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Category: Agriculture

Presentations by the candidates for the Research Data Management Librarian position

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We invite all members of Dalhousie community to attend public presentations by the five short-listed candidates for the position of Research Data Management Librarian, to be appointed through the W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library. The 20-minute presentations will take place on Zoom with time for questions and answers. The times and links are provided below. Please join any of the sessions a few minutes before the start time. 

Candidates will be asked to the present on the following topic:
“You have been invited to the monthly faculty meeting at the College of Pharmacy to present on your proposed training program regarding Research Data Management in the Health Sciences. Your contact in the College has asked for you to make the case for how the proposed curriculum (series of workshops or other educational interventions) will help pharmacy research students at various levels (undergrad, graduate, postgraduate) navigate funding requirements and learn best practices for RDM in pharmacy research. You have 20 minutes to make your case and get buy-in from faculty and other Pharmacy researchers so they will support implementation of the training for learners associated with the College.”

All the members of the Search Committee welcome your feedback and comments! 

Search committee members are: Robin Parker (Chair), Shelley McKibbon, Jackie Phinney, Erin MacPherson, Julie Marcoux, and Dr. Jennifer Isenor. 

Candidate #1
Tuesday December 14, 2021
9–9:45 a.m. (AST)
Contact robin.parker@dal.ca for link to attend.

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Candidate #2 
Tuesday December 14, 2021
12–12:45 p.m. (AST)
Contact robin.parker@dal.ca for link to attend.

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Candidate #3 
Wednesday December 15, 2021
9–9:45 a.m. (AST)
Contact robin.parker@dal.ca for link to attend.

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Candidate #4  
Thursday December 16, 2021
2–2:45 p.m. (AST)
Contact robin.parker@dal.ca for link to attend.

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Candidate #5  
Tuesday December 21, 2021
10–10:45 a.m. (AST)
Contact robin.parker@dal.ca for link to attend.

 

Congratulations to the 2022 CAUL-CBUA Collaborative Research Grant Recipients

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Nicole Carter

Nicole Carter

Lindsay McNiff

Lindsay McNiff

The Dal Libraries’ own Learning & Instruction Librarian Lindsay McNiff along with her colleague Nicole Carter, the Reference & Research Librarian at Saint Mary’s University, have been awarded $1,000 to help support their project, Investigating the experiences of academic librarians on temporary contracts in Canada before and during COVID-19. Congratulations!

From CAUL/CBUA:
In their proposal, Lindsay and Nicole propose to investigate the demographics of those academic librarians engaged in precarious work in Canada (including age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, years since graduation), in what postsecondary environments they have been employed precariously (college, university, size of institution), the nature of these contracts (reason, duration), and some key questions about their experience in these positions, including those raised in prior literature around training, socialization, and supervision. This is the first Canada-wide survey to investigate these questions with a focus on academic librarians with temporary contracts. The study will also zero in on how COVID-19 has affected the working life of librarians holding temporary contracts in academic libraries.

The CAUL-CBUA Collaborative Research Grant is intended to encourage collaborative research by librarians and staff working in academic libraries in the region through projects which involve structured, evidence-based research. We are pleased to continue offering support to researchers in the region and look forward to the results of Lindsay and Nicole’s study.

 

Two Awards for the Dalhousie Archives for Outstanding Archival Work

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with content from Creighton Barrett and Sarah Stevenson

The Dalhousie Libraries is delighted to share wonderful news that the Archives was recently the recipient of two awards from the Council of Nova Scotia Archives. The Archives serves as Dalhousie’s corporate memory by identifying, preserving, and making available institutional records of enduring value, including textural, photographic, audiovisual, and electronic materials. The Archives also acquires records of independent student, alumni and employee organizations, private papers from prominent faculty and alumni, and university publications. Together, these records document the work of the university, and tell the story of the Dalhousie community and its people over time.

Doug Kirby Award for outstanding achievement in archival preservation

The Dalhousie Archives won the Doug Kirby Award for their Digital Preservation System Project, which began in 2018. Led by Digital Archivist Creighton Barrett, the Archives’ need for a robust digital preservation solution became increasingly apparent as the Libraries began digitizing historic university records to celebrate Dalhousie’s 200th anniversary in 2018.

With support from the senior leadership team of the Dalhousie Libraries and colleagues in Procurement, Creighton outlined the functional requirements and wrote a request for proposals for a digital preservation system based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and other international digital preservation standards.

After years of testing and development, the Archives created its first standards-compliant Archival Information Packages (AIPs) in April 2021. While this research and development was under way, the Dal Libraries also took other initiatives to support its emerging digital preservation program:

  • Established a new Preservation Committee with a mandate to carry out Preservation Planning functions described in the Open Archival Information System (OAIS)
  • Implemented new user-friendly “Managed File Transfer” software that will support a new file transfer service to be launched later this year. See our YouTube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_fU8Ssz4FQ
  • Reconfigured the Storage Area Network (SAN) digital storage environment that houses approximately 120 TB of archival data waiting to be ingested into the digital preservation system.
  • Developed documentation on Archivematica and the Managed File Transfer software.

The Dal Libraries continues to work with Artefactual Systems to configure and maintain the digital preservation system.

Dr. Phyllis R. Blakeley Award for outstanding accomplishment in archival work

The Dalhousie Archives won the Dr. Phyllis R. Blakeley Award for the Ronald St. John MacDonald fonds processing project. Paulo Matheus de Sousa Lima, Archives Assistant, was the primary staff person for this project, receiving support from the Digital Archivist, the University Records Manager, and staff Archives Assistants.

The project ran from September 2020–March 2021 and was funded through a grant from the Provincial Archival Development Program (PADP). This funding allowed the Dalhousie University Archives to hire Matheus to focus on the personal archives of Ronald St. John MacDonald, an international law professor and judge. The archival fonds includes 15.64 metres of textual records and other material.

Matheus conducted an archival appraisal and then created and carried out a detailed plan to arrange and describe the fonds. He also rehoused the material in archival quality file folders and boxes. In total, Matheus created 691 file-level descriptions, 25 sub-series level descriptions, four series-level descriptions, and one fonds-level description. He also drafted an archival authority record that describes the life and career of Ronald St. John MacDonald. The archival appraisal and processing project resulted in the deaccessioning of 1.5 metres of textual records.

The finding aid for the Ronald St. John MacDonald fonds is available here: https://findingaids.library.dal.ca/ronald-st-john-macdonalds-fonds

Congratulations to the entire Dalhousie Archives team on the completion of these extensive projects and for winning two well-deserved awards! With thanks to Creighton Barrett and Sarah Stevenson for providing much of the content for this message.

Goodbye and Congratulations, Roger Brush!

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Roger Brush, pictured third from left in the back row, with the rest of the Classroom Technologies Team; Director of ATS Marc Comeau; Manager of Services, Support & Training for ATS Mick Bottom; former Dalhousie President Richard Florizone; and Dean of Libraries Donna Bourne-Tyson.

At the end of July, our colleague Roger Brush retired. Roger’s affiliation with Dalhousie began in the 80s; as a student, he worked in the Language Lab in the basement of the Killam before being hired as the lab supervisor in 1987.

Over the years, Roger has worked in various roles with the Centre for Learning & Teaching and Information Technology Services. We were fortunate to have him join the Dal Libraries in April 2017 when the Classroom Technologies department was created within our Academic Technology Services unit.

Roger’s wealth of experience made him an incredibly valuable member of the Classroom Technologies team. During his time with us, Roger worked in the Life Sciences Centre AV support office — a very busy location — but he always rose to the challenges that came his way. He consistently provided excellent service and ensured that the classroom technology needs of faculty were met.

Please join us in thanking Roger for his hard work and wish him the best on his retirement!

Intern Profile: McKenzie Young 

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Name: McKenzie Young
Pronouns: She/Her
Hometown: Vancouver, BC  

What is your favorite summer activity? Or your favorite Halifax activity?
Anything outdoors! I love patios, hiking and camping during the summer and Nova Scotia has plenty of opportunities to do all of those. This summer I have been enjoying the farmers markets as well. 

What is your internship title? Which library (and archives!) location are you affiliated with?
Sexton Design & Technology Library Reference Intern 

What brought you to the MI program at Dal?
This is a unique program because it is not exclusively GLAM(Gallery, Library, Archive, Museum) focused, as many are in Canada, which I think opens more potential career paths for graduates.  I also love Halifax so it was an easy choice! 

What drew you to the internship opportunity at the Dal Libraries?
I knew I wanted a library job and wanted to feel connected to Dal, especially because I was learning online. I was attracted to Sexton because I have no experience with Engineering/Architecture/Planning, but I really think that’s why librarianship is interesting, because librarians have to be very adaptable, and become experts in fields that they may not be accustom to.  

What’s your educational background?
BA with a Double Major in History and Anthropology 

What have you been doing during your internship and how has the pandemic shaped your internship? 
I have been able to do Sexton Library specific projects, including collections, reference services and basic circulation tasks, as well as University wide projects, working with Dalhousie Archives and other Dal subject specialists.  

The pandemic has shaped my internship in so many ways! The biggest learning for me due to the pandemic is how to have strong interpersonal interaction online. This was important to learn for interactions with my coworkers, the wider Dal Libraries community and especially with the people seeking library services. Meaningful interactions are so important to me and, in my opinion, this was the most powerful way for Dal to serve its community this past year and a half.  

Intern Profile: Sam Elliot Schwanak 

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Name: Sam Elliot Schwanak
Pronouns: they/them
Hometown: Sherwood Park, AB 

What is your favourite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity?
These days I play a lot of boardgames and table-top roleplaying games and write novel length fanfics, but in the before times I could be found at the theater, the symphony, haunting the comic shop or staring at the ocean.   

What is your internship title? Which library (and archives!) location are you affiliated with? 
I am a Dalhousie Libraries Intern based out of the Killam Library.  

What brought you to the MI program at Dal?
I worked at the SMU Patrick Power library as a student assistant for three years and that cemented in my mind that I wanted to continue working in a library in some capacity. It also felt like I would be able to take my skills from my English degree and push them even further through library science, as well as working towards a career that would allow for constant learning and growth, provide new challenges every year, would leave me fulfilled and happy, and aligns closely with my morals and convictions.  

What drew you to the internship opportunity at the Dal Libraries?
The opportunity to learn and experience working at an academic library was a big draw, as well as the fact that I would be given the opportunity to work on projects in a fairly self-directed manner, and do work that would create a tangible benefit for students that used the Killam.  

What’s your educational background?
I took a bachelor’s degree at Saint Mary’s majoring in honours English, with a double minor in German language and creative writing.  

What have you been doing during your internship and how has the pandemic shaped your internship?
So far I’ve been working on an involved project to create an audit that will allow the library to easily collect data about the accessibility of ebook databases and readers, so that the library can make more informed decisions about which ones to invest in when it comes to supporting students with (dis)abilities. I’m also helping with some tutorials for business software and a project on copyright processes, among other projects that will come down the pipeline later this summer.  

The pandemic has shaped my internship by allowing me to have extremely self-guided productivity, which has grown my confidence in running projects on my own. It is also useful because while my workspace isn’t always the best because it was never meant for working, working from home when you’re disabled can be much easier, especially if you’ve already built-in whatever accommodations you need.  

Intern Profile: Vinson Li 

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Name: Vinson Li
Pronouns: He/They
Hometown: Toronto

What is your favorite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity?
Walking around town with friends or checking out a trail with friends.

What is your internship title? Which library (and archives!) location are you affiliated with?
Reference Intern; W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library

What brought you to the MI program at Dal?
I wanted to become a librarian and I liked the idea of a mandatory practicum (work experience is important) and I wanted to go somewhere new and interesting.

What drew you to the internship opportunity at the Dal Libraries?
I’ve never been involved with academic libraries and I thought my experience with healthcare settings would provide a unique perspective.

What’s your educational background?
PharmD and 3 years in a Bachelor of Science, both done at the University of Toronto 

What have you been doing during your internship and how has the pandemic shaped your internship?My daily roles include answering emails from patrons that need help with accessing library resources and helping the librarians with various research projects, but there is more that I’m involved with. We serve a variety of patrons including faculty, staff, learners, regional health professionals and researchers across the faculties of health, medicine, and dentistry.

My big project for the summer is renovating the Systematic Review LibGuide. This LibGuide sees tons of traffic from many students and researchers informing their knowledge synthesis projects and my job is to update the guide with current resources and to make it easier to navigate.

I’m also a part of a scoping review looking into how undergraduate medical education across the world has handled the shift over to online learning during the pandemic.

I’ve also been assisting the library with creating online tutorial videos using Camtasia. I also compile recommendations for acquisition of new textbooks and eBooks by looking at what’s available, what gaps we have in our current collection, and referring to trusted reviews of potential purchases. I assist the librarians when they do consultations with researchers to help them with refining their search strategy; this may involve having a conversation over a video conferencing program to better understand their needs.

The pandemic has made the internship more convenient since I can do things from home, but it’s been hard to get in the right headspace since I can’t come into the library to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intern Profile: Kendell Fitzgerald

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Name: Kendell Fitzgerald
Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Aspy Bay, Cape Breton 

What is your favourite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity?
My favourite summer activity is getting for a swim in the ocean! When I’m in Halifax, I love going out to eat with some friends and enjoying Argyle Street.

What is your internship title? Which library (and archives!) location are you affiliated with?
My internship title is Reference Intern, and I am affiliated with the W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library.

What brought you to the MI program at Dal?
Someone mentioned the program to me, and the more I explored the MI program’s website, the more it seemed like the perfect fit for me and my future career goals.

What drew you to the internship opportunity at the Dal Libraries?
I have no educational or professional experience with the health sciences, but I wanted to try something outside of my comfort zone. My Kellogg internship has introduced me to new ways to use my skills, and it has helped me build upon my practicum experience with evidence synthesis.

What’s your educational background?
I graduated from the University of King’s College with a bachelor’s degree in English literature, minoring in gender studies.

What have you been doing during your internship and how has the pandemic shaped your internship?My internship has been balancing both project work and answering reference questions through e-mails and video calls. Our reference services support students, faculty, staff, researchers, and regional health professionals, assisting with both general questions and evidence synthesis work. My projects were mainly Kellogg-based, although I had the chance to collaborate with other library interns on a project for the Dalhousie Archives, where we have been working on updating PDFs outlining the Dalhousie’s architectural history. I’ve also worked on projects which involved creating Opinio surveys and presenting their results, as well as updating a Libguide for the pharmacy department. My internship gave me opportunities to work in various steps of developing evidence synthesis such as scoping or systematic reviews. This involved developing and translating search strategies, deduplicating with Covidence, and helping researchers find full-text PDFs. The topics and skills I’ve been introduced to over my internship have been so varied that I feel confident in exploring challenging new topics and programs. Sadly, working remotely has prevented me from meeting my co-workers in person, and from becoming more familiar with the Kellogg library itself, but I’m excited to return to in-person this fall to help people face-to-face!

Intern Profile: Grace Bourret 

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Name: Grace Bourret
Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

What is your favourite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity? 
My favourite summer activity is biking around the city and exploring different parks! I also love having picnics with friends on nice summer days. 

What is your internship title? Which library (and archives!) location are you affiliated with? 
My internship title is: Dalhousie Libraries Intern, based out of the Killam Library in Research and Reference Services. As such, I am affiliated with the Killam Memorial Library, however, I am also currently working on a project affiliated with the Dalhousie University Archives!  

What brought you to the MI program at Dal?
Before coming to Dalhousie University, I completed a BA in History and Art History, and I found myself working in museums and art galleries as I am very passionate about sharing information with others. Throughout this experience, I realized how fundamental libraries are in helping people access this information. Academic librarianship has since become a career goal of mine and to gain both educational and professional experience in the field, I applied to Dalhousie University’s Master of Information program. 

What drew you to the internship opportunity at the Dal Libraries?
I was particularly excited about this internship opportunity because of the hands-on experience that comes with it. As a student and future information professional, I wanted the opportunity to work in an academic library setting where I could see how the workplace functions and what different roles exist within it. 

 I was also drawn to this internship because of the community I get to work with. As a Killam Library Intern, I have connected with librarians and information professionals from across the Dalhousie University community. This has allowed me to learn diverse perspectives from various professionals.  

What’s your educational background?
My educational background is a Bachelor of Arts in History and Art History from McGill University. 

What have you been doing during your internship and how has the pandemic shaped your internship? 
Within this internship, I have worked with other librarians and interns on projects related to instruction, information literacy, research data management and other projects related to academic library work. In the near future, I will also be learning to answer reference questions for students across the Dalhousie University community.  

A main way that the pandemic has shaped my intern experience is that I have been working remotely from Ontario. Although I miss being on Dal campus, it has been so nice to connect with colleagues and information professionals virtually. It has been very fulfilling to work with such a tight-knit community in a field that I am passionate about- even if I am not physically in the library!   

Intern Profile: Annalise Benoit 

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Name: Annalise Benoit
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Aylmer, QC 

What is your favourite summer activity? Or your favourite Halifax activity?  
I love a BBQ, going for walks around Sullivan’s Pond, and weekend trips to the farmers’ market.  

What is your internship title? Which library (and archives!) location are you affiliated with?
Reference Assistant at the Sir James Dunn Law Library. 

What brought you to the MI program at Dal? 
Dal is one of the few universities in Canada to offer a combined degree in Law and Information Studies (JD/MI). I love that I can work towards my law degree without sacrificing my other academic interests. Most importantly, I love Nova Scotia and have no desire whatsoever to leave! I didn’t even apply to any other schools and, lucky for me, it worked out.  

What drew you to the internship opportunity at the Dal Libraries? 
The law library is really the perfect fit for me. I started in the summer of 2019 after my first year in the MI program and have stayed on ever since.  

What’s your educational background? 
BA in History & Cultural Studies from Mount Saint Vincent University.  

What have you been doing during your internship and how has the pandemic shaped your internship? 
This summer, I have been doing a lot of work in Schulich Law Scholars, the law school’s institutional repository, such as adding content, editing metadata, and creating faculty profiles. I’ve also started developing my own project – a master index of the major reports and commissions on Indigenous people such as the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report, the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (MMIWG) report, and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) report, to name a few. The pandemic hasn’t had much of an impact on my work, other than keeping me away from my amazing colleagues – but fortunately, that is slowly starting to change as we begin to return to working on-site!  

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