Jaarverslag 2012 » Highlights1

House rules action week in the University Library

Frank den Hollander — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:57:13 +0000

The house rules action week began on Monday 26 March 2012 in the University Library.

Director Marjolein Nieboer told those present in the lobby once again exactly what these house rules are. During the week the users were given beer, sorry water, mats with a summary of the house rules on them in Dutch and English.

Cabinets had also been placed in the lobby containing all the things that had been left behind in the library since 1 January 2012: dozens of USB sticks, gloves, books – even glasses.

There was also a glass tank containing all the cigarette butts that were put out in one week on the rooftop terrace of the University Library – i.e. right next to the rubbish bins.

Library app project

Frank den Hollander — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:41:46 +0000

The idea of expanding our library services with a mobile app has been around for a couple of years. Customers have a growing number of mobile devices at their disposal and want to use them to access library functionalities. When it turned out that developing a joint app with other University departments was not going to work out, we decided to develop an app of our own.

Frank den Hollander and Jan Herman Veldkamp attended a SURF Mobile App Development summer school and designed an app. Thanks to a contribution from the IT Strategy Fund, the app team could be supplemented by developer Konstatin Ignatov and graphic designer Martijn van der Weide.

The app is certainly not going to offer all library functionalities, only those that are frequently used and are handy to have on your mobile device. The features offered by the first release include:

Opening hours for each library location
Available workstations at each library location
Contact details and directions for each library location
Browsing the catalogue, making reservations, renewing loans and checking your library account
Library news and agenda
Push notifications when a loan period expires or when a reservation or requested book has arrived

The app will be made available on iOS and Android.

The first ‘invite others in’ in the UB

Frank den Hollander — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:23:44 +0000

In 2012, a request to take up residence in the University Library was granted to a University service for the very first time. The new umbrella organization for (study) careers advice, NEXT, is now located on the first floor of the University Library. NEXT organizes various activities for students, such as open office hours, workshops, and CV checks.

The room has been redesigned in the University colours. NEXT also makes grateful use of various other rooms in the UB for their workshops.