Yesterday, the Dal Libraries took part in the campuswide initiative Pink Day. Pink Day is when we wear pink to call attention to issues around bullying and respect. Here are some pictures of our library staff wearing their pink.
Problem accessing journals wirelessly
We are unable to access Science Direct journals or databases, McGraw Hill products (AccessMedicine, etc.) and EBL eBooks via wireless. These publishers, and any others reported to us, have been contacted with the new IP range now being used for wireless access.
Access will be enabled as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Update, Thurs., Sept. 26: Science Direct products are now accessible via wireless, and most of the McGraw Hill databases (but not yet AccessMedicine). The EBL eBooks are still not available via wireless.
Update, Tues., Oct. 1: Can now access AccessMedicine and EBL. Cannot access Eureka and still having problems accessing BMJ Best Practice from some devices. We are continuing to work on these problems.
Book launch at the MacRae Library
Join us at the MacRae Library on the Agricultural Campus for the launch of Masstown, a collection of poetry by Chad Norman. The book launch will take place on Tuesday, October 15 at 7 p.m.
Masstown is Chad Norman’s fifteenth book of poetry; his writing career spans twenty-five years. His poetry has appeared in numerous publications and he has won the BC Writers’ Poetry Contest as well as the Gwendolyn MacEwen Memorial Award.
Living in Truro, Norman is inspired by the laid back nature of the town and its inhabitants. Masstown is a collection of poems that explores the struggles of life on a family-owned farm.
From Masstown:
Boxing In The Kitchen
As always when the evening milking was over,
parlour floors scraped, washed back to gray,
pipelines rinsed, ready for the inevitable dawn,
and Bert’s steps in winter’s fresh white addition,
recent, straight, filled back in, almost all the way
to the backporch door, access to a warm kitchen
and molasses, homemade beans, brown bread,
another miracle meal Gladys had aon the set table,
another Saturday night both pairs of boxing gloves
were brought out for bouts, supposed to be polite,
a form of fun up until the first punch in the face.
A new addition to the MacRae Library: a microwave!
Tired of having your coffee get cold while you’re studying? The MacRae Library now has a microwave! The microwave is located in the photocopying room on the main floor of the MacRae Library.
Please help keep it clean, and remember that food is only permitted in the Writing Centre study area of the library, and drinks must be in covered, spill-proof containers.
Pink Day is Wednesday, Sept. 25
Don’t forget to wear pink this Wednesday in support of the university-wide initiative, Pink Day. Pink Day is celebrated annually at Dalhousie to promote respect and to raise awareness around bullying issues.
Here’s a little video about Pink Day at Dalhousie to get you in the mood. And don’t miss the events happening on your campus:
Studley
12-1 p.m. – barbecue on the upper quad
2:30-4:30 p.m. – Embracing Diversity: Developing Cultural Competence, to register: http://register-eod.dal.ca
Carleton
10-11 a.m. – free cake and apples in the Tupper link
2:30 p.m. – free ice cream in the Tupper quad
Sexton
10-11 a.m. – free cake and apples in the Alumni Lounge
Agricultural
10-11 a.m. – free cake and apples in the Amphitheatre
Law Library Reno 2: Demo Day
Stage 1: Demolition. Our old services area is gone! It was built in 1989 before computerization and did not meet today’s expectation for accessibility. Time for a change.
Our services area is a construction zone!
Our ’80s Circulation Desk is gone!
Across town our new desk is being built. Our new desk will have both reference and circulation services together.
The new services desk will be able to accommodate clients in wheelchairs.
A kindness tree in the Killam Library atrium
A Kindness Tree has sprung up in the atrium of Killam Library almost overnight. The instructions say to “Take a piece of paper. Write a wish, kindness or thanks to someone. Spread love and have a wonderful day.” The paper is supplied in the tree.
We’re not sure who started the Kindness Tree, but here are some more pictures of some of the kindnesses that have already been collected.
Thank you, Jason!
Jason Lee has spent the last 10 Wednesdays working at the Killam Library as part of Pier 21’s Welcome Home to Canada program and today, he’s wrapping up his work term with us. Since June 2004, the program has helped more than 140 newcomers from 50 countries gain work experience and enhance their employment opportunities in Canada.
Jason first came to Canada from South Korea in 2006 to study English at St. Mary’s. He returned to Korea in 2007 to complete his Master’s in Library Science degree. He worked in a university library in Korea, as well as an assistant manager in a company that makes software programs for libraries.
“There are many similarities between the libraries in Canada and Korea. Library users seem to be the same,” says Jason. “But there are also many differences. Like the CCC board, that’s so interesting,” says Jason, referring to the Killam’s public Comments/Compliments/Complaints board, which has been a fixture in the building for many years.
Jason hopes to work in the Killam Library someday. “I want to thank all the staff. I came here to gain experience, and everyone has been so kind and warm to me,” says Jason.
Best of luck to you Jason; we’ve enjoyed working with you!
Law Library under Renovation
On Monday, September 16, 2013 we began our long awaited renovations. We will be creating a new Information Services Centre. Watch our blog as we chronicle the transformation and update you on construction news.
In anticipation of our renovation we moved and reclassified hundreds of titles.
We have combined our reference and circulation desks. We are still open for business!
Our new services area will feature a new Core Collection of reference and high use textbooks.
Summer Shine 2013
On September 16, the Dalhousie Libraries interns took part in a presentation opportunity called the Summer Shine Series. The series, introduced last year, was designed to give the interns an opportunity to present projects they have been working on during their summer internships. The faculty from the School of Information Management (SIM), the first-year SIM students, and all of the faculty and staff from the Dalhousie Libraries were invited to attend.
The interns’ presentations were varied and fascinating. The interns from the Killam Library–Nicole, Sam, and Keriann–talked about work they did with the data from the LibQUAL+ survey that we did this winter, the faculty profiles in DalSpace, and the process involved in getting more issues of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science (NSIS) on DalSpace.
James, the intern from the Sexton Library, talked about a weeding project that all the staff at the Sexton worked on together this summer. Linda, the intern from the MacRae Library, discussed the work she did preserving historical data about the wild blueberry industry in Nova Scotia.
Marc, from the Kellogg Library, talked about producing updated tutorials, while Maggie, also from the Kellogg, talked about translating search queries into multiple databases. Jannaya, the intern from the Dal Archives, talked about cleaning up the data in and moving the Archives’ electronic records, as well as how she created descriptions for many issues of the Dalhousie Gazette. Veronika, the intern from the Sir James Dunn Law Library, discussed a project she did that compared Dal’s Schulich School of Law against other law schools in Canada by looking at publication and citation rates of law faculty across Canada.
Thank you to all of the interns for your excellent work this summer.
A larger view, from l to r: Maggie, Keriann, Jannaya, James, Nicole, Linda, Samantha, Veronika, and Marc.