Yesterday I got a call to say that there was a flood in the Information Commons Yes, there had been heavy rain, but the University is on the top of a hill so I was a bit bemused.... When I got there I discovered that due to a problem with drainage, water had built up on the flat roof until it had overflowed, and we had what amounted to a waterfall water feature down one of the walls. It was really quite spectacular. I had been called not just because we jointly manage the facility, but because the Duty Manager wanted a standby incident manager. I'm one of the trained IMs for a major University incident, but after some discussion with the duty manager we decided it wasnt an mjor incident, but I would remain on standby and keep a watching brief. We went through our checklistsof who had been informed and needed to be involved - Health and Safety, Insurance, Comms, EFM, Cleaning, Library. And of course us - we needed to check that no equipment had been damaged - we were lucky that only a couple of PCs had been splashed, but we were more worried that water might have gathered under the floor and damaged our network cables. luckily it hadnt'! The EFM team were great, climbed onto the roof and drained the water away until a drainage company arrived to clear the drains. Only part of the building had to be closed, and after a catch up nmeeting later inthe day, and inspection the following moring it was reopened.
Today we had a conference call with another University who are arranging a major incident simulation and wanted our advice on how to organise it - I think we were able to give them plenty. We've had a lot of practice recently!
Showing posts with label information commons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label information commons. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 October 2015
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
IC and iSchool
We're really into planning at the moment - looking at our objectives and strategies for next year and beyond. We obviously look at the strategic aims and big projects across the University, things coming up through the academic route from the faculties, and responses to other drivers, internal and external. Financial planning is important, as we look at our resource needs for staff, recurrent and capital costs. Lots to do over the next few weeks.
Today I spent an enjoyable and interesting few hours in our iSchool as part of their Advisory Panel. The iSchool is very successful, with 23 academic staff and 64 PhD students and 250 students doing taught masters degrees.
It was very interesting listening to their research areas and research projects - Smart Cities, Digital Societies, Information Systems were all ones which interested me, but you can read about other areas here.
They have a state of the art iLab, with a Usability Lab and a Digital Media lab which I did wonder whether we could make use of for some of our web projects. We spent some of the time in small groups giving our advice and opinion as employers of information studies graduates about what we would like to see covered in the courses and what skills we look for. I was in the Information Systems and Information Management group, and one thing we identified was a better understanding of service management and service improvement, and the processes involved. We also emphasised the importance of the softer, transferable skills such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving, flexibility, creativity and team working which go hand in hand with technical skills to make the sort of graduate we would want to employ.
Finally, thanks to some good joint working between colleagues in CiCS and the Library, we have a new web site for the Information Commons. Some excellent content and well done to all involved.
Today I spent an enjoyable and interesting few hours in our iSchool as part of their Advisory Panel. The iSchool is very successful, with 23 academic staff and 64 PhD students and 250 students doing taught masters degrees.
It was very interesting listening to their research areas and research projects - Smart Cities, Digital Societies, Information Systems were all ones which interested me, but you can read about other areas here.They have a state of the art iLab, with a Usability Lab and a Digital Media lab which I did wonder whether we could make use of for some of our web projects. We spent some of the time in small groups giving our advice and opinion as employers of information studies graduates about what we would like to see covered in the courses and what skills we look for. I was in the Information Systems and Information Management group, and one thing we identified was a better understanding of service management and service improvement, and the processes involved. We also emphasised the importance of the softer, transferable skills such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving, flexibility, creativity and team working which go hand in hand with technical skills to make the sort of graduate we would want to employ.
Finally, thanks to some good joint working between colleagues in CiCS and the Library, we have a new web site for the Information Commons. Some excellent content and well done to all involved.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Wow factor
Several years ago I was involved in a really exciting project as part of the client design team for the Information Commons. This lunchtime I was back pouring over plans and 3D images, discussing power supplies, even talking about colour swatches - all very exciting. Our New Engineering Building (working title only, watch this space) is starting to be built. The old hospital site has been cleared, a big hole has appeared, and piles are being driven.
Although the building will have a substantial amount of space for Engineering teaching, there will also be a lot of student-led learning space, or as we call it, IC-type space. These are the bits that we're interested in, and it was great today to see how it's all coming together. There'll be many more group rooms, silent areas, group study areas and we'll be seriously increasing our creative media facilities for both production and editing of all kinds of media.
The building will certainly have the wow factor. Desinged by the same architect who designed the IC, it has an innovative cladding, and although some media coverage has referred to it as a pyramid, it really isn't - it's more of a cuboid, although from this angle it does look a bit as though it's higher at one end.
The inside is going to be really funky, with a spiral staircase, pods, and bridges in a central atrium. Here's a couple of taster images of the latest renderings.
Glad we've started the really detailed design and the build now - can't wait to see it start to rise out of the hole in the ground!
Although the building will have a substantial amount of space for Engineering teaching, there will also be a lot of student-led learning space, or as we call it, IC-type space. These are the bits that we're interested in, and it was great today to see how it's all coming together. There'll be many more group rooms, silent areas, group study areas and we'll be seriously increasing our creative media facilities for both production and editing of all kinds of media.
The building will certainly have the wow factor. Desinged by the same architect who designed the IC, it has an innovative cladding, and although some media coverage has referred to it as a pyramid, it really isn't - it's more of a cuboid, although from this angle it does look a bit as though it's higher at one end.
The inside is going to be really funky, with a spiral staircase, pods, and bridges in a central atrium. Here's a couple of taster images of the latest renderings.
Glad we've started the really detailed design and the build now - can't wait to see it start to rise out of the hole in the ground!
Friday, 3 May 2013
We're on Streetview
Edward, our friend and graduate who set up Reaxive, has done some sterling work for us photographing our degree ceremonies in very high definition and turning them into taggable pictures on Facebook, and he's also done some Google streetview images of the interior of the Information Commons. We were so impressed with his work, that the University engaged him to extend this across the campus. We have a Virtual Open Day in our department of Physics and Astronomy where you can walk around the Hicks Building, and seven other buildings are now open on Streetview.Today we even made it into The Guardian!
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Friday, 15 February 2013
Walkround the IC
Thanks to our friend and graduate Edward at Reaxive, the Ground and First floors of the Information Commons are available on Google Street view. Just drag the little man into the building, or you can go directly to it here. Don't forget to explore both floors by going up or down the stairs.
Here's a really good picture of Edward taking the photos a couple of weeks ago.
It's a fantastic way of seeing inside the building, and we think we're the first University building in the UK to be put on Google Street View. More buildings will follow!
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Priorities and Bitesize
A rare morning - no meetings! was able to catch up on lots of reading, and finalise some information for a planning meeting with other Directors of Services and our Faculty colleagues. As a starting point for discussion, we've been asked to come up with our top five priorities, our top five business as usual activities, and our top five things to change. So, in no particular order, here is our first draft:
Priorities for 2013/14
1 Wireless Everywhere
2 Delivery of IT Support
3 Planning the space in the New Engineering Building
4 Sustainability
- Green: print, carbon, cooling
- Services: simplification and standardisation
5 Mobile
- Service delivery
Top 5 Business as usual activities
1 Improve student related processes including review of student system
2 Review of teaching technologies and support including lecture capture
3 Future proofing of core infrastructure
4 Continuous process improvement - Process Improvement Unit and facilitation of departmental networks
5 Support for research
Top 5 Things to change
1 How we deliver research infrastructure
2 The way we use teaching space
3 Access to systems and services ( including new portal and identity management)
4 How we collaborate (post-uspace, google apps, others, skills)
5 Transparency of project prioritisation
This will now be shared and discussed with colleagues in CiCS and other departments before our final plans are submitted to the University in March.
The other thing a morning free of meetings allowed me to catch up on, was the first of our "bitesize" sessions we're delivering to students in the Information Commons. It was held yesterday and was about creating videos - recorded so that anyone who missed it can watch it on the IC Blog. I watched it and learned a lot! More are planned - keep your eye on the IC blog for details.
Priorities for 2013/14
1 Wireless Everywhere
2 Delivery of IT Support
3 Planning the space in the New Engineering Building
4 Sustainability
- Green: print, carbon, cooling
- Services: simplification and standardisation
5 Mobile
- Service delivery
Top 5 Business as usual activities
1 Improve student related processes including review of student system
2 Review of teaching technologies and support including lecture capture
3 Future proofing of core infrastructure
4 Continuous process improvement - Process Improvement Unit and facilitation of departmental networks
5 Support for research
Top 5 Things to change
1 How we deliver research infrastructure
2 The way we use teaching space
3 Access to systems and services ( including new portal and identity management)
4 How we collaborate (post-uspace, google apps, others, skills)
5 Transparency of project prioritisation
This will now be shared and discussed with colleagues in CiCS and other departments before our final plans are submitted to the University in March.
The other thing a morning free of meetings allowed me to catch up on, was the first of our "bitesize" sessions we're delivering to students in the Information Commons. It was held yesterday and was about creating videos - recorded so that anyone who missed it can watch it on the IC Blog. I watched it and learned a lot! More are planned - keep your eye on the IC blog for details.Wednesday, 3 October 2012
KITs, ICE and satisfaction.
This week has involved a lot of KITs. No, not little cats, but Keep in Touch meetings. Vitally important for building networks, finding out what's going on, and sharing ideas and experiences. I try and meet most of my senior colleagues for an hour once a month, and this week a lot fell together - Coffee Revolution has done very well out of me this week, but I feel slightly high on caffeine!
Monday was spent in a design team meeting for our New Engineering Building, and we all trooped outside to put different cladding samples out so we could see them in daylight - such a lot to choose from, but luckily we were all agreed, and even agreed with the architect's choice. I think the building will look stunning, and although this isn't a very good picture, gives an idea of what it will look like. Of course, the reason we're involved is the amount of student-led, IC type space it will have in it, including group study rooms and creative media pods which will complement what we have in the IC.
Yesterday we had a meeting to discuss the results of a recent staff survey with our senior managers. This was a University wide survey asking a number of different questions about staff satisfaction with their jobs, their department, their management and the University. It's fair to say the results were mixed, some good, some where there's room for improvement. So, an action plan is being drawn up, together with some facilitated discussion events so we can better understand the reasons behind some of the answers.
Today I've been taking to the Janet Brokerage Service about our move to Google, our experiences of contract negotiation, and some of the concerns other Universities seem to have. Hopefully they will be able to take the lead in discussions with Google, as they have done recently with Microsoft, to make it easier for more Universities to move to cloud based services.
Monday was spent in a design team meeting for our New Engineering Building, and we all trooped outside to put different cladding samples out so we could see them in daylight - such a lot to choose from, but luckily we were all agreed, and even agreed with the architect's choice. I think the building will look stunning, and although this isn't a very good picture, gives an idea of what it will look like. Of course, the reason we're involved is the amount of student-led, IC type space it will have in it, including group study rooms and creative media pods which will complement what we have in the IC.Yesterday we had a meeting to discuss the results of a recent staff survey with our senior managers. This was a University wide survey asking a number of different questions about staff satisfaction with their jobs, their department, their management and the University. It's fair to say the results were mixed, some good, some where there's room for improvement. So, an action plan is being drawn up, together with some facilitated discussion events so we can better understand the reasons behind some of the answers.
Today I've been taking to the Janet Brokerage Service about our move to Google, our experiences of contract negotiation, and some of the concerns other Universities seem to have. Hopefully they will be able to take the lead in discussions with Google, as they have done recently with Microsoft, to make it easier for more Universities to move to cloud based services.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Creative Media Suite
in the production room students can create media - it's got equipment in for students to produce many kinds of multimedia projects including video editing, podcasts, screencasting, presentation recording and motion graphics creation. It contains both an iMac and a PC, as well as recording equipment and is bookable, and our staff are on hand to help and advise students. We also loan out equipment to students including digital video camcorders and audio/video recorders - these can be loaned to students for up to 7 days at a time.
The newest of our facilities is the edit suite, which has been open for about 5 months now, and is very popular with staff and students. It contains 5 managed iMacs and you can create media work directly over a network using 100 specially created accounts with access to 20GB of storage. This means we don't have to give individual students access to large amounts of filestore, but more importanly, allows students to work collaboratively on group projects through a joint account.
The suite is open 24/7 so students can work when they want to, and we hope to be able to open the production room 24/7 in the near future. Having just iMacs in there isn't a problem, and we get a lot of feedback saying how easy they are to use and produce media. There's lots of info about the facilities, including video of how to use them here. Our staff are available to help, support and advise, and have worked closely with academic staff and students on a number of projects, including Storying Sheffield. This is a community project based in the School of English where students and people from the city are working and studying together to produce, record, and collect stories, of the lives of Sheffield people, and the `life´ of Sheffield using a variety of media. A recent workshop made extenisve use of the suite, and thanks to Andy Brown for these photographs.
We expect demand for this sort of facility to increase, and we're intending to put more "media pods" in the IC space we're designing in the new engineering building.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Wireless developments and laptop loans
Two other great presentations at this morning’s departmental meeting which I thought were definitely worth summarizing:
Wireless
Currently we have over 600 wireless access points, covering mainly teaching and social space, and other congregational areas, recently we’ve been working with faculties to cover the academic areas they have requested. We’ve done a lot of good work and cover probably about 90% of central campus where students are, but that is still only about 10% of the total campus. We know the world is becoming more and more mobile, and we can see that in the figures of concurrent connections to the wireless network which is rising exponentially. We also know that we need to get wireless into student bedrooms before the start of this next academic year. So, lots to do! Moving forward we’re going to approach installation on a whole building basis, and revisit coverage in some areas. We also need to look at how we cover our external areas – grassy banks, outdoor seating areas etc. We’ll be looking at new standards, with higher bandwidth and the possibility of 4G coverage.
I suppose the thorny question is whether we’ll get to wireless being the primary network? It already is for our students. It would require less cabling and kit, less power and less cooling. We might even be able to deliver phone services over it. Watch this space!
Laptop loans
Last year we started a pilot laptop loan service in the IC – driven partly by the demand for PCs which often outstripped what we had, and feedback we had from students telling us they’d like such a service. We also knew it was something others were doing, and we had the opportunity because some laptops became available from a service no longer being run. It was a pilot, so we only had 10 laptops and was restricted to the IC for 2 hours at a time. Student feedback was mainly good, but they didn’t like the old laptops, or the battery life. So, this year we embarked on a real service. We purchased 66 fairly rugged laptops with 6 hours battery life complete with a bag, power and mouse. These are used for loan and teaching and the flexibility does allow us to cope with seasonal demands. They run our Windows 7 managed desktop, a familiar environment with access to many applications, and can be booked in advance through our resource booking system. This is called myR&R which amuses me no end. I know it stands for My Rooms and Resources, but it will always be My Rest and Recuperation to me. When we first went live with it, I tried to book some.
It’s proving to be a very popular service (the laptops) with 53% of users using the service more than once. Currently not many students are booking them in advance, but we know that will change over time. Our next tasks are to publicise the service more, look at expanding it, and investigate developments such as self-issue and return and allowing them to be taken away from the IC.
Wireless
Currently we have over 600 wireless access points, covering mainly teaching and social space, and other congregational areas, recently we’ve been working with faculties to cover the academic areas they have requested. We’ve done a lot of good work and cover probably about 90% of central campus where students are, but that is still only about 10% of the total campus. We know the world is becoming more and more mobile, and we can see that in the figures of concurrent connections to the wireless network which is rising exponentially. We also know that we need to get wireless into student bedrooms before the start of this next academic year. So, lots to do! Moving forward we’re going to approach installation on a whole building basis, and revisit coverage in some areas. We also need to look at how we cover our external areas – grassy banks, outdoor seating areas etc. We’ll be looking at new standards, with higher bandwidth and the possibility of 4G coverage.
I suppose the thorny question is whether we’ll get to wireless being the primary network? It already is for our students. It would require less cabling and kit, less power and less cooling. We might even be able to deliver phone services over it. Watch this space!
Laptop loans
Last year we started a pilot laptop loan service in the IC – driven partly by the demand for PCs which often outstripped what we had, and feedback we had from students telling us they’d like such a service. We also knew it was something others were doing, and we had the opportunity because some laptops became available from a service no longer being run. It was a pilot, so we only had 10 laptops and was restricted to the IC for 2 hours at a time. Student feedback was mainly good, but they didn’t like the old laptops, or the battery life. So, this year we embarked on a real service. We purchased 66 fairly rugged laptops with 6 hours battery life complete with a bag, power and mouse. These are used for loan and teaching and the flexibility does allow us to cope with seasonal demands. They run our Windows 7 managed desktop, a familiar environment with access to many applications, and can be booked in advance through our resource booking system. This is called myR&R which amuses me no end. I know it stands for My Rooms and Resources, but it will always be My Rest and Recuperation to me. When we first went live with it, I tried to book some.
It’s proving to be a very popular service (the laptops) with 53% of users using the service more than once. Currently not many students are booking them in advance, but we know that will change over time. Our next tasks are to publicise the service more, look at expanding it, and investigate developments such as self-issue and return and allowing them to be taken away from the IC.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Happy Birthday IC
Exactly 5 years ago today, on Easter Tuesday, the Information Commons opened its doors to students for the first time. What I like to think of as the love child of CiCS and the Library had been a long time in gestation. I think the idea had first been floated in 1999, as a solution to a common problem that we both faced, a lack of study spaces. We also knew that we lacked an integrated learning environment, somewhere where students could use books, electronic resources and PCs at the same time.
Once the idea had been born, we had to find a location, and the funding for it. Several locations were initially discussed, before the preferred option of where it is now was settled on. Funding was something we fought hard for, and its fair to say that although we had a lot of support from the students, and our colleagues in professional services, the academic community were not entirely on board at the beginning. But operating on the Tinkerbell Principle (if you can get enough people to believe in something it will eventually happen), we successfully argued our case through Finance Committee and Council and the LRC (Learning Resource Centre) reached planning stage. We had a minor setback well into planning - funding was withdrawn whilst the University carried out a review of other options including building a smaller IC and using the cash to build a number of smaller ones dotted around campus. Luckily common sense prevailed, and we were off again, albeit with a smaller, L shaped building that would wrap around what was at that time the Careers building. During planning two additional amounts of funding were received which allowed us to demolish Careers, add floors 5 and 6, and build phase 2.
It was so exciting watching the building go up. Here are two time lapse videos of it, from web cams we installed. You can see in the second one how the building originally was smaller than it is now, and how close it was going to be to Careers.
The building as handed over to us at 5pm on the Thursday of Easter weekend, and we knew we had just 4 days to get it open for 10am on the Tuesday. It's fair to say a lot of hard work went on. Everyone mucked in, and very long days were worked. Books had to be shelved - the Librarian did his share, and brought his marigolds to help with the cleaning. 400 PCs had to have their installation completed, and I recall lying under desks for hours. But, we got it open, and it's been a runaway success ever since. Some things have changed - we now have a creative media suite in it for example - but the basic premise that it is an integrated learning environment, where students can find many different types of study space, and it is for them, hasn't changed.
Here's some pictures taken exactly 5 years ago.
Once the idea had been born, we had to find a location, and the funding for it. Several locations were initially discussed, before the preferred option of where it is now was settled on. Funding was something we fought hard for, and its fair to say that although we had a lot of support from the students, and our colleagues in professional services, the academic community were not entirely on board at the beginning. But operating on the Tinkerbell Principle (if you can get enough people to believe in something it will eventually happen), we successfully argued our case through Finance Committee and Council and the LRC (Learning Resource Centre) reached planning stage. We had a minor setback well into planning - funding was withdrawn whilst the University carried out a review of other options including building a smaller IC and using the cash to build a number of smaller ones dotted around campus. Luckily common sense prevailed, and we were off again, albeit with a smaller, L shaped building that would wrap around what was at that time the Careers building. During planning two additional amounts of funding were received which allowed us to demolish Careers, add floors 5 and 6, and build phase 2.
It was so exciting watching the building go up. Here are two time lapse videos of it, from web cams we installed. You can see in the second one how the building originally was smaller than it is now, and how close it was going to be to Careers.
The building as handed over to us at 5pm on the Thursday of Easter weekend, and we knew we had just 4 days to get it open for 10am on the Tuesday. It's fair to say a lot of hard work went on. Everyone mucked in, and very long days were worked. Books had to be shelved - the Librarian did his share, and brought his marigolds to help with the cleaning. 400 PCs had to have their installation completed, and I recall lying under desks for hours. But, we got it open, and it's been a runaway success ever since. Some things have changed - we now have a creative media suite in it for example - but the basic premise that it is an integrated learning environment, where students can find many different types of study space, and it is for them, hasn't changed.
Here's some pictures taken exactly 5 years ago.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
The students are back
And it's great to see the students back. Lots of activity across campus, including the activity fairs to get the new students into all of the societies - the place is really buzzing. Even nine o'clock lectures have been busy this week.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Where the magic happens, and other stories
Had a meeting this week with some of the University's newly appointed legal advisors to explain to them what we do, and explore where they might be able to help us. Obvious areas are Freedom of Information and Data Protection where we occasionally have to get legal advice, but also other areas such as information security, data export and copyright infringement. Good chance for us to explore some of the issues, and also talk about risk management in relation to legal issues.
We've also hosted a visit to the IC from colleagues from another University. Four years on it's still looking good and still impresses. I still love showing people round it. And it's still evolving. A creative media suite is about to open where staff and students can create and edit audio and video, make podcasts, record teaching materials etc. All set up in a user friendly way with presets for the camera angles etc. We're also setting up a skills suite where staff can drop in and consult experts in various digital media technologies for help and advice. I love the strap line on the door - "where the magic happens". Let's hope it does :-)
Also had several meetings over the last couple of days about various capital projects, and how they might incorporate learning and teaching space. Some major refurbishments, and some new builds, and we need to make sure we gt the right sort of space in the right areas. Lots of exciting developments and the potential for some very innovative spaces.
Today has been spent mainly talking to suppliers. The first showing us a document management solution for creating efiles - single views of data collected from variety of sources, especially scanned-in documents.
The second one of our long standing suppliers where we have a new account manager - but someone who used to be our account manger a few years ago for another product. So, some catching up and building relationships - always important to do.
Now I'm off for a long Easter weekend, so no blogging for a few days. There's plenty of other good blogs to read - some of my favourites are in my side bar, but there's lots more.
We've also hosted a visit to the IC from colleagues from another University. Four years on it's still looking good and still impresses. I still love showing people round it. And it's still evolving. A creative media suite is about to open where staff and students can create and edit audio and video, make podcasts, record teaching materials etc. All set up in a user friendly way with presets for the camera angles etc. We're also setting up a skills suite where staff can drop in and consult experts in various digital media technologies for help and advice. I love the strap line on the door - "where the magic happens". Let's hope it does :-)
Also had several meetings over the last couple of days about various capital projects, and how they might incorporate learning and teaching space. Some major refurbishments, and some new builds, and we need to make sure we gt the right sort of space in the right areas. Lots of exciting developments and the potential for some very innovative spaces.
Today has been spent mainly talking to suppliers. The first showing us a document management solution for creating efiles - single views of data collected from variety of sources, especially scanned-in documents.
The second one of our long standing suppliers where we have a new account manager - but someone who used to be our account manger a few years ago for another product. So, some catching up and building relationships - always important to do.
Now I'm off for a long Easter weekend, so no blogging for a few days. There's plenty of other good blogs to read - some of my favourites are in my side bar, but there's lots more.
Friday, 15 April 2011
The importance of well designed underwear, and the rest of the conference
One of the sessions at the AMHEC conference was about communicating, especially in times of change. The basic principles of be open and honest, understand and know your audience, and make your point clearly were all illustrated, and also some good examples of how not to do it. Tell your audience what's in it for them, pick the right channel and medium, have a purpose to what you're saying, understand the message and get the right sentiment across sound like common sense, but some people get it disastrously wrong.
Everyone remembers the sacking of soldiers last Christmas by email - a clear case of choosing the wrong channel. My favourite was the UBS dress policy. UBS are a big swiss bank, who decided to update some policies, and in doing so came up with a 44 page dress code which contained such classics as:
"Underwear is among the most intimate parts of our clothing."
"Your underwear must not be visible through your clothes, or stand out."
"Your figure should not suffer from the way you wear your underwear.
Everyone remembers the sacking of soldiers last Christmas by email - a clear case of choosing the wrong channel. My favourite was the UBS dress policy. UBS are a big swiss bank, who decided to update some policies, and in doing so came up with a 44 page dress code which contained such classics as:
"Underwear is among the most intimate parts of our clothing."
"Your underwear must not be visible through your clothes, or stand out."
"Your figure should not suffer from the way you wear your underwear.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Police, Google, IC and Toxic Data star at the User Group
CiCS User Group this morning. A very good attendance - we ran out of biscuits! Did wonder what we'd put on the agenda that promised trouble when I saw 5 policemen outside, leaning on their cycles having a quick cup of coffee. Didn't know our move to Google was so controversial. Suspect they had something to do with a certain event happening in Sheffield at the moment.
After a report on stuff we're doing at the moment, our first presentation was a report on changes taking place in the Information Commons from our (relatively) new IC manager, Rene. Providing students with transferable skills, more flexibility in the use of the space, loaning laptops ( possibly with assistive software preloaded), providing high end machines for media processing - all currently being evaluated following focus groups with students. Exciting to see how the building is evolving.
Next we heard how one of our faculties had coped with the move to Google mail. Great to see a Faculty IT and CiCS IT support person presenting together. This has definitely been a joint operation - we have worked with the faculty to plan the move, and have staff based in the departments the morning after the move floor walking and generally assisting people. Staff from other areas of the University have been involved as well - a real collaborative effort. I think what surprised people more than anything was how few problems there's been - for most people their mail has moved, there's a small reconfiguration to their client, and that's it. Now we're moving round the University adopting the same technique, and we go live with Google docs in May, then the calendar - which will be big bang rather than staggered.
A scary talk then on Information as a Toxic Resource. Our Data Protection and Freedom of Information experts gave a very informative (and yes, scary in places), about how information can be requested under DP and FoI legislation, what we are obliged to release, how we should be storing it, how much we should be keeping etc. We should of course be deleting anything we don't need to keep, but that is definitely not the practice with emails where many people keep everything. We also touched on the dangers of downloading data onto mobile devices and the need to have suitable encryption in place. Requests under FoI and DP are on the increase - we need be make sure everyone knows and understands their responsibilities - the Information Commissioner can now fine us up to £500,000, and there is personal liability, as well as corporate. Be afraid....
Finally, an interim report on the mobile survey we're in the middle of conducting. It closes on Monday, so a bigger and better blog post when we've analysed all the results, but initial result show all students (except 2 apparently) have a mobile phone, over half of them are smart phones (with many of the rest expecting to upgrade to one soon), and 95% ownership of laptops. Lots of good info about how students use them, and what other mobile services they want to see.
After a report on stuff we're doing at the moment, our first presentation was a report on changes taking place in the Information Commons from our (relatively) new IC manager, Rene. Providing students with transferable skills, more flexibility in the use of the space, loaning laptops ( possibly with assistive software preloaded), providing high end machines for media processing - all currently being evaluated following focus groups with students. Exciting to see how the building is evolving.
Next we heard how one of our faculties had coped with the move to Google mail. Great to see a Faculty IT and CiCS IT support person presenting together. This has definitely been a joint operation - we have worked with the faculty to plan the move, and have staff based in the departments the morning after the move floor walking and generally assisting people. Staff from other areas of the University have been involved as well - a real collaborative effort. I think what surprised people more than anything was how few problems there's been - for most people their mail has moved, there's a small reconfiguration to their client, and that's it. Now we're moving round the University adopting the same technique, and we go live with Google docs in May, then the calendar - which will be big bang rather than staggered.
A scary talk then on Information as a Toxic Resource. Our Data Protection and Freedom of Information experts gave a very informative (and yes, scary in places), about how information can be requested under DP and FoI legislation, what we are obliged to release, how we should be storing it, how much we should be keeping etc. We should of course be deleting anything we don't need to keep, but that is definitely not the practice with emails where many people keep everything. We also touched on the dangers of downloading data onto mobile devices and the need to have suitable encryption in place. Requests under FoI and DP are on the increase - we need be make sure everyone knows and understands their responsibilities - the Information Commissioner can now fine us up to £500,000, and there is personal liability, as well as corporate. Be afraid....
Finally, an interim report on the mobile survey we're in the middle of conducting. It closes on Monday, so a bigger and better blog post when we've analysed all the results, but initial result show all students (except 2 apparently) have a mobile phone, over half of them are smart phones (with many of the rest expecting to upgrade to one soon), and 95% ownership of laptops. Lots of good info about how students use them, and what other mobile services they want to see.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Narnia in the Library, and a tidy data centre
It's always interesting to visit another University, and some of us we were fortunate to have some time after the RUGIT meeting and before our flights home, to visit Queen's University Belfast. The main point of interest was The McClay Library, only recently opened, and replacing existing libraries on site, as well as housing all library and IT staff, and the main data centre. It is a lovely building, and we had a very good guided tour.
Of course, it's virtually impossible to walk round and not compare it with our Information Commons, but it is a different sort of building. It is the library, and therefore has different functions. there's lots more books, obviously, and it is very quiet. There are silent zones, and whisper zones. no places where students can work more noisily, apart from in the group study rooms. It has a very fine atrium complete with real trees, and lovely wood finishes. The furniture was also very high quality, and some very nice wood chairs and desks.There's also a very impressive door leading into the C S Lewis Reading room:
Monday, 14 February 2011
From Drama to Bums on Seats
Quite a lot of meetings to catch up on, so here's a quick round up.
Friday morning was the Drama Studio User Group, which we effectively disbanded! Well, in its current form. Rather than try and look at operational issues, management and policy, the group will reform and look at operational issues, becoming a consultative groups for all users of the Drama Studio. There's a wide range of them - academic departments, students, local amateur dramatic groups, and we'll be meeting for some of the time in the evening to make sure all users are represented.
Then on Friday afternoon the Exec spent 2 hours going through our operational plan and prioritising all of the different objectives to present to the Service Strategy Board for their comments. A big job, and interesting to see where we might have different views to the managers who have put it together. In these tight financial times, and where our users want more services than ever, it's important we get this right.
Today I had the first meeting of an important project - we're calling it IT as a Shared Service, and it will be looking at how CiCS and Faculty and departmental IT staff can work more closely together. Lots of benefits to be had if we get this right including better IT support in departments, efficiency, less duplication, better career development for staff.
Then this afternoon it was the Service Strategy Board. Lots of good discussion. Topics covered included how we're coordinating improvements to the registration process for new students, how we ensure development work done outside of the development team gets the right technical advice and progress on all of our projects. No new projects to approve today, but one "lessons leaned" review which we carry out on all completed projects.
Each month for the meeting of the SSB the service manager produces an overview report of their own area - not just projects, but other developments and significant changes. These are invaluable for me and the rest of the team to keep up with everything happening in the department. I can't summarise all seven of them here, so I thought I'd highlight one or two after each meeting. Today it's the turn of Teaching and Learning, and the following new developments were reported:
All good stuff and well done to everyone.
Off to Loughborough tomorrow for the Google Apps for Education UK User Group.
Friday morning was the Drama Studio User Group, which we effectively disbanded! Well, in its current form. Rather than try and look at operational issues, management and policy, the group will reform and look at operational issues, becoming a consultative groups for all users of the Drama Studio. There's a wide range of them - academic departments, students, local amateur dramatic groups, and we'll be meeting for some of the time in the evening to make sure all users are represented.
Then on Friday afternoon the Exec spent 2 hours going through our operational plan and prioritising all of the different objectives to present to the Service Strategy Board for their comments. A big job, and interesting to see where we might have different views to the managers who have put it together. In these tight financial times, and where our users want more services than ever, it's important we get this right.
Today I had the first meeting of an important project - we're calling it IT as a Shared Service, and it will be looking at how CiCS and Faculty and departmental IT staff can work more closely together. Lots of benefits to be had if we get this right including better IT support in departments, efficiency, less duplication, better career development for staff.
Then this afternoon it was the Service Strategy Board. Lots of good discussion. Topics covered included how we're coordinating improvements to the registration process for new students, how we ensure development work done outside of the development team gets the right technical advice and progress on all of our projects. No new projects to approve today, but one "lessons leaned" review which we carry out on all completed projects.
Each month for the meeting of the SSB the service manager produces an overview report of their own area - not just projects, but other developments and significant changes. These are invaluable for me and the rest of the team to keep up with everything happening in the department. I can't summarise all seven of them here, so I thought I'd highlight one or two after each meeting. Today it's the turn of Teaching and Learning, and the following new developments were reported:
- Managed laptop service being piloted to allow departments to use space more flexibly, eg using teaching labs as IT spaces
- New PC availability service (or Bums on Seats as it's affectionately known in the dept) which will graphically show individual PCs on each floor in the IC and display availability status. This will be linked with the PC booking system so you can walk into the building and book a PC on level 0 and it will be ready for you as you reach the higher levels
- Creative media space opening in the IC where students will be able to produce audio and video material
- Laptop loan service in IC being piloted
All good stuff and well done to everyone.
Off to Loughborough tomorrow for the Google Apps for Education UK User Group.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Back to work....
Had a nice relaxing week last week in Sherwood Forest, and now back into the thick of it again - not sure where January went!
Spent yesterday at a University presenting my report on a review on their IT services I've just completed - always interesting to visit other places and act as a "critical friend". We've had the same done to us several times, and although some customer comments can make uncomfortable reading, it helps to focus the mind on priorities and somtimes reveals things that you didn't realise were a problem. I've had the opportunity this week to be a customer of our services and to see ourselves as others see us. I am helping with a production at the Drama Studio - our excellent performance space - working front of house with The Company, who I've been associated with for many years. So, I have to have the fire briefing, know what to do to evacuate the building, - and sell programmes, refreshments etc. And best of all get to watch most of the performance - Arsenic and Old Lace - great production about two old ladies who make a habit of killing lonely men! I also had some time between meetings and didn't want to go back to the office so spent an hour working in the Information Commons - very peaceful at the moment as it's exam time and we've increased the number of quiet zones in the buildings. A great place to work on a comfy sofa with my iPad.
Other meetings this week include a meeting with the Faculty of Arts to discuss their strategic plan, and an internal communications group where we agree what corporate communications are going out, in what medium, to whom etc. Lots of discussion today about our new Strategic Plan which has just been published - more on that later.
Spent yesterday at a University presenting my report on a review on their IT services I've just completed - always interesting to visit other places and act as a "critical friend". We've had the same done to us several times, and although some customer comments can make uncomfortable reading, it helps to focus the mind on priorities and somtimes reveals things that you didn't realise were a problem. I've had the opportunity this week to be a customer of our services and to see ourselves as others see us. I am helping with a production at the Drama Studio - our excellent performance space - working front of house with The Company, who I've been associated with for many years. So, I have to have the fire briefing, know what to do to evacuate the building, - and sell programmes, refreshments etc. And best of all get to watch most of the performance - Arsenic and Old Lace - great production about two old ladies who make a habit of killing lonely men! I also had some time between meetings and didn't want to go back to the office so spent an hour working in the Information Commons - very peaceful at the moment as it's exam time and we've increased the number of quiet zones in the buildings. A great place to work on a comfy sofa with my iPad.
Other meetings this week include a meeting with the Faculty of Arts to discuss their strategic plan, and an internal communications group where we agree what corporate communications are going out, in what medium, to whom etc. Lots of discussion today about our new Strategic Plan which has just been published - more on that later.
Friday, 25 June 2010
The end of an IC era
I've blogged often about our Information Commons and what a wonderful resource it is, but today sees the end of an era. Before the building was completed we appointed an Information Commons manager, Alex. It wasn't an easy job, especially as some of us had been working on the concept and design for 5 years. It was our baby - the love child of CiCS and the Library - and we had to hand it over to Alex's careful management. We knew where every piece of furniture should be, why things had been designed the way they had, and we probably weren't easy to please. Alex also had to cope with the very rushed opening of the building with only 4 days between handover and letting the students in, and the inevitable teething problems with any new building. Some were easier to deal with than others. I won't mention what leaked out under the ground floor tiles..... Alex dealt with everything with very good grace and a sense of humour!
Today is her last day in the IC as she moves back into CiCS to take up a new role. There was cake, in the shape of the IC of course, and some well deserved awards to her staff. I was particularly impressed with the information that the plasma screens were displaying!So, a big thanks to Alex from all of us in CiCS and the Library, and here's to the next three years of the IC, under new management.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Sheffield Made Us
The Sheffield Made Us competition asked students to shoot a short film asking students to demonstrate how their time at Sheffield - the University and the City - had helped to define the person they are today.
The winner has just been announced - Pól Gallagher from the School of Architecture and you can watch his winning entry below - I like it, and the IC has a cameo role!
The winner has just been announced - Pól Gallagher from the School of Architecture and you can watch his winning entry below - I like it, and the IC has a cameo role!
Friday, 19 June 2009
Laughology and Learning Spaces
Laughology - there's a term I hadn't heard until yesterday. It was the final session at INULS, and Stephanie Davies exercised our humour muscles to show us how being in a good humour and laughing can make us see things in a different light and be more positive. An excellent way to finish the day - she had everyone laughing, and made even a room full of librarians go wild and crazy ;-) With a toolset of techniques which can be used in many different situations, Laughology aims to reduce stress and improve performance. As someone who uses laughter a lot, (some might say too much...), I fully subscribed to what she was saying. Laughter can diffuse many situations and help people get over setbacks faster.This morning began with another excellent speaker (well, I would say that wouldn't I....), as I gave a presentation on the Information Commons. Seemed to go well, and as usual everyone was very impressed with the building. As it's been open for 2 years now, we're able to give a feel for how it's operating, what we would have done differently and whether some of the design decisions we took at the time were right. Following my talk, a couple of designers who've worked on projects including the Saltaire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University gave a design perspective on new learning spaces. Many of their ideas - the need for flexible spaces, solo spaces, silent spaces, collaborative spaces, curl up in a corner spaces - were incorporated into the design of the IC.
The conference is about to come to a close and it's been very enjoyable and informative. I'm also impressed with the University of Limerick which is on a lovely campus with green spaces, lakes, fountains, a wobbly bridge, and lots of public art - I even bumped into an Anthony Gormley in the grounds.
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