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Archive for the 'User experience' Category

Facilities & Projects Team Blog – Student Centre Closed for Lift Repairs  

By Collette E M Lawrence, on 8 September 2023

Student Centre Closed for Lift Repairs

On Saturday 9th September 2023, the Student Centre will be Closed from 7.00am and reopening on Sunday 10th September 2023 at 7.00am, please be aware of this if you are directing colleagues and students to this space, and if you are within the building.

This closure is to enable noisy works to be carried out  and also allow the flood repairs to Lift 3 and the track guide repairs to be completed at the same time, finally reinstating lift 3 back into service.

We apologies for any inconvenience caused by these works and we appreciate your continued support and patience.

If you have any issues or queries regarding this, please contact the LCCOS Facilities & Projects Team. Our team information can be found at the following link Facilities & Project Team

Facilities & Projects Team Blog – Cruciform Building Electrical System Testing

By Collette E M Lawrence, on 29 August 2023

Cruciform Building Electrical System Testing

Some of you may already be aware, as this has taken place on some of our LCCOS sites already, we are currently working with Estates colleagues to carry out essential electrical testing across the UCL community. These tests are to ensure that all distribution boards, data facilities, electric circuits, power, and lighting are working correctly and meet legal requirements.

There are plans to carry out essential works on the Cruciform Buildings electrical systems on Saturday 2nd September 2023. This is to allow us to undertake these works, the building will be closed to isolate power to areas of the Cruciform.

 Please be aware that the Cruciform Building will be closed for the duration of the full building shut down on Saturday 2nd September 2023, and reopening, as usual, on Sunday 3rd September 2023.

We apologies for any inconvenience caused by these works and we appreciate your continued support and patience. If you have any issues or queries regarding this, please contact the Library Facilities & Projects Team.

Induction Insights 2023 – starting the countdown

By Angela Young, on 8 June 2023

The library Induction Working Group is excited to be planning welcome for new students to our libraries for the 2023-24 academic session, and in this series of ‘Induction insights 2023’ blogposts, we’ll be keeping you posted on what will be happening, how we can support you locally and how you can get involved in activities.

What will be happening?

  • Library induction stand at the Support Services Fair in the cloisters during induction week, Monday 25 – Thursday 28 September, and at the new Marshgate site at UCL East on Friday 29 September.
  • Face to face drop-in sessions for people to learn about Explore and accessing library resources throughout induction week.
  • Face to face activities during the week commencing 18 September to welcome international students to our libraries.
  • Online support materials, including our online library induction and self-guided library tours.

How we can support you locally?

Local, tailored inductions for students in individual faculties, departments or academic programmes, or at individual library sites, are vital to complement centralised activities and instil a sense of belonging. We have compiled recommendations on how you might deliver local inductions and what content to include, but you also might want to consider:

  • Joining the ‘Induction exchange’, an online event for LCCOS colleagues to share ideas and best practice around induction activities being delivered as part of the LCCOS Staff Summer School on Tuesday 4 July, 10.00-12.30 via MS Teams.
  • Creating an online self-guided library tour, if your library site does not already have one. We can provide guidance and support on the best format for your library to be ready for the start of session, from a quick guide to a video or interactive tour.
  • Offering activities at your library site to mirror those being delivered centrally, such as activities for international students or sessions to help students navigate Explore and online library resources.

Get in touch if you’d like to find out more.

How can you get involved?

To staff our exciting induction events, we’ll be seeking members for our Induction Taskforce. This is a great opportunity for anyone across LCCOS to get involved in meeting and greeting new students, and to develop your experience and skills. More information to follow in future ‘Induction insights 2023’.

Watch this space for more exciting updates on library induction.

Graduating Slade student sites degree show in UCL Libraries: Index by Adam Lazarus

By L ( Elizabeth ) Lawes, on 22 May 2023

The current Slade BA / BFA Fine Art degree shows include a work by graduating student Adam Lazarus in the form of a multi-location installation, sited across the Slade studios and various UCL Libraries.

The first part of the work is a library shelf mark screen printed on a studio wall in the Slade building*, indicating the precise location of a permanent installation in the Main Library in the form of an artists’ book which has been catalogued and processed as an ordinary addition to the collections. The publication itself indexes the titles and shelf marks of 84 books in various collections into which Adam has placed small ink drawings – place markers that evoke his interaction with the books during his time at UCL. For the duration of the degree show, visitors can access the Main Library and engage with the artwork within the space; they can choose to follow the trail to any number of the small drawings placed in the indexed titles. Library members will be able to interact with the work on an ongoing basis.

Adam says of Index: ‘The work pays homage to the library as a generative site, a sort of second studio for me, and thus bridges our histories before I depart from UCL. It encourages the nourishing searching and browsing which occurs in library spaces, a process which is becoming increasingly obsolete. The chosen volumes were compiled organically after I came across a list kept by the Library database of nearly every physical book which I checked out during my time here (omitting Covid,) a log of physical and metaphysical travels through the library.’

More by Adam Lazarus:

Adam Lazarus, degree showcase

Purgatories and Potentials: Mike Nelson’s An Invocation: 530 Books from Southend Central Library (dissertation)

* A duplicate screen print of the text “- -Index / Adam Lazarus, UCL Main Library Art Quartos MU 19 LAZ” can be found in the Main Library between ART KF 19 / KI 19 and ART KI 19 / KN 15.

Facilities & Projects Team Blog – Student Centre Fixed Wire Testing

By Collette E M Lawrence, on 19 May 2023

Student Centre Fixed Wire testing in June 2023

Some of you may already be aware, as this has taken place on some of our LCCOS sites already, we are currently working with Estates colleagues to carry out essential fixed wire testing across the UCL community. These tests are to ensure that all distribution boards, data facilities, electric circuits, power, and lighting are working correctly and meet legal requirements.

As part of the ongoing Estates fixed wire testing, the program has now reached the Student Centre.

From Thursday 1st – Friday 9th June 2023, the Student Centre will be having testing taking place, for health and safety reasons, and to try and minimise disruption to staff and students, due to sporadic loss of power and lighting please be aware of this if you are working in the areas of testing on the specific days.

In an attempt to try and minimise disruption for staff and students the F&P team have been working hard to plan these essential works with Estates and the contractors, HMC Compliance Limited. And have split the testing into floors and sections, as best we could.

We apologies for any inconvenience caused by these works and we appreciate your continued support and patience.

Contact us

If you have any issues or queries regarding this, please contact the LCCOS Facilities & Projects Team. Our team information can be found at the following link Facilities & Project Team.

UCL East: Marshgate handover

By Benjamin Meunier, on 22 March 2023

After a rather wet start to the day, the skies brightened up over the Olympic Park last Friday afternoon, just in time for the handover ceremony where building contractors Mace handed over the keys to UCL East’s latest addition – Marshgate.

View of Marshgate building. The edge of the London Stadium is visible in the right-hand corner, dwarfed by the cube-shaped Marshgate.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the occasion, which was described officially in the UCL News, where the significance of the milestone is described. I am taking this opportunity to share my reflections on the building and amateurish photos of the library and learning spaces…

Firstly, it is monumental – as described in the press release – “the biggest structure on any of UCL’s campuses, measuring six times the size of the UCL Student Centre”. It is very much a statement, right next to the London Stadium, placing UCL at the heart of East Bank – the cultural district that is intended as the 2012 Olympics’ legacy.

But size isn’t everything, of course. I was wowed by the grandeur of the atrium space, which even unfurnished and empty of students and staff, had a warmth and sense of conviviality you would not expect from an exposed concrete building. The main foyer will host public art exhibitions, to welcome and provoke visitors to the campus.

View up into the atrium, looking towards glazed roof

(more…)

Facilities & Projects Team Blog – Main Library Toilet Work taking place

By Collette E M Lawrence, on 7 February 2023

Dear Colleagues,

Please be aware that essential works will be taking place which will affect the water supply to the 2nd Floor toilets, just outside the Main Library space.

These works form part of the Estates infrastructure project, which will improve the hot water and heating supply to not only the Main Library and other LCCOS spaces, but to the whole of the Wilkins Building.

For these essential works to take place, rooms 278 & 279, which are the toilets on the second floor, in non LCCOS managed space, just outside the Gallagher doors, leading to Physics, from the Main Library corridor, 236, will be closed from Thursday the 9th February until Friday the 17th February.

Once this work has been completed the project will move to the first-floor toilets, 125a, 125b & 125c, on the same side of the building, which are within LCCOS space, dates to be confirmed. This will ensure that works do not run concurrently on both sets of toilets, these dates to be confirmed, later this week.

We apologies for any inconvenience caused by these works and we appreciate your continued support and patience.

If you have any issues or queries regarding this, please contact the Library Facilities & Projects Team. Our team information can be found at the following link Facilities & Project Team

CPD25 course: Supporting staff and students with autism and learning difficulties, 07.12.22

By Sharon A James, on 24 January 2023

Back in December 2022 Sharon James and Sarah Turk attended this online course. Below are their write-ups of the presentations.

First presentation, delivered by Clare Caccavone

The first presentation, “Progressing neurodiversity and making adjustments” was delivered by Clare Caccavone, Programme Director at Ambitious about Autism. This charity provides support, specialist education and employability services for autistic children and young people. Clare informed us that 56% of autistic children have been unofficially excluded from school, 4 out of 5 autistic young people experience mental health issues, and only 29% of autistic people are in employment.

Features of autism include difficulties with social communication, social interaction, routines, and sensory overload. To bring this to life we were shown a helpful short video in which young people with autism talked about stimming, a coping mechanism that helps with anxiety. It involves repetitive actions such as rocking, hand flapping, feet tapping, sniffing a scent or squeezing a hand toy. The video is from the Ambitious about Autism YouTube channel. We also watched this Sensory Overload video that allows the watcher to experience what it is like to be overwhelmed by everyday noise and confusion.

Ambitious about Autism are proud of a pilot they ran, the Higher Education Network, where they worked with 17 universities, trained over 100 employers, and enabled more than 170 autistic students to benefit from paid work. Aiming to create a more neurodiverse workforce, they are also working with five universities this year.

Finally, we were given some tips for when working with neurodiverse students and colleagues. These include:

  • In your workplace, notice what could present a challenge for others.
  • Provide advance warning of any changes, cancellations or closures.
  • Allow the use of self-calming strategies that are not harmful.
  • Use someone’s name before talking so that you have their attention.
  • Don’t assume what you have said is obvious; reiterate what will happen and why.
  • Allow more time for information to be processed.
  • Give staff and students any questions you have before meeting up with them.

I found this presentation very helpful, especially the practical tips. The videos were also informative and allowed me to better understand the experiences involved in being neurodiverse.  As a frontline worker I feel that this training will help me when communicating with all library users and colleagues.

Related link

Ambitious about Autism website.

by Sharon James

Second presentation, delivered by Daniela de Silva and Eleri Kyffin

The second presentation, “Inclusive recruitment practices at the University of Westminster, Library and Archive Service”, was delivered by Daniela de Silva and Eleri Kyffin from the University of Westminster Library. We learned about how they have transformed the recruitment process to make it more inclusive and support neurodiverse applicants.

When invited to interview, all candidates now receive a Recruitment Welcome Pack which includes the names and pictures of the interview panel, information about the team and post, interview tips and guidance along with the interview questions (or the topics for questions for senior roles). It was interesting to learn that feedback gathered from both the interview candidates and the interview panel members was on the whole very positive. Whilst some candidates found that having the questions in advance made them more nervous, the majority felt it was very helpful. The interview panel found that even with the questions in advance they could see the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, and follow up questions could be used to probe a bit deeper.

As a recruiter who sometimes feels that the interview process may not allow a candidate to do themselves justice, it was very thought provoking to hear the positive experiences of both the panel members and candidates at the University of Westminster. What I found particularly inspiring was that whilst this began as a way of making their recruitment more inclusive for autistic candidates, it actually could have the potential to make the process more inclusive for all. Definitely food for thought!

by Sarah Turk

Facilities & Projects Team Blog – IoE Master Plan 2023

By Collette E M Lawrence, on 19 January 2023

Below is important in formation with regards to Senate House Hub and IoE.

It has been agreed at very short notice to lend part of Senate House Hub to the IoE Masterplan team to use a staff decant space unit October 2023.

This plan was only suggested last Thursday and agreed on the same day with Senior Management approval.

The rooms being handed over 303, 304, 305, 307 & 308. These will house about 25-30 staff from the IoE who are due to be homeless. The Masterplan Team are hoping to start the moves on Saturday 21st January 2023. This may be held up by the ability for Access Systems to get locks fitted.

We have already requested that 308 student bookable meeting room be removed from the system. The remainder of the student space in the Senate House Hub, including bookable room 310 and 312, will be unaffected and remain open to UCL post-graduate research students and staff.

We will provide more details when we have them.

We thank you for your continued support and patience, but if you have any issues or queries regarding this, please contact a member of the team. Our team information can be found at the following link Facilities & Projects Team

Facilities & Projects Team Blog – Fixed Wire Testing-Science Library Shut Down

By Collette E M Lawrence, on 8 December 2022

Fixed Wire Testing-Science Library Shut Down

As part of the current fixed wire testing, and to incorporate these essential works, the Science Library will be closed from 21.00 on Sunday the 11th December 2022 and will re-open at 15.00 on Monday 12th December 2022.

This will allow the works to be completed, which includes the fixed wire testing on the ground floor and entrance areas, as well as a full electrical shut down of the building, whilst ensuring all disruption is kept to a minimum and safety of staff and students is a priority, the tests include the security and access gates, as well as high occupancy areas, including the mezzanine cluster and the teaching space, along with the loss of lighting

Staff will not be permitted to work in the building on the day of the closure, for safety reasons, however, please be aware that your offices will be available on completion of the shutdown, after 15.00.

All systems will be back up and running and the building reopened from 15.00 on Monday the 12th December 2022.

We thank you for your continued support and patience, but if you have any issues or queries regarding this, please contact a member of the team. Our team information can be found at the following link Facilities & Projects Team