Author Reading with Darren Greer

November 3, 2015 Michele Charlton Leave a Comment

When: Tuesday, November 10 at 4:15 p.m.
Where: Special Collections & Archives Reading Room, fifth floor, Killam Library

Darren Greer is the author of three novels and a book of essays.

He grew up in several towns in Nova Scotia, including Greenfield and Liverpool, and studied literature at the University of King’s College, Halifax, as well as Carleton University, Ottawa.

Greer’s first novel, Tyler’s Cape, was published in March 2001 to critical acclaim and was on the bestseller list of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Still Life with June was nominated for the Pearson Readers’ Choice Award at The Word On The Street, Toronto, in 2003 and is the Winner of the 2004 ReLit Award.

He is the winner of the 2015 Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award Prize for Just Beneath my Skin

Don’t miss this chance to see Darren Greer tell his stories in person!

This public reading is sponsored by the Canadian Literary Collections Project

Book Tour Event – “The Shift”

October 28, 2015 Michele Charlton Leave a Comment

“The Shift” Book Tour Event
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Kellogg Health Sciences Library, Main Floor
Tupper Building

Praise for “The Shift”

“…this meticulous, absorbing shift-in-the-life account of one nurse’s day on a cancer ward stands out for its honesty, clarity, and heart. Brown…juggles the fears, hopes, and realities of a 12-hour shift in a typical urban hospital with remarkable insight and unflagging care. Her memoir is a must-read….”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The Shift is the ultimate fly-on-the-wall experience. Theresa Brown has succeeded in serving up a thoroughly engrossing view of the everyday in an American hospital. I got so caught up in her stories that I was late for my shift at the hospital.”
—Dr. Pauline W. Chen, author of Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality

“Nursing needs more participant/observers like Theresa Brown who can give such eloquent voice to a profession long overshadowed by medicine but no less essential to the care of patients.”
—Suzanne Gordon, author of Beyond the Checklist.

Dal Reads news: Lawrence Scanlan coming to Dal on October 14!

September 29, 2015 Michele Charlton Leave a Comment

Lawrence Scanlan, the author of the Dal Reads 2015 selection A Year of Living Generously, is coming to Dalhousie!

When: Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Special Collections & Archives Reading Room, fifth floor, Killam Library

Lawrence has been a journalist for almost four decades – with daily newspapers (editor of The Nelson Daily News in B.C., literary editor of The Whig-Standard in Ontario), magazines (managing editor of Harrowsmith), and in radio with two national CBC programmes (producer on Morningside and Writers & Company). He has won numerous prizes for his writing, including three National Magazine Awards.

A Year of Living Generously, follows Lawrence as he volunteers with 12 different charities, among them well-known institutions Habitat for Humanity, the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Canadian Crossroads. Drawing from first-hand experiences, he tests the ideas and theories on global aid and charity and makes a compelling case for greater commitment and real connection, in the form of on-the-ground volunteer work, from us all.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see Lawrence Scanlan in person as he reads from A Year of Living Generously.

You can pick up your free copy at any of our five libraries!

Northern Highlights of the Killam Collection

June 1, 2012 Marlo MacKay Leave a Comment

Dalhousie graduate Dr. Mary Hunter has had a passion for the Arctic since she was just five years old. A classroom display created by her kindergarten teacher ignited Dr. Hunter’s interest in what would become a lifelong love.

Dr. Mary Hunter

It wasn’t until after she graduated from medical school at Dalhousie in 1957 that Dr. Hunter had the opportunity to travel north. After experiencing first-hand all that the Arctic and Polar regions has to offer, she fell even more in love with the area. Inspired by the people, the landscape, the fresh air, the flora and the fauna, Dr. Hunter continued to make trips to the Arctic and Antarctic as often as she could, while her medical career took her to Ontario, Trinidad and England.

Dr. Hunter also built an extensive personal collection of carefully selected books about the North. The Killam Library is very fortunate to be the recent recipient of this collection, estimated to contain 250 volumes. The collection also contains ten years of back issues and a current subscription to Up Here, a Maclean’s-style magazine for the North.

A selection of the books are currently on display in the Special Collections area of the Killam (fifth floor) until Monday, June 4. After that, the books will be interfiled throughout the Killam’s collection, depending on their topic.. The books cover a wide-range of subjects, including history, nature, transportation, climate, art and literature.

Two of Dr. Hunter’s favourite books among those she donated to Dalhousie is The Long Exile: a Tale of Inuit Betrayal & Survival in the High Arctic by Melanie McGrath and A Complete Guide to Arctic Wildlife by Richard Sale. She recommends these books to anyone who wants to gain a basic understanding of the North.

Thank you Dr. Hunter for sharing your collection with the Dalhousie community. We wish you safe travels on your next trip to the North.

The two display cases containing some of the books donated by Dr. Hunter. Shown with one of Dr. Hunter's favourite sculptures at Dalhousie.

A sample of just some of the books donated by Dr. Hunter.

This stamp identifies books donated by Dr. Hunter.

The Lost Art of Fine Binding

May 15, 2012 Tina Usmiani Leave a Comment

The elegant cover designs of English master bookbinder Douglas Cockerell (1875-1945) are world famous. In the 1930s the Dalhousie Libraries acquired Cockerell’s historical binding collection and a few of his own bindings as a generous donation from his friend William Inglis Morse.

The opportunity to add another unique item to the Douglas Cockerell Fine Binding Collection rarely arises, but last month one came on the market in Seattle, Washington. The beautiful binding was commissioned for a 1907 Oxford University Press edition of Robert Browning’s poetry, and thanks to a donation to support the development of the book collection, the Dal Libraries were able to to acquire it.

The full blue morocco Cockerell binding features gilded leaf and floral designs in all four corners and the five compartments of the spine panel. The book, which is in superb condition, is also graced with green marbled endpapers and is a pleasure to hold and leaf through.

The Douglas Cockerell Fine Binding Collection is housed in Special Collections on the 5th floor of the Killam Library. If you’d like more information about the Cockerell fine bindings or would like to see any of the items in the collection, please contact Karen Smith, Special Collections Librarian (kemsmith@dal.ca or 494-8803).

Directory of Open Access Books

April 16, 2012 Tina Usmiani Leave a Comment

OAPEN is pleased to announce the launch of the Directory of Open Access Books, a discovery service for peer-reviewed books published under an Open Access license. DOAB provides a searchable index to the information about these books, with links to the full texts of the publications at the publisher’s website or repository.

The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books. Academic publishers are invited to provide the metadata of their Open Access books to DOAB. These metadata will be harvestable in order to maximize dissemination, visibility and impact. There are currently just over 20 publishers participating with about 750 Open Access books, and new publishers and books will be added in the next few days.

A link to DOAB has been added to our Open Access subject guide, where you’ll find a wealth of information, resources, policies etc. about OA.