UConn Library
Staff News
The Winter Solstice is scheduled for Friday, December 20th so mark your calendars. There will be a ‘Martha’s Mashup’ at noon, followed by a staff appreciation event. We are looking for volunteer planners so if you are interested in joining in on the fun, let Jean know
The events list on the main page of Ibis has been updated for the coming semester. It’s a great place to go if you are looking to schedule something and you don’t want to conflict with another library sponsored event. If you have an event you don’t see there and would like it listed, you can add it yourself or send the information to the Public Outreach Team.
From the end of the spring semester to the end of August, the Trecker Library staff conducted processes leading to the removal of about 11,000 books with about another thousand to be boxed this semester. All of this work will free up the space needed by the campus.
This week was a busy one for Carlo and his guitars. News of the exhibit was found in three new places:
WILI – He did an interview this Friday, August 23rd with Wayne Norman. You can see some great images and the interview here. Check it out – he sings!!!! Totally worth it!
We also spied it in the Journal Inquirer on Monday the 26th. And, it was found in the Football program on Thursday.
Phew!
You probably saw earlier this week and idea that Joel put into motion.
Inspired by Char Booth’s button making initiative at Claremont, he thought it would be fun to have a “make your own button” table in the library for the first week of classes. The Public Outreach Team had just enough funds at the end of last year to purchase the maker for the Library.
The free button making was run Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 12-3 in the main entrance to Babbidge. Volunteer staff and students manned the table, allowing for folks to make buttons from pre-made designs (courtesy of Joelle) or they could design their own.
And in typical UCL fashion, statistics were taken, and a total of 196 buttons were made.
So now that Joel and Joelle have been dubbed by the Public Outreach Team as our resident button makers, you are welcome to stop and ask them how it went. If you are interested in using the button maker, let Jean know.
The best laid plans…..
So, as you are aware from our weekly “chats”, things progressed in our summer flooring renovation much slower than originally anticipated. As a result, they are still with us. We are working with them on parameters that are different now to try and balance the need to keep them moving on the project, but not disrupt the usage of the building during the busy semester. We realize that there are still inconveniences, but the tradeoff is that we will get through this project. So where are we now?
Levels 2 & 3 Lobbies – they have been completed. (Terry, we reminded them yesterday of the thresholds for your doorways, hopefully they will be on that today if not done already)
Administrative Offices – the scheduled completion is today. We will be on target to start moving back in on Tuesday & Wednesday.
Levels 1 & 2 Bathrooms – If they are not yet, they will be open today. The final piece was getting the toilet paper holders on and that was being done yesterday afternoon when I left.
Elevators – the flooring is done and the elevators are back in service. They still need to apply the base but I’m sure you will agree they look great!
What’s next:
Basement Bathrooms – They will be demo’ing those starting next week. Yes, that will mean noise but there isn’t much of an option around this other than a bit of patience. They will also be working on the Director’s Office bathroom.
Class of ’47 – They will start carpeting in there on Tuesday.
Those areas are the last of the main areas that they will be working on until December break. They have a lengthy punch list of items that need working on that we will continue to push for work on throughout the semester but it should not close down any major spaces. December break will see the main stairway, Husky Tech office (this was missed), and the entrance mats for both the South and the West entrances.
If you have any questions, let me or Dave know.
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
Jean
All Things Research will be starting this fall, written by the subject librarians. They will be providing research tips and tricks, as well as news about their services.
We have been working on updating the Babbidge floor maps for the new year and it seems that there are pockets of different maps, with different snapshots in time all throughout our website, some as far back as 2009. So in consultation with Dave Hicking, we will be creating a single folder of maps in the root folder of the website to allow all staff to have access to updated maps. Before we delete all of the old maps, we would like to try and minimize broken links so if you control a webpage that includes a map, please move it to \\files.lib.uconn.edu\WebSites\staging\lib.uconn.edu\maps by September 30th and update your link. If you are linking to a map that needs updating, please let me know. Regional folks, if you have maps that you would also like to store there in a central location, you are more than welcome to do so.
If you have any questions, you can ask Jean or Dave Hicking.
Thanks for your help!
It’s been about a month since we told you about the plans to relaunch vPC as SkyBox, and the SkyBox team wanted to update you on what we’ve been working on.
The Student Digital Advertising Agency (Ation) from the Digital Media & Design Department has been hard at work developing marketing materials, finalizing the website, and working to establish the SkyBox brand at Storrs and all of our Regional Campuses. Beginning this week you might notice some of the columns on Level 1 being painted – this is part of the Ation team’s plan to rebrand the two Information Café’s with the SkyBox look and feel. If you haven’t seen the new look, check it out
The SkyBox website is also nearing completion, and you can get a sneak peek over at http://skybox.uconn.edu/. You will be able to get a feel for how SkyBox will be marketed, and there’s even a short video that Ation put together. Please note that some of the links are broken, and some information on this page will change, so please don’t share this outside of the Library just yet!
Finally, a new name and logo means that all of our existing signage needs to be changed. If you’re at a location that might need new signage or printed materials, please visit http://support.lib.uconn.edu and make a ticket under ‘Signage Requests’.
If you have any questions or concerns about the SkyBox rebranding, please don’t hesitate to ask! Our contact for the team is Dave Hicking.
The University’s department of Environmental Health & Safety received a request to do an air quality test in Babbidge and contracted with TRC Solutions out of Windsor, CT to do so. TRC preformed an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Assessment of Levels B and 1. The test on July 3rd included “visual and olfactory observations, total respirable dust air sampling, baseline IAQ parameter measurements of temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide; as well as the qualitative mold spore air and surface sampling.” The summary findings indicated the air handling and filtration system is working very well, and there are minimal or “rare” instances of fungal spores in the air and on surfaces. They believe that the new filtration system with its backup filters and cleaning of the ductwork done during the 1998 renovations is the main reason that this facility is performing well and that the air quality in Babbidge Library is one of the cleanest on campus. There were a few recommendations dealing with standing water near the air handling units that will be addressed with facilities.
There was some questions from staff about stack and general facility maintenance (dusty ceiling vents, shelving, etc.) and EH&S suggested that this is consistent with many buildings on campus and the dust did not create any elevated airborne dust levels. However, she did suggested that it would be appropriate for us to address these to prevent the eventual redistribution of the dust into the air of the library. Dave will be contacting Dave Loetrek, from University Building Services and GCA (the University’s’ cleaning service) to discuss the options going forward with this.
The full report is available for anyone interested.