First Friday Challenges
What is the First Friday Challenge?
The First Friday Challenge is a fact-finding, learning exercise, disguised as a bit of fun. What's not to like?
It could be a question where you explain how you found the answer (or how you didn't find it), it could be a treasure hunt or a crossword, a quiz or even a bit of (fun) training.
However, the idea is that you do it alone. We want a level playing field for all our staff. Answering questions and finding information is our 'bread and butter'. All our staff, irrespective of working hours or the team they work with, should be able to find the answer to most questions. This process tests the effectiveness of our online resources.
If you work in a library you must like searching for information, so this is a way of honing your skills
Don't worry if you can't find the 'actual' answer to a challenge or individual question, we still want you to tell us where you looked, or where you expected to find the answer.
If you can't find an answer it might be that that the answer is not very easy to find. We may need to look again at how we direct people to that particular information, or it might be that we need to add some more (or different) keywords to a FAQ, or it could be that the information on a webpage needs updating.
So, have a go because even a 'non-answer' could win you a prize!
January - Christmas Quiz 2023
February - Escape The Law Library
March - Which Library Building Is This?
January - Online Content Strategy
February - CSE 2023
March - March 2023 Ref Analytics
April - Easter Bunnies
May - Medicine in Literature
June - Local Authors
July - Book Sorter
August - Landmarks
September - Hidden Campus
October - Halloweeeeeeeen!
November - Staff Benefits and evouchers
December - Special Collections Christmas
December/January - Christmas Quiz 2023
January - Jan 2022 RefAnalytics CS dataset
February - Library Love
March - Language Resource centre
April - Accessibility
May - Exam season
June - Literary Kitties
July- Wham Bam Anagram
August - Opus or Hocus Pocus?
October - Academic Skills Kit
Here's a selection of FFCs from this year (or links to Learning Lab pages) that might still be fun and interesting...
(Please note that some answers may have changed with certain updates etc.)
January - Library Services New Year Refresh
February - Library Love Quiz
March - Spring photos
April - Where can I find it?
May - What's New in Library Help
June - Services developed during pandemic
July - Famous Newcastle University graduates
August - Libraries of the world
September - Library Escape Game 2021
October - Somethings have changed, some have stayed the same!
November - Shelving Quiz
December - Christmas Literary Quiz
Here's a selection of FFCs from 2020 (or links to pages) that might still be interesting and fun...
(Please note that some answers may have changed with certain updates etc.)
February - Newcastle University App Quiz
March/April - Accessibility Quiz
June - Crossword
July - Campus Virtual Treasure Hunt
August - New Library Website Hunt
September - Library Escape Game (student induction)
October - Back to Work Quiz
November - Self-care challenge
December - Christmas wordsearch
Here's a selection of FFCs from 2019 (or links to Learning Lab pages):
(Please note that some answers may have changed with certain updates etc.)
January - To take or not to take? The sandwich game
February - Customer Care module (from the University’s new Open Learning Programme)
March - How well do you know the Liaison team?
April - Lost property - what do you do?
May - Simon's fiendishly difficult exam time crossword
June/July - Julie Rhind's wonderful creation: the sights and sounds of the library. See the answers below.
Here's a selection of FFCs from 2018 (or links to Learning Lab pages):
(Please note that some answers may have changed with certain updates etc.)
January - I run the Orange Hedgehog Society in the Uni and I would like to run a charity event in the Library. How do I go about this?
February - Where can I find help with referencing, and the structure of my PhD, particularly the introduction?
March - I am a local artist and I would like to view a thesis from your collection. How do I go about this?
April - Situation: You receive the following question via Library Chat- what steps would you take to resolve this query?
Hi, I’m a new Phd student. I was told by my professor you have a list of conferences for networking. I can’t find anything on the library website, can you help me?
June - You have completed a claimed returned form for a student. They then ask you what happens next.
August - I have found a PHD thesis that I believe would be of great use to my research. It is American. Can I request a PHD thesis via inter-library loan?
September - I am a curator at Seven Stories and I want to join the Library. What proof do I need to bring and for how long will my ticket be valid?
Winners
We're pleased to announce that the winner of our latest prize drawer is... Jane Riley!
Congratulations Jane!
Previous Prize Draw Winners:
- 2018: Simon Burgess
- 2019: Richard Longstaff and Mark Forrester
- 2020: Linda Merritt
- 2021: Amanda B
- 2022 : Eileen Whitwood
Is there a prize for the winner?
Yes. The prize is an all expenses paid trip to... oh hang on, that was for something else!
**The prize is to be entered into a prize draw for some library goodies. There will be a prize draw once a year (usually January for the previous year).**
Who picks the winner?
This depends on the challenge. Some challenges naturally end up with a winner (timed challenges, most correct answers, etc). For those more subjective 'how-I-found-an-answer' type challenges, the winner will be chosen by the Learning Lab Steering Group who will judge the answer according to the difficulty of the challenge, the steps taken to answer the challenge and the opportunity to use the answer to help our team learn more. If there is no unanimous winner the decision will be passed to Julie Brett with her CSE head on!
The ultimate prize draw winner will be selected at random from all the FFC monthly winners.
January -
February - Helen Shaddock
March - Alaa Balkees
January - Bogdan Metes
February - Laura Potts, Helen Shaddock.
March - Bogdan Metes
April - Helen Shaddock
May - Catherine Warner, Helen Shaddock, and Victoria Patterson
June -
July - Nicola Baxter
August -
September -
October- Sharon Sanderson, Christina Taylor
November - Anthony Brennan
December - Paul Richardson, Laura Potts, Oliver O'Doherty, Taara Petts
January - Caitlin Wilson and Laura Potts
February - Helen Shaddock
March - Sharon Ayre and Helen Shaddock
April - Sharon Ayre
May - Sharon Ayre
July - Clemie Decaudaveine
August - Carol Bevan, Marianne Glover, Oliver O'Doherty, Mark Forrester and Bogdan Metes
September - Marianne Glover
October- Bogdan Metes
November- Barbara Trevitt, Jane Riley, Rosie Mallen, Bogdan Metes, Laura Potts and Kyle Williams
December - Christina Taylor
Here's a list of our monthly winners:
January 2021 - Catherine Warner, Richard Longstaff, Sarah Hornby
February 2021 - Leigh Ford
March 2021 - Oliver O'Doherty, Catherine Warner, Lydia Nelson, Christina Taylor
April 2021 - Bogdan Metes, Marianne Glover, Richard Longstaff
May 2021 - Jan Wharton
June 2021 - Louise Charlton
July 2021 - Helen Shaddock, Barbara Trevitt, Oliver O’Doherty, Eileen Whitwood, Laura Potts, Carol Bevan
August 2021 - Helen Shaddock
September 2021 - [no winner]
October 2021 - Stacey Guyatt
November 2021 - Lydia Nelson
December 2021 - Mark F
Here's a list of our monthly winners:
January 2020 - Mark Forrester
February 2020 - Helen Shaddock and Mark Forrester
March 2020 - Challenge extended into April
April 2020 - Helen Shaddock
May 2020 - Kim Clouston, Trina Rowland, Elizabeth Moffett & Sylvia Hughes
June 2020 - Mark Forrester
July 2020 - Amanda Bursk
August 2020 - Bogdan Metes
September 2020 - this FFC did not have a winner
October 2020 - Jan Wharton, Rebecca Knight, Richard Longstaff & Mark Forrester
November 2020 - this FFC did not have a winner
December 2020 - Laura Potts, Stacey Guyatt, Jan Wharton & Caitlin Young
Here's a list of our monthly winners:
January 2019 - Catherine Warner
February 2019 - Jan Wharton
March 2019 - Lydia Nelson, Elizabeth Moffett, Karina Forrest
April 2019 - Mark Forrester, Lydia Nelson, Jane Riley, Jan Wharton
May 2019 - Mark Callan, Mark Forrester, Leah Page
June/July 2019 - Colin Ferguson
August 2019 - Tracy Hope
October 2019 - Mark Forrester, Helen Shaddock, Stacey Whittle, Amanda Bursk, Stacey Guyatt
November 2019 - Mark Forrester, Helen Shaddock, Richard Longstaff, Amanda Bursk, Elaine Archbold, Tracy Hope, Karina Forrest, Mathew Donnelly, Oliver O'Doherty, Jan Wharton
December 2019 - Bogdan Metes, Matt Donnelly, Elizabeth Moffett, Linda Merritt
Here's a list of our monthly winners:
January 2018 - Christina Sadofski and John Gardner
February 2018 - Lisa Black
March 2018 - Lisa Black, Jane Riley and Catherine Warner
April 2018 - Christina Sadofski and Catherine Warner
May 2018 - Lisa Black, Simon Burgess, Catherine Warner and Janet Whiting
July 2018 - Simon Burgess, Bogdan Metes and Elizabeth Moffett
August 2018- Christina Sadofski
September 2018 - Catherine Warner
October 2018 - Jemima, James Smith, Jane Riley
November 2018 - Sharon Sanderson
December 2018 - Hannah Sarson