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Information Services and Resources, Dana Porter Library
Departmental Meeting
May 20, 2011
Dana Porter Library, Flex Lab
10:00am – 12:00pm
Minutes


Present: Annie Bélanger, Helena Calogeridis, Nancy Collins, Jane Forgay, Alison Hitchens, Christine Jewell, Sandra Keys, Judy McTaggart, Ben Robinson, Janet Wason, Margaret Yuen (recorder), Agnes Zientarska-Kayko,

Regrets: Marian Davies, Tim Ireland, Leeanne Romane, Carol Steele

  1. Approval of the previous Minutes from April 8, 2011
    Approved with minor corrections.

  2. Business Arising from the Minutes
    1. 2b. Corridor between Circulation and ISR – Let Facilities and Sharon Lamont know if Plant Operations staff are storing items in the corridor, and indicate which night.
    2. 2b. Doors – Annie has spoken to Sharon.
    3. 2c. The colour printer has been installed, and prints 8" X 11" and 8" X 14". The cost for ink in the ISR printer is 3 cents per page compared to 57 cents on the 4th floor.
    4. 4. Maternity Leave Plan. Annie reviewed how her responsibilities will be divided during her leave. An Excel spreadsheet is on SharePoint > Porter ISR > Administrative > Planning.

  3. Call for Additional Agenda Items
    Additional administration matters.

  4. Alternate Desk Schedule
    The Alternate Desk Schedule Pilot addresses the heavy workload associated with library instruction and outreach, and the support needed for the Adaptive Technology Centre during the start of the fall term. There will be 3 schedules. Schedule A, for the first 6 weeks of the term, will rely heavily on Cataloguing, and a decreased ISR participation. In Schedule B, there will be a balance in desk times between Cataloguing and ISR. In Schedule C, during the last weeks of the term, there will be a heavy reliance on ISR, while Cataloguing participation will be decreased significantly.

    In the pilot, the total number of hours a Cataloguing or ISR associate does on the desk will not change over the course of term, only when the services are provided.
    Judy will have a draft of the 3 schedules by the end of June.

  5. Summer Vacation, Carry-Forward, Conferences, Flexing in the Summer
    Annie noted that with the upcoming summer vacation, there are a number of spots that are heavily booked. She reviewed the departmental Flextime Guidelines, which requires a minimal staffing of 3 for Monday – Friday between 9-5. In addition, a buffer is needed for chat reference coverage. Staff should include vacation, flexing, vacation carry-forward, and away on business/conferences on the vacation schedule.

    To ensure sufficient staffing, we have set that 6 ISR members can be away at a time; additional people can be away with approval of the department head. In Annie's absence, Christine will check to see if the level of staffing is above the critical level, and sign off on additional absences.

    With the use of flextime, and the number of people away during the summer, it was agreed that an email will be sent out on Fridays, reminding staff to check the vacation schedule for the following week and to ensure that there is sufficient staff. If a staff member decides to flex, and staffing for that day is at a critical level, the staff member might receive a call before 9:30 am asking him/her to come to work.
    ACTION: Annie will set up the Friday reminders.

    Departmental meetings are held on alternate Fridays, and Annie has requested that if staff members plan to flex, they should talk to her. There may be topics covered for which their attendance is needed.

    Carry Forward Vacation from 2010/11:
    Carry forward vacation days used before the end of August do not require approval. Up to 10 days, with a plan of how those days will be used, can be carried forward till December with the approval of the department head. Requests to carry forward vacation beyond December, goes to one's department head, who will in turn forward the request to their supervisor for approval by Library Executive.

    Flextime: Jonathan has updated the flextime spreadsheet, and we can start using this version beginning in July.
    ACTION: Annie will send the link for the updated version.

  6. Group Study Room
    Jane gave an update on the redesign of group study rooms. The committee has been looking at ideal spaces and the physical spaces we have. The Library has received a donation which will be used to redesign the 2 study rooms on the 10th floor. There is a proposal to split the longer room into two rooms since students have a preference for study rooms for 4 to 6 people. Long-term, one of the Library's study rooms will incorporate universal design. Alex will report to the Library Managers group next week, and paperwork for the cost and furniture should be completed by the end of June.

  7. Feedback from Co-op Student Training
    The Training Committee will be coordinating the information desk training for two co-op students this fall term, and Margaret asked for feedback on the subject training this past winter term.

    Ben felt that the training was intensive; he was trained for the Porter and Davis desks simultaneously. The practice questions from the subject librarians were targeted well, as many of these questions were used at the desk. Subject librarians also had a positive experience since the training provided an opportunity to rethink how to train, identify the basics, and also to learn different approaches the co-op students might have discovered.

  8. Admin Matters
    Working from Home: Requests for ad hoc ½ day or day working from home should be sent to one's supervisor. If ad hoc requests are occurring on a regular basis, then the staff member should look into getting an agreement. Ad hoc requests for Working from Home should specify what tasks are to be accomplished. During Annie's leave, requests for Working from Home should be sent to one's supervisor or Christine. Christine will review staffing levels for the day.

    Travel Guidelines: A Travel Advance and Settlement Claim form needs to be filled out for any administrative travel, including day trips. Managers can approve requests for days off. Approval of requests for "day trip" travel costs or per diem costs have to be done in consultation with the manager's supervisor.

    Requests for travel are discussed at the Performance Review and then followed by the requests for Staff Training and Development from Mark Haslett. Once requests have been approved by LibExec, changes are not always guaranteed. Additional requests will be considered for a fleeting opportunity. In Annie's absence, requests, explaining why you need to attend an event, can be sent to Susan Routliffe.

    Webinars: Requests can be sent to the Department Head. In consultation with his/her supervisor, webinar requests can be approved. In Annie's absence, requests can go directly to Susan.

    Emergency Leave Policy: Applies to the elderly and child care, and can be logged in time (hours). This policy cannot be used for an event that is planned. It can be applied to extreme bad weather (see Library Managers minutes). (http://secretariat.uwaterloo.ca/guidelines/emergencyleaves.htm)

    Bereavement Leave: One day is given for friends or distant relatives; and 4 days for immediate family. (http://secretariat.uwaterloo.ca/guidelines/bereavement.htm)

    Sunday Desk Shifts: Annie recommended that these shifts be put in one's calendar right away. If someone is scheduled for Sunday and is ill, please call by 10:00 am. In Annie's absence, call Christine (or Jane if Christine away)

    Collection Management: The deadline for decisions on discarding or retaining items on "Floor 5 and 10 oversize" is June 30th. In reviewing earlier withdrawal lists, many "missing" items were included. In the future, reviewing these lists would be easier if the "missing" items are eliminated.

    Jennifer will oversee a mini redrafting of YBP approval plan, and also be part of a mini Coutts review. Larger plan review will probably happen in Winter 2012.

  9. Around the Table
    Janet will be away May 25 to June 12th. She will send details on how to handle queries from Adaptive Technology Centre during her absence.
    Sandra and Agnes will be at DLI and the IASSIST (International Association for Social Sciences Information Services & Technology) Conference.
    Helena will be on vacation May 23 to June 21st.
    Margaret and Jane will be attending WILU.
    Judy reported on the Noise Study has been completed, and Susan Arruda has sent the report to Annie and Alex which will be submitted to LibExec.

  10. Next Meeting: June 3rd; Recorder – Tim Ireland

Meeting Adjourned.


October 7, 2011