

 

LCR Holiday Lunch

Wednesday, Dec. 4th 12-2 Gallery Hall, main floor TFDL

Accepting Donations to Food Bank

 

HSL/HKN/KRS Holiday Potluck

Thursday, December 12^th, 11:30 – 1:30 at Health Sciences Library. 

 

Viewing Commons Schedule

Staff can view the Commons booking schedule in their individual Outlook Calendars, but room calendars do not appear in webmail version.

A printed copy of the weekly schedule for the Commons is generally kept in the drawer where the wall cranks are kept (2nd drawer under workstation #2).  The daily schedules are noted on the signs outside the room and the wall is managed by the staff at the desk.

 

SharePoint

Some additions to SharePoint this week...

Student projects: Sites>HSL Student Assistants>Shared documents

Emergency call out document>Shared Documents>Communications> Emergency Call Out Tree

 

Staff Sessions and Meetings

• Lockdown Session:  December 3rd, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm  in 1459: 
• Attendees must register online at: http://www.ucalgary.ca/safety/lockdown_training
• We are trying to arrange student coverage so all frontline staff can attend
• HSL Communication Meeting: December 4th, 2:00 pm- 3:00 pm in 1459:  Please come ready to share some input on the following questions:

1. Provide information about the type of handouts you use, the type of clients and the situation?  For example what handouts are given to residents at orientation, or to new clients at the service desk?   
2. What type of communication tools do you think could best support or promote the work you are doing at HSL?
3. What would be the top 3 key messages about expertise, resources, services at HSL that we want to send to our clients?

Supplies

Please forward supply requests with product numbers if possible to TerriLynne by November 29th.

 

Housekeeping Room - Update

There was an overflow in the floor drain of the housekeeping room this week.  The room and affected rug area outside of the room has been cleaned and sanitized, but is currently blocked off for further follow up. 

 

 

 

HSL Access Notes - November 15th

Hello,

 

A few quick notes to end the week...

 

Communications

HSL Communications staff meeting is scheduled for Dec. 4th.  Have you provided input?  

 Hold Pick Up

To make our holds more visible for pickup they have been shifted to the shelving facing the main doors, essentially exchanging places with the newspapers.

 LINDSAY Access on Touch Table

There is a new way to login to LINDSAY Virtual Human on the touch table.  Click on the Lindsay Atlas icon on the desktop.  A UofC login screen will appear.  Login:  hslibr  password: libHs2..

Public Computer Login

We have noticed recently that more and more people are logging out of the public computers when they leave their stations.  If staff see a computer logged out, please log in so the computer is ready for the next client.  Since we can’t always catch these,  we have also placed the login information (lcr,info2) on each monitor frame to assist clients. 

Walkarounds

We have completed the campaign to flag unattended items in the library.  The bookmarks from security are no longer being printed and they received mixed reviews at main campus.  Thanks to all for helping to raise awareness about security issues in HSL.  We would like to encourage staff at the desk to continue regular walkarounds (once every morning, afternoon and evening on weekdays) to provide a staff presence and to offer assistance wherever need.

Desk

A few item, at the service desk have been shifted off the counter to try to improve visibility of staff at the desk.

Room Booking

Our room booking system is scheduled for an upgrade likely later in the month.  Stay tuned for more details.

Staff sessions

Two staff sessions coming up this week:

November 20^th 2:00pm :Touch Table with John Brosz

November 22^nd at 2:00 pm:  Art of Interviewing with Marcus and Mary

 

HSL Access notes - Nov. 8th

Hello,

 

A few notes to end the week....

 

 

Remembrance Day and Weekend Hours

HSL will be open through the weekend and open holiday hours on Monday, Remembrance Day as follows:

Saturday, October 12th:  10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, October 13th:  12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Monday, October 14th:  10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thanks to our student assistants who will be covering the holiday hours on Remembrance Day Monday.

 

 

Veterinary Medicine Sessions

Lorraine will be offering optional free search workshops tailored specifically to veterinary medicine graduate students on the dates and times noted below.   These workshops will cover databases and grey literature that is relevant to veterinary medicine topics.  Students can register by emailing Lorraine at ltoews@ucalgary.ca

 

Conducting Systematic Literature Searches in Veterinary Medicine

 

When:                 Thurs, November 14        10 am – 11:30 am               1460 B

                             Tues, November 19           9:30 am – 11 am                1460 A

                             Tues, December 10            10 am – 11:30 am             1460 B

                             Tues, December 17            10 am – 11:30 am             1460 B

 

POI Client and Cards

Persons of Interest:  Most new Persons of Interest (POIs) will pick up an Associate card at the Unicard office and appear in Sirsi as Blocknew.  The POI info doesn’t always transfer over fully from the system, so staff may need to assist in updating.  We see many of these types of clients at HSL and there are many exceptions.   Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns about a POI record.

POI clients are expected to use their Unicard barcode and pin to access online resources remotely (not their UCIT login and password that is also an option for student,  staff and faculty).

 

IM Chat

A reminder that IM chat is now being monitored at station #3.  The site is bookmarked in Chrome.

Login:  tbccinfo

PW:  tbccinfo10

If you are busy with a client or need to step away from the desk, please use the drop down menu to select away.

 

Periodical Shelf Reading Project

Chelsea has been coordinating a periodical inventory project that has involved all evening and weekend staff and students.  Many thanks to all for the many hours of detailed work.  The initial review of the shelves is complete with various follow projects underway to identify and troubleshoot discrepancies between the collection and catalogue.  The result will be an accurate periodical shelf list and more accurate holding records.

 

TAL

At a recent circulation supervisor’s meeting it was mentioned that a number of public clients have arrived at the service desk with their Calgary Public Library(CPL) card expecting to be able to borrow books since this is what they were told. 

·         Please remember that Calgary Public Library members can certainly borrow books at UofC but they first must pick up The Alberta Library (TAL) card at their home library.  We can then add a barcode to their TAL card and create a borrower’s record for them in Sirsi. We do have a handout that outlines these steps in the process for clients.  Please offer this handout  to interested public clients.  The handout is in the front of the TAL binder in the third drawer by the POS at the service counter.

·         Also, it is very important that staff place a TAL flag in each item that is checked out to a TAL client.  This ensures proper TAL processing if the item is retuned to a CPL or other Alberta library.

 

Doucette Education Library Borrowing

The collection at Doucette has limited borrowing for clients outside the faculty.  For example, textbooks and kits are limited to clients within the faculty.  Also, Doucette does not have on shelf holds.  If clients wish to borrow a circulating item that is on their shelf, they may visit Doucette to borrow the item.

Also there are further restrictions for consortium clients who may borrow circulating items on site for a two week firm loan – no  renewals.

 

Reciprocal Users

An update to the reciprocal users list:  Alberta College of Art and Design is no longer on the reciprocal list.  These clients should be encouraged to pick up a TAL card at their home library.

 

Events Calendar at UofC

There are often people asking about upcoming events they have heard about at the UofC.  One way to find these events:

·         UofC homepage

·         Scroll to the links on the  bottom of the page

·         About Us> Events at the University

·         Click on ‘Calendar’ in the red title bar and a calendar of scheduled events is displayed.

·         Past and future months can also be viewed.

 

AV Project at HSL

The AV project is proceeding in rooms 14554 and 1455.

 

Photocopy Prices and Scanning Option

In response to a client comment, a label with photocopy prices has been added to each public copier.  We also have signage on the photocopy table.  Clients inquiring about copying may also be interested in the scanning option that is free of charge.

 

AUPE

Watch for special offers for movie tickets and events.

There are also meetings scheduled over the next few weeks regarding pensions.

Information is posted on the staff bulletin board.

 

 Please let me know if there are any suggestions, concerns or comments.

 Have a great long weekend.

Mary