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Category: Agriculture

Dal Libraries Wins Healthy Workplace Award

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Sandy Dwyer accepts the award from Dr. Florizone.

Sandy Dwyer accepts the award from Dr. Florizone.

Last night, the Dal Libraries proudly accepted the Healthy Workplace Award at the Legacy Awards. Sandy Dwyer, chair of the Dal Libraries Health & Wellness Committee, accepted the award on the Libraries’  behalf. Throughout the year, the staff of the Dal Libraries take part in numerous activities that touch on the six pillars of health: physical, mental/emotional, interpersonal/social, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, and workload management.

The award itself was hand-crafted by two Nova Scotian artists: Lisa Martin-Cole, owner of The Jeremiah Tree, in Amherst; and Allan Carver, an artist from Hubbards. 

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Spring Into Action Challenge 2018

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Spring Into Action is annual event sponsored by Horizons Community Development Associates. The goal of the challenge is to get participants moving at least 30 minutes each day, five days each week, for improved and sustained health and well-being.

Across Nova Scotia, 34 teams participated. The Dal Libraries entered three teams in the Spring Into Action challenge, which ran from April 9-May 18. Two of the teams won one of the weekly draws.

Congratulations to the Law-Di-Das, the Mission SlimPossibles and The Hip Flexors on your active lifestyles!

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The Hip Flexors (from l-r): Lindsay McNiff, Kyoo Lee, Kelly Casey, Michelle Paon. In front: Carol Richardson. (not pictured: Mollie Thompson)

The Law-Di-Das model the snazzy purple bandanas they won. (from l-r): First row: Lisa Drew, Anne-Marie White, Anne Matthewman. Back row: David Michael, Hannah Steeves, Karen Tarum, Stephen Murray

The Law-Di-Das model the snazzy purple bandanas they won. (from l-r): First row: Lisa Drew, Anne-Marie White, Anne Matthewman. Back row: David Michels, Hannah Steeves, Karen Tarum, Stephen Murray

The Mission SlimPossibles show off the wildflower seed packets they won. (from l-r): First row: Janice Slauenwhite, Courtney Bayne. Back row: Shelley McKibbon, Nellie Renzelli, Jolene Reid, Sandy Dwyer (not pictured: Susan Hagan)

The Mission SlimPossibles show off the wildflower seed packets they won. (from l-r): First row: Janice Slauenwhite, Courtney Bayne. Back row: Shelley McKibbon, Nellie Renzelli, Jolene Reid, Sandy Dwyer (not pictured: Susan Hagan)

Welcome Courtney Bayne, Records Manager

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courtney 1We are very pleased to welcome alumna Courtney Bayne to the Dalhousie Libraries in the new role of Records Manager.

Reporting to the University Archivist and working closely with the University’s Records Committee, the Records Manager will work with all administrative and academic units across the university advising them on the development of policies and procedures that supports the implementation of the University’s Records Management Policy. The Records Manager ensures the effective, efficient, and economical management of the University’s information resources are handled in an ethical and sustainable manner.

Courtney holds a Master in Information Management from Dalhousie and has over ten years of experience in the records and information management field. She has held numerous positions with the Province of Nova Scotia and volunteers with the Canadian regional team of the International Records Management Association (ARMA).

“It is great to be a part of the warm and welcoming community here at Dalhousie,” said Courtney. “I started my journey in records management with a Libraries and Technology Diploma from NSCC and while in school I worked at the Nova Scotia Archives. After being introduced to the records management field I felt connected working with individuals in improvement of processes and providing guidance in the application of standards, procedures, and policies. Identifying the operational value of the information that is created in an organization and persevering it accordingly is very important to me. As an ARMA member I keep engaged with the ever-evolving information and records management world. I love the challenges that arise, working though puzzles, and making the end result functional and easy to apply for end users. I look forward to working with the community at Dalhousie to make a robust and proactive records management program,” said Courtney.

“We are pleased to have an individual with Courtney’s extensive knowledge and experience in records management joining us at Dalhousie as the Dal Libraries continue to provide leadership in supporting the implementation of records and information management best practices across the university,” said Michael Moosberger, Associate University Librarian Archives, Special Collections and Records Management & University Archivist.

Courtney is the proud owner of a German Short Haired Pointer puppy named Digby that she enjoys taking on hikes and runs.

Welcome, Phil Laugher 

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Phil Laugher is the newest member of the Dal Libraries team, effective November 27. We are very pleased to welcome him (back) to Dal.

Phil LaugherAs a Library Services Assistant, Phil will have a busy schedule between serving the public at the Killam Library Service Point and cataloguing materials for addition to the collection. Fortunately, Phil — a Dalhousie alumnus with a degree in history — is up to the task with his background in customer service and his diploma in Library and Information Technology.

For seventeen years, Phil was the day manager at the iconic bookstore, John W. Doull, affectionately known by many as JWD’s. Phil handled day-to-day book sales, catalogued inventory and did research. He has also worked as a student reference assistant giving Live Help through Novanet, and he worked in the Dalhousie Archives earlier this year.

“One of my favourite parts of my previous work, and am excited to carry on with at Dalhousie in my new role, is handling the materials in order to create access points that may not have been readily apparent upon initial examination, making new connections along the way, both for myself and for the patron,” said Phil. “It is always satisfying to be able to first describe and then locate the most useful resources for patrons, whether they knew these materials existed or not, and whether they realized it is exactly what they were looking for. I look forward to providing access to these materials free of charge,” he said.

Phil is a third-generation librarian, whose grandfather, Charles, worked in Special Collections at the Killam Library in the late-1970s and early-1980s and previously as director of the Robert Frost Library at Amherst College (Melvil Dewey’s alma mater); grandmother, Ann, worked in public libraries in Massachusetts and Ohio; and father, Stephen, worked for thirty years in technical services for Halifax Public Libraries. In his spare time, Phil enjoys travelling (“visiting the Swiss Alps and Reykjavik have been my favourite experiences so far”), cycling (“commuting can be fun too!”), and reading (“generally books about books, travel narratives, and European fiction”).

“I’m excited to be continuing my family’s tradition of librarianship; all the more so for it to be back here with Dalhousie Libraries, where I spent countless hours during my undergrad.”

Profile: Michelle Bentzon, Archives intern

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Since August, the Dalhousie Libraries have been hosting Michelle Bentzon, a graduate student at Aalborg University in Denmark, on a twenty-week internship required as part of her studies in information management. She has been working in the Archives, focused on the archival appraisal of the records of non-profit cultural organizations. She has also been conducting research on acquisition and appraisal strategies for this kind of material, performing supervised archival appraisals, creating forensic images of digital storage devices, and working on the reference desk in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. She is registered with the Faculty of Graduate Studies as a “Visiting Research Student”: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/gradstudies/programs/vsgs.html

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What drew you to the internship at the Dal Libraries?

As a part of my university program at Aalborg University, Denmark, you have to get an internship in your ninth semester. They generally encourage students in my program to go abroad. I chose to apply to an internship at the Dalhousie University Archives because of its academic reputation and because my partner of four years is from Halifax. I always knew this would be a good opportunity to spend time with him and to experience the Canadian culture I had fallen in love with during my visits here. Dalhousie University has a very professional work environment which was what I was looking for. I was drawn to Dalhousie because I wanted an internship that could provide me with the opportunity to work full-time in an archival setting and to obtain on-the-job experience in all the core activities of archives. My internship at Dalhousie gives me plenty of opportunity to learn from the very experienced archivists and records managers in the Archives.

What’s your educational background?

I have a bachelor’s degree in history from Aalborg University. Now, I’m taking the Informationsforvaltning program which is comparable to archival science/information management/records management in Canada. It’s basically a mix of history and archives and it gives you a lot of career opportunities. In Denmark, we usually refer to it as the “archives branch.”

What have you been doing during your internship?

I have been working on a few projects supervised by Michael Moosberger and Creighton Barrett. So far during this internship I have conducted archival appraisals of personal archives and of material acquired from non-profit cultural organizations, and prepared appraisal reports and processing plans. This encompasses making the decision to keep or discard records. I needed to learn about the process the records go through before the archivist can make a decision which is an important part of my main task here.

Creighton and I are now working on a strategy for Archives around acquisitions and appraisals of material from non-profit organizations. All the work I am doing at the Archives will end up in a final report where I use the knowledge I have gained by doing appraisals and literature reviews of archival appraisal methods, by looking at what the Archives has in its possession and what it doesn’t have, and by reviewing the Archives’ current appraisal policies and practices. It is so exciting to be a part of this project and to be able to come up with new ideas for the Archives. It has so far been very rewarding to be able to use theoretical knowledge and to discuss what approach we should have towards the different strategies.

Fun and interesting facts about you:

A fun fact about me is that I love potatoes, Danish rye bread, salty black licorice, and pastries.  Danish pastry is actually called wienerbrød or Viennese bread in Denmark. So I find it quite funny that the rest of the world calls it Danishes.

In Denmark we have a term, hygge (close to the English concept of coziness), which seems to have become popular worldwide. My favourite way to spend the day is to either watch geeky movies/series or to read any book by Philippa Gregory while I drink hot chocolate or tea. If it rains or snows it’s even better! To me that’s hygge.

Things I love about Canada include: poutine, saltwater taffys, root beer, eggnog, Tim’s, Valley apples, Nova Scotian seafood, and the very friendly people! I also love hiking and Nova Scotia is full of great hiking spots! My favourite museums here are the Immigration Museum at Pier 21 and Sherbrooke Village.

Canadian Library Workers Day

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CLM_EN_words-onlya message from University Librarian, Donna Bourne-Tyson

October is Canadian Library Month, an annual celebration of libraries, library workers, and the services they provide to their communities. The third Friday in October is set aside to specifically recognize Canadian Library Workers.

Library workers promote cultural awareness, engage in the community, provide educational programs, support freedom of expression and so much more. Library workers provide service to their communities and help their libraries and communities grow.

Without Canadian library workers, we wouldn’t have Canadian libraries; without dedicated staff, we wouldn’t have the Dalhousie Libraries.

I consider myself very fortunate to be surrounded by such talented, caring, and hard-working colleagues every day. On this Canadian Library Workers Day, I wanted to say thank you for the amazing job the staff in the Dal Libraries do.

“The most important asset of any library goes home at night – the library staff.”  –Timothy Healy

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Longtime Librarian Ian Colford Is Retiring

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Colford 003Ian Colford is retiring from the Dalhousie Libraries after a career spanning 32 years. Ian began his work life as a librarian in 1985 at TUNS, the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS amalgamated with Dalhousie University in 1997). In 1987 Ian took a job at the Killam Library at Dalhousie. He had applied for the position of history subject specialist, but after a long hiring process and staff changes at the Killam, he was hired as the new English liaison librarian. He soon took on Theatre and later Math — a good fit with his undergraduate degree from Saint Mary’s University in mathematics.

Ian giving a recent reading of some yet-to-be-published fiction.

Ian giving a recent reading of some yet-to-be-published fiction.

As a Killam Reference Librarian, Ian remembers working in a “bull-pen” like room, with 8 or 9 other librarians. Only the head of the department had a phone on her desk. All other staff shared one phone in the middle of the room. All librarians, too, had to take a turn each week shelving catalogue cards in the card catalogue. At TUNS, Ian served on an initial Novanet planning committee. The Novanet catalogue was first implemented in 1988.

From 2006 to 2013 Ian was the Assistant University Librarian for Collections. His career then took a turn, a u-turn, and he returned in 2013 to what had been TUNS, now the Sexton Campus of Dalhousie University. Ian assumed liaison responsibilities with the Faculty of Architecture & Planning, and in Engineering, but also ventured into a brand new area for him. He took responsibility for a digitization project to create an open-access, web accessible archive of the Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), 1924-1973. Ian streamlined procedures and gave new life to the project; he embraced it whole-heartedly, and his focus and dedication to the Archive is admirable.

Ian, all this time, has had a second career as a writer of novels and short stories. So, he may be retiring from Dalhousie but he won’t be at loose ends. We can look forward to many more stories! He also has plans to continue with the Atlantic Book Awards Committee, to volunteer, to watch the entire DVD set of Homicide: Life on the Street, to bake cakes, to spend time with his wife Collette and their three cats (Cassidy, Moirah and Saige), and to cook elaborate dinners.

We will miss Ian very much and say farewell with all our best wishes. Happy retirement! (Don’t forget … we love cake!)

Intern Profile: Nicole Dalrymple

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What brought you to the MLIS program at Dal?

NDalrymple_internpictureI’ve always known that I wanted to do something with history and/or technology professionally, but wasn’t sure how to go about it until I worked a summer doing historical digitization — and it fit my interests perfectly! I checked out the program after my best friend Laura (also currently in the program) recommended it. Dalhousie’s School of Information Management has a great reputation and is in my hometown, so coming here was an easy choice.

What drew you to the internship at the Dal Libraries?

  • During orientation, I listened to the current Archives intern talk a little about their projects, and could not have been more interested – it was right up my alley. I knew that I desperately wanted to work with history, and was interested in getting my hands on some more digitization projects, so the job description for the Archives internship was extremely exciting for me. I looked through some of Dal’s existing online fonds, talked one of the current interns working there, and knew it was a perfect job. It’s great to be able to get hands-on, real world experience while in school!

What’s your educational background?

I completed my first degree at King’s/Dalhousie as well, and have a BA with a double major in History and Political Science.

What you have you been doing during your internship?

During the 2016/17 school year I processed a massive collection of CKDU’s reels, as well as moving the physical collections to make room for more. I’ve also been processing and digitizing the Bill Lynch Shows fonds, working with FRED (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device) to conduct forensic imaging of some of the born digital collections in our holdings (including floppy disks, CDs, and USBs), and writing documentation to describe the process for various digitization processes. I’ve also done scanning of photograph collections and oversize documents (blueprints, posters, et cetera), as well as answering on-site and email reference queries. I’ve been collaborating with other Dal Libraries interns to research and organize information pertaining to Dalhousie’s 200th anniversary initiatives and I’m also looking into finding diverse collections to process (women, people of colour, minorities) to avoid only showing one perspective of history

Fun and interesting facts about you:

In my spare time, I’m passionate about dog rescue and volunteer at a local rescue (Home to Stay) — this has included driving to Montreal to pick dogs up who are about to be euthanized there. I also love this city and all of its food, so I’m always down to talk local restaurant recommendations! Finally, I’ve previously worked in technology public relations in San Francisco, which is where I get my interest in tech and the value of women in tech.

Intern profile: Lindsay Warner

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Lindsay WarnerWhat brought you to the MLIS program at Dal?

In 1996, a wonderful movie came out called Matilda, based on the book by Roald Dahl. It is about a young girl growing up in a strange family who finds love and companionship in the characters from books she reads. As a little girl, I would watch this on the VCR over and over again. While I related with Matilda and her love of learning, the scene that stood out to me the most was when the librarian showed Matilda around the library, explained the power of a library card, and gave her a place to sit safely and comfortably.

As a teenager, my dreams started to come true while working at my local public library. During my time there as a high school student and later a university employee, I watched happy faces come into the library for books, movies, events, and comfy seats to escape the rain. I knew then that the library was the place for me.

Dalhousie’s MLIS program stood out to me because it is close to home (Cape Breton), offers a flexible learning experience, and provides the small class size that I’m used to. I came into this program with a love of libraries but no idea what to expect and I am so grateful for everything I’ve learned and everyone I’ve met since I’ve been here.

What drew you to the internship at the Dal Libraries?

My main drive to pursue this internship was the opportunity to learn new skills. The multi-disciplinary nature of the Killam Library both intimidated and intrigued me because I felt I could learn so much from the librarians who work here and equally from the students who ask for help. The most rewarding part of this internship is teaching students how to find library resources or explaining what certain concepts mean; the “ah-ha” moment that a student has is worth everything.

What is your educational background?

I graduated with a BA from Acadia University in 2016 with a major in French and a minor in Computer Science. While at Acadia, I worked at the Vaughan Memorial Library as a stacks assistant, tutored French for two years, and was TA in the French department for one year.

What have you been doing during your internship?

In addition to reference work, I am working on two video tutorials for Portage’s DMP Assistant in both English and French, working on a research data management toolkit, coding and analysis for the Wallace McCain Learning Commons assessment, weeding throughout the library, and appraising a large donation of African history books. Smaller projects include: creating Instagram activities for students, creating GIFs of common actions on the library website, updating links on LibGuides, and assisting with brainstorming and planning for future events. In celebration of Dalhousie’s 200th anniversary, all of the interns are working on a collaborative project to discover and present noteworthy people, buildings, and events throughout Dal’s history.

Fun and interesting facts about you:

In my spare time, I enjoy playing with my cat, Grumpy, playing video games, listening to live blues music around Halifax, hiking, and skiing (water or snow!). I’ve presented at a French poetry competition, my favourite food is pickles, my favourite book is La vie devant soi (Romain Gary), I know Morse code, and my favorite German word is Schildkröte.

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