Hello all! We thought we would do an update about some of the recent happenings on the 6th floor.

Retirements

After 32 years with the University Library, Karen S is ready for some new adventures as she heads off into the next chapter of her life. Karen started her library career in Circulation, moved on to the somewhat infamous Production Unit, and then transitioned into Cataloguing (now part of the Collection Services Unit) where she currently works. Having experienced many changes in cataloguing over the years, one of the most interesting for Karen has been the move from AACR2 to RDA (which is often affectionately referred to by Copy Cataloguing Group members as “Retirement Day Approaching”). Karen has also acquired a couple nicknames while working at the library:  some may know her as “The Doc” – you will have to ask Karen to tell you this story before she leaves; and most of us know her as “The Supply Goddess”, as she has diligently and expertly ordered supplies for technical services units for years now (since 1993!). On June 8^th–Karen’s last day with the Library—we will bid farewell to an excellent colleague and friend. Some of the qualities we will especially miss about Karen are her gentleness and thoughtfulness; her conscientiousness and attention to detail; and her overall willing and cheerful attitude. Karen – we wish you all the best in retirement!

Leaving for New Positions

Our colleague Gail, from Serials Check-In, had her last day of work on Friday May 15^th. We bid her farewell and had a mini (but actually pretty large) food day in the Serials unit. Gail begins work in the Health Sciences Supply Centre as a Storekeeper on May 19^th. Gail will be missed!

A gluten-free feast!

Honourable mention goes out to Amy (formerly of Serials Check-In) who began her new position in Archives and Special Collections on May 5th. Congratulations to Amy and we hope that she is not too lonely on the 2nd floor! Meanwhile, Katelyn has been busy migrating all of Amy’s old office supplies over to her desk.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic Student

Beginning on May 4^th, Collection Services welcomed David, a Sask. Polytech- Library and Information Technology student, to spend his practicum under the supervision of Fern. Dave has had the opportunity to shadow and work in Serials Check-in, E-Access, Acquisitions, Cataloguing, the I-Portal, the Bindery. He also has been working on creating minimal bib-records and shipping the Hanson collection for cataloguing.

David wanted to become a library technician because of his love of books and he has always wanted a career that he would enjoy. He enjoys cataloguing- especially building Dewey numbers, and finding subject headings.

David enjoys reading most genres of novels- but especially likes reading Fantasy, and Science Fiction. Right now he is reading HMS Surprise by Patrick O’Brian – which is the third novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series.

We have enjoyed having Dave around and we wish him all the best!

Dave hard at work

Cataloguing and Beyond

Now for a special message from Anna G.:

Who are we: Technical Services Specialist or Cataloguer or IT staff? The possibilities are endless.

We all know that libraries vary, and the needs of our users/patrons are varied as well. This is also true for the cataloguers working in different libraries. In the last two years, I have become more aware that we exceedingly work closest with IT library staff. Dealing with constant changes in my immediate work made me more aware of what is happening within the cataloguing world. One of the models that the University of Minnesota Libraries has adopted intrigues me a lot, and I’d like to share it with you.  Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Manager, Archives and Special Collections Metadata Unit explains that at her library, IT staff and cataloguers are no longer such separate or distinct units. Cataloguers are part of a department called Data Management & Access, and are part of the Data & Technology Division. Wow! Laura S, imagine us being on the same floor level, and maybe even sharing the same space?! This is just a thought.

https://www.lib.umn.edu/about/staff/christine-dezelar-tiedman

7:50 am: Serials staff arrives with chocolate and other goodies to bait the dog-captor.

7:53 am: Katelyn walks to the newspaper chute on the ground floor to gather the papers only to find one homesick and frightened Winston waiting for her! He looked a little different than last time she saw him. From what we can gather from his new attire, the dog-napper has a terrible sense of fashion- pink bunny ears and a camo-backpack? And inside that backpack were some suspicious looking “mini eggs” (cough cough POISONED!! cough cough). What kind of sick person could do such a thing to an unwitting dog? And to toss Winston aside into a newspaper bin like some kind of Dickensian orphan?

7:55 am: Katelyn rushes Winston up to Serials to reunite him with his Serials family. All are relieved to have him home- but there is still an unease in the air as the “whodunit” question remains unanswered. And besides that, there is still no sign of the firefighter outfit he wore when he was taken. This brings up some other possible character sketches of our dog-thief. Serials staff is currently on the lookout for a suspicious person who is around 10 inches tall with a black plastic firefighting hat and tiny red vinyl shorts. If you see such a person, contact the Serials Crime-Tips Hotline at 1-800-DOG-NAPP

8:57 am: Amy and Gail receive a suspicious letter in the mail; inside are two photos of Winston in an Easter candy isle, and with a new-found lady friend.

Stay tuned for updates as this story develops!

***IMPORTANT UPDATE***

12:40 pm: Fern arrives in Serials with a chocolate dog in tow. Christine suspects that the chocolate dog looks familiar.

We check one of the photos that arrived in the mail earlier this morning:

A-ha! It seems that this chocolate bunny was purchased from the same store that Winston was in! It is a pretty strange coincidence that Fern would give us the same chocolate dog!

‘Fess up, whoever you are!