Dalhousie campuses (Halifax and Truro) and King’s are closing at noon today due to weather conditions. Afternoon and evening classes are cancelled.
Check here for more detailed information : http://www.dal.ca/storm.html
Dal Libraries Maximizes Efficiency with New Roles for Staff
Two summers ago, the Dal Libraries went through an operational review. This review looked at all operations within the libraries such as alignment of the libraries with each other, strategies, services, operations, and staffing.
One of the main areas identified as being in need of realignment was the technical services aspect of the work we do. Out of a need for realignment came three new positions: Manager, Acquisitions & Metadata; Manager, E-Resources Access & Subscriptions; and Manager, System-Wide Resources.
Our main goal with implementing these three positions was to restructure five separate technical services departments into one decentralized university-wide unit. We also wanted to ensure that our procedures were evolving with the needs of the collection, which had evolved over time from a mostly print-centric collection to one that is heavy on both print and electronic resources.
These three manager positions have been filled internally by candidates that have a wealth of experience in the areas of acquisitions, metadata, e-Resources, subscriptions, and other resources. With these new positions, we now have a transparent model that works for all of the libraries. The new positions and successful candidates are as follows:
Manager, Acquisitions, & Metadata – Alice Stover
In this position, Alice is responsible for managing and coordinating the acquisition, cataloguing and access (both print and electronic) delivery for Dalhousie University Libraries through coordination of a collections management team consisting of staff throughout the Dalhousie Libraries. Previously, Alice worked as the Head of Bibliographic Control and Access Unit in the Killam Library. She has been with the Dalhousie Libraries for 33 years.
“I am excited to work with this new team and staff in all the Dalhousie Libraries to create a system-wide Technical Services,” said Alice.
Manager, E-Resources Access, & Subscriptions – Gail Fraser
In this position, Gail is responsible for coordinating the work of an e-Resource Team, consisting of staff from all the libraries, which will provide and maintain access to Dalhousie University Libraries’ electronic collections. She also manages employees responsible for print and electronic subscriptions. Previously, Gail worked as a library assistant in serials, cataloguing, and book ordering, eventually becoming the Head of Acquisitions for the Kellogg Library. Gail has been with the Dalhousie Libraries for 33 years.
“I look forward to working with colleagues in all Dalhousie Libraries to provide great system-wide access to our
e-Resources,” said Gail.
Manager, System-Wide Resources – Karen Chandler
In this position, Karen has system-wide responsibilities to manage the extensive collection of electronic resource packages and databases that the Dalhousie University Libraries purchases as a common, shared collection. Previously, Karen worked in the Circulation department, and worked her way up to become the Head of Serials Unit in the Killam Library. Karen has been with the Dalhousie Libraries for 32 years.
“I’ve been fortunate to have shared my working days with a wonderful group of colleagues in Technical Services within the Killam Library, where my entire working career at Dalhousie has been spent, and also with those at the other Dal Libraries. I look forward to continuing to work with them in my new capacity as well as having the opportunity to work more closely with the Heads and to provide them with information to assist with their decision-making in future,” said Karen.
All three of these positions report to Patrick Ellis, the Associate University Librarian of Resources, through the Collections Services Librarian. “Alice, Gail, and Karen do an enormous amount of work that includes managing our Technical Services, keeping the workflow going, training staff, all the while dealing with a large collection cut this year. They are a key part of our efficiency as the Dal Libraries, giving us a coherent voice in bargaining with vendors and giving us a structure where we can make the best decisions about the collection,” said Patrick.
“We have a marvellous collection here that really reflects Dalhousie, with all of the various research disciplines represented. In order for the collection to stay relevant, it requires constant maintenance and refinement, and Alice, Gail, and Karen contribute so much to this work in their new roles,” said Patrick.
Dalhousie Libraries’ Joe Wickens to Be the New Relais Administrator for the Council of Atlantic University Libraries (CAUL)
Joe Wickens, Document Delivery Head at the W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library, will soon be taking on an additional regional role—in March, Joe will succeed Katie Puxley, from Mount Saint University Library, as the Relais Administrator for CAUL.
RelaisILL is the software developed by the Ottawa company Relais International and is used by the Document Delivery (often referred to as Interlibrary Loan) departments at all of the libraries of the 17 CAUL universities. The consortial use of the software expedites and enhances the effective sharing of books, articles and other material amongst the CAUL libraries as well as libraries worldwide.
The Dalhousie Libraries were one of the three founding members of the CAUL Document Delivery Group (CAUL DDG) which began using the Relais software in 2000. Staff have played lead roles and been actively involved in its development and use since that date.
Joe Wickens graduating with his Master of Library and Information Studies degree in 2010.
Joe’s primary duty as the Relais Administrator for CAUL will be to act as the point person on any Relais issues and troubleshooting or directing those issues to staff at Relais International. Other duties will include ensuring effective communication between CAUL and Relais International, assisting with the training of CAUL members, investigation of technical enhancements with Relais International, liaising with other Document Delivery consortia, and coordinating Document Delivery policy development with CAUL.
Joe has been involved with Document Delivery at Dalhousie for almost 13 years. During that time, he has witnessed a number of advances that have allowed for a steady increase in the quality of the Document Delivery service to patrons. Chief among those advances are the capabilities provided to users and libraries by using the RelaisILL software.
“I am very pleased to be taking on the role of Relais Administrator on behalf of CAUL and welcome this opportunity to further assist in both the daily running of that valuable service as well as helping to identify and implement improvements in the future,” said Joe. “I see this current assignment as an ideal opportunity to take a greater role in contributing to the progress of the Document Delivery services at the CAUL institutions.”
In addition to this new role Joe will continue to provide reference backup services, subject selection for several areas in the health sciences, cataloguing and metadata control, and coordination and direction of in-house digitization projects.
Elaine MacInnis, Associate University Librarian, Access Services; and Gwyn Pace, Document Delivery Librarian, will be supporting Joe in his new CAUL role.
Changes made to the “Articles” search
If you’ve been using Prowler to search for articles, you will find that the next time you select “Articles” from the drop-down menu in the search box on the Dal Libraries’ home page, the discovery tool has been updated to World Cat Local. The page that you’re used to seeing:
Click to enlarge
will now look like this:
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You might notice that occasionally book chapters will appear in the results with the articles. This is because when you use this tool to search for articles, the results are very broad, to match the large diversity of information available, instead of being as specific as possible to match your precise needs.
What is searched when you select “Articles”?
When you select “Articles” from the drop-down menu, these are the resources that are searched:
– Academic Search Premier
– Art Index
– BioMed Central
– Business Source Complete
– Humanities Index
– IEEE Publications Database
– Institute of Physics eJournals and Archive
– LegalTrac
– MEDLINE
– MLA International Bibliography
– Political Science Complete
– PsycARTICLES
– ScienceDirect
– WorldCat.org
Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of resources that Dalhousie Libraries has access to.
This list may change based on usage statistics and general performance of the searches. For those using the “Articles” tab, we are trying to provide as fast a search as possible on as many resources as possible without making you wait too long to see results.
Search Options
The “Articles” tab is useful because it does a broad, fast search, and the results are drawn from many disciplines. For more specific results, it is better to go to the right database for your needs. The best thing you can do is to talk to a Dalhousie librarian today about how you can search smarter to meet your needs. Go to any service point or use the Live Help chat feature at libraries.dal.ca to talk with a librarian about your research.
Halifax Campuses closed today (Fri., Jan 3)
Dalhousie’s Halifax Campuses will be closed for the day due to weather conditions. For more information, visit http://www.dal.ca/storm.html
Happy holidays from the Dal Libraries!
From all of us at the Sir James Dunn Law Library, W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library, Killam Memorial Library, MacRae Library, and the Sexton Design & Technology Library, have a wonderful holiday season!
Results of the annual food drive at the Sir James Dunn Law Library
Karen and Anne-Marie of the Sir James Dunn Law Library organizing the food. photo by Mr. Wiktor
Two weeks before classes end, the law students, the law faculty, and the staff at the Sir James Dunn Law Library partake in a little friendly competition all in the name of helping others.
The students are divided into sections A, B, and C. The law faculty, staff, and the library make up the fourth section. The collected food was counted up at noon on the last day of classes.
And the totals are…
Section A: 609 food items
Section B: 792 food items
Section C: 517 food items
Law faculty/staff/library: 416 items
Congratulations to Section B for donating the most food items! Altogether, 2,334 food items were donated. Section B won $200 for bringing in the most items, which they donated back to Feed Nova Scotia. The Law Student Society also donated $170.
Happy holidays, everyone!
Holiday Hours at the Dalhousie Libraries
Updated on Dec. 18 to include hours of Food Services establishments in the Killam Atrium. Please see bottom of this post.
Sir James Dunn Law Library
Wednesday, December 18–Friday, December 20 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 closed
Monday, December 23 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 8 a.m.–noon
Wednesday, December 25–Wednesday, January 1 closed
Thursday, January 2 & Friday, January 3 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 & Sunday, January 5 closed
Regular hours resume on Monday, January 6.
W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library
Wednesday, December 18–Friday, December 20 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 closed
Monday, December 23 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 8 a.m.–noon
Wednesday, December 25–Wednesday, January 1 closed
Thursday, January 2 & Friday, January 3 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Sunday, January 5 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Regular hours resume on Monday, January 6.
Killam Memorial Library
Tuesday, December 17–Friday, December 20 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Monday, December 23 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 8 a.m.–noon
Wednesday, December 25–Friday, December 27 closed
Saturday, December 28 & Sunday, December 29 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Monday, December 30–Wednesday, January 1 closed
Thursday, January 2 & Friday, January 3 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 & Sunday, January 5 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Regular hours resume on Monday, January 6.
Archives & Special Collections Reading Room (fifth floor, Killam Library)
Monday, December 16–Friday, December 20 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 closed
Monday, December 23 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 9-11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, December 25-Wednesday, January 1 closed
Thursday, January 2 & Friday, January 3 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, January 3 & Sunday, January 4 closed
Monday, January 5 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Regular hours resume on Monday, January 6.
MacRae Library
Friday, December 13 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 14 & Sunday, December 15 closed
Monday, December 16–Friday, December 20 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 closed
Monday, December 23 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 8:30 a.m.–noon
Wednesday, December 25–Wednesday, January 1 closed
Thursday, January 2 & Friday, January 3 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 & Sunday, January 5 closed
Regular hours resume on Monday, January 6.
Sexton Design & Technology Library
Tuesday, December 17–Friday, December 20 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 closed
Monday, December 23 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 8 a.m.–noon
Wednesday, December 25–Wednesday, January 1 closed
Regular hours resume Thursday, January 2.
Hours of Food Services Outlets in the Killam
Wednesday, December 18-Friday, December 20
Subway: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Second Cup: 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Killam Bistro: closed
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22
Subway: closed
Second Cup: closed
Killam Bistro: closed
Monday, December 23
Subway: closed
Second Cup: 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Killam Bistro: closed
Tuesday, December 24
Subway: closed
Second Cup: 7:30 a.m.-11 a.m.
Killam Bistro: closed
Wednesday, December 25–Wednesday, January 1
Subway: closed
Second Cup: closed
Killam Bistro: closed
Thursday, January 2 & Friday, Janaury 3
Subway: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Second Cup: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Killam Bistro: closed
Saturday, January 4 & Sunday, January 5
Subway: closed
Second Cup: closed
Killam Bistro: close
Regular hours resume Monday, January 6.
Storm notices for Sunday, December 15
Due to weather conditions, some of our libraries are closed today. Here’s the complete list:
Killam Memorial Library: open (updated at 2:55 p.m.)
Sir James Dunn Law Library: closed
W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library: closed
Sexton Design & Technology Library: open
MacRae Library: closed (closed due to being on holiday hours schedule starting this weekend)
As always, please call your library before heading out, in case conditions change throughout the day.
A National Digital Infrastructure: ideas wanted!
The Leadership Council for Digital Infrastructure has launched a crowdsourcing campaign to get fresh ideas for how to build a world-leading advanced digital infrastructure ecosystem for Canada.
Your input is important and will inform the development of a policy framework and roadmap for achieving an advanced DI. Visit the Council’s new website at digitalleadership.ca and participate early in the campaign.
Broad participation from the entire DI (digital infrastructure) community will help ensure a more integrated, inclusive, comprehensive, accessible and sustainable advanced DI ecosystem that will accelerate research, education and innovation in all sectors, and at all levels.
The campaign is open to all researchers, academic administrators, project managers in government and academe, students, policy makers and anyone else who stands to use and benefit from an advanced DI ecosystem in Canada.
Please share this notice widely through your networks.