Welcome to our 2026 Dalhousie Libraries interns!
Meet Ella, Meaghan, Jordan, Annika, and Sally.
They told us a little bit about themselves, what brought them to Dal, and what they’ve been working on.
Read more about the 2026 library interns.
Tracing the Journey of the Campus Blanket
Last month, Dal Libraries unveiled a new exhibit at the MacRae Library celebrating one of the Faculty of Agriculture’s most enduring traditions: the Campus Blanket.
Since 2003, Campus Blankets have been produced using wool from sheep raised on the Agricultural Campus. The exhibit traces the journey from sheep to finished blanket, highlighting the people, processes, and history behind this Dal tradition.
Created through collaboration with campus partners, the display brings together blankets, yarn, handcrafted wool items, archival records, museum artifacts, photographs, and books from Dal Libraries’ collections.
Visitors learn about the sheep raised on campus, the annual shearing process, and the origins of the Campus Blanket program. A sheep management course manual from 2001 provides historical context, while photographs and artifacts document every stage of production, from sorting and packaging wool to its transport to a mill in Prince Edward Island and its transformation into finished blankets.
The exhibit features both an original Campus Blanket and one from this year’s production, alongside other wool products made from campus fleece, including hand-knit hats.
To complement the display, Dal Libraries also created a commemorative bookmark featuring a 2003 Agricola alumni news clipping announcing the launch of the Campus Blanket program. Drawn from the Edith Zillig collection (MS-14-22), the bookmark includes QR codes linking visitors to the archives catalogue and the Barley Boutique, where Campus Blankets and other Agricultural Campus merchandise are available.
By tracing the journey from sheep to finished blanket, the exhibit brings to life a uniquely Dal story of innovation, tradition, and community.
New archival resource illuminates Nova Scotia’s industrial history
Newfoundland Railway: [75 ton flatcar]
The University Archives recently published a guide to the TrentonWorks fonds, a significant collection of archival material related to the TrentonWorks factory that operated in Trenton, Nova Scotia, from the late 19th century through the late 20th century.
The Archives acquired this material through donations from the 1970s to the early 2000s. While an inventory of the collection has been available for years, a recent grant from the Provincial Archival Development Program enabled the Archives to fully process the collection and publish a detailed online finding aid.
The finding aid to the TrentonWorks fonds brings together over 20 linear metres of textual records, photographs, technical drawings, and other material that documents the industrial history of Pictou County and Cape Breton. Highlights include records that document:
- Coal mining in Pictou County and Cape Breton, and iron ore mining in Newfoundland and Brazil
- Nova Scotia’s production of munitions and other supplies supporting Canada’s WW1 and WW2 efforts
- The manufacture of railcars sold by Eastern Car Company and Canadian Car and Foundry Company
The TrentonWorks fonds provides extensive information about Nova Scotia’s labour history and the finances and operations of national and multi-national businesses that led the industrial development of Nova Scotia.
Explore the online finding aid here: https://findingaids.library.dal.ca/trentonworks-fonds
Email general questions to archives@dal.ca or schedule a research consultation with archivist Creighton Barrett.
Killam Retrofit Update: Fifth Floor Closed February 17-21
Please note: The fifth floor will be closed from February 17-21, 2025, for electrical panel upgrade work.
The GIS Centre and the Archives & Special Collections Reading Room will be closed but you can still book appointments:
- GIS Centre: Book an appointment online or visit www.dal.ca/gis and click Book an Appointment. In-person help can be arranged by email (with advanced notice)– jennifer.strang@dal.ca or james.boxall@dal.ca.
- Archives and Special Collections Reading Room – Requests for materials must be made 24 hours in advance.
- For access to archival collections, please contact archives@dal.ca.
- Contact spcoll@dal.ca to make an appointment to view special collections material.
2024 Dal Libraries Survey Results
At Dal Libraries, we hold ourselves accountable to the university and the community we serve and measure our progress regularly. In January, we surveyed Dal students, faculty, and staff to assess our services and measure our impact. In March, we shared a brief note thanking you for your feedback and announcing the prize winners.
5,125 people responded to our survey – we are delighted and grateful for such an enthusiastic response. After reading and analyzing the feedback, we are happy to share the following results with you.
Areas Rated Highly Important Where We Are Doing Well
- Wireless access
- Information resources are meeting needs and helping students and faculty to be successful
- Students feel comfortable asking staff for help
- Help is available when needed
- Staff provide accurate answers to questions
Priorities for Improvement
- Improving access to quiet study areas
- Improving access to group study areas
Other Areas for Improvement
- Electrical outlet accessibility and maintenance at specific locations
- Ease of use of printers at specific locations
- Hours at specific locations
- Laptop loaning for specific groups of students
- Students with disabilities & Faculty: Accessing library resources through mobile devices
- Faculty: The Libraries’ website and search box
Actions We are Taking
- After careful review, the silent, quiet, and conversation-friendly study spaces at the Killam Library, the Kellogg Library Learning Commons at the CHEB, and the Law Library have been rezoned. We are monitoring these areas to ensure they meet users’ needs.
- We are conducting usability and accessibility studies in preparation for a reimagined Libraries website in 2025. We will seek input and feedback from both students and faculty.
- While our current budget does not enable us to extend our current building hours, we regularly consult our usage and foot traffic data to optimize our hours of operation.
- We will be reviewing our laptop loan program in the near future.
We will provide updates on these items as we make progress.
We were bolstered by messages of support and enthusiasm for our libraries and our staff. One user said, “I am extremely happy with the library system. The staff are helpful, and a lot of thought and effort has clearly gone into setting things up to make it easy for students.”
Again, we are grateful to all who took the time to respond to our survey and we look forward to making improvements and adjustments to serve you better. If you have questions about the survey and results, please contact Assessment Coordinator Linda Bedwell.
Michael Vandenburg
Dean of Libraries
Updated! Killam Retrofit Update – Atrium Closure
The Killam Atrium will be closed from May 6 – August 12 as part of the Killam Library Deep Energy Retrofit Project.
There will be no access to the atrium and food services in that area (Second Cup, Subway, and Bento) will be closed.
Closure of the atrium will enable:
- Window cleaning (🎉)
- Replacement of broken windows
- Lighting improvements
- Fans and ductwork (to help distribute heat back down to the main floor in winter)
A large swing stage will be erected and will move clockwise around the atrium to enable window cleaning and replacements. This work is primarily why the atrium must close.
A covered walkway will usher people through the Atrium from the main entrance to the Killam Library. Additionally, staff and library users can use the back entrance (Howe Hall side).
Thank you for your patience during this significant phase of the retrofit!
Killam Retrofit Update: Fifth Floor Closure
Please note, the GIS Centre and the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room will be closed for renovations from June 10 to September 2024.
GIS Centre – Book an appointment online or visit www.dal.ca/gis and click Book an Appointment.
In-person help can be arranged by email (with advanced notice)– jennifer.strang@dal.ca or james.boxall@dal.ca.
Archives and Special Collections Reading Room
A temporary reading room will be available on the 3rd floor of the Killam Memorial Library. Access to the collections will be by appointment only. Requests must be made 24 hours in advance.
To make an appointment to view archival material, please contact us at archives@dal.ca.
Contact spcoll@dal.ca to make an appointment to view special collections material.
May 5 is Red Dress Day
The Red Dress Day exhibit in the Ko’jua Okuom in the Killam Memorial Library.
May 5 is Red Dress Day, a day of honouring missing and murdered Indigenous people.
Learn more about Red Dress Day.
Learn more about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) by reading the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Killam Library Front Entrance Closure May 6 & 7
The Killam atrium will be closed from May 6 – August 2 as part of the Killam Library Deep Energy Retrofit Project.
There will be no access to the atrium and food services in that area. Second Cup, Subway, and Bento Sushi are now closed and will remain closed until August.
The front entrance of the Killam Library will be closed on May 6 & 7 to construct a tunnel that will provide safe access to the library during the atrium renovation.
- The fire exit door in the Downie Wenjack Legacy Space will be open during these two days of tunnel construction.
- The back door facing Howe Hall will be used as an alternative accessible entrance for those two days.
The front doors will become accessible again from May 8 on, and the tunnel can be used to access the Student Accessibility Centre and Killam Library.
Thank you for your patience during this significant phase of the Killam Library retrofit.
Register for Research Camp
Are you a graduate student, research assistant, or teaching assistant looking to develop your research skills? Research Camp is a comprehensive program that will take you through the research process from literature searching and writing all the way to publication.
The program is open to any student, faculty, or staff member at Dalhousie, but is specifically tailored to graduate students.
Research Camp will be offered as a series of online modules on Brightspace and live online sessions. Modules may include short video lectures and interactive exercises to help you brush up on your literature searching, writing, information management, and research skills.
By registering for this program, you will have access to all of the pre-recorded modules beginning on May 13, 2024. You also have the option to register for sessions in the program that will be delivered live (online) in May and June.
Students receive badges for completing modules in Research Camp and badges accumulated toward certificates. For a full list of available certificates, see the Certificate page on the Research Camp website.
Registration is open now, and access starts on May 13, 2024. To self-register for the program:
- Log into Brightspace
- In the Academic Support menu, select Self-registration
- From the list of courses, find and select Research Camp 2024-2025
To register for live sessions, visit the Dal Libraries events calendar.
Visit the program website for the schedule, module descriptions, and FAQs.