ALN Staff Development Update #64 – 23 April 2025
This weekly update is intended to keep you up to date on ALN’s staff development programme; to highlight interesting initiatives being undertaken by ALN or its members; and to promote job opportunities in our member libraries. If you have any queries or any content you’d like to include, please get in touch at: academiclibrariesnorth@sconul.ac.uk
Events
April 2025
Cataloguing with Confidence
Date: Thursday 24 April 2025
Time: 10.00 to 4.30pm
An in-person workshop presented by Will Peaden, University of Coventry, and Emma Booth, University of Manchester (using materials by Victoria Parkinson, Kings College London, and Tom Meehan, UCL). Hosted in partnership with CILIP’s Metadata and Discovery Group at the University of Manchester. Attendees will learn about the theory underpinning current cataloguing standards (AACR2, MARC21, RDA) and gain practical knowledge in cataloguing. The focus will be on developing your cataloguing skills with practical, hands-on sessions using hard copy print books. 10 free places for ALN members – please contact events.mdg@cilip.org.uk by 4th April 2025.
May 2025
Advocacy and Institutional Alignment in Challenging Times
Hosts: ALN Steering Group
Date: Thursday 15 May 2025
Time: 2.00 – 3.30
Platform: Online via Teams
June 2025
Innovative marketing and social media engagement in Academic Libraries
Hosts: University of Hull
Date: Wednesday 4 June 2025
Time: 10.30 – 12.00
Platform: Online via Teams
Sheffield Hallam University TeachMeet: Inclusive Learning
Hosts: Sheffield Hallam University
Date: Thursday 5 June 2025
Time: 10.00 – 4.00
Format: In-person
Turning up and tuning in: strategies for student engagement with library sessions
Hosts: Northumbria University
Date: Wednesday 11 June 2025
Time: 9.30 – 11.30am
Platform: Online via Teams
** Date for your diary ** Supporting and encouraging authors to publish Open Access Monographs with no REF2029 mandate
Provisional Date: Thursday 12 June 2025 TBC
Provisional Time: 10am – 12 noon TBC
July 2025
GenAI: Collective Knowledge and Shared Progress
Hosts: Academic Librarians CoP
Date: Wednesday 2 July 2025
Time: 9:30am – 12 noon
Platform: Online via Teams
Making Music, Not Noise: Enhancing Student Communications at Edge Hill University
Hosts: Edge Hill University
Date: Friday 18 July 2025
Time: 10.00 – 12.30pm
Platform: Online via Teams
Frontline Forum 3
The Frontline Forum is a new online discussion and development space for teams working directly with students and users. The forums will be an opportunity to share best practice, engage with other ALN activities and learn about different service models and delivery types offered by different universities. The forum is aimed at staff who work on frontline desks and provide the first line of support to students and other library users.
The next Frontline Forum will take place on Wednesday 21 May 2025, 2.30 – 4.00 (2.15 informal start), with a theme of Supporting wellbeing and good mental health. More information to follow ASAP.
The plan for the afternoon is available on the Frontline Forum page of the ALN website.
ALN Conference 2025
Sustainable Innovation: moving forward in challenging times Conference Registration now open!
Online via Teams – Wednesday 18 June 2025; In-person – Friday 11 July at the Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Registration
Book yourself a place today! Ticket prices can be found on the ALN Conference 2025 website. Bulk discounts are available for 5 or more people attending in-person. See the Eventbrite page for how it works. Details of the full programme will follow shortly.
If you have any queries about the conference, please contact alnconferenceteam@gmail.com.
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Looking for inspiration for how your library can get involved in Mental Health Awareness Week, taking place from 12th to 18th May 2025?
Why not have a look on the ALN Mental Health & Wellbeing Resource page – you’ll find lots of case studies detailing relevant activities shared by staff from across ALN member libraries. Definitely worth a look to see if inspiration hits!
And if you have a case study that you’d like to share with your colleagues in other ALN libraries, we are adding material all the time – please contact one of the project team to discuss it further or to send the details of your project etc.
SCONUL Events
SCONUL AI coffee morning – Register now!
Date: Friday 25 April 2025
Time: 10am – 11.30am
In a slight change from our advertised coffee morning, we will be looking at the outputs from different AI tools and evaluating their effectiveness, with a guest speaker. We hope this will engender some lively debate!
The AI coffee mornings allow library colleagues to come together, share experiences and ask questions so that we can explore these tools and techniques as a community. These are not expert forums but for sharing information and experiences as practitioners and they are open to all, whatever your role or level of expertise. Please bring your own coffee and biscuits!
You can find the recordings of our previous AI coffee mornings here.
SCONUL Town Hall meeting on Big 5 negotiations
Date: Thursday 1 May 2025
Time: 11am – 12.30pm
SCONUL will be holding a Town Hall meeting for members to discuss the Jisc negotiations with Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage, which are all taking place in 2025.
The negotiations are being framed as next-generation open access, which has the core aims of cost savings and long-term financial sustainability and broadening participation in research by promoting equity and inclusivity in research dissemination. The meeting will provide an opportunity to hear an update on progress from Jisc and to discuss positioning and communications around the deal.
Member Library Events
University of Manchester Open Research Conference 2025
Date: Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 June 2025
Location: Alliance Manchester Business School
The event will showcase the latest innovations and practices in Open Research, bringing together researchers, PGRs and research support professionals across disciplines, to explore bold ideas and practical solutions for reshaping how we conduct and share research.
Call for Abstracts
We welcome submissions for presentations and posters from anyone interested in, researching, or working in Open Research. Contributions can include research projects, methodological innovations, or case studies showcasing Open Research practices.
Key Details
• Abstract Submission Deadline: 31 March 2025
• Notification of Acceptance: Mid-end of April 2025
• Submit your application via this form: https://forms.office.com/e/TEwBCrRrvm
Presentation Format
• Talks: 15-minute presentations on your work and contributions to Open Research.
• Posters: Posters will be displayed throughout the event, with a dedicated session to discuss your work with attendees.
Event Information
The conference is a collaborative initiative led by the Office for Open Research (supported by the Research Lifecycle Programme), the School of Engineering Open Research Lead, the UK Reproducibility Network, and the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute.
Contact
If you have any questions about the conference or abstract submissions, please contact the team at openresearch@manchester.ac.uk.
Job Opportunities
Senior SLS Assistant
Location: Teesside University
Salary: £24,560 – £25,733
Contractual hours: 37
Package: 1 x Full time, Permanent
Closing date: Thursday 24 April 2025
We are looking for an enthusiastic, customer focused individuals to join our excellent Student & Library Services team. These roles involve supporting students with their everyday needs.
If you have a customer focus and have experience with supporting customers with a compassionate approach, then this role is for you.
These roles also have supervisory responsibility for direct reports and require some experience with digital systems and platforms.
Please specify in your application whether you are applying for the permanent position or the fixed term position.
Please note that the University may ask you to participate in a number of selection activities as part of the recruitment process for this vacancy.
If you are shortlisted, your interview will take place in person, on campus.
Interviews will take place on Monday 19 May 2025.
Learning Coordinator Grade 4 (Part-time)
Location: University of Liverpool
Salary: £25,448 – £28,381 pa (pro rata)
Closing date: Thursday 1 May 2025
We are looking for an enthusiastic individual to join our team in Libraries, Museums and Galleries (University of Liverpool) to support our Lifelong Learning offer within Cultural Heritage Services. This is an incredibly exciting time to join the University of Liverpool Libraries, Museums and Galleries (LMG). LMG is home to diverse and significant collections and provides services across multiple venues, including the Victoria Gallery and Museum (VGM), Garstang Museum of Archaeology (GM), Sydney Jones Library (SJL) and Harold Cohen Library (HCL). The collections trace the history of the university and the many different communities that have shaped that development.
Reporting to the Curator of Lifelong Learning, you will deliver a high quality and varied learning and engagement programme. The Tate Hall Museum, on the second floor of the VGM, is due to reopen in September 2025 and you will be joining at an exciting time with the opportunity to contribute to this redevelopment. You should understand current learning practice, have experience of organising and running events and have excellent communication and customer care skills. You should have 3 GCSEs at Grade C or above (or equivalent) including English Language.
The hours of work are part-time, 28 hours per week with some evening and weekend working for events. The post is on a permanent contract.
SCONUL Deputy Director
Contract: Permanent, full-time position following a six-month probationary period
Salary: Between £59,500 and £65,000
Closing date: Tuesday 6 May 2025
SCONUL is recruiting a new Deputy Director to work with the Board and Executive Director across all areas of our work. This is an exciting role that will allow the successful candidate to help shape the future of academic and research libraries in the UK and Ireland, operating on the national stage to advocate for the value and needs of member libraries, and working closely with our members at a senior level. Responsibilities include running two national services and the role provides scope to use your creativity and entrepreneurial skills.
This post is based one to two days a week at SCONUL’s London office with the remainder of the time working from home. It will also involve occasional travel to other sites.
Library Advisor 0.8 FTE – Grade 4
Location: University of Liverpool
Salary: £25,448 – £28,381 pa (pro rata)
Closing date: Tuesday 6 May 2025
It is an exciting time to join Libraries, Museums and Galleries as we are recruiting for our Customer Experience Team in the Libraries.
As Library Advisor, you will join a welcoming, high-performing team to provide a customer focused, high-quality service to library users.
You will provide an excellent front-line service and administrative support, playing a key part in contributing to the development of student-focussed services.
This is a key role within a fast-paced, front-facing team providing a responsive, interactive and consistent service delivery and support to library users.
Responsibilities and duties include:
– Provide an excellent customer service and support at the first point of contact including face-to-face, on-line and throughout our buildings, engaging and
interacting with library users and colleagues.
– Resolve on-line enquiries via our Ticket and Live-chat service.
– Communicate effectively across the service to ensure smooth and consistent service delivery.
– Work on various service points effectively responding to all enquiries on Reception, Helpdesk, on-line platform and Roving duties throughout the buildings,
with a view to a `first time resolution¿ to enhance the student experience.
– Use the library management system to update user accounts.
– Liaise with other student-centred services to support the student experience.
– Patrol all public areas of the library to ensure appropriate use of facilities & equipment, control noise and disruption, report any building & maintenance issues and help maintain a clean and tidy environment.
– Work together with Space and Facilities team members to support a safe working environment and facilities.
– Assist library users to use various resources and equipment to make best use of our services and resources.
– To assist other teams across the service with administrative work.
This is a permanent post, part time 28 hours per week: Saturday & Sunday 12pm – 8pm, Monday & Tuesday 2pm – 10pm.
If you thrive on working as part of a team and want to play a key role in delivering a great customer experience, then please apply.
Assistant Curator (Huang Kam Chak Yee Collection)
Location: Durham University
Grade 6: £30,805 – £37,174 per annum
Contract Duration: 24 months
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Working Arrangements: As this is a collections-focused role, the opportunities for hybrid working will be limited.
Closing Date: Tuesday 6 May 2025
In January 1833 Bishop William van Mildert donated 160 volumes to found the University Library, located on Palace Green and in the same year Durham’s first university museum opened to the public. Today the University Library and Collections offers spaces, collections, expertise and services supporting education, research, the wider student experience and cultural and educational outreach. Collections and services operate across a wide estate of libraries, archives, museums, galleries and exhibition spaces, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site on Palace Green. Our nationally and internationally recognised collections span early books, archives and manuscripts, museum objects and art, print and electronic materials and include a repository of digitised materials, research outputs and research data. Our users encompass anyone engaging with our collections, services and facilities in person or remotely, this includes university staff, researchers from around the globe, students in higher education from Durham and other universities, school pupils and teachers, Durham’s local residents and tourists.
We are an ambitious and developing team with a focus on providing the best experience for our students, researchers and the wider community. We are valued partners working with students, professional services and academics across the University, and professionals and organisations regionally, nationally and internationally.
The University Library and Collections is made up of six sections: Collections; Customer Services; Education, Learning and Engagement; Research and Systems; Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions; and Finance and Administration. Staff work flexibly between the sections, enabled by seven cross-cutting groups, Collections, Education, Engagement, User Experience, Operations, Research, Staff Development and a Programme and Project Steering Group.
The Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions team, under the leadership of the Head of Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions, is responsible for world-class museum, art, college and natural science collection supporting their care, curation, and discovery, as well as facilitating public and research access to those collections. Our spaces include the Oriental Museum, Palace Green Library (including the Museum of Archaeology) and Durham Castle Museum. We work with pre-school children, primary and secondary schools, undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and the wider community both within our venues and through our loans and outreach programmes, as well as increasingly through digital engagement.
The successful candidate will join the MGE team as an Assistant Curator, reporting to the Curator of Chinese collections, to curate the Huang Kam Chak Yee Collection. The Huang Kam Chak Yee Collection is a recent donation to the Oriental Museum with a particular focus on Chinese women’s lives from the 18th century onwards. The successful candidate will take responsibility for documentation, publication, display, interpretation, and access to the collection, ensuring curatorial best practice and meeting Accreditation guidelines. Based at the Oriental Museum, the collections-based nature of the role means that there will be limited scope for hybrid working. Further information about the role and the responsibilities is at the bottom of this job description.
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