Making Sense of Helen Creighton’s Sound Recordings

November 18, 2014 Marlo MacKay

Helen Creighton was a Canadian folklorist who collected songs, stories, and myths, mostly from her home province of Nova Scotia. And Creighton Barrett (name is purely a coincidence) is the Digital Archivist for the Dalhousie University Archives who has been researching Helen Creighton’s work since he was a music student at Acadia University in 2004.

This year, Creighton received three grants to support his current research project, entitled: Investigation of Sponsorship, Copyright, and Intellectual Property Issues Surrounding Helen Creighton’s Folk Song Recordings. In early 2014, he received a $1,000 Collaborative Research and Innovation Grant from the Council of Atlantic University Libraries (CAUL) and a $2,000 travel grant from the Rockefeller Archive Center Grant-in-Aid program. Creighton spent the travel grant on a trip to Sleepy Hollow, New York, to visit the Rockefeller Archive Center. In October 2014, he was awarded a $3,500 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Research Development Fund grant through Dalhousie University. Most of this grant will be combined with the CAUL grant to hire a research assistant.

Creighton’s project is attempting to answer several research questions about the copyright and intellectual property status of folk song recordings made by Helen Creighton, but it is rooted in his broader interests in the archiving of folklore and cultural heritage. “My research interests involve the documentation and preservation of intangible cultural heritage. Academic researchers are typically leading these efforts, which often lead to the creation of vast multimedia archives with complex ethical, legal, financial, and technological obligations for the academic libraries and archives that end up taking custodianship of these materials. Intangible cultural heritage has also emerged as a key component of education, tourism, and cultural initiatives, yet many of the most pertinent resources are distributed across multiple institutions, poorly described, and mired in questions about copyright, intellectual property, evolving organizational priorities, financial challenges, etc.,” says Creighton.

Digital archivist and Helen Creighton researcher, Creighton Barrett.

“I want to pull together all the information about Helen Creighton’s collection and find a way for the archives that hold her recordings to work together,” says Creighton. “There are copies of the same songs held in various archives, and it’s difficult to tell where the original recording is located,” says Creighton. Pieces of Helen Creighton’s collection can be found in the Nova Scotia Archives, Mount Allison University, Université Laval, the Canadian Museum of History, and in the Library of Congress in the United States.

On March 18, 2015, Creighton will give a free public lecture to the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, entitled: American sponsorship of Helen Creighton’s folk song collecting in Nova Scotia during the Second World War.

More information about this public lecture will be available in the coming months.

Scent-free Campaign in the Dalhousie Libraries

November 4, 2014 Marlo MacKay

The Dalhousie Libraries Health & Wellness Committee are launching a scent free campaign for the Libraries. The purpose of this campaign is to educate staff and library users about the harmful effects of scented products on individuals with scent sensitivities.

The University supports the many students and employees who report that they are harmed when they are exposed to scents which are present in many scented personal care products. Scents in perfume, cologne, hairspray, aftershave, and even some soap and fabric softeners cause serious illness in people who are sensitive to these chemicals. To provide an environment which supports teaching and learning, Dalhousie asks students, staff, faculty, and visitors to refrain from using such scented products while at the University.

Please note that scent free at Dalhousie is a program, not a policy. The fundamental difference between a program and a policy is that a program is meant to educate people about something whereas a policy must be followed. For example, no smoking is a policy that must be followed and enforced while scent free is a program that educates people about potential illnesses and sensitivities regarding soaps, deodorants, etc. to fellow staff, faculty, and students.

New posters reminding people to refrain from wearing and using scented products will be posted in the libraries. New educational bookmarks will also be placed in books at the time of checkout at the Service Point in each library.

For more information about the scent free program at Dalhousie and for advice on how to handle scent sensitive situations, check out: http://www.dal.ca/dept/safety/programs-services/occupational-safety/scent-free.html

We appreciate your assistance in keeping the Dalhousie Libraries and Dalhousie, scent free.

Extended Hours at the Dal Libraries

November 4, 2014 Marlo MacKay

Tis the season of midterms, papers, and exams. Fear not, the Dal Libraries are here for you, providing you with longer hours to linger in the library with your favourite study buddy or night owl.

For more information about the Night Owl program at the Killam Library, see here.

Killam Memorial Library

Effective October 26–November 14:

Sundays: 10 a.m.–3 a.m.*
Mondays-Thursdays**: 8 a.m.–3 am.
Fridays: 8 a.m.–midnight
Saturdays: 10 a.m.–midnight

Effective November 15–December 14:

Sundays–Thursdays: 8 a.m.–3 am.
Fridays: 8 a.m.–midnight
Saturdays: 8 a.m.–midnight

*Access to the Killam Library from midnight to 3 a.m. is for Dalhousie and King’s students only. Students must have their student ID with them to get in. Regular library services are not offered during this time, students will have access to the South Learning Commons or the atrium.
**Exception: Remembrance Day, Tuesday, November 11. We will be open from 1–9 p.m.

MacRae Library

Effective November 17–December 10:

Monday–Friday: 8:30 a.m.–midnight
Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m.–midnight

Sexton Design & Technology Library

Effective November 28–December 14:

Monday–Friday: 8 a.m.–midnight
Saturday: 10 a.m.–midnight
Sunday: 10 a.m.–midnight

Sir James Dunn Law Library

Effective November 28–December 18:

Monday–Wednesday: 8 a.m.–10:45 p.m.
Thursday: 8 a.m.–10:45 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m.–10:45 p.m.
Saturday: noon–10:45 p.m.
Sunday: noon–10:45 p.m.

W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library

Effective October 31–December 13:

Monday–Friday**: 7:30 a.m.*–11 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m.–11 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m.–11 p.m.

* Staff available at 8:00
**Exception: Remembrance Day, Tuesday, November 11. We will be open from 10 a.m.–11 p.m.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: University Archives Releases Footage of “University of the Air” TV show

October 27, 2014 Creighton Barrett

The University Archives is celebrating the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage! The United Nations created this day “as a mechanism to raise general awareness of the need for urgent measures to be taken and to acknowledge the importance of audiovisual documents as an integral part of national identity.”

This year’s theme is “Archives at Risk: Much more to do.” It’s a fitting theme for the University Archives, which has been working with Preservation Technologies to digitize select obsolete audiovisual media such as 1/4 inch and 2-inch audio reels, Betacam, U-Matic, and other formats (check out this post about a Dutch Mason master recording). We’re also hosting Young Canada Works Intern Dave MacLachlan on an audiovisual archives internship. Dave has been assessing our audiovisual collections for preservation and access, and helping us develop procedures for working with obsolete media.

To celebrate World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the Archives is releasing 20 archived episodes of a television program called “University of the Air.” University of the Air was a distance learning initiative started by CTV’s regional television affiliates. Production of University of the Air started in 1966, and continued until 1983. Episodes were produced by university faculty members across the country.

The University of the Air courses were structured into series of five episodes based on a central theme. This collection of videos from Dalhousie comprises four such series: “The Oceans,” “The Structure of Sound,” “20th Century Latin America: Why Revolution,” and “Textiles: Their Development and Effects.”

Dave MacLachlan worked with Joan Chiasson and Archives Student Assistants Laurie Chase and Andrea Kampen to make the videos available online. You can view all the episodes in one playlist on our YouTube channel. The videos are also embedded into the “University of the Air” finding aid in our archives catalogue.

Wondering where to start? Andrea Kampen produced a short trailer for the playlist. Enjoy!

Dal, NSCC reach agreement with Esri Canada to promote GIS work

October 20, 2014 Marlo MacKay

Recently, Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) entered into an agreement with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) Canada Limited. This agreement, as part of Esri Canada’s new Centres of Higher Education Excellence (ECCE) program, will encourage more sharing of resources in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS helps address many business, socio-economic, and demographic challenges from a spatial context and presents solutions visually using interactive, digital mapping technology.

Esri Canada’s ECCE program involves only seven higher education institutions in Canada. The ECCE program will foster new and innovative uses of GIS in both institutions. Dalhousie and NSCC’s Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS) & Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG) will see several benefits from this agreement including support from Esri for GIS activities and research with in-kind support for training, software, technical support, and scholarships and awards. This program will open up opportunities with a network of post-secondary institutions across the country that educate students in GIS, strengthening existing relationships in a way that will benefit students, faculty, and researchers.

The ECCE program is the next step in Esri Canada’s support of educational institutions across the country and complements their long-term, ongoing support of NSCC-COGS and Dalhousie. The Esri agreement with NSCC and Dalhousie will encourage innovation in GIS research and excellence in teaching in the field. It will help promote GIS education and course options for future students, pool resources to help increase the creation of custom software application development, promote the sharing of information around student availability and employment opportunities, and encourage collaboration with research funding. The agreements are in place for two-year terms.

NSCC-COGS has worked closely with Esri Canada since the company’s inception in the early 1980s. Since 2005, Dalhousie has received an annual scholarship from Esri Canada through the GIS Centre. Esri Canada creates software and tools that allow people to distribute GIS services through the web, desktop, and mobile applications.

Dr. Brent Hall, Director of Education and Research at Esri Canada, says, “We are very pleased to recognize the outstanding contributions of Dalhousie and COGS through their GIS education and spatial data research programs. Bringing the two institutions together through the new ECCE will serve to create a hub in Atlantic Canada that will allow students, researchers, and the regional spatial information technology information industry to continue to thrive.”

“Programs like this offer a chance for greater information and idea sharing which will help to inspire more real-world solutions for our communities and additional resources for our faculty and students,” says Dennis Kingston, Academic Chair for NSCC’s COGS at its Annapolis Valley Campus.

Dalhousie’s provost and vice-president academic, Dr. Carolyn Watters says the university is very pleased to take part in the ECCE program. “The opportunities the agreement opens up will not only benefit our students and faculty but will be instrumental in connecting us more closely with a national network within the GIS sector.”

“The ECCE that includes Dalhousie and NSCC provides further incentive for the institutions to work closer together in the field of GIS,” notes Mike McAllister, computer science faculty member and Dalhousie’s chair of ECCE. “There’s much to be learned from both institutions, in terms of how each is using GIS technology. Dalhousie has elements of spatial scholarship that underlie research and education in many of its faculties, while NSCC, specifically COGS, has been providing its expertise in geospatial work to industry nationally for years. The ECCE will allow us to identify more opportunities for innovation and partnership.”

“This ECCE is a win-win-win scenario for students and faculty at Dal and NSCC and for Esri,” adds Dave MacLean, GIS faculty and chair of ECCE at NSCC-COGS. “It opens up avenues for all involved to share resources locally and work more collaboratively across the board.”

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Category: Archives & Special Collections

Killam Memorial Library

MacRae Library

Sexton Design & Technology Library

Sir James Dunn Law Library

W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library