In the Fall term of 2024, Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries launched a survey asking the TMU community to provide their feedback on what is important to them and how we are performing across four categories: communication, service delivery, facilities & equipment, and information resources.

Thank you to all who completed our survey, we very much appreciate the feedback, and congratulations to our ten winners of the $50 Best Buy gift cards: Cristen A (undergraduate student), Caitlin C (graduate student), Khadijah H (undergraduate student), Liaba M (undergraduate student), Shivani J (JD student), Onyinyechi D (graduate student), Amara L (JD student), Mya I (undergraduate student), Siam C (undergraduate student), Sarah B (faculty).

Since receiving the survey results, we have been analyzing the data including comments received. Below is an overview of the key findings and how we are responding.

Where We are Performing Well

The TMU community identified many  areas where the Libraries are performing well, here are the top five:  

• Wireless access
• Off-campus access to Library resources and services
• Library hours of operation
• Users feel comfortable asking for help in the Library
• The Library provides a safe environment

Further, faculty rated the Library’s Course Reserves service (eReserves and Print Reserves) very highly — demonstrating that our investment in this service translates into excellence for faculty teaching and student learning support. 

Top Priorities for Improvement

Students’ top two priorities for the Libraries demonstrate clear opportunities to provide more and quieter study spaces in addition to more spaces for group study and collaborative work. These are:

• Finding a quiet place in the Library to study
• Finding a place in the Library to work in a group

Other Areas for Improvement 

The survey results identified a few other areas where the Libraries can make improvements:

• Faculty, contract lecturers, and PhD students: Information resources (e.g. books, articles, databases, streaming media, datasets) that meet teaching, learning and/or research needs
• Faculty and contract lecturers: The Library search box
• Cleanliness and maintenance of the Library

How We are Responding

In certain cases, the survey results confirmed our current course of action, as areas needing improvement had already been targeted for enhancement prior to receiving the survey results:

• Quiet study in the Main and Law Libraries: Survey data reinforced anecdotal and staff observations about elevated noise levels in our library spaces. Through their survey participation, students demonstrated a clear need for more quiet space that is better enforced. Improvements such as clearer signage, furniture layouts supporting more options for individual and quiet study, installation of sound masking systems, and collaboration between library staff and key stakeholders, have been undertaken to support students and ensure quieter study environments in the Libraries. In addition, changes to the Law Library have been implemented to ensure a quiet study environment for Law students. 
• Collections and information resources: we continue to work with University Administration on budget planning for Library acquisitions, with the goal of ensuring sustainability. Despite budget cuts and inflationary pressures, our Collection Services team continuously works to enable access to information resources of all types that our community needs to be successful.
• Library search box: In June 2024, the TMU Libraries migrated to the Omni platform that is shared by most universities in Ontario. This shared catalogue has significantly enhanced access to over 25 million physical books across 19 Ontario university libraries. With this enhancement comes a learning curve with using the new Omni academic search tool. TMU Librarians are dedicated to teaching students, faculty, contract lecturers, and other members of our community on how to use Omni through workshops and other research help services. Learn how to use Omni here or feel free to reach out to your subject librarian.

Further Action

For certain areas of concern, further investigation and exploration are needed to identify and develop successful solutions. For example, TMU Libraries has embarked on a new strategic planning process; additionally, we identify annual assessment projects that represent the needs of the TMU community. Going forward, the survey results will help us prioritize projects and implement solutions that will improve the overall experience for all members of our community. We will be sharing these projects and outcomes with the TMU community as we move forward.

We are thankful for the survey feedback and we look forward to making enhancements to improve the research, learning, and teaching experience of our users in order to ensure the overall success of the TMU community. We are grateful for the messages of support from our users:

“I have only taught here for 3 terms so far, but I have reached out to librarians to help me teach and give presentations to students each term since I figured out what a fantastic resource they are and what the students have access to for their research. I wish that every first year class in every school could get such a presentation. I have had 3rd year students ask me why did they not learn about this at the beginning of their studies as they could have saved themselves a lot of struggle. I love our librarians!”

“Excellent resource. I would never have been able to get through my graduate work without the library at TMU”

“Our library staff is wonderful – kudos for professionalism and being supportive”

“Honestly, for me, the Library is at the best it could be. Thank you for all the helpful resources readily available!”

For any questions or comments about the survey results and how we are responding, please feel free to contact Nazia Sheikh, Assessment Librarian (n3sheikh@torontomu.ca).

 

 

 

As the Winter term wraps up, please ensure any outstanding fines are paid and overdue items are returned. Students with fines of more than $25 will not be able to view their grades until their account is cleared.

You can pay fines at the Circulation Desk (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or OneCard) or by phone at 416-979-2149. We do not accept personal cheques.

For questions, contact us at Libraries Circulation access@torontomu.ca

Good luck with your exams!

 

Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries has received a $140,000 gift from Ryerson Centre, a charitable foundation operating within the Toronto Metropolitan University Community since 1953, to support the preservation and cataloguing of archival materials related to the Centre, campus student groups, and university community organizations.

“For 70 years, our organization has been dedicated to fostering activities that support students, staff, faculty, alumni, and the broader community—both on and off campus,” said Michael Walton, Urban and Regional Planning alumnus, Ryerson Centre president, and 1971-72 students’ union president. “This gift ensures that our rich history and contributions will be preserved for future generations.”

The aim of the donation is to preserve past records of the university’s student governing bodies, groups and communities, and to demonstrate the importance of continuing to archive student organizational activities and records to maintain legacies, voices, and narratives on an ongoing basis.

“This generous donation not only provides welcome support for the university’s archives, but it also allows us to acknowledge the significant legacy of Ryerson Centre,” says Joanna Beyersbergen, director of development, TMU Libraries. “This organization has played a vital role in the evolution of the university and its student body. TMU Libraries is pleased to help tell this story.”

The gift specifically supports three areas. Firstly, it provides the Archives with designated funding to create a one-year project archivist position focused on organizing uncatalogued or under-catalogued archives of the Centre, campus community organizations, and students’ unions and groups. 

Campus community partnership positions will also be developed giving students opportunities to work with the Archives and project archivist to further build relationships with present campus community organizations, and student unions and groups, encouraging them to contribute their records and narratives to the Archives.

Lastly, the donation will support an annual award for a student research paper. The paper will centre around the use of archival research on a topic related to the University’s campus community organizations, student unions and groups. The award will be given out each year, over a five year period.

The final papers will become part of the Archives’s outreach activities to educate campus communities and students about the importance and value of archiving records to preserve legacies.

The generous donation provides an opportunity to acknowledge archival gaps related to campus community organizations, student unions and groups, and to take vital steps to remedy those gaps. “The Ryerson Centre donation will allow the Archives to enhance access to our collections, raise awareness about the importance of the archives, and help us preserve and amplify underrepresented voices in archives such as student voices,”  says Tanis Franco, archivist, Archives and Special Collections, TMU Libraries. “This interesting and colourful history will no doubt be a source of research for years to come,”

Throughout the project, the Archives will conduct workshops and seminars using the Archives for research and storytelling. “One area of interest we often get asked about is on student history and activism on campus,” notes Franco. “The Ryerson Centre material will no doubt illuminate this history and provide us with ample opportunities for research and archival workshop activities.” 

The underlying goal for this donation and collection is to build and maintain relationships among university community organizations, student groups and the Archives, and to continue growing archival collections related to these entities that provide students and faculty access to their important history.

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Learn more about the Archives and Special Collections, and search through archival collections.

 

 

TMU Libraries is reaching out to encourage faculty, researchers and graduate students to create an ORCID account or affiliate a current account with the university.

Why the push? While accounts reflect the depth of research conducted at TMU, ORCID iDs are increasingly required by funding agencies. Plus, they help your research get noticed!

Q & A with Research Impact Librarian, Toby Malone

 

What is ORCID?

An ORCID iD is a unique identifier that distinguishes you and your work from other researchers. It allows researchers, faculty and graduate students to highlight and control access to their data, research, grants and collaborations.

Why create or affiliate an ORCID account with TMU?

ORCID is becoming the industry standard for profiling academic research. It allows researchers to list their affiliations, publications, and grants. Many funding agencies are starting to require ORCID iDs be included in grant applications. In Europe this has long been a standard.

At the Libraries, we are working hard to ensure TMU researchers are properly affiliated with the university so we can celebrate their achievements and research impact–an ORCID profile makes this much easier.

ORCID is excellent for distinguishing researchers with similar names and ensuring everyone is easily identified in the academic community.

The Libraries have also incorporated ORCID’s Affiliation Manager tool, making it seamless for established accounts to connect with TMU. The ease of using this tool has resulted in a 75% affiliation rate on campus–an increase from 25% in 2024!

How does having an account connected to TMU help a researcher, faculty member, grad student?

A major factor in every researcher’s career lies in Knowledge Mobilisation, or the way a researcher’s work is published, read, shared, and cited. ORCID provides an official platform to showcase research with an institutional affiliation that reassures readers as to their veracity.

An ORCID profile travels with you, through changes in positions, institutions, and names, and is a persistent identifier, which differentiates you in a crowded academic landscape.

Does it help with funding, tenure, professional advancement, and research collaborations?

Being able to showcase academic work in a centralised location is crucial to the visibility of an academic profile. Visibility leads to greater success in discovering future opportunities, or having opportunities find you.

The stronger a faculty member’s academic profile, the stronger their influence.

Do ORCID profile affiliations help the University?

ORCID profile uptake is a notable tenet in TMU’s ongoing effort to improve in the world university rankings. The greater the ORCID uptake, the stronger the faculty group presents to the wider academic community, which has a generative effect for future collaborations, presentations, and publications. Our goal is to achieve full uptake of ORCID across campus.

Are ORCID accounts required?

It is not required, but it is strongly recommended as a means of showcasing faculty work and by extension the university’s productivity.

If there are concerns about time management, TMU Librarians are available to work with faculty members to set up and automate their accounts.

Do (or, will) ORCID accounts help generate national, international attention for research?

The universality of ORCID in most academic communities means that this has become an expected standard when it comes to applications, presentations, and granting processes. As such, ORCID is becoming an increasingly important forum for showcasing academic excellence, and absence from that environment risks missing major opportunities. Having a robust, complete, and exhaustive ORCID account ensures our faculty members are presenting themselves in as strong a fashion as possible, as we look to build on collaborations and other international opportunities.

 

For more information on ORCID iDs and to sign up, visit the Libraries’ ORCID research guide.
Fill out the addition request form for the Affiliation Manager.

 

 
Congratulations to Kevin Manuel, data librarian, TMU Libraries’ Omni Implementation Lead, May Yan, librarian, Resources and Systems Integration, and Michael Carter-Arlt, specialist, Immersive Technology on receiving the 2025 Librarian Award and the Julia Hanigsberg Make Your Mark Award.

These awards celebrate and highlight the essential, innovative and dynamic work and contributions made by Kevin, May and Michael to the Libraries, the University, staff, students, researchers and the community.

Congratulations on these well-deserved awards!
 

2025 Librarian Award

Kevin Manuel, data librarian

Kevin Manuel brings professionalism, expertise and a deep commitment to social justice to his role as TMU’s Data Librarian. As the university’s official representative to Statistics Canada’s Data Liberation Initiative, Kevin provides specialist data support for TMU researchers, locating and retrieving data across disciplines. His leadership was instrumental in establishing the Libraries’ Statistical Consulting Service. In addition to founding the Libraries’ Social Justice Collective, Kevin chairs an international effort to create an online LGBTQ+ Data Guide, and has co-authored a Canadian open access anti-racist data guide, which has prompted the data community to examine issues of EDI in data collection.

May Yan, lead, Omni Implementation and Resources and Systems Integration Librarian

May Yan’s exceptional leadership as the Omni Project Implementation Lead makes her highly deserving of this year’s Librarian Award. She coordinated a team of six librarians, sponsored by an associate dean, to successfully implement a new library management system which integrates TMU with 18 Ontario libraries. May’s strategic planning, communication skills, and profound understanding of library systems were instrumental in facilitating communication, managing project risks, and ensuring cohesive system configuration. May’s extensive project leadership experience, transparent approach, and knowledge led to the successful transition to Omni. She adeptly managed stakeholder communication, ensuring all parties were informed and engaged.
 

Julia Hanigsberg Make Your Mark Award

Michael Carter-Arlt, specialist, Immersive Technology

Michael Carter-Arlt is the Immersive Technology Specialist at Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries. He combines 3D development, web design, and 2D animation to create AR/VR applications for educational projects. Michael has led numerous innovative initiatives, including the 2023 Rumi Exhibit, in collaboration with organizations such as the Aga Khan Museum. He played a key role in establishing the TMU Libraries’ Immersion Studio, a large-scale immersive visualization environment that supports pedagogical innovation and experiential learning. His work has significantly expanded opportunities for the TMU community to uphold the University’s innovative spirit and foster community partnerships.

 

 

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) has mandated that faculty, starting January 2025, include an itemized cost breakdown of all textbooks and learning materials (required and optional) in their course outlines. The new requirement is intended to create transparency for students with regard to the cost of a course, once they’ve enrolled.

While transparency is helpful with regard to understanding costs and financial planning, the price tag of some commercial textbooks can be jarring for students. It also doesn’t tell the whole story, which includes how libraries and university partners are working to lower the cost of materials. Through open educational resources, electronic resources, ebooks and textbook collections, TMU Library is providing alternatives and options for faculty to create, use, and find course materials that will reduce financial barriers for their students.

 Join us and learn more at Open Education Week 2025

 

Keeping Courses Affordable with Open Educational Resources

Date: Mon. March 3, 2025
Time: 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Location: online

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) now requires faculty to include an itemized cost breakdown of all textbooks and learning materials, both required and optional, in their course outlines. Seeing high course fees can be discouraging to students.

One potential solution to keep costs down is through the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). OER are learning, teaching, and research materials that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open licence permitting no-cost access (UNESCO). By using OER textbooks available through eCampus Ontario, faculty have saved students in Ontario over $26 million dollars. 

Join the Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries, the Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching, and the Chang School to learn how the MCU directive will impact your teaching, and how you can leverage Open Educational Resources to reduce costs and make your courses more appealing to students. We will review how to find, adapt, and create OERs, and hear from a panel of faculty and students about their experience with OERs.

REGISTER NOW

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Affordable course materials and treats!

Date: Tues. March 4, 2025
Time: 1 – 2 p.m.
Location: 2nd floor (main floor), TMU Library

Calling all students! Stop by the main floor of TMU Library on March 4 between 1 – 2 p.m. to learn more about the Library’s electronic and open educational resources that can help you save money!

And grab a cookie…

DROP IN

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Other events happening in Ontario and across Canada:

• Canadian Coalition for Affordable Learning, eCampusOntario: Working together to support accessible and affordable learning
• Events all Month at University of British Columbia
• Events at University of Calgary: Open Education Talks Every Wednesday Throughout March

 

Join us in celebrating Black History Month!

Check out the following upcoming events.

Black Histories Wikipedia Edit-a-thon 

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Black Studies Library Tour

Date: February 25, 2025
Time: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

To mark Black History Month, the TMU Library is be hosting a Black Studies Libraries tour.  The tour includes: an overview of the Black Studies library guide, which showcases key scholarly and community resources, a presentation about geospatial and data resources for Black Studies, and a visit to the virtual reality Immersion Studio showcasing its use by Black Studies instructors. The tour ends at the Archives and Special Collections (ASC) where participants will be introduced to unique pieces from  the ASC collections.

REGISTER

 

 

 

International Love Data Week (Feb 10 to Feb 14) raises awareness about the importance of data science and the management, preservation and ability to access data. Every year a new theme is chosen to highlight issues and new ideas in relation to data. This year, the theme asks the question: Who’s data is it, anyways?

Throughout the week of February 10, 2025, TMU Library will host a series of workshops that address this question, while providing students, researchers and faculty the opportunity to explore resources, new services and data expertise available at the Library.

Love Data Week is an international event; you can check out events happening all over the world here. 

Register now for Library workshops:

Introduction to Scholars GeoPortal Online

Scholars GeoPortal is a geospatial data infrastructure that allows users to search, discover, visualize and download spatial datasets including vector data (GIS shapefiles), aerial images and orthophotography, open data, and historical digitized maps. Join GIS & Map Librarian, Dan Jakubek for a demonstration of this valuable web mapping application to learn about gaining access to a variety of geospatial data resources. This session will demonstrate the functionality of the geoportal and highlight the key data resources available within. 

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SimplyAnalytics for Consumer Research

SimplyAnalytics is a powerful tool. As a data mapping application, it can give you valuable insights into consumer behaviour and demographics. Whether you’re looking to narrow down your target market for a new venture or determine the viability of a business idea by understanding your consumers, this workshop will equip you with the skills you need to leverage SimplyAnalytics for your market research.

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Diversity Data Sources for Canada

Finding data about the diversity of the population in Canada can be challenging without knowing the terminology used in surveys, especially since they change over time. Please join Kevin Manuel, Data Librarian at Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries, for an information session on how to find anti-racism data and LGBTQ+ resources. In this presentation as part of international Love Data week which is themed ‘Whose Data is it Anyway’, Kevin will share online guides that he has contributed to developing that provide information about how to find data about Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and racialized peoples in Canada. 

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Whose (Wiki)Data is it Anyway? Ethics & Consent in Cataloguing People, Places & Things

Wikidata is one of the most open and widely available data tools. It powers Wikipedia and links together data from all over the internet, gathering it together in one searchable space. Can Wikidata be used in your work or research? What purpose does it serve? And how can you contribute to Wikidata? How should you contribute to it? Should you contribute to it at all? 

Join us in discussion, to learn about linked data and how it can help to fill in blanks and gaps in marginalized subject areas, while getting a 101 crash course in using and creating Wikidata items. This workshop is framed within the context of ethically gathering data with and without consent, the power of language, terminology and authority files.

Bring a laptop and join the group or work on your own. Stay for the whole session or drop in when you can!

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Getting Acquainted with R and RStudio Online

This is a hands-on introduction to R, a free software environment for statistical computing. Before learning about scripting and syntax in R, this will help beginners orient themselves with R and RStudio, open data files, get required packages, and save their work. We will also talk about how to utilize the rich documentation and strong community support for R when looking for help while learning and troubleshooting. No prior knowledge of programming is required.

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Research Collaboration in Data Science Online

In this talk we will be presenting a research collaboration between environmental science researchers from Toronto Metropolitan University and data science students from Carleton College, MN. Presenters will share their experiences and learning from the project, followed by an open discussion with attendees on best practices in data science collaboration. We hope to offer (and collect) general insights on data sharing, code sharing, annotations, version control, as well as challenges and opportunities.

 

Other Data-Related Events in February

Intro to Research Data Management:
Thurs., Feb. 20
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.

Intro to Depositing Data:
Thurs., Feb. 27
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.

 

 

 

The TMU Library has launched a badging program providing students with an opportunity to showcase proficiency in new research, scholarly publishing and digital skills acquired through Library workshops.

“Hard work outside of the classroom deserves to be recognized,” says Reece Steinberg, head, Library Learning Services. “This program also provides the opportunity for students to showcase competencies in skills that employers and graduate schools look for.”

The Library introduced research and scholarly publishing badges in the fall, while the Library’s DME digital skills program was launched last spring.

The badges, endorsed by TMU Library, recognize the development of particular skills acquired through specific Library workshops. 

The research skills badge is earned through taking workshops that address essential library skills, systematic and literature review essentials, strategic scholarly reading, and Zotero citation management. 

The scholarly publishing badge consists of workshops that cover copyright, open access publishing, research data management, research impact tracking and developing a scholarly profile.

The completion of both badges provides the fundamental groundwork for understanding the research and scholarly publishing process.  

The Library’s DME badges help students build digital literacy skills that can assist them in their creative scholarly work or practice. These badges include: sewing machine fundamentals, laser cutting fundamentals, and 3D printing basics.

“The badges allow students to seek out activities, develop skills, and showcase them on LinkedIn,” says Steinberg. “They also provide opportunities for students to be recognized for the work they’ve put in outside the classroom to advance their creative, scholarly, research knowledge and practice.”

Learn more about the program and badges.

Register for Library workshops.