Feedback from Management Meeting (3 Feb 2014)

Dear Colleagues

Below feedback from the Management Meeting attended on 28 January 2014

HR
There are currently 12 vacancies in the library.

These will soon be advertised.

Some of these are old positions that were left vacant and some are new positions that were created to support the vision of the library in an e-environment. The new positions include:
- Manager Client Services - which will assist to standardise processes between campuses and ensure that technology are used in the same way in all campus libraries.
- Faculty Librarian Research Commons - This person will be based on APK for now and will assist researches.
- Team Leader User Architecture

The MEC decided that no re-grading of positions will be done this year.

This year a workshop will be held for all staff regarding performance management.

 Finance
All operational budgets have been given through to line managers. 70% of this budget must be spent by June this year.

The final budget for Information Resources have not yet been received.

Vending Machines
All campus libraries will receive vending machines. These will be installed within the next week or two.

Store for devices
Talks have started to get a store for devices in the library. More info will be made available at a later stage.

Screens and TV's
All campus libraries will receive televisions. Technical Services will work with Client Services regarding DSTV packages for these.

Venues for functions
With the renovations, several venues for functions have been created. These venues will also be fitted with relevant technology needed for events. At this stage network point still need to be finalised. All venues will be locked and centrally managed and booked. The policy regarding the venues is in place:
- Can be booked hourly, half a day or for a full day

Stock taking
A central stock taking team has been established and stock taking has been completed at FADA. A report on the findings have been compiled and will be discussed with relevant stake holders in due course. 

Library IT
With the roll out of Ebsco EDS 80% of databases can be serched via UJoogle. However, before this can be done the latest version of UJoogle must be installed.

Patron records for staff are still a problem and duplicates are created during the download. IT is attending to this, but it is not an easy problem to solve.

Student patron records will be downloaded daily, as in the past.

Zastrau
All APK journals must change to DDC during the next 6 months.

Client Services
This year the library will again get tutors to assist with clients in the library.

The first year seminar is co-ordinated by Molefi and so far it is going well.

During the closing of the meeting, line managers were requested to remind staff are that if you have a meeting (training, etc.) which you are unable to attend, to inform your line manager accordingly. The line manager will then make alternative arrangements.

In closing:

Feedback from Research Commons Workshop (4 & 5 November)

With the strong focus of the University on research and postgraduates, establishing Research Commons in the library has become a necessity. The role out of Research Commons in all UJ libraries is supported by the university. It is in this spirit that the workshop was organised.

Prof Marwala mentioned that the university wants to increase research output by:
- Hosting international conferences
- Introduce research institutes
- Super post-doc fellows
- Increase the number of full time doctoral students

Prof Motala said that the many postgraduates enrol,but that the through-put is slow (this is a national tendency). They want to enhance the postgraduate experience. Researchers mentioned that they to to have a designated space where they can go to - therefore the support for the research commons.

Prof de Jager and Dr Darch (both from UCT) mentioned that before starting the commons, it is important to get input from research on what they want. A research portal can be used for off-site assistance to researchers. Intellectual magazines, newspapers, reference works and books on research methodology should also be placed in this space.

Lucia Schoombee from Stellenbosch University mentioned that the role of the Research Librarian differs from the Faculty Librarian, as the Research Librarian must be able to assist with the research process. The Research Librarian must also be able to assist with support in technology. A high tech environment with up-market furnishing is of the utmost importance.

The speakers offered the following advice:
- Establish a research commons that will address the needs of the research community
- Measure development and impact by giving concrete statistics
- Communicate with researchers
- Involve all possible stakeholders
- Make use of opportunities and make the most of these opportunities.

Meeting with VC on 29 October 2013

On 29 October I attended a meeting with the VC for all senior managers. From this meeting I would like to share the following with you.

The meeting started with the VC thanking staff for their hard work and dedication this year. He stated that the balance between work and family life is important and that staff should guard against neglecting family life.

The strategic vision for 2025 is: in pursuit of global excellence and stature. In line with this, the brand will change from current and hip to excellence and stature. By 2025 UJ wants to consistently rank in the top 400 universities.

Prof Rensburg mentioned that the following programmes did well:
- First year experience
- Success rates regarding graduate through put
- The flagship programmes
- We are acknowledged for model education
 - NRF chairs and centres of excellence
- Growing number of post doctoral fellows
- Growing publications footprint

Flagship programs include:
- Accountancy (CA)
- Transport and Logistics
- Information Technology
- Geology
- Philosophy
- Politics and International studies
- Mining and electrical engineering
- Radiography
- Optom
- Childhood education

In Reach and Innovation the focus will be on postgraduate studies and the impact of research. Their will also be a strong focus on innovation.

In the Teaching and Learning environment they want to increase the number of postgraduate students, as well as enrolments in science and technology. Academic staff will also be assisted in becoming excellent teachers. It was also mentioned that the staff qualifications program has been very successful.

UJ would like to establish the following research institutes:
- Earth Sciences
- Nano technology and water
- Process automation
- Pan-African thought
- Sustainability

In summary: there will be a strong focus on research and research output, as well as postgraduate studies.

Feedback from Management Meeting - 2 October 2013

The meeting started with Dr Bawa welcoming Nomoya Mahlangu, the new Director: Client Services.

HR
Antoinette Kampher is the new HR business partner for the library. She will be available in the library two days per week: Mondays and Tuesdays.

The training librarian (Linda Mbonambi) resigned.

Interviews for the position of executive secretary in the library has been completed. And Desiree has been appointed as Information Commons Librarian at APK.

Performance management will be done during October. Staff are again reminded that only staff who receive a score of above 3 will receive a bonus at the end of the year. All scores above three must be well motivated.

Staff are also to be reminded to use sick leave carefully. It only takes one accident or misfortune to take up all your sick leave.

All staff are requested to be mindful when using the Internet. ICS has reported that large amounts of data is being downloaded from staff computers containing music and movie files. Please note that this is not allowed!

Archives and IR
The digitisation tender process is going forward. The tender has not been awarded yet.

IT
Sierra will be loaded on all staff PC's. Staff must get to know the system as the switch from Millennium to Sierra will be done on 7 November. Staff who already have Sierra on their computers are requested to get to know the new version before the final switch on the 7th.

Display screens will be bought for all campus libraries. The content for display must be compiled by campus librarians.

Training
All training involving suppliers will be done from the office of the ACPC: Manager as from next year. This will included product training as well as demonstrations of new products. 

The Open Access workshop will be done on 22 October.

With the resignation of Linda, Nomoya will attend the first year experience meetings until an appointment has been made.

 In closing.........

 

Feedback from the E-Strategy Meeting - 21 August

This meeting is held quarterly and consists of Library Directors, Library Managers and Team Leaders.

Dr Bawa opened the meeting by giving feedback on the audit. UJ moved from De Loitte to KPMG. The number of red flag risks moved from almost 30 to only one. Other issues flagged were classified as minor. She reminded departments that issues related to them must be addressed with urgency. Team Leaders are to ensure that compliance according to current policies must be adhered to and enforced at all times.

Regarding leave Dr Bawa requested that staff plan leave in advance. Be respectful toward colleagues' position, environment and space when they are on leave.

Feedback on construction
At DFC
- The lab has been completed and students are using it
- Construction on the ground floor continues
- When finished, they will have a learning & research commons, 24 hour study area and discussion rooms.

At APB
- Currently re-cablling is being done
- The conference rooms and 24 hour study area are currently under construction

AT SWC
- The tender process for the research commons has started.

At APK
- No feedback as Santha was in a meeting with the builders.

Library Statistics
A large part of the meeting was used to analise current statistics (the presentation will be forwarded to you via email).

ACPC were requested to re-look statistics that are to be gathered.

Diversity Day
Staff must please participate in the diversity day celebrations on their respective campuses.

Feedback from Management meetings (29 July & 12 Aug)

In order to improve communication it was decided that management meetings will be held every two weeks. Herewith info from the last two meetings attended.

HR
As from 1 October a new HR business partner will be assigned to the Library. HR informed the meeting that from now on advertisements for vacancies will be send out monthly and no longer every two weeks.

It was noted that the KPA mid-year review was completed in all areas of the library. Managers were requested to remind staff that a bonus will only be paid (at the end of the year) for staff who receives a rating of above 3. Rating above 3 should be well motivated and approved at the consistency meeting.

Line Managers are reminded to manage leave for the last part of the year in order to ensure that services continue until the end of the year. Staff must please remember that long leave ( three days or more) must be discussed with the line managers before placed on Oracle.

The following staff resigned or retired:
- Yvonne Venter (retired)
- Precious Xaba (resigned)
- Jabu Radebe (resigned)
- Elaine Minnaar (resigned)

Interviews for a new Campus Librarian at APB has been completed and a candidate identified.

CONSTRUCTION AT ALL UJ LIBRARIES
All UJ Libraries are currently under construction:

At DFC Library the computer lab has been completed and the bottom floor almost done. A door will be inserted to connect the Archives with the DFC Library.

At APK construction has started on level two. ILL staff has moved to the old IT offices on level one and Santha and Vivienne to the ILL offices.

At ABP construction has also started. The cyber-center has not moved out of the library as they are still waiting for their new venue.

At SWC they are waiting for the tender for the research commons.

ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Staff in this department are currently working on a plan to increase foot traffic. The plan will also involve events to attract researchers.

The Archives and DFC Library will now work more closely together. DFC Library staff will assist with some of the services at the Archives. However, a few practical issues still need to be resolved before implementation.

ACPC
The issue of urgent orders were discussed. A meeting with Dr Bawa followed for further discussion. It was decided that urgent orders will be send out for quotion to all suppliers (with a 24-hour response). Orders will be allocated according the the speed of delivery and cheapest price.

DFC informed the meeting that there will be a Chiropractic accreditation in September.

Janina was requested to submit the info budget proposal for 2014. This was done at the meeting of 12 Aug.

AUDIT
The outcomes of the audit were discussed. Departments that had issues flagged were requested to address and rectify these issues as soon as possible. Feedback on developments must be given at the next meeting.

IT
Pieter reported that the migration to the new server has been completed.

Fada also received new PCs.

APB Library is experiencing issues will Internet access. This will be resolved soon.

Issues with access to two databases are receiving urgent attention.

TRAINING
A three day training seminar is being arranged in November. This training will involve research and research commons matters.


In closing......

The following info will be shared in this blog:
- Exhibition
- Progress on textbooks
- Progress on SAPnet
- Feedback from Management meeting (24 June)
- Staff news

Exhibition/Expo
The expo was held from 10 to 13 June. It started with a welcoming brunch for suppliers. Dr Bawa also had a meeting with suppliers on 10 June during which several issues were addressed.

The expo was well attended by library and academic staff from 11 to 13 June. We had more than 150 people attending, which is an average of about 50 people per day. Compliments regarding the organising of the expo were received from suppliers and UJ staff. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all ACPC staff who assisted - you did a great job!

To date 2 140 orders have been placed on SAPnet as a result of the expo - this totals to an estimated amount of R1 500 000.00. The cut-off date for submission of orders were today, but we are waiting for final confirmation to extend the deadline.

Progress with textbooks
Thapelo already received the final list for textbooks (prescribed books) for the next semester. Academic staff were requested to as far possible: prescribe e-books or open source material and also not to prescribe old and outdated resources. Currently 25% of items prescribed items is available in electronic format and 2% in open source.

In addition to this, students can now also buy prescribed books online. Links to inform students accordingly has been placed on the library web-page.

Progress on SAPnet
As from 1 June, all internal orders must be placed online via SAPnet. The compilation of prescribed texts will from now on will also be done on SAPnet. I would like to thank Johannie and Thapelo for all the training and hard work they have put in in order to get this system up and running.

Should you received any questions regarding SAPnet, please refer clients as follows:
- Internal ordering: Johannie
- Prescribed text: Thapelo

Feedback from the management meeting
The Management meeting took place on 24 June. It was chaired by Dr Bawa and attended by:
- All Directors (Charlotte Kunene acting as Director: Client Services)
- All Campus Librarians (Annelize acting for APB & Moiphone for SWC)
- HR and Finance
- IT and Manager: ACPC

HUMAN RESOURCES
An appointment has been made for Director: Client Services and the person will start on 1 October.
Reneka has been appointed in the position for Special Projects and has moved up to level 3.
Shortlisting for the vacant Campus Librarians positions at SWC and APB will be done this week.

WELLNESS DAY
This was held on 20 June and well attended. The meeting agreed that it was a good concept. Positive feedback was also received from staff. Staff mentioned that they enjoyed the event and benefited from it.

KPA's
The mid-year review of all KPA's must be completed by the end June. Line managers were reminded that during this review no scoring will be done.

REPORTING LINES
Staff are reminded that formal reporting lines should be followed with regards to communication. Line managers must report and communicate info to staff and similarly staff should keep line managers informed of relevant issues.

FEEDBACK FROM DFC LIBRARY
Construction has started at this library. DFC also started with stock-taking. Julia reported that the construction will not interfere with stock-taking.

FEEDBACK FROM SWC LIBRARY
A tender has gone out for construction at this library. They also started with stock-taking. Old PCs for students have been replaced.

FEEDBACK FROM ABP LIBRARY
Plans for upgrading this library has been drafted and will be discussed with Dr Bawa and Charlotte Kunene.

FEEDBACK FROM APK LIBRARY
Construction to accommodate information and faculty librarians on the different levels will be done during the winter holiday. This will also include the moving of books to make space for construction (no books will be moved from one level to another, therefore changing of locations is not needed). Due to construction and the moving of collections, stock-taking for this library will be done over a longer period than mentioned in the policy. Construction will also be done on level two (journal section). During this period ILL staff will move to the old LICIT offices on level one.

ARCHIVES
Dr Bawa will have a meeting with Archives and Special collections staff to discuss strategic issues. The opening of the archives has been postponed until the strategic focus has been determined and finalised.

IT
Central authentication has been completed. The move to Sierra is in process. An audit of logins have been completed. The time management for student computers are working well. TV screens will be placed at APK and DFC libraries - roll out to other libraries will be done at a later stage.

Clean-up of codes no long in use on the Millennium system will be done in 2014. This will impact on ACPC too.

LIBRARY VISION AND MISSION
Dr van Vuren presented the meeting with a draft proposal for a new vision and mission. This needs to be discussed with staff and feedback given to Dr van Vuren.

FINANCE
Credit/debit card machines have now been installed in all campus libraries. This means that students can now pay with cards at any campus library. Students will be encouraged not to pay in cash as minimising cash reduces risks. Cash payments will only be accepted for amounts less than R15.

Budgeting for 2014 will start within the next week. Please forward operational needs to your line manager.

Staff news
Phelo has resigned and will be leaving on 12 July. Phelo, we want to thank you for your contribution in the successes of our department and wish you all of the best in your new job. You will be dearly missed by all of us.

Congrats to Faith who received her diploma in Library Science! We are proud of you.

Desiree has temporarily joined us until end of July in a general admin capacity. Welcome back Desiree.

It seems fitting to end this post with a tribute to Mdu Madondo who passed away this month. He will be remembered as a proud man who made a true contribution to not only at UJ, but to the library profession as a whole.