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What's going on at the Dalhousie Libraries

Category: Archives & Special Collections

Intern profile: Mitchell Jabalee

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MitchellWhere are you interning?
I am interning at the Dalhousie University Archives.

 What brought you to the MLIS program at Dal?
What brought me to the MLIS program was in interest in learning and developing a broad range of skills to add to what I already have. My goal is to learn many flexible skills that make me a great fit for working in the field of archives.

What drew you to the internship at the Dal Libraries?
I was interested in gaining more experience working in an archive and the summer intern job at Dalhousie’s archives was the perfect opportunity.

What’s your educational background?
Previously I have completed an undergraduate degree with honours in history at Cape Breton University.

 What have you been doing during your internship?
So far during my time at the Dalhousie Archives, I have been processing records and creating archival descriptions for the materials of Canadian writer and poet Charles Bruce that get uploaded to the archives’ online catalog, helping with the preparations for the renovations to the archives collections space and assisting in daily operations and tasks alongside other small tasks here and there.

 

Update: Access to Archives’ Research Assistance, Collections & Spaces Limited During Compact Shelving Installation & Reading Room Refresh

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Firestone_Library_Princeton_mobile_aisle_shelving


Compact shelving in one of the basement levels of Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library (main building of Princeton University Library). June 2007, by Andreas Praefcke

Access to the Archives & Special Collections Reading Room and onsite reference services will be unavailable until mid to late August due to renovations. The installation of compact shelving in the Archives and the refresh of the Reading Room space are expected to wrap up mid to late August. Updates will be provided accordingly.

There will be limited access to the Archives physical collections during this time as much of the materials are being moved off-site. The archives@dal.ca email account will be monitored and responded to on a case by case basis.

Thank you for your patience as we refresh our reading room and increase the storage space of and access to the Archives collections.

Spring Into Action 2019

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Once again, the Dalhousie Libraries participated in the province-wide Spring Into Action initiative. Spring Into Action is annual event sponsored by Horizons Community Development Associates. The goal of the challenge is to get participants moving at least 30 minutes each day, five days each week, for improved and sustained health and well-being.

Across Nova Scotia, 168 individuals participated on 23 teams. The Dal Libraries entered three teams in the Spring Into Action challenge, which ran from April 22–May 24. Two of the teams won one of the weekly draws and one of our participants won one of the individual prizes.

Congratulations to the Heart Throbs, The Scrambled Legs and 2 Fit 2 Quit on your active lifestyles!

2 Fit 2 Quit: Courtney Bayne, Guy LeLievre & Kyoo Lee (Not pictured: Gina Coates & Kelly Casey)

2 Fit 2 Quit: Courtney Bayne, Guy LeLievre & Kyoo Lee (Not pictured: Gina Coates & Kelly Casey)

The Heart Throbs (starting at rear left): Stephen Murray, Lisa Drew, Karen Tarum, Nellie Clyke, Anne-Marie White, Hannah Steeves & Anne Matthewman

The Heart Throbs (starting at rear left): Stephen Murray, Lisa Drew, Karen Tarum, Nellie Clyke, Anne-Marie White, Hannah Steeves & Anne Matthewman

The Scrambled Legs (starting from rear left): Janice Slauenwhite, Marlo MacKay, Michelle Paon, Donna Bourne-Tyson, Susan Hagen, Sandy Dwyer & Nellie Renzelli

The Scrambled Legs (starting from rear left): Janice Slauenwhite, Marlo MacKay, Michelle Paon, Donna Bourne-Tyson, Susan Hagen, Sandy Dwyer & Nellie Renzelli

SciVal for Administrators

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scival***This presentation was originally scheduled for April, but was cancelled due to weather-related travel difficulties.***

SciVal is a bibliometric tool used to visualize research activity, create performance summaries, benchmark comparisons to other institutions and analyze trends at either an institution, department or research group level.

This presentation will focus on features, data sources, and effective use of SciVal. Guillaume Warnan is returning to Dalhousie to do this session specifically designed with academic administrators in mind. Join us for an introduction or refresher to this tool that uses data from the Scopus database to do bibliometric analysis.

Date: Thursday, July 4
Time: 9:30–10:30 a.m.
Location: Rowe Building, Room 3089

Please register for the event here: https://dal.libcal.com/calendar/events/scival

Anyone interested in a personalized session with Guillaume is invited to contact him directly at g.warnan@elsevier.com

 

Welcome Jessica Irving, Systems Developer

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JESSICA IRVINGWe are pleased to welcome Jessica Irving to the Dalhousie Libraries as our Systems Developer.

As a developer, Jessica will be responsible for designing, building, implementing, and customizing the Library and Academic Technology applications supported by the Dalhousie Libraries.

Two of the largest areas of her focus will be DalSpace and the Library website; however, Jessica will also be doing development work for the full range of digital services that we offer. The role also has responsibility for measuring and improving the overall usability of our systems and ensuring that users have a consistent experience across all of our systems.

Jessica completed Bachelor of Science with a major in Psychology in 2014 and just a few weeks ago graduated with her Bachelor of Computer Science (Co-Op). In 2017, Jessica spent one of her co-ops working in the Dalhousie Libraries’ Academic Technology Services unit as junior developer. In her spare time, Jessica runs a costuming business making super hero and video game costumes. She has traveled around Canada and the USA to appear at conventions and to judge costume contests.

Welcome, Jessica!

Pooling Our Resources: an open access eBook

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the future of open governanceWe were thrilled to work with the International Ocean Institute (IOI) and other partners to support making the publication The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development, published by Brill,  an open access eBook, available to all at the link above. The IOI website has a complete list of all the individuals and institutions who supported this project.

The book is a volume of essays in honour of Elisabeth Mann Borgese, the founder of the International Ocean Institute and passionate ocean advocate. It was published in 2018, which marked 100 years since the birth of Borgese.

The Dalhousie Libraries is proud to have the Elisabeth Mann Borgese fonds in the Dalhousie Archives, an archive of over 55 metres of material of which 115,000 pages and more than 700 photographs have been digitized and are available online. The Borgese collection is of international importance and attracted researchers to Dalhousie from across the globe before it was digitized. The Borgese finding aid and digital collection is available here: http://findingaids.library.dal.ca/elisabeth-mann-borgese-fonds Borgese 2

Welcome, Merran Carr-Wiggin!

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Merran Carr WigginThe Dal Libraries are pleased to welcome Merran Carr-Wiggin, the new Research Information Systems Coordinator.

Merran will be with the Dal Libraries for six months while she works with the UNIWeb implementation team. UNIWeb is a research information system (RSI) that will enable Dalhousie to build research networks and effectively reflect the academic output of the institution.

UNIWeb records academic activity and interacts easily with major funding tools in Canada like CCV, it also provides easy generation of downloadable CVs and has a public profile option. It enhances administrative information gathering and has potential as an annual reporting tool that is currently in development. Research information systems bring value to a university by supporting the research process and showcasing the institution’s scholarly achievements.

Merran has completed a Master of Library and Information Studies degree at the University of Alberta. She is particularly interested in scholarly communications and the role libraries play in coordinating and supporting the research activities of scholars. She has a background in theatre production and acting, which she credits with building her skills in project management, problem solving, and managing workflow.

Update: Timeline of Fifth Floor Renovations in Killam Library Has Changed

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photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash

photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash

On May 3, we reported there would be no access to any study spaces on the fifth floor. Due to a delay in the delivery of some materials needed to complete the project, access to some of the study spaces on the fifth floor has now been restored until the carpeting work can resume.

The tables skirting the atrium hallways are now accessible again. The Archives and Special Collections Reading Room remains closed and will remain closed longer than we initially reported — we had expected it to reopen at the end of May. When it does reopen, the room will have fresh paint and carpeting. Soon after, it will also have some new and refurbished furniture.

In addition to the improvements in the Archives & Special Collections Reading Room and the new carpet in the atrium hallways, we have recently received confirmation that compact shelving for the Archives will be installed starting June 17. At that time, teardown of the old shelves will begin and in the interest of safety, the tables around the atrium hallway opposite the elevator will be inaccessible while this work is being done. The entire project is expected to take nine weeks. The compact shelving will increase our storage capacity in the Archives by over 30 per cent.

During the compact shelving work, there will be limited access to collections. Please continue to contact archives@dal.ca for service by appointment. We anticipate that at various points during the installation of the compact shelving there will be disruptive noise, mostly from drilling. We apologize for this inconvenience and suggest moving to a lower floor during those times.

We will post an update when the carpeting work resumes. At that time, the tables around the atrium will be temporarily removed once again.

We appreciate your patience as we work to improve our spaces and we look forward to welcoming you back to a refreshed fifth floor.

University Librarian’s Message to Graduates

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baim-hanif-89800-unsplash (2)On behalf of the Dalhousie Libraries, I offer heart-felt congratulations to all graduates. We know the sacrifice and hard work it took to get to this day and we are bursting with pride for all of you. Regardless of your faculty or area of study, in the Libraries we consider all Dalhousie grads to be our graduates.

We’ve enjoyed supporting your academic needs, and as you become alumni, we want your relationship with the Dalhousie Libraries to continue. We offer a number of services to alumni, and we encourage you to explore the possibilities with an alumni benefits card.

I would also like to thank you for any feedback you’ve given to the Libraries over the years. We always learn something valuable when we talk to students and we continue to improve based on what we hear from you. Let’s keep the conversation going – please get in touch at donna.bourne-tyson@dal.ca .

We look forward to supporting your life-long learning journey.

Congratulations!

Donna Bourne-Tyson
University Librarian

Welcome Ahmed Mahdy to Dalhousie Libraries

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by Morgan Fleet, NSCC PR intern

Ahmed Mahdy

We are pleased to introduce Ahmed Mahdy as the new Systems Administrator with Academic Technology Services at Dalhousie Libraries, in the role previously filled by Jason Flynn. Ahmed started with Dalhousie Libraries on April 29.

Before joining the team at Dalhousie, Ahmed had worked for over ten years in public firms and multinational corporations in both Halifax and Cairo, Egypt. This has given him experience working in information technology and systems administration which he has always been passionate about. Ahmed previously spent six years as the Software & Hardware consultant for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt.

As the Systems Administrator for Academic Technology Services, reporting to Brian Lesser, Ahmed will be responsible for the upkeep, configuration and reliable daily operations of the computer systems such as DalSpace, Dataverse, Archivematica, OJS, Proxy, other servers and backup systems at Dalhousie Libraries. Welcome, Ahmed!

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