UNews - printing

A paperless solution

trevor.kenney — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:18:38 +0000

Imagine a tower of completely full binders more than 34 feet tall, or a large stack of photocopy paper packages greater than 19 feet tall.

That's a lot of paper (from a lot of trees), and the approximate amount of printed material required in a typical year to support the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors in their decision-making processes.

In mid-November, however, the Board literally stopped the presses on printing hard copies of their materials (other than a set or two for document retention and archival purposes), and has migrated to an iPad-based paperless system.

Graduate Students' Association President Paul Walz and the rest of the U of L's Board of Governors has adapted well to the iPAD changeover. The paperless approach is expected to save both money and resources.

"We are incorporating sustainability and a more efficient use of resources into our operating model, just as other areas of campus are doing," says Jodie Black, the Board secretariat and person responsible for managing the Board's information flow.

"We conducted a complete analysis of our past practices, future needs, efficiency and cost effectiveness. The decision to go paperless was an obvious and sensible choice."

Black says that in addition to cost savings, the flexibility and quick process of information sharing with the new iPADs is becoming very handy.

"There is less paper to manage, we have less paper to worry about shipping, and I can easily get information in front of people very quickly," she says. "As an example, we were able to deliver a 40-page, last-minute agenda item immediately to our Board shared drive, versus printing off copies for everyone."

Board information packages are now available on a shared drive rather than printed, mailed and/or couriered. Over time, the previous folders and binders full of information used by most Board members would get cumbersome, while the iPad continues to take up the same amount of space, regardless of how much information it stores.

Black says the cost of the transition is being amortized over two years.

"The price of the initial iPad purchases will be recouped due to cost savings in printing and distribution."

Chris Robinson, left, from the U of L's IT department helps BOG member Jim Berezan get his iPAD up and running.

The big switch happened last month, and for the Board's first paperless meeting, members of the Information Technology team were on hand to make sure everything ran smoothly.

"Our IT group has been extremely helpful with the process, the transition and for the occasional challenges we've encountered," says Black. "We are also tracking how this works over time, so that other units on campus can take advantage of going paperless if they choose to do so."

Currently, Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ uses a paperless system for their board of governors, and Black says that other institutions are watching the U of L's progress with interest as they research their own options.

"I am also willing to meet with any other business unit or group on campus looking to go paperless," says Black. "We're looking to lead by example, and also to have what the Board does to support sustainability be a part of our regular business practices."

Those interested can contact Black at Jodie.black@uleth.ca to set up a time to talk.

Library projects have students helping students

trevor.kenney — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:57:39 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library is involved in a pair of recent initiatives that highlight its commitment to student service.

A pilot project launched in early March is aimed to provide improved IT support in the library, especially on evenings and weekends. Computer-related questions are often asked at the Information & Research Assistance Desk or the General Services Desk, which are staffed by librarians and technical services staff whose expertise may not be in this area. While the library has an internal IT staff that takes calls during the day, this resource is unavailable after hours. Enter the Peer-Assisted Technology Support Students (PATTS).

A group of seven, newly-hired student assistants, several of whom have new media or previous computer experience, have been trained in both hardware and software issues that library staff often encounter. Software questions include those regarding Microsoft Office, Blackboard/WebCT and Moodle; while hardware issues they will be able to handle include printing problems, microfiche scanning and printing, projector and laptop use in group work rooms, problems with library computer stations, as well as the circulating equipment such as laptops, digital cameras, projectors and video cameras.

"The library has 176 distributed (sit-down) computer stations and 33 (stand-up) public access stations, which are very highly used," says Jeremy Pierson, the Technical Specialist in the library responsible for hiring and training the students. "The PATSS program will hopefully alleviate the number of technical questions received at the other service desks and provide not only improved service after-hours, but quicker response times during the day when IT staff aren't always available to immediately respond."

Pierson notes that students are often the best people to help their peers with technical issues, as they are more familiar with course software and can often be more tech-savvy.

The PATSS station will be in a highly visible location when entering the library, immediately beside the Information & Research Assistance Desk. It will be staffed from 1 p.m. to close on weekdays and during all library opening hours on weekends, including extended hours which begin closer to exam time.

The library also recently received nine new circulating Macintosh laptops, purchased by the ULSU through their Quality Initiatives Proposal fund. These replace the five laptops which were purchased with this fund in 2007-2008. Circulating laptops are a high-demand item, and requests for Macs especially, has been growing.

Through both the introduction of PATSS and the increased availability of student-use laptops, the library has partnered with students to continue to improve the library's technical services to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

Library projects have students helping students

trevor.kenney — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:48:51 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library is involved in a pair of recent initiatives that highlight its commitment to student service.

A pilot project launched in early March is aimed to provide improved IT support in the library, especially on evenings and weekends. Computer-related questions are often asked at the Information & Research Assistance Desk or the General Services Desk, which are staffed by librarians and technical services staff whose expertise may not be in this area. While the library has an internal IT staff that takes calls during the day, this resource is unavailable after hours. Enter the Peer-Assisted Technology Support Students (PATTS).

A group of seven, newly-hired student assistants, several of whom have new media or previous computer experience, have been trained in both hardware and software issues that library staff often encounter. Software questions include those regarding Microsoft Office, Blackboard/WebCT and Moodle; while hardware issues they will be able to handle include printing problems, microfiche scanning and printing, projector and laptop use in group work rooms, problems with library computer stations, as well as the circulating equipment such as laptops, digital cameras, projectors and video cameras.

"The library has 176 distributed (sit-down) computer stations and 33 (stand-up) public access stations, which are very highly used," says Jeremy Pierson, the Technical Specialist in the library responsible for hiring and training the students. "The PATSS program will hopefully alleviate the number of technical questions received at the other service desks and provide not only improved service after-hours, but quicker response times during the day when IT staff aren't always available to immediately respond."

Pierson notes that students are often the best people to help their peers with technical issues, as they are more familiar with course software and can often be more tech-savvy.

The PATSS station will be in a highly visible location when entering the library, immediately beside the Information & Research Assistance Desk. It will be staffed from 1 p.m. to close on weekdays and during all library opening hours on weekends, including extended hours which begin closer to exam time.

The library also recently received nine new circulating Macintosh laptops, purchased by the ULSU through their Quality Initiatives Proposal fund. These replace the five laptops which were purchased with this fund in 2007-2008. Circulating laptops are a high-demand item, and requests for Macs especially, has been growing.

Through both the introduction of PATSS and the increased availability of student-use laptops, the library has partnered with students to continue to improve the library's technical services to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

For a look at the March issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Special Collections offer a rare look at the past

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:18:01 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library maintains a small assortment of books, periodicals, pamphlets and maps in a collection that is usually designated in Academic Libraries as "Special Collections".

It includes rare and antiquarian books as well as a collection of local histories, the print edition of the Lethbridge Herald from 1919-1955 and other titles deemed special for reasons ranging from age and condition to edition, uniqueness, and format. While the value of items plays a key role in their candidacy for inclusion, it is only one of many criteria considered.

Currently, there are about 773 titles in our Special Collections that are housed in Room L1172C of the Library. Although available for private research and reading in the adjacent reading room (L1172A), this is a non-circulating collection.

Decisions regarding the inclusion of material into special collections are made in collaboration with the subject librarians. Many items in the collection provide examples of printing and publishing over the past 400 years.

Our oldest tome is the 9th edition of Saint Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica from 1610 in Latin. Other items include a hornbook from the early 19th century, A History of Florence in Italian from 1764, Volume I of Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World from 1634, and a collection of works from Charles Dickens from the mid-19th century.

The original mandate of the Special Collections was twofold. First of all, it was to try and keep a copy of everything published about Lethbridge and the surrounding area in an environment that would lend itself to conservation and preservation. Secondly, it provides a safe haven for those items from our collection that require special care.

The collection room is dark and cool, with restricted access – three elements that help in preserving and protecting these valuable items.

Historically, the collection has been built from either donations or materials culled from our open stacks. The materials concentrating on southern Alberta in general and Lethbridge in particular are purchased from our regular subject budgets and a copy is usually placed in Special Collections to ensure long-term access.
The entire collection is accessible through the library catalogue. If you would like to peruse any titles in this collection please ask at the Information and Reference Assistance Desk inside the Library's entrance.

Mike Perry is a professional librarian in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library

UNews - printing

A paperless solution

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Library projects have students helping students

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Library projects have students helping students

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Special Collections offer a rare look at the past

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