Total hours spent at site: 19.75
Dates at site: 3rd, 4th & 5th of March
3rd March 2020 (approx. 7.25 hours)
8am-9am (1hr): Induction to library site with manager, which included:
- Orientation of premises
- Discussion of evacuation procedures
- Meet and greet with library staff
9am-10.15am (1.25hr): Discussion of content acquisition and access with officer (purchasing):
- Discussion of the roles/responsibilities of the acquisitions officer (purchasing)
- Discussion of budgets
- Discussion of acquisition of new and ongoing subscriptions
- Process of analysis in order to justify purchases
- Discussion of operating system Alma and the process in which subscriptions and one off text orders are developed and paid for.
- Statistics analysed in order to understand the cost effectiveness of renewing or not renewing subscriptions.
10.15am-11.15am (1hr): Discussion of content acquisition and access with officer (cataloguing):
- Discussion of the roles/responsibilities of the acquisitions officer (cataloguing)
- Discussion of process of cataloguing
- Discussion of MARC records
- Demonstration of cataloguing process
- Completed cataloguing of process of newly acquired texts
11.15am-12.15pm (1hr): Discussion of content acquisition and access with officer (student requests for purchase):
- Discussed the analysis of statistics in order to support these processes.
- Was shown the Alma program for patron driven acquisitions and also for evidence-based acquisitions.
- Met with another content acquisition officer who focuses on student requests for texts to purchase in the library.
12.15pm-12.35pm (0.25hr): Lunch
12.35pm-1.30pm (approx. 1hr): Discussion with ordering manager, which included:
- Spoke with ordering manager who is responsible for ordering texts and also checking access to the texts once acquired.
- Required to problem solve in order to fix access issues (MARC records).
- Discussed the role of collaboration between order context acquisitions officers and also with publishers and venders in order to access texts and also rectify issues around access.
- Demonstration of the processes whereby ordering manager utilises EBSCO for finding and verifying information surrounding texts that have catalogue or Marc issues.
1.30pm-2.30pm (1 hr): Discussion with interlibrary loans officer, which included:
- Spoke with the interlibrary loans officer and talked through the process of how students can request texts from other libraries or portions of electronic texts according to copyright laws.
- Demonstration of process of identifying texts after abstracts were given in order to know what text to order.
- Demonstration of process of recording such interlibrary loans and the returns process back to the lending institution.
- Demonstration of communications process between student and interlibrary loans officer.
2.30pm-3.30pm (1hr): Meeting with two library assistants (one formally trained as a TL)
- Discussion and demonstration with the library assistants regarding lending and returns processes.
- Discussion and demonstration with the library assistants regarding referencing and copyright guidelines, and the process required for creating library displays.
- Worked with the library assistant (formally a TL) to brainstorm ideas for upcoming library display.
4th March 2020 (approx. 6.5 hours)
9am-11am (2hrs): Meeting with two student support officers, which included:
- Spoke with two student support officers who assist students with the interpretation and deciphering of assignment tasks and information literacy.
- Digital literacy: Met three student support staff members and discussed issues surrounding student literacy and engagement.
- Discussed the strategies that are in place to help students succeed and also to retain students. Explored the concept the student support officers are not able to provide information regarding subject content, but can instead assist students in understanding the requirements of their assessment tasks.
- Discussed how resources are student resources are created and released to the online platform. Explored the idea of how such resources are designed to build student confidence and a feeling of capabilities in relation to their assessment requirements.
- Discussed ideas of what could be added to a school library website in order to reach a greater range of students.
11am- 12.00pm (1hr): Meet with the entire students support services team across three campuses via zoom, which included:
- Introductions as well as further discussion around the role of these staff.
- Listened to discussions around student areas of need and ways that this could be addressed by student support staff.
- Listened to functional and logistical strategies in order to assist students.
- Brief discussion of how staff reach a greater number of students and improve engagement levels.
12.05pm-12.35pm (0.5hr): Lunch
12.35pm-1.30pm (approx. 1 hr): Discussion with student relations officer, which included:
- Exploration of the resources created by students relations officer.
- Discussion surrounding the need for resources for the maths/science faculties within this university.
- Discussed the most common areas of need that students have identified, and the process that the officer is following in order to address this issue.
- Went through the process of Zoom access to students who operate online.
1.30pm-2.30pm (1hr): Met with a Data Quality and cataloguing officer, which included:
- Discussion about how her role as a quality and cataloguing officer affects student access to online resources through the library catalogue.
- Observed and then edited cataloguing information under the guidance of the cataloguing officer.
- Observed the resolve of access issues (MARC records).
2.30pm-3.15pm (0.75hr): Met with a liaison librarian, which included:
- Discussed her role as liaison librarian between the library and the arts and science/maths faculties.
- Discussed how her day consists of assisting researchers within the faculties with their library related questions regarding resource acquisition and information gathering.
- Discussed the changing face of the library space and the resulting issues with equity and access with online formats.
- Discussed the future of libraries and the need for skilled librarians to be present within the library space.
- Discussed ways to improve information literacy, and the need for such assistance within the school library context.
3.15pm-4.30pm (0.75hr): Engaged with student support officers based within the science and maths faculties, this included:
- Participation in and engagement with an online zoom tutorial with students which aimed to assist with assessment preparation.
- Discussed topics such as time management strategies, how to deal with procrastination, and how to prepare for exams and assignments.
- Brief information of where to find resources was discussed, as well as how to deal with exam stress.
5th March 2020 (approx. 6 hours)
9am-12.00pm (3hrs): Assisted library staff with the makerspace area, which included:
- Assisting students with the use of technology in order to create items.
- Assist students with how to use the 3D printer and screen printing.
- Built and coded robotic items using Arduardo coding software.
- Discussed and viewed plans for expansion of the makerspace area.
- Discussed university initiatives in order to promote greater uptake of the makerspace and technology engagement around the campus.
- Spoke about innovations currently being designed and moving in to further stages of implementation.
- Spoke about the future of the makerspace area and concept as a valuable learning space.
12pm-12.30am (0.5hrs): Experienced a zoom session with a Health science librarian and her psychology honours students, this included:
- Assisted the student with searching journals by constructing search strings using Boolean phrases.
- Helped the student in relation to creating a search record.
- Provided suggestions of which journals are suitable for her purposes, and the method of utilising reference lists to consolidate research.
- Librarian discussed the process of how to use excel in order to compile a database of research records. The process described the compilation of data that included search strings and the relevant Boolean phrasing.
12.30pm-1pm (0.5hr): Lunch
1.00pm-3.30pm (2.5hrs) Student support services researching and referencing tutorial:
- Participated in a session designed to inform students on research topics related to research and referencing.
- Assisted students in how to use the university library site to find sources and include them correctly within their assignment tasks.
- Assisted students with creating search strings.
- Assisted students with how to use the library website to search journals, and how to students can refine searches.
- Assisted students with how to use End Note for compiling references and citations.