Dates for LCCOS Senior Management Team (SMT) Surgeries Sept 25 – Jun 26

Being part of a large and complex department can be challenging wherever you sit in the structure in terms of communication, and it is really difficult to make sure everyone feels that they know what is going on and how they can engage with both ongoing work and the future development of the department.

As a department we are continuing to work to improve our internal communications and this has included the recent launch of the LCCOS Communications Strategy 2025-27 which was developed with consultation across the department.

The LCCOS intranet site has loads of new content and responsibility for specific areas of work has been devolved to relevant sections to take ownership and ensure information is as current as possible. The About Us pages are particularly helpful in understanding how the department is run and is where you will find team profiles, the staff directory, lists of committees etc.

The first two meetings of the new LCCOS Staff Experience Committee took place in May and July and it will continue to meet every couple of months.  It is starting to identify priorities including an action plan following the recent UCL Staff Survey, how we can  foster a strong sense of belonging for new starters, and how to get better at  celebrating staff achievements across LCCOS. 

As a first step, SMT Surgery feedback will be added as a standing item to the group’s meeting agenda.  Notes from the meetings can be accessed via the Staff Experience Committee page on the intranet – scroll down to the Our Meetings heading at the bottom of the page.

Meeting notes can only be shared once they have been confirmed by the Committee as accurate, so the published notes are always one meeting behind (if not available already, notes from the May meeting will be shortly).

SMT Surgeries

In addition, a small working group has been established to review how we record, monitor and disseminate actions relating to issues raised at the monthly SMT Surgeries to ensure that participants are kept updated and that (where appropriate) this is also shared more widely across LCCOS.

Finally, this year’s SMT Surgeries have now all been scheduled. They are an opportunity to engage directly with senior managers, raise issues and ask questions but please do make sure that you speak to your Line Manager first if your feedback is of a personal/sensitive nature or relates to another colleague or Library user.

You can attend on your own account, as a representative of a group or team, or come along in small groups.
Surgeries are normally via Teams, but please feel free to request face-to-face if you prefer and we will do our best to accommodate it. The times and dates below all fall between 10 am and 4pm, but we can arrange surgeries for colleagues who work evenings and weekends – please email me directly (rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk).

You are welcome to directly contact any member of SMT any time – and there is an online SMT Feedback form which includes an option to submit anonymous feedback.

Dates are scheduled as below. Please email the named person to book as indicated. There will be a monthly reminder via the lccos-allstaff@ucl.ac.uk mailing list.

12 Sept 10 – 11: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Margaret Stone (Director of Digital Services and Service Improvement) – email margaret.stone@ucl.ac.uk

16 Oct 2 – 3: Paul Ayris (Pro-Vice-Provost, UCL LCCOS) & June Hedges (Director of Liaison and Support Services; Deputy Director of Services) – email j.hedges@ucl.ac.uk

10 Nov 11 – 12: Peter Dennison (Director of Customer Service) & Rozz Evans (Head of Collection Strategy) – email rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk

16 Dec 3 – 4: Kate Cheney (Director of Site Library Services) & Andy Pow (Head of Finance, LCCOS) – email a.pow@ucl.ac.uk

13th Jan 2 – 3: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Sarah Jillings (Head of Museums & Cultural Programmes) – email s.jillings@ucl.ac.uk

9th Feb 11 – 12: Sarah Aitchison (Director of Special Collections) & Karen Jeger (Head of Collection Services) – email k.jeger@ucl.ac.uk

20th Mar 11 – 12 : Peter Dennison (Director of Customer Service) & Becki Bashan (Head of LCCOS Learning Spaces, Facilities and Safety) – email r.bashan@ucl.ac.uk

14th Apr 10 – 11: Kate Cheney (Director of Site Library Services) & Lara Speicher (Head of Publishing) – email l.speicher@ucl.ac.uk

14th May 11 – 12: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Rozz Evans (Head of Collection Strategy) – email rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk

17th Jun 2 – 3: June Hedges (Director of Liaison and Support Services; Deputy Director of Services) & Sarah Aitchison (Director of Special Collections) – email s.aitchison@ucl.ac.uk

17th Jul 11 -12: Margaret Stone (Director of Director of Digital Services and Service Improvement) & Peter Dennison (Director of Customer Service) – email p.dennison@ucl.ac.uk

We are pleased to announce the launch of the first LCCOS Communications Strategy. This follows a period of consultation across LCCOS and we are grateful to all who helped shape the strategy. It aims to celebrate, share and expand existing best practice, develop new communications resources and processes, and support the wider LCCOS Strategy.

On the Comms Strategy pages on the LCCOS Intranet, you can read the comms goals and enablers under each strategy theme and some examples of how these could be delivered. There are a number of common activities which will serve several of the themes.

In the coming weeks, the LCCOS Comms Team will begin implementing the strategy, working with teams across LCCOS. Early focus will be on defining the Comms Team offer, moving forward with opportunities for student-led comms, and developing our departmental capacity for video-first communications.

 

Dear LCCOS Staff,

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming UCL200 capital works project, part of the UCL Estates Strategy. UCL’s aim is to enhance the campus experience for everyone who works, studies and visits here. The first phase of these projects, led by UCL Estates, will start ahead of 2026, introducing new initiatives focused on accessibility and sustainability. These changes will benefit students, staff, and visitors in the main central spaces of UCL. Additionally, the improvements will support exceptional events and engagement opportunities, enhancing infrastructure and creating multi-functional areas. The works include enhancing the Main Quad, improving functionality and community space in the Wilkins Building and enhancement and partial pedestrianisation of Gordon Street. Works will commence in January 2025.

Key Updates and Impacts:

• Art Museum Relocation: the Art Museum is being relocated to IAS rooms G17/G19, in the South Wing of the Wilkins Building, to facilitate the building works.
• Object-Based Learning Laboratory: this facility will be relocated to the Garden Room for the duration of the works.
• Main Library Entrance: the entrance to the Main Library will be temporarily moved to the first-floor South Junction entrance, following work to adapt the space to accommodate security and library membership.

Timeline and Preparations:

• Start Date: the building works are scheduled to begin in early January. While we are still finalising the timeline, our teams are diligently preparing for these changes.
• Signage and Re-routing: we are working on clear signage and rerouting plans for our users, including those visiting the museums, the Object-Based Learning Lab, and the Main Library.
• Providing alternative office space to displaced staff who will be moving into the Main Library.
• End date: all works should be complete by December 2025.

Important Information:

• Access Restrictions: from January, access to the Cloisters, the Octagon, the Main Library entrance, and the Object-Based Learning Lab will be closed. Please consider alternative access routes when planning activities or creating printed directional materials.
• Disruptions: there may be disruptions due to noise, dust, and other impacts of the building work starting from 06 January. It might be necessary to direct library users to alternative facilities during this time.

We understand that these changes may cause some inconvenience, but we are confident that the end result will be worth it. Once the contractor is in place and we have a detailed program of works, we will provide more information.

If you have any concerns, please contact Jay Woodhouse or Rebecca Bashan.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this time of change!

Please feel free to share this information with service stakeholders.

Being part of a large and complex department can be challenging wherever you sit in the structure in terms of communication, and making sure everyone feels that they know what is going on and to be able to engage with both the ongoing work and future development of the department.

We have worked hard on this over the last couple of years and hope that things are improving.  For example, effort has been made to ensure colleagues across the department have had the chance to feed into the development of the LCCOS Strategy 2024 – 2027.

The LCCOS Strategy LCCOS Strategy implementation plan is a living document and colleagues across the service are actively encouraged to suggest the inclusion of work that might support the delivery of our strategic goals.

The LCCOS intranet site is continuing to be improved and enhanced with new content.  It is a work in progress though, and responsibility for specific areas of work has been devolved to relevant sections to take ownership and ensure information is current and helpful.

The former Staff Survey Action Group is about to be relaunched as the Staff Experience Committee, with a new set of Terms of Reference and a wider remit for staff experience more generally – these will be shared shortly along with a call for members so do look out for that if you are interested in getting more involved in this aspect of work life!

The LCCOS Internal Comms group also recently reported on actions, decisions and next steps based on feedback received from LCCOS colleagues.

Finally, this year’s SMT Surgeries (formerly known as Leadership Surgeries) have now all been scheduled. These are an opportunity to engage directly with senior managers, raise issues and ask questions but please do make sure that you speak to your Line Manager first if your feedback is of a personal/sensitive nature or relates to another colleague or Library user.

You can attend on your own account, as a representative of a group or team, or come along in small groups.

Surgeries are normally via Teams, but please feel free to request face-to-face if you prefer and we will do our best to accommodate it. The times and dates below all fall between 10 am and 4pm, but we can arrange surgeries for colleagues who work evenings and weekends – please email me directly (rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk).

You can contact any member of SMT any time directly, of course – and the SMT Feedback form is another option.

Dates are scheduled as below. Please email the named person to book as indicated. I will be sending out a monthly reminder via the lccos-allstaff@ucl.ac.uk mailing list.

24 Oct:  10:00 – 11:00: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Rozz Evans (Head of Collection Strategy) – email rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk

27 Nov: 11.00 – 12.00: Paul Ayris (Pro-Vice-Provost, UCL LCCOS) & Sarah Aitchison (Director of Special Collections) – email s.aitchison@ucl.ac.uk

16 Dec:  11:00 – 12:00: Andy Pow (Head of Finance, LCCOS) & Karen Jeger (Head of Collection Services) – email k.jeger@ucl.ac.uk

28 Jan:  2.00 – 3.00 pm:  June Hedges (Director of Liaison and Support Services; Deputy Director of Services) & Peter Dennison (Director of Customer Service) – email p.dennison@ucl.ac.uk

28 Feb: 10:00 – 11:00: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Kate Cheney (Director of Site Library Services) – email k.cheney@ucl.ac.uk

26 Mar: 2.00 – 3.00: Paul Ayris (Pro-Vice-Provost, UCL LCCOS) & Margaret Stone (Director of Director of Digital Services and Service Improvement) – email margaret.stone@ucl.ac.uk

28 Apr: 11:00 – 12:00: Sarah Aitchison (Director of Special Collections) & Lara Speicher (Head of Publishing) – email l.speicher@ucl.ac.uk

27 May: 14:00 – 15:00: Andy Pow (Head of Finance, LCCOS) & Rozz Evans (Head of Collection Strategy) – email rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk

26 Jun: 11:00 – 12:00: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Becki Bashan (Head of LCCOS Learning Spaces, Facilities and Safety) – email b.bashan@ucl.ac.uk

As members of the Internal Communications Group, we’d like to thank you for sharing your feedback with us last year.

The following list summarises actions, decisions and next steps for a range of internal channels.

The group will stand down having completed its stated purpose. If you have any further questions or comments about internal communications, please contact Helen Carney, Head of LCCOS Comms.

You can view the current LCCOS Internal Communications Channels on the intranet.

Teams v. Email

Summary of feedback: Teams and email etiquette or guidance would be helpful.

Update: Teams guidance reflecting the feedback received in the survey was added to the intranet and shared with colleagues in January 2024.  Updates to email guidance will be coming in Autumn 2024 as part of work overseen by the Operations Working Group.

Focus groups

Summary of feedback: There was a desire for more structured sessions and more opportunities for colleagues to attend.

Update: This feedback has been taken on board for any future SMT-led focus groups.

Leadership surgeries

Summary of feedback: Varied feedback.  Small number of attendees but overall positive experience.   There is room to improve the feedback loop.

Update: This feedback has been taken up by the Staff Survey Action Group, who are looking into creating feedback loop communications (e.g. ‘You Said, We Did’).

LCCOS Staff News (intranet blog)

Summary of feedback: Mixed responses.  Some people liked the blog but the purpose was not clear to others.

Update: Group have developed new guidance for clarity on digital location of blog, remit and ownership.  We expect this guidance to be shared in Autumn 2024.

Peer Review

Summary of feedback: Generally positive feedback about building sense of community, but some criticism of length and uncertainty over remit.

Update: Peer Review Editorial Board have committed to reviewing remit, expanding the range of contributions from across LCCOS and reducing length where possible.

EDI Newsletter

Summary of feedback: Newsletter was welcomed by people who provided feedback, but the absence of a new issue was noted.

Update: Helen Carney has shared feedback with EDI Committee and will initiate a discussion with them.

Forum (UCL Culture)

Summary of feedback: People reported that they had found this useful and that it should restart.

Update: The Staff Survey Action Group have taken on board feedback and will investigate the possibility of developing something similar for LCCOS.

Departmental leadership email

Summary of feedback: A desire to hear more regularly from SMT was reported in the free text section, including via a possible news bulletin.

Update: Monthly bulletin from LCCOS Operations Working Group commenced January 2024.

Departmental Teams site

Summary of feedback: No targeted survey questions on this but free text comments were received about how colleagues wanted to use Teams to stay in touch across the department.

Update: The new Teams site was launched in June 2024.

The Internal Communications Group, led by Simon Bralee, was set up at the request of the LCCOS Communications Steering Committee in summer 2023 to consider ways to improve internal communications across the department following the creation of LCCOS and in response to new ways of working.

Effective internal communications are vital to ensuring that messages are shared as required and that there are clear feedback mechanisms in place. We want to ensure that it is straightforward for colleagues to know both where to send a message and where to find a message. LCCOS is made up of many different teams coming together, which all include pre-existing communications channels, and different working cultures.  Identifying ways to develop resilient and flexible channels that would help support activities to build a new sense of departmental identity and community in LCCOS was a major aim of the group.

In September 2023, we circulated a fairly detailed survey to find out how colleagues feel about how well we communicate internally in LCCOS. We received 112 responses which equates to roughly 25% of the department and we’re grateful to those of you who took the time to respond. The survey covered the use of both Teams and email, as well as the individual channels in existence across the department.

We are very keen to build a service around your needs and using feedback is a great way to check in and learn what is working, what isn’t working and what changes are required. However, it can be very hard to act on feedback. Sometimes there isn’t a consensus (pieces of feedback conflict with each other) or it isn’t always possible to act on feedback because of reasons out of our control such as the technical aspects of various platforms.

We carefully reviewed all the feedback, including the free text responses, to reach a decision on appropriate action. Where more information was required, we sought it via additional feedback mechanisms or user research. We also considered previous relevant pieces of work, such as  the review of SMT Surgeries led by the Staff Survey Action Group, to improve efficiency. We then summarised our findings in a report that went to the LCCOS Communications Steering Committee, which endorsed our proposed course of action.

Additional thanks are due to everyone who engaged with the feedback stalls during this year’s LCCOS Staff Conference, which helped us to develop a clearer remit for the blog and LCCOS intranet.

When considering the development of new channels, we also needed to balance the workloads of colleagues both within LCCOS and beyond, and to make sure that we as a service don’t duplicate effort. Seemingly simple channels, such as the new LCCOS All Staff Teams site, actually required a lot of work ‘behind the scenes’ to ensure the process worked seamlessly so that everyone could access it.

As a result of this work, we think we have made a series of small but significant improvements to internal communications in LCCOS.

In our next blog post, we will share an action plan, outlining the actions we’ve already undertaken and our next steps.

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD).The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than one billion people in the world with disabilities/impairments.

In LCCOS, we are committed to removing barriers that may prevent students, staff or visitors from making the most of our services. Ensuring all content that you share is accessible with the people who will use it is vital. You should anticipate additional requirements to make content accessible.

There are a few small things you can do. Let us know in the comments if you have any further suggestions, questions or comments.

1. Make your Microsoft documents accessible

It’s relatively easy to make Word and PowerPoint documents accessible by following a few easy steps:

• Use appropriate document headers.
• Add meaningful hyperlink text.
• Give every slide a unique title.
• Make sure slide contents can be read in the correct order.
• Add alt text to images.
• Check font size and colour contrast.
• Ensure videos are accessible.

When finalising a document, you should use the Microsoft Accessibility Checker which reviews documents and offers an easy way to make improvements such as adding alt text to images and checking content order on slides.

This is especially important if you are uploading the document onto Moodle as Blackboard Ally, will automatically create accessible formats from Word and PowerPoints, but the original document must be accessible.

Read more

• Make your Word documents accessible (Microsoft Help Pages)
• Make your PowerPoint presentations (Microsoft Help Pages)
• Blackboard Ally (UCL news article from 2019)
• Blackboard Ally-What it is, why use it

2. Use alt text

Alt text or ‘alternative text’ explains what an image is showing. It is read by screen reader software

You can easily add alt text to images in MS documents, on webpages and on most social media platforms.

VPEE recommend the following for writing alt text:

• Keep it short – just describe the most relevant aspects.
• Mention colour if it’s relevant.
• Include keywords appropriately for improved SEO, if relevant.
• Use proper nouns and names, if relevant.
• Use plain language and spell out acronyms.
• Skip writing ‘photo of’ etc.

Read more

• UCL Accessibility on Social Media Guidelines

3. Colour contrast / Avoid using colour alone to convey meaning

Colour is a powerful way to communicate and we’re not saying you should avoid using it, but make sure that colour alone is not used to convey meaning. For example, if you use ‘traffic lights’ or ‘Green and Red’ for stop and go, make sure the words ‘Stop’ and ‘Go’ are also included.

If you are using colours other than black and white, check the colour contrast. UCL provides guidance when using the brand colours. There are several tools for checking contrast freely available online.

Read more

• UCL Colour Palette
• Contrast checker tool from Web Accessibility in Mind.

4. Videos and recordings

When creating videos or recordings, you should consider alternative ways for people to engage with the content. Does it have clear audio and captions so that people can follow along?

This could also help people who aren’t able to play the audio or similarly are listening to a recording while doing something else.

Several programmes now have automatic captions. As anyone with an accent can attest these are not always accurate, but they are definitely getting better all the time. If you are uploading a recording, I would recommend checking over the captions just in case.

Read more

• 5 reasons why you should caption your video content (UCL VPEE)
• Lecturecast and other multimedia (UCL Digital Accessibility)
• Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint (Microsoft Help pages)
• Use live captions in Microsoft Teams meetings (Microsoft Help pages)

5. Avoid PDFs or at least make sure they are accessible

PDFs are not great in terms of accessibility. Screen readers cannot always read them and unlike most webpages they are not responsive, meaning users may struggle to read smaller text. I would encourage you to think carefully about whether you need to create a PDF. Often a web page or Word document will be more suitable for your purposes.

If you do need to create a PDF, then make sure it’s accessible. The easiest way to do this is to turn an accessible MS document into a PDF (making sure to check the ‘Document structure tags for accessibility’ option first).

It can be difficult to make a PDF accessible after this. You can add tags using tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro, but the more visual and complex the design, the harder this is to do. One solution is to share alternative file formats. UCL have done this on their strategy pages, providing a ‘glossy’ PDF and a plain text Word document of the same item.

Read more

• PDF documents (ISD guidance)
• Create accessible PDFs (Microsoft Help Pages)
• Creating accessible PDFs (Adobe Help pages). This is more advanced.
• Why GOV.UK content should be published in HTML and not PDF. An interesting blog post from the Government Digital Service outlining why PDFs are not great.

What support is available to staff and students at UCL?

• Digital Accessibility Services
• UCL Digital Champions Network
• UCL Library Services – Accessibility

Thanks to Paula Dale and Jonathan Fowles for contributing to this list. Please also check our social media accounts for related posts using #GAAD. 

Aside from obtaining a formal qualification (e.g. Masters / diploma / apprenticeships), there are several options available to LCCOS colleagues who wish to advance their professional knowledge, experience and skills. This can provide evidence for your expertise and commitment to professional development in the sector through attainment of a professional qualification. This survey will give us an understanding of the current status and future aspirations of LCCOS colleagues in relation to these qualifications, which will inform how we can best support staff who would like to work towards them.

To get a full picture, we kindly request all within LCCOS complete the survey by 12th January 2024.

All responses will be treated in confidence.

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Many thanks

Craig Martin, Subject Liaison Librarian
Angela Young, Head of Library Skills

 

 

We’re delighted to announce the latest series of dates for our regular LCCOS Leadership Team surgeries.

LCCOS Leadership Group Surgeries

These surgeries are just one of several ways that colleagues are able to engage directly with senior managers if they want to.

You can raise issues and ask questions about any aspect of LCCOS or how it is run.  Suggestions for improvement are also welcome. You might want to share things that have worked really well in your job or team that you would like to see taken up more widely. We are always interested in your ideas!

One of the most important things about working for LCCOS is that no matter what our roles we are united by all wanting to do the very best job we can and provide a service we can all be proud of.

It is also an opportunity to raise problems, but please do make sure that you speak to your Line Manager first if your feedback is of a personal/sensitive nature or relates to another colleague or Library user.

You can attend on your own account, as a representative of a group or team, or come along in small groups.

Surgeries are currently scheduled to run via Teams, but sometimes it will be possible to conduct them face-to-face. Please feel free to request this if you prefer it and we will do our best to accommodate it.

The times and dates below all fall between 9.30am and 4pm, but we are very happy to arrange surgeries for colleagues who work evenings and weekends – please email me directly (rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk) and I will arrange it.

Site visits and meeting attendance

Members of the LCCOS Leadership Group are also available to visit sites and join team meetings. You can request this either via your section head, or by directly contacting the relevant member of LCCOS Leadership Group if there is someone specific you’d like to invite.

Online Feedback form

Finally, there is an online feedback form if you prefer. If you put your name on it, you will receive a response, but you can also post anonymously if you are more comfortable with this.

Scheduled dates

Dates are scheduled as below. Please email the named person to book as indicated. I will be sending out a monthly reminder via the lccos-allstaff@ucl.ac.uk mailing list.

• 20 Nov:  10:00 – 11:00: Paul Ayris (Pro-Vice-Provost, UCL LCCOS) & June Hedges (Director of Liaison and Support Services; Deputy Director of Services) – email j.hedges@ucl.ac.uk 
• 14 Dec:  14:00 – 15:00: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Lara Speicher (Head of Publishing, UCL Press) – email l.speicher@ucl.ac.uk
• 17 Jan:  11:00 – 12:00: Andy Pow (Head of Finance, LCCOS) & Rozz Evans (Head of Collection Strategy) – email rosalind.evans@ucl.ac.uk
• 16 Feb:  11:00 – 12:00:  Margaret Stone (Director of Digital Services and Service Improvement) & John Maisey (Head of Visitor Services) j.maisey@ucl.ac.uk
• 19 Mar: 15:00 – 16:00: Karen Jeger (Head of Collection Services) & Peter Dennison (Head of Customer Service) – email p.dennison@ucl.ac.uk 
• 22 Apr: 11:00 – 12:00: Paul Ayris (Pro-Vice-Provost, UCL LCCOS) & Sarah Aitchison (Director of Special Collections) – email s.aitchison@ucl.ac.uk
• 22 May: 14:00 – 15:00: Martin Moyle (Director of Services) & Kate Cheney (Director of Site Library Services) – email k.cheney@ucl.ac.uk
• 18 Jun: 14:00 – 15:00: Peter Dennison (Head of Customer Service) & Michelle Wake (Site Libraries Manager and Senior Librarian, UCL School of Pharmacy) – email m.wake@ucl.ac.uk

Do feel free to email me directly if you have any general queries, comments or questions about the LCCOS Leadership Surgeries.