I’ve blogged about this as well but our Daily News also picked up a story about our library wiki for first year students. I think that makes one story per week about the libraries over the last four weeks in our local campus news!
I blogged about this once before but our local “Daily News” (campus publication) just ran a story about the Rudy Heinzl Award which our learning commons won this year. The Rudy “recognizes an outstanding one-year achievement that improves the lives of McMaster students”. Congratulations again to all involved!
I’m pleased to say we’ve made a significant change to our “no food” policy. This is excerpted from an announcement from our AUL for Teaching, Learning and Research:
Beginning September 4, we will no longer be prohibiting the consumption of food in public spaces - with the exception of Research Collections and the Map Collection.
We’ve come to this decision for a variety of reasons:
a) to create a more inviting space for our users
b) to reflect common practice at a growing number of academic libraries in Canada and the United States.
We recognize that this change will have a significant impact on the amount of garbage in our spaces. To that end, we’ve negotiated with Physical Plant to add another full eight hours a day of cleaning service between the 3 buildings throughout the academic year. Additional custodial shift will be scheduled in the late evening and will focus on garbage removal. We’ve also ordered some additional garbage containers and begun discussions regarding increased carpet cleaning throughout the academic year.
Note: No “no” signs! *grin*
An article appeared in our campus “Daily News” today about the new Immersive Learning (Gaming) Librarian. It’s a great article and really highlights how the library is transforming. Check it out!
Shirley Williams or more formally, Baroness Williams of Crosby was here at McMaster University Library on 21-22 August. Her mother is Vera Brittain (1893-1970), peace activist, journalist, feminist, and the author of Testament of Youth (1933); her father is Professor George Catlin (1896-1979). Both the Brittain and Catlin archives are located in Archives and Research Collections. Brittain’s archives have been used extensively by scholars. In particular, Vera Brittain’s diaries, ably edited Alan Bishop, evocatively and tragically document her experiences as a young woman in war-time, but the diaries are also uplifting and redemptive in showing the extraordinary transition in Brittain’s maturity of character. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament and then a founder of the Social Democratic Party, Baroness Williams has been a British politician most of her adult life. She was a full professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 2001 and thereafter Public Service Professor of Electoral Politics, Emerita. In looking at her mother’s archives, Baroness Williams was selecting photographs and other documents to complement her forthcoming autobiography.
From CBC this morning comes “Game Worlds Could Help Epidemic Studies“. It’s yet another example of how games have moved from “fun” to tools that can help us study the big issues of the day. (or rather both - fun AND useful too!)
The University Library recently received a grant to create a site for “Peace and War in the Twentieth Century”. The project was featured on campus in our “Daily News”. The story can be read at: http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=4866
Congrats to all who are working on this great project!
EDUCAUSE just published their “top 10″ list of teaching and learning issues. The full text can be found at: http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/eqm07/eqm0732.asp
The list includes:
1. Establishing and supporting a culture of evidence
2. Demonstrating improvement of learning
3. Translating learning research into practice
4. Selecting appropriate models and strategies for e-learning
5. Providing tools to meet growing student expectations
6. Providing professional development and support to new audiences
7. Sharing content, applications, and application development
8. Protecting institutional data
9. Addressing emerging ethical challenges
10. Understanding the evolving role of academic technologists
While this seems focused on academic technology professionals I see many similarities with libraries as well. With a few minor additions/adjustments this list could easily be a “top 10″ for libraries as we move forward.
I’m extremely fortunate to be coming on board of the ACTL this fall. I look forward to working with the group.
The University Library is pleased to announce that it has recently become a member of the Amazon Associates program.
Near the bottom of the “Item Details” window in the library catalogue is a small “Buy from Amazon.com” button. When a user clicks on the button, they are directed to the Amazon site where they have the option of purchasing the item for their personal collections.
The option to buy a title from Amazon presents our customers with a new way to access our resources. Faculty and graduate students in particular may appreciate the ability to review a title in the Library before adding it to their personal collections, and all visitors to our catalogue will now have the choice of borrowing a title from the library or purchasing a copy of their own.
The Library benefits from the arrangement as well, earning a small referral fee from Amazon on each sale. Amazon will pay these fees to us in the form of Amazon gift certificates. All of our earnings will go directly into the Library’s collections, providing additional support for the purchase of new books.
The Hamilton Spectator published an article today on the digitization of the Russell Journal. The journal is our first foray into e-publishing. Congratulations go to Ken Blackwell and Anne Pottier who worked hard to make this happen!
