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Libraries Make Merry in Royal Style

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High teas were held this morning at the Kellogg and Law libraries, showing the Brits that we too can party up Buck House style.

Pearls, fascinators and tiaras lent a distinct air of elegance to the scene, as guests sipped an assortment of teas out of the finest china and nibbled cucumber sandwiches and sweets. The dinner rings sported by the Law Library ladies would perhaps have been considered a trifle outre if seen inside Westminster Abbey, but within the confines of the Cassels Brock Student Lounge were perfectly acceptable. Royal hats-off to Mary MacDonald: it was she who first conceived of the Kellogg high tea (Mary is missing from the photo because she took it).

Long life and happiness, Will and Kate, from all of your ardent fans at the Dalhousie Libraries!

Penny David, Cindy Miller, Kathy Eisan, Nadine Day-Boutilier, Carol Webb, Gail Fraser, Asmaret Gheabreab, Linda Young

Penny David, Cindy Miller, Kathy Eisan, Nadine Day-Boutilier, Carol Pottie, Gail Fraser, Asmaret Gheabreab, Linda Young (Kellogg)





Karen Tarum, Anne-Marie White, Debbie Ritchie, Lisa Drew (Law)

Karen Tarum, Anne-Marie White, Debbie Ritchie, Lisa Drew (Law)





High tea at the Kellogg

High tea at the Kellogg





Only the finest of china and silver were used

Only the finest china and silver would do





Gail Fraser looking stunning in her fascinator

Gail Fraser looking stunning in her fascinator





The aforementioned rings

The aforementioned rings





Tim Ruggles with a reference query about the tea

Would this be the Lapsang Oolong? (Tim Ruggles)





Cindy Miller, library Queen of the Day

Cindy Miller, undisputed library Queen of the Day





"Feast and merriment to follow"

Feast and merriment to follow

Said Msabaha Moves On

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The last time we checked in with Said Msabaha, Evening Supervisor for Killam Library Circulation, he had just acquired his Master’s degree in intercultural and international communications (see our blog post of November 2010). We knew it wouldn’t be long before this intelligent and talented guy moved on.

Now congratulations are in order again. Said has been appointed Program Coordinator at the Global Health Office in Dal’s Faculty of Medicine. His last day at the Killam is March 24 and he’ll be starting work in his new position on March 28. Said, it’s been wonderful working with you, and we wish you all the best in your new career!

Libraries Welcome Suzanne Hayes

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We’re delighted to introduce you to Suzanne Hayes, who began working as a full-time Stack Maintenance / Circulation Assistant at the Killam Library on February 1, 2011.

Suzanne is currently in the third year (part-time) of a Library Technician Program at the Nova Scotia Community College. She comes to us from Dal’s Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology where she worked as Administrative Secretary for a year and a half. Suzanne has also held positions in Admissions at Saint Mary’s and the Mount, so she’s completely at home in a university environment.

Suzanne’s job with the Circulation Dept. involves doing maintenance—reshelving books, tidying up around the copiers etc.—in the stacks and working at the Circ Desk. Or as she puts it, “I do the quiet stuff in the mornings and the socializing in the afternoons!”

Suzanne enjoys sports and is an avid volleyball and basketball player. She also loves to read, particularly historical fiction and biographies. Her experience working with students and her lovely smile will make her a real asset to the Libraries!

In Memoriam: Charles Armour

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Dalhousie University Archives & Special Collections honors the memory of Charles A. Armour, former Dalhousie University Archivist, who passed away on December 4th, 2010 at the age of 76.

Born in Taylor Village, New Brunswick, Charles graduated with a B.Sc. from Mount Allison University in 1956; a M.Sc. from Dalhousie in 1957; and a Ph.D. from University College, London in 1960. The chance discovery of a trunk containing historical logbooks and other shipping-related records in his family home in Taylor Village changed the direction of his academic career from Chemistry professor to archivist and historical researcher. In 1970, he was appointed Dalhousie University’s first University Archivist, a position he held until his retirement in 1999.

During his 29 year tenure, Charles built the foundation of the Dalhousie University Archives’ current holdings of Nova Scotia shipping, business, labour, medical and cultural records, as well as acquiring significant accruals of university records. He served as Regional Director of the National Archival Appraisal Board and also contributed many articles and two books to his life-long scholarly passion for ships, sailors and shipbuilding in the Maritimes. He is survived by his wife, Hedy and his son, Charles. A memorial gathering is planned for next spring. Donations may be made to Tantramar Heritage Trust, QEII Foundation PATH Clinic, Alzheimer Society of NS, or a charity of your choice.

Chronicle Herald obituary for Charles Armour

Congratulations Dr. Qasim!

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We’d like to congratulate Umar Qasim, System Developer with Library Information and Technology Support (LITS), on successfully completing his doctorate in Information Systems from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Umar’s PhD thesis, titled “Active Caching for Recommender Systems,” proposes new approaches to improving the performance of recommender systems (e.g. Amazon’s “people who liked this item also like these”).

Simultaneously working full time, raising a family (as of this October Umar has 3 children) and researching a PhD thesis definitely pose challenges, but Umar dealt with it all calmly and effectively. “I’m lucky in that my wife was always so supportive, and my children were very young,” he says.

Umar intends to pursue further research into recommender systems in collaboration with colleagues. “I already have contacts here at Dal, as well as at my school and at McMaster where I used to work,” he says. “The good thing about working at a university is that you’re constantly interacting with others in your field and the environment encourages research. Dal is great—I love coming to work in the morning!”

DUASC Welcomes Two New Staff Members

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The Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections (DUASC) is pleased to welcome Jennifer Lambert and Creighton Barrett to its team.

Jennifer Lambert is DUASC’s new Library Assistant.  She is already working on a variety of projects in Archives and Special Collections and will soon be providing reference services in the reading room on the 5th floor of the Killam Library.   Jennifer will be graduating from Dalhousie’s Masters in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program in May and she is the former Production Manager for the Dalhousie Review.

Creighton Barrett is DUASC’s new Archives Specialist.  He will also be working on various projects in the department and providing reference services.  Creighton graduated from the MLIS program in May, 2009 and will be teaching the MLIS course in Archives this January.

DUASC is pleased to have Jennifer and Creighton on board!  Drop by the reading room on the 5th Floor of the Killam Library to meet our newest staff members.

Introducing Krystle Sichky and Aran Silmeryn

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September is a time for new faces, in the libraries as throughout the campus. This fall the Killam is pleased to welcome Krystle Sichky and Aran Silmeryn to our Circulation Department. Both are with us as full-time temps, Krystle until the end of December and Aran until the end of April.

Krystle graduated from Dal this past spring with a BA in arts and history. She’s no newcomer to the library–in fact her first job as a Dal student was in our Document Delivery Dept. where she worked for three semesters in 2005-06. Krystle loves camping and biking and appropriately is also a keen reader. She says she’s about to dive into The Red Tent and is definitely going to be raiding the Killam’s shelves while she’s here.

Aran is a newly-minted LIT grad from the NSCC, where he has worked part-time at the Waterfront Campus library. With his diploma in Library & Information Technology he’s trained in a wide variety of areas: library management, acquisitions, cataloguing, document delivery, readers’ advisory skills and more. Aran also plays in several Wolfville bands, including TripALady, which had a CD release this past June at the Old Orchard Inn. That’s him fronting on guitar at Night Kitchen in Acadia Cinema’s Al Whittle Theatre.

Libraries Welcome Michael Steeleworthy

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The Dal Libraries are very pleased to introduce you to Michael Steeleworthy, who joined us on August 1. Michael is a Public Services Librarian at the Killam Library. He manages the system-wide collection of online learning materials, which includes tutorials and quizzes on library resources and learning strategies. You’ll also see Michael working at the Killam’s Reference Desk, helping members of the Dal community with their research needs, in-person and online.

I frequently travel to the south-west United States, where I have family (and so I can take in the sun). This photo is from a May 2010 hike on the West Fork Trail of Palm Canyon in Palm Springs, California; this Christmas I’m going to bicycle through Joshua Tree National Park. To put it plainly, I’m a fan of the desert, of John Steinbeck, and of the coast, so I get along real well with California.

Contact Michael at steeleworthy@dal.ca or at 494- 3661.

New Chief Law Librarian

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The Sir James Dunn Law Library is very pleased to welcome our new Chief Law Librarian, Anne Matthewman. Anne began her position here on August 3. Prior to this Anne was the Library Manager and Executive Director of the Toronto Lawyers Association. In addition, Anne has served in a number of capacities on the Executive Board of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries, most recently as the Past President, and has also held office in the American Association of Law Libraries.

Anne looks forward to working with new colleagues within the Dalhousie Libraries system. Please join us in wishing her much success.

University Librarian Elected to ARC

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Bill MaesWilliam Maes was recently elected as Vice Chair/Chair Elect of OCLC’s Americas Regional Council. He will be the first Canadian to head this Council. This also makes him a member of OCLC’s Global Council for 3 years.

This was the first election of officers for the Americas Regional Council since OCLC governance changed from a single Members Council to a Global Council and three regional councils–Americas; Asia Pacific; and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Americas Regional Council is comprised of members from libraries and cultural heritage organizations in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States.

Founded in 1967, OCLC is a non-profit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 171 countries have used OCLC services. OCLC also produces and maintains WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources with over 1.6 billion records. The Dalhousie Libraries acquired WorldCat in June 2009.

More details here.

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