Conference 2023 - Programme - Breakout Sessions
Mercian Conference 2023 - Breakout Sessions
To facilitate ease of attendance for breakout sessions, when you complete the booking form, please indicate your preference of sessions you wish to attend.
Please note: While we aim to allocate attendees their first choice of sessions, due to the number of delegates, this may not always be possible. Contact mercianconference@gmail.com, as soon as possible, if you wish to re-arrange or alter your choices in any way.
Breakout sessions block 1 (10:55-11:25) |
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| How to make weird things accessible (Lara Skelly) | Using customer service apprentice roles as a means of widening staff diversity in academic library customer services (Karen Stevens & Tarandeep Rai) | Student Life and the Library: a holistic UX approach (Claire Browne & Kate Spencer-Bennett) | Networking Opportunity |
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As researchers undertake more Open Research practice, and share non-traditional outputs from their research, the question I’ve been exploring is how to make these non-traditional outputs, in their non-traditional file formats accessible to those with various impairments. How to make videos accessible to those with impaired hearing/Deafness, how to make 3D models and tables accessible to those with visual impairments, and how to accommodate the wide variety of needs of the neurodiverse? And how much of these modifications would be considered a “disproportionate burden”? Complicating the situation further, are license and ethical restrictions around what can be done with the original files.
Exploring each file type, a how-to manual was created which detailed how to legally and ethically modify files to improve their accessibility, including a note on what would be considered a disproportionate burden for Loughborough University.
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Having investigated apprenticeships initially as a route for staff development with our current staff, within De Montfort University’s Library Services team we’ve used the need to recruit for 2 full-time Information Assistant posts as a way of bringing customer service apprentice roles, the Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner apprenticeship, into our service. We hoped this would bring in a younger range of applicants, from a wider range of backgrounds, and encourage applications from people who wouldn’t see libraries as being a place for them to work.
This session covers how we made these decisions, our recruitment process and how recruiting apprentices differs from standard recruitment processes, differences in terms of managing and mentoring new apprentices rather than standard Information Assistant roles, and what we’ve taken from this whole process to inform our recruitment and staffing going forward.
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In Spring term 2023, Library Services at the University of Birmingham conducted a User Experience cultural probe with ten taught students. We wanted to understand not just how they use Library Services, but to have a holistic view of their lives and their wider experience of higher education.
This presentation will share the initial findings of this research, our thoughts on the UX methodology, and offer insights into the student experience in post-pandemic HE |
Some delegates may wish to use this time slot to network with other delegates and conference sponsors. |
Breakout sessions block 2 (12:05-12:55) |
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| Are Systems Librarians an endangered species? Lessons learned from implementing a new library platform (Georgina Dimmock & Fiona Watkins) |
Feeling seen - students filling gaps in decolonisation (Sarah Akhtaruzzaman)
AND Seconded! A personal account of career development through the power of secondments (Matt Hunt) |
Re-Discovery: launching five core systems within nine months - innovation or insanity? (Matt Cox & Adam Robinson)
AND Inclusive recruitment, trying new things to increase our diversity (Chris Addleton) |
Networking Opportunity |
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In July 2022, the University of Northampton successfully implemented three library systems: Alma, Leganto and Primo VE. The systems went live on time and on budget. En route to the go live date, management decisions were made to ensure the effective and successful delivery, but the process exposed staffing vulnerabilities. This session will be a two-part workshop led by members of the University of Northampton new library system project team. The first part will be a presentation enabling delegates to learn about key management decisions that were made, technical skill set vulnerabilities that were exposed and solutions that are being explored for future recruitment and succession planning. The second part will be a workshop where delegates will be given the opportunity to share their experiences and ideas by means of facilitated discussion. The session will identify institutional commonalities and differences, with a view to disseminating the findings within the sector.
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Feeling seen - students filling gaps in decolonisation (Sarah Akhtaruzzaman)
Many universities have increased their efforts of decolonisation and diversification following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. However despite best intentions the aim of making minorities feel seen can be missed. This is a case study of course reading lists not fulfilling Black students' need to be seen in their curriculum even though the faculty aimed to include them, how the students set out to create their own reading list to supplement the readings for their course, and how the library acted as a mediator between the Black Student Network and their corresponding faculty.
AND Seconded! A personal account of career development through the power of secondments (Matt Hunt) In November 2021 Matt Hunt was offered the opportunity to take a secondment with our Library Engagement Team. This presentation aims to display the benefits of taking a step outside of your comfort zone and pursuing opportunities to build your knowledge and experience. Matt will explain the benefits the secondment bought to our teams and to their own career development, and what lessons you can learn if you are looking to develop your own career in libraries. |
Re-Discovery: launching five core systems within nine months - innovation or insanity? (Matt Cox & Adam Robinson)
What does it mean to lose 20 years of data such as your journal holdings, your inter library loan history and order data? This is the situation the University of Derby Library found itself in due to implementing five core systems in the space of nine months. Moving at such pace meant the reality of losing important data. Was this innovation or insanity? Well, frankly both. This session will explore the lessons learnt, what it means to lose 20 years of data and other anecdotes from the experience.
AND Inclusive recruitment, trying new things to increase our diversity (Chris Addleton) In the University of Nottingham Libraries, our aim is to be a diverse and inclusive community where every person is welcome and valued. In Spring 2021, Libraries launched a departmental survey into staff’s lived experience of the workplace through an EDI lens. Following analysis of the survey an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Libraries programme was launched with 5 workstreams. Our story is about the activities that the Inclusive Recruitment workstream have been working on. Our aim was to review and change (where appropriate), our recruitment practices within Libraries. The initial focus was to get the basics right and to ensure we better reflected our local demographics and student community. The work has focused on role profile forms, adverts and the language and tone to make the jobs more appealing and hopefully attract a more diverse number of applicants. Since launching the templates, we’ve reviewed 25 adverts and role profiles. It’s early days to see any changes in the number of applications but we plan to monitor our application data when it becomes available. There’s still more work to do and we have plans for the next year... |
Some delegates may wish to use this time slot to network with other delegates and conference sponsors. |
Breakout sessions block 3 (13:00-13:30) |
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| Bringing our users with us: keeping UX at the heart of discovery platform development (Emma Brown & Laura Percival) | It's all about the money: My experience of managing the library budgets in the LMS (Natalie Baker-Fosker) | Menopause - what it is, how does it affect the workplace and how to create an environment where every woman can thrive! (Jane Dashwood) | Networking Opportunity |
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During the academic Year 2021/22 Birmingham City University’s Library and Learning Resources updated their Library systems and discovery platform to improve user experience. It was essential that any new changes had a measurable impact to ensure that our efforts were benefitting users and meeting discovery needs.
In our talk, we will focus on two key UX projects that were undertaken at different stages of the introduction of our new discovery platform: 1. Which UX methods were used in our journey to understand discovery needs 2. Exploring the practicalities of undertaking UX research for a new discovery platform 3. Highlighting key lessons learned. We will welcome audience discussion on other Library’s experiences of UX and library discovery.
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How does your library manage its funds?
Are you interested in hearing about how our small institution has used new technologies to manage all our non-staff budgets within the Library Management System (LMS)? No more duplication of work or manual entry of information into spreadsheets; Our LMS does it all for us! |
Menopause is killing women’s careers quite literally, but why and what is it exactly?
Menopause is not something you may have considered affects the workplace, however in order to create an inclusive, happy and healthy work force it is something that you should most definitely know about. In this presentation Jane will inform you about the menopause, what it is, how it affects the workplace and how to help create an environment where wellbeing and inclusivity help women to thrive through this period in their lives. |
Some delegates may wish to use this time slot to network with other delegates and conference sponsors. |
Breakout sessions block 4 (14:15-15:05) |
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How to write a business case (Anna O'Neill)
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Supporting our staff's wellbeing: buttons, books and wine! (Ann Stairmand-Jackson & Mercedes Malloy) | Thinking differently about recruitment (Kate Marshall) |
Develop@Derby: Derby's developmental Skills Hub: capitalising on collaboration and cooperation! (Michelle Bennett & Naomi Bowers-Joseph)
AND Let's talk about SEG! (Jess Mercuriandi)
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How to write a business case (Anna O'Neill)
This presentation will be a practical guide to building a business case for a Library estates project. It will work through the key steps needed to build a successful case based that can be applied to any project or service. It will provide practical examples and exemplars where possible. It will also draw in the options of decision makers and what they both expect and need in order to agree a business case. AND It's time to try TikTok (Lizzy Cross) Many university libraries use social media to advertise services available to their patrons, primarily through established platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I’ll be sharing how and why you should use TikTok to increase student awareness and engagement with their University Library. This presentation will demystify this new platform for librarians wanting to add another strand to their existing social media presence.
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In 2022 the Library at Birmingham City University established a Wellbeing Group, with support from the senior management team, in response to staff demand for more wellbeing support. Utilising staff skills the group has facilitated a range of activities, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback. We’d like to share our journey as a group, including our ethos, activities, feedback, and how we’ve used the same activities to engage with both academics and students.
The workshop consists of a 15 minute presentation, followed by a 30 minute craft activity – we’ll supply all the materials; no prior skills required. Come away from our session with an understanding of our wellbeing group, first-hand experience of a wellbeing craft activities, and ideas to take back to your library. Feedback received: “I really enjoyed the craft session as it bought people from different teams together, created a sense of community and allowed me to chat to colleagues I don't know well” |
Research highlights the lack of diversity within the library sector. By placing undue weight on prior library experience we are reinforcing a lack of diversity and excluding able candidates from a broader customer service background, who may bring new perspectives and be more reflective of our users. This session will explore changes which have been undertaken at NTU to think differently about recruitment. The session will aim to challenge current thinking about recruitment and share best practice and resources to make processes more inclusive, which will be of relevance to many organisations within the information sector. |
Develop@Derby: Derby's developmental Skills Hub: capitalising on collaboration and cooperation! (Michelle Bennett & Naomi Bowers-Joseph)
The University of Derby library has been at the forefront of Develop@Derby – a university wide project to create a ‘one stop shop’ delivering a cross-section of skills support from around the university. The Library’s Skills Team capitalised on existing working relationships and forged new ones with colleagues from across the university to deliver on this truly collaborative project, with the library as its operational lead. In this workshop we will use an informal, narrative approach to show you the journey the project took from its earliest beginnings to where we are today, before looking forward to our next steps. You’ll hear the voices of the people with whom we collaborated telling their parts of the story through a range of formats and media. We’ll share the lessons we learnt from the experience and our goals for the future, and invite you to share your thoughts, questions and suggestions. AND Let's talk about SEG! (Jess Mercuriandi) University libraries are championed as the heart of the campus, the place for students to get support and find the assistance they need with their studies and wider issues. But how does the University of Warwick Library support its staff? Join Jess Mercuriadi, Academic Support Officer and chair of the Staff Engagement Group in this talk explaining how the SEG team are relaunching with a focus on staff mindfulness, wellbeing and skill development opportunities, along with the positive impact this group has on staff and the services that are provided for the University of Warwick Library’s customers. If you are interested in hearing more about the scheme and its benefits to both staff and user groups, then this talk is for you! |