WHELF call to join our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group
Gill MorrisPosted on
Posted in EDI - equality diversity and inclusion, news, online communities, Welsh universities, WHELF, workforce development
WHELF is putting out a call to join our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group.
The WHELF EDI Group has achieved notable successes since it was established in 2020 – including a high profile conference on Excluded Voices. The Group has also been nominated for a CILIP Cymru Welsh Library Team of the Year Award, in recognition of the work undertaken so far.
However, there is much more to do, and the WHELF Board now wishes to strengthen the group to take forward this critical work as part of the WHELF strategy and action plan. WHELF Board will provide financial and leadership support to the group, and has committed to providing an annual budget for the next 3 years. The current chair will work closely with a new chair to help steer the agenda and provide proactive support from the Board.
We are looking for people with a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion who are able to actively engage to take this agenda forward.
Potential projects include a Wales-wide analysis of National Student Survey data for libraries against the protected characteristics in the Equality Act, helping to organise the next Excluded Voices conference and development of other Wales-wide initiatives in EDI.
It is essential that the group provides an opportunity for a diverse range of voices to be heard, and we encourage expressions of interest from across the community, and beyond the core WHELF membership. Please contact Tracey Stanley to express an interest in being involved, or for an informal discussion.
WHELF Board news November 2021
The WHELF Board returned to the beautiful setting of Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden, for their first in person meeting since February 2020. All member institutions were represented and the guests were Emma Adamson, former WHELF Chair, Mairwen Owen, formerly of Bangor University, and Megan Wiley. formerly of RWCMD.
Emma gave an informative and thought-provoking talk on her work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) with the University of South Wales. This will feed into the WHELF EDI Group’s work as it moves towards widening membership and planning future activities.
WHELF would like to wish Emma Adamson, Steve Williams and Megan Wiley well in their new roles and also looks forward to welcoming new colleagues to the Board in due course from Swansea University and Natural Resources Wales.
It was wonderful to meet in person again and enjoy the opportunities to chat and share knowledge and experience which occurred – something which is much more difficult to achieve in a virtual meeting.
CILIP Cymru Wales announces the Welsh Library Team of the Year Award winner and finalists
The Estyn Allan training and development programme has been selected as first place in the CILIP Cymru Wales Welsh Library Team of the Year Award.
Joint second place was awarded to Coleg Sir Gâr Library Service and the Grŵp Llandrillo Menai Library & Learning Technology Service, and third place to the WHELF (Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum) EDI group.
CILIP Cymru Wales Welsh Library Team of the Year 2021
Tagged with: events
How do Libraries Support Research?
Gill MorrisPosted on
Posted in events, research support, TeachMeet, Universities Wales, WHELF, workforce development
You are warmly invited to our How do Libraries Support Research?’ Teachmeet, a free event arranged by the Academic Engagement team at Hugh Owen Library, Aberystwyth University. 23 November 2021, 11:00 -14:45
We have an eye-catching programme of speakers to share with you: from universities across Wales and England including the Bodleian Library at Oxford, from the NHS and the National Museum Wales.
Please see the webpage and programme for more details
This event will be of interest to librarians and information practitioners from a range of sectors, researchers, students of librarianship and more. Everybody is welcome
Please complete this short form to book your place and use the hashtag #aberltm2021 to get involved. We look forward to meeting up online.
Questions? librarians@aber.ac.uk
WHELF Board meeting November 2021
The next WHELF Board meeting will be held at the beautiful venue of Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden in North Wales. It will be the first time colleagues have met face to face since February 2020, and the first opportunity to meet Judith Dray from RWCMD in person!
The meeting will be held on 8-9 November 2021.
Welsh Government Consultation on its LGBTQ+ Action Plan
Last week CILIP Cymru Wales met with information professional leaders from across Wales to respond to Welsh Government’s consultation on its LGBTQ+ action plan. WHELF is pleased to have been included in this and hopes its members will share their views via the following link.
Libraries and Information Services play a key role in defining and supporting the information needs of their service users
WHELF Farewells
WHELF is currently going through a period of change, with colleagues leaving WHELF institutions:
Mairwen Owen retired from Bangor University in July. Mairwen was most recently Academic Support Manager in Bangor University library but also worked as Law Librarian for many years.
Within WHELF Mairwen could be relied on for practical, helpful input in meetings and on projects. Mairwen was a quietly spoken, reliable colleague with a mischievous sense of humour. She will also be missed within the WHELF Learning and Teaching Group.
Tegid Rhys WIlliams has left Natural Resources Wales to take up a role with Betsi Cadwalladr Health Board. As well as being a knowledgeable and supportive colleague on the WHELF Board, we will miss his enthusiasm and his music! Tegid is a past Chair of the WHELF Research Group.
Following a year’s secondment to the University of Westminster from RWCMD, Megan Wiley has accepted a position as Director of Library and Digital Academy Services at the University of Law. Megan has had a varied career within libraries and Careers and brings a wealth of experience from her work within several WHELF Groups, including Archives and Special Collections and Copyright. On a personal level Megan is known for her enthusiasm and kindness and for unwavering support for all her colleagues, both at RWCMD and in WHELF.
Finally, Steve Williams will be moving from Swansea University after 23 years, to take up a new role over the Severn Bridge in Leicester in December. Most recently Steve has been University Librarian, Head of Libraries and Culture at Swansea and was WHELF Chair from 2019-2021. WHELF will miss Steve’s generosity in sharing knowledge and information, his sense of humour and his ability to make new colleagues feel welcome.
Good luck Mairwen, Tegid, Megan and Steve. We will miss you all and please keep in touch!
Aberystwyth University Library Teachmeet 2021: How Do Libraries Support Researchers? 23/11/2021
This Teachmeet is an opportunity to showcase the range of ways in which libraries support research and to learn from one another’s experiences.
We welcome contributions from both library staff and the research community, including students.
The Teachmeet will take place live on MS Teams on Tuesday 23rd November 2021.
Librarians
- How does the library at your organization support research?
- What methods have you employed to discover the needs of researchers and what have you found?
- How have you developed your own range of skills to be relevant to the researchers to whom you offer support and training?
Researchers
- Are you a research student or member of research staff who has taken up library support?
- What can librarians learn from you to develop and market their support and training offer?
This free event will be delivered via Teams and your presentation can be pre-recorded or delivered live.
Please complete this short survey to register your interest in taking part.
Questions? Please email the Academic Engagement team librarians@aber.ac.uk
WHELF Learning and Teaching Group – Teachmeet
Gill MorrisPosted on
Posted in collaboration, events, information literacy, learning & teaching, student experience, TeachMeet, Universities Wales, Welsh universities, WHELF
The WHELF Learning and Teaching Group is organising a second Teachmeet on the theme of inclusive learning and teaching, which we hope to run in September.
This Teachmeet will focus on how we can foster and enable equality and diversity in our learning communities. We’d like to invite proposals for short talks of up to 20 minutes on this subject.
Possible themes could include:
- Learning environment
- Reading lists
- Learning and teaching design and delivery
- Partnership with students and staff to improve student experience and sense of belonging
- Assessment and attainment
- Marketing and communication
We would particularly welcome proposals which include student presenters or student feedback.
If you would like to submit a proposal, please send a title and a brief overview of the content of your talk to Rebecca Mogg and Allison Jones (librarytraining@cardiff.ac.uk) by Friday 20 August[:]
WHELF Annual Colloquium 2021
Gill MorrisPosted on
Posted in archives & special collections, collaboration, events, information literacy, learning & teaching, news, Universities Wales, Welsh universities, WHELF, Whelf shared LMS, workforce development
WHELF Annual Colloquium 2021
There and back again: using lessons learned from the pandemic to shape the library services of the future.
The WHELF Colloquium was again online this year. Our programme explored how we have adapted services and innovated during the past year with a chance to reflect and discuss on what we might take forward into the future
Passcode: vQ#Etcn0
The ideas shared in breakout sessions via a jamboard are here
Susan Glen (swansea University) and Gill Morris shared some notes from the day:
WHELF-colloquium-2021-notes
