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The LibVine

What's going on at Dalhousie Libraries

Category: General Library News

Welcome librarian Melissa Helwig

The Dalhousie Libraries are pleased to welcome Melissa Helwig. Melissa started at the Kellogg Library on Monday as the instruction/liaison librarian.

Melissa comes to Dal from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in Thunder Bay. During her time there, she provided library support for regulated health professions throughout Northern Ontario, served as the librarian tutor for the Family Medicine Resident’s Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum and provided education and library service to the NOSM Faculty & Learners and health care professionals at various sites using a variety of technologies.

She has also been a librarian tutor for McMaster University’s Evidence-Based Clinical Practice workshop. This past winter, she co-presented EBM: From Curriculum to the Reference Desk at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2012.

“The Dalhousie Libraries have offered me an incredible opportunity to work on a great campus and live in a wonderful city. After working in Canada’s newest medical school, I am looking forward to working and learning on one of Canada’s most historic campuses,” says Melissa.

Melissa holds an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in history with a minor in political science from the University of Windsor.

Welcome to Halifax and welcome to Dalhousie Melissa!

 

Welcome Lindsay McNiff

The Dalhousie Libraries are pleased to welcome Lindsay McNiff. Lindsay, from Toronto, has come to Halifax to work at the Dal Libraries for ten months as a limited term librarian. She is spending her first five months at the Killam, followed by five months at the Kellogg.

“This is an amazing opportunity. Not only am I starting work at a fantastic school in a lovely city – I’ll also get to collaborate with and learn from the staff and students at two different libraries. Everyone has been welcoming and wonderful so far, and it feels great to be here,” says Lindsay.

Lindsay holds an MI (Master of Information) from the University of Toronto, as well as undergraduate and master’s degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Windsor.

Her previous library experience includes working in Reference & Research Services at Robarts Library, the University of Toronto’s Humanities and Social Sciences library. She also was an intern and student assistant at the Faculty of Information’s academic and community hub, the Inforum, where she worked in circulation and on special projects in promotions and outreach, academic writing instruction and online content creation.

Lindsay, welcome to Halifax and welcome to Dal!

 

Welcome Robin Parker, Information Services Librarian, W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library

After studying in the United States, France, and Scotland, Robin Parker completed her Bachelor of Sciences degree at the University of Oregon in 2001. She then returned to her home province of Nova Scotia and completed her Master of Library and Information Studies at Dal in 2010.

Robin worked as a reference librarian at London Health Sciences Centre and most recently in Halifax as a clinical research librarian with the Research Methods Unit, Nova Scotia Cochrane Resource Centre, and Capital Health Library Services. Her experience supporting biomedical and health services research will be just two of her many contributions to Dalhousie.

Robin is delighted to be returning to the W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library where she developed her health information skills as an intern in 2009-2010. She’s excited by the challenge of being the main support librarian for evidence-based practice and systematic reviews in health care, a position previously held by Tim Ruggles, who recently retired.

“It’s a pleasure to be working with the great team at the Kellogg Library again. Tim left big shoes to fill, as he was extremely experienced and liked by both students and faculty. I look forward to building on his legacy to help the Dalhousie health sciences community use and produce high-quality research to improve the health of people in Nova Scotia and beyond,” she says. Welcome Robin!

 

Promoting Science, a Nova Scotian Tradition

The Nova Scotian Institute of Science (NSIS), founded in 1862, stimulates public interest in scientific research and publishes the results of research by Nova Scotian scientists.

This image comes from The Birds of Sable Island, Nova Scotia by I. A. McLaren (1981). It’s just one of the 900 digitized items from The Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science to be found on DalSpace.

In the nineteenth century, the founders of NSIS were professionals who met monthly to share their love of science, presenting specimens they collected and reading scientific papers which they published in their journal, The Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science. Members of NSIS still meet regularly and they currently publish the journal twice annually.

NSIS established a library in 1864 that is now housed in the Killam Library. This collection contains a number of periodical titles not available elsewhere in Canada. “The Institute’s collection at the Killam includes scholarly publications from around world. NSIS collects these publications through partnerships with other scientific societies. We send our journal to about 100 partners, some as far away as Australia. In turn, these partners send their publications to NSIS,” says Michelle Paon, a science librarian at the Killam Library who is the current president and librarian of the NSIS.

The back issues of the NSIS journal, (The Proceedings), were digitized by Killam Library interns (graduate students from Dal’s School of Information Management).“Issues of the journal from 1863-1984 are available on DalSpace, which works out to about 900 digitized articles. People who are studying or interested in the natural history of Nova Scotia will find the journal particularly interesting,” says Michelle. The library is also working with NSIS to transition current issues of the journal from print to an online format using Open Journal Systems (OJS) software. 

NSIS is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. To learn more about the Institute and the annual lecture series, visit chebucto.ns.ca/Science/NSIS/ All of the talks are free and presented at a level suitable for anyone wanting to know more about science in Nova Scotia.

The Health Spending Account and the Employee & Family Assistance Program

Lunch & Learn (bring your lunch)
Presenter: a representative from Medavie BlueCross and Shepell.fgi
Thursday, June 21, 12-1 p.m.
Killam Library, Room 2616

 

What is a Health Spending Account (HSA) and how does it work? What services are offered through the Employee & Family Assistance Program (EFAP)? These services are available to staff as part of the staff benefits package, but do you know how to access and use them? The Dalhousie Libraries Health & Wellness Committee has arranged for someone from Medavie BlueCross and Shepell.fgi to speak to library staff about the HSA and the EFAP.

 

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

 

Thursday’s lunch and learn session is the first initiative of the Dalhousie Libraries’ Health and Wellness committee. The committee was just recently created, having met for the first time in May. “You’ll be hearing more from this committee in the future. We are currently looking at ways that we can improve health and wellness in the Dalhousie Libraries,” says Sandy Dwyer, Chair of the committee. The other committee members are: Kellie Hawley (Killam), Alice Stover (Killam), Angela Hersey (Kellogg), Anne-Marie White (Dunn), Carolene Robertson (Sexton), Carol Richardson (Killam) and Anne Gaetz (Sexton).

The mandate of the committee is to:

  • identify ways to make our libraries (staff and environment) healthier
  • implement and promote  health and wellness practices that consider the six dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, interpersonal/social, spiritual and environmental
  • provide recommendations on such matters to the University Librarian
  • serve as liaison with the Healthy Workplace Collaborative (Dalhousie-wide Health & Wellness committee)

All staff is welcome to Thursday’s session. Don’t forget to bring your lunch.

eBooks & iPads: using an iPad to meet your academic reading requirements

Lunch & Learn (bring your lunch)

Thursday, June 14, 12-1 p.m. Killam Library, Room 2616

Presenter: Gwendolyn MacNairn, Computer Science Librarian, Killam Library

Many staff, students and faculty members have iPads—and the Dalhousie Libraries have purchased thousands of eBooks. This can only be a match made in heaven, provided you know how to access the eBooks and know which apps to use to create a successful reading experience.

This introductory session presents the basics for using an iPad to meet your academic reading requirements. An emphasis is placed on what’s available for free.

Gwendolyn, a computer science librarian at the Killam Library, presented a similar session at the Atlantic Provinces Library Association (APLA) annual conference, which took place at Acadia University three weeks ago.

All are welcome, and don’t forget to bring your lunch.

Welcome Marlo MacKay, Communications Coordinator

The Dalhousie Libraries welcome Marlo MacKay, who joined the staff as Communications Coordinator, based in the Killam Library, effective May 28.  Marlo comes to Dalhousie from Halifax Public Libraries, where she was the Communications Officer. She is replacing Tina Usmiani, who recently retired.

After more than ten years of working in public and school libraries, Marlo obtained an advanced diploma in public relations from Nova Scotia Community College. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Saint Vincent University. In 2008, Marlo began working in the Communications and Marketing department of Halifax Public Libraries, where she was the editor of the Library Guide and the media contact for the library, among other duties. In 2010, she was part of the planning team for the Halifax Central Library public consultation meetings.

Marlo’s main focus will be promoting and publicizing the resources and services of the Dalhousie Libraries. “I am very pleased to join the team at the Dalhousie Libraries. Working on Dal’s bustling and beautiful campus is a dream come true,” she said.

You can reach Marlo with questions about library promotions at marlo.mackay@dal.ca or at 494-3907. She looks forward to hearing from you.

Answering Advanced RefWorks Questions

Lunch & Learn
Presenter: Shelley McKibbon, Kellogg Health Sciences Librarian
May 30, noon – 1pm
Killam Library Room 2616

The basics of RefWorks are easy to learn and teach. But what happens when you get an “oddball” question from a student or faculty member, or you discover an error you haven’t encountered before?

RefWorks pro and health sciences librarian Shelley McKibbon will highlight some of the trickier aspects of this popular citation management tool and show you how to deal with them. Have advanced RefWorks questions yourself? Bring them to this session or email them to Shelley (mckibbon@dal.ca) by Friday May 25, and they will be dealt with on the spot.

All are welcome, and don’t forget to bring your lunch!

GISciences Centre Gets Special Achievement Award

The Dalhousie University GISciences Centre is to be presented the 2012 ESRI Inc. Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award at the upcoming ESRI Inc. International Conference in San Diego. The award is given to user sites around the world to recognize outstanding work with GIS technology.

The Dal GISciences Centre is the only Canadian group awarded this year; they were also presented with the 2007 Award of Excellence, given by the President of ESRI Canada Alex Miller. The GISciences Centre is in select company as it was one of over 100,000 potential nominees. The Centre is being awarded the 2012 SAG based upon years of service and promotion of GIS, geography, and spatial analysis within the academic community at Dalhousie and beyond.

Founded in 2005, the GISciences Centre has provided access to data, software, training, courses, analysis, and field schools. The Director of the Centre, James Boxall, stated upon hearing the news of the award: “It really is about the staff and students who have made the Centre what it is. They are the basis for the recognition, and we are all honoured by this award.” Staff and students currently working with Boxall in the Centre are: Jennifer Strang, Ray Jahncke, Max Lapierre, Jennifer Charney and Jennifer Grek-Martin. Boxall also notes that the Centre has helped promote the growth of spatial learning at Dalhousie and collaboration amongst government, the private sector and other educational institutions. “The result of this has been that Dalhousie has created – in a very short time – the largest user community of GIS within higher education in Canada. This means more GIS-related work across faculties and disciplines, and more students and faculty exposed to using GIS in teaching and research. Yet we feel we have only begun!”

And this just in: Max Lapierre, GIS student intern, has just been awarded a $2500 prize from ESRI Canada for his continuing studies in the application of GIS for planning and facilities. Congratulations all around!

Dealing with Fair Dealing in a Digital Age

Lunch & Learn
Presenter: Jason MacDonald, Intellectual Property Assistant
May 23, noon – 1pm
Killam Library Room 2616

The latest attempt to modernize the Copyright Act of Canada has received third and final reading this week before Parliament. Bill C-11 attempts to bring Canada’s copyright laws into the modern age with what are seen as significant updates and amendments.


C-11 has been described as ‘flawed but fixable’. What are the potential impacts of its flaws and strengths on Canada’s Fair Dealing provision, and what can be done to make sure users’ rights aren’t eroded? Come to this presentation by Dal’s own Intellectual Property Assistant and find out. All are welcome–don’t forget to bring your lunch!

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