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Newsletter 10, October 1995 |
The highlight of my summer was definitely going to Intersection, the 53rd World Science Fiction Convention, held in Glasgow over the August bank holiday weekend (and several of the preceding days). Some of you may have seen the Channel 4 programme about it called Beam Me Up, Scotty - well, the convention I attended wasn't like that at all!! (Except that some of the same people were there.)
For me, it was one huge party, with convivial company from all round the world, lots of drinking, eating, drinking, conversation and drinking, and some silly games. Oh yes, there was also this small side attraction with organized talks, panels and workshops about Science Fiction. But definitely no hordes of people in silly costumes, no comics and no "filking" (no, you won't understand that if you didn't see the programme).
You see, it's all a matter of presentation and perception. I'm not saying that those things weren't there, just that they weren't a part of my experience. But the Channel 4 people presented their own perception, and that was an animal of a totally different colour.
Which, finally, gets me to my point for this issue: what we as LSS present to the university community, and what you perceive as an individual, may be quite different things. Partly, as with the World SF Convention, this is because we are trying to cover an enormous range of services, and yet any one of you may only have a need for a small subset.
This is, of course, what publicity is for. We hope that by presenting our services to you in as many ways as possible - posters, information sheets, documents and even the occasional glossy guidebook, as well as this Newsletter - we will make it easy for you to find a perception of our services that suits you. This is what leads to my perennial request that you leaf through the whole of each Newsletter, and pause to read the sections that are of interest to you - and I think that's even more so this time. There is an extremely large amount of information in this issue: it covers a very wide range of services, some in detail, some merely painting the broad strokes. Please find the sections relevant to you, and make them part of your perception of LSS.
And presentation also brings me to the most obvious feature of this issue's front cover: an early appearance of the new Learning Support Services image. After 3 years of the old "collage", the style gurus have once again decided it's time for a change, and this is the result. The 3-colour version will appear on appropriate productions, whilst single-colour cousins - in all three colours - will be used elsewhere. You will begin to see these appearing, for instance, on Library and Computing Services documentation and the various Media and Educational Development Services products, as old stocks run out.
OK, enough of that - time to make my usual brief run through what else there is for you to look at within…!
Well, firstly let me draw your attention to the Beckett Park Report: we intend this to be a regular feature for the duration of the rebuilding work in James Graham Building, to keep you up to date with the latest stock and equipment moves, and what is happening to the access routes.
Next, I'd like to point out Introducing LSS, which gives details on induction sessions for both students and staff. If you have reponsibility in either of these areas (or are a new member of staff!), please read this.
The theme of Supporting Learning runs through this issue, and is reflected in many of the articles. Upgraded Teaching Facilities introduces New Facilities for the Brunswick Lecture Theatre, upgraded Language Suites and New Video Editing Facilities. There is also information on some of LSS' Useful Publications, on Copying and Printing Services, and on Computing Courses. Latest news from the Library comes in Videos Update and CD-ROM News, which includes a complete list of available CD-ROMs.
The Network article, whilst short, brings some important news about upgrades to the service. Associated with this is the introduction of the World-Wide Web, and the next in our series of articles on services available over the network, Mailbase: A Better Way to Communicate.
And there's still more I could mention, but I've run out of space! As I've already used up my customary ending, I'll just wish you all a happy new academic year.
- Mike Ford
