Musings of an Academic Librarian

The following are various projects and ideas I had for the library that never took off, for one reason or another. GOBI (collection development tool) Met an EBSCO rep about this.  It sounded great but didn't seem like the library was big enough to need it.  And it would mean not needing Academy Books anymore as a supplier and they have always looked after us well. Library Link app Spent a lot of time getting the app up and running on my phone and changing the settings so it was suitable for the students to use.  It would have made it easier for students to keep track of when their books were due and do renewals. Spine label printer Lookeded at pricing for these - very expensive.  I would have argued for one when I started the job but didn't think about it till later and now that I've redone so many labels by hand (and quite neatly too), there seemed to point in asking for one. EBSCO Discovery Service (all inclusive search solution) Talked to ...

I wrote this in April 2019 for an NZQA monitor who was visitng us to read.  It  describes quite well what I do. NZTC Library Support for Students and Staff NZTC Library provides information resources and support services to all students as well as academic staff.   Another objective of the library is to advance scholarship by ensuring the collection remains current and by providing access to the best available resources. General student support The library supports the learning needs of students by: ·          Providing library tours and orientations ·          Delivering tutorials on using NZTC Library, research databases and eBooks ·          Maintaining online guides to using the resources and library services ·          Helping students to conduct effective searches in EBSCO · ...

Comment from a colleague from Staff Heart Week, August 2019 Sent: Wednesday, 10 April 2019 Hi Angus, I am Eunice an Online student from Africa, I have completed my course successfully. I am grateful that you were very supportive  while providing me with all the books that I needed for this course  without any hesitation. Thank you so much Regards Eunice Wed 18 Dec 19  Hi NZTC , My subject to this message wraps the actual content that I actually have no words to express my gratitude towards all you fine people. I wish all of you a mesmerising, action and fun-packed Christmas and New Year 2020'. Studying at NZTC, being associated with this college for more than six months now, has been a source of immense pleasure. ... I also would like to thank Angus , who was all supportive with me during my pre-assessment long library usages...

This was a very surprising find on Trademe.  It was listed by a charity shop in Christchurch.  I narrowly won the auction after setting an auto-bid of $250.  What I like about it are the thick, hand-cut pages.  It is number 19 of a limited edition of 250 copies and is signed by the author, Paul Gallico.  As a child I read his book "The Snow Goose." The Whittington Press was started by my mother's cousin, John Randle in 1971 in the Cotswolds, England.  The books are printed on presses dating from the 19th century.  They are bought by collectors and libraries and Auckland Libraries have more than 30 of them in the special collections.  I have met John and visited the press on two occasions. 

Herbert Randle (1880-1973), my mother's grandfather, was a professor of philosophy, author and librarian and has a brief entry in Wikipedia .  One of his books, Fragments from Dinnaga , is available in Google Books.   His son, John Niel Randle, won the VC posthumously in WWII and also has a Wikipedia page and is mentioned in various books on the VC which I personally own.

This word cloud shows the current top search terms in EBSCOhost.  The most popular search is "child development."  I'm assuming that students are looking for an online version of Laura Berk's "Child Development."  Unfortunately this book has never been made available electronically (it's a large, illustration heavy book and doesn't suit that format).  The next top search is "early childhood education," a very broad search.  I'm not sure what exactly students are hoping to find?  Then there's "teaching techniques for young children," this is a very popular book that has unfortunately not been released as an eBook.  Students need to go to the library catalogue to find the hard copy of it.  "Beginnings and Beyond" is yet another book that is print only.  I'm not sure why students are looking up "te whariki curriculum." They are given a free copy of it and it is also available online.  "Action r...