March 22 is World Water Day, an annual international event, officially designated by the United Nations in 1993 to create awareness about the importance of freshwater, freshwater resources and sustainability. See the Statistics Canada report, World Water Day… by the numbers here

Today, March 21st, marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Read the message from the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston here.

It is with great sadness that we learned of Stuart McLean’s passing yesterday. McLean had a deep connection to and history at Ryerson. He joined the Journalism department as faculty in 1985, and served for a time as the Director of the broadcast division of the School of Journalism. He retired in 2004.

You can explore his fonds in our archives and borrow his books from the library.

The Ryerson Library and Archives remembers him fondly, and extends our condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Stuart.

Congratulations to Madeleine Lefebvre, Chief Librarian of Toronto Metropolitan University, who was the recent recipient of the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership. The award recognizes individuals who have advanced the mission of Toronto Metropolitan University through outstanding academic leadership and who have contributed significantly to the enhancement of academic life at Ryerson and beyond.

Madeleine will receive this award at the Ryerson Awards Night, scheduled on Monday, March 27, 2017 from 4 p.m. at the Eaton Chelsea Hotel, 33 Gerrard St W.

Madeleine has been the Chief Librarian of Toronto Metropolitan University since 2007. She has previously held Chief Librarian appointments at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta. She is a Fellow of the UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and an Associate of the Australian Library and Information Association. She was also the 2003/2004 President of the Canadian Library Association. In 2005, Scarecrow Press published her book, The Romance of Libraries. Madeleine has held a sustained interest in planning library space and new buildings that address the need for “congenial space” for students, and has played a major role in the design and development of Ryerson’s award-winning Student Learning Centre.

Learn more about Madeleine receiving the 2017 Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership award here.

The Library is pleased to announce the 2016 inductee to our Open Access Wall of Fame, Professor Catherine Middleton from the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management (TRSM). The Wall of Fame honours researchers who have demonstrated a commitment to ensuring their research is open and available to all. Open Access material is scholarly work that is made legally available with no restrictions so the anyone can access the full text.

Professor Middleton is a current Canada Research Chair, and a consistent contributor to the Library’s Digital Repository, a space for collecting, preserving, and providing online access to research and teaching materials created by the Ryerson community. Available in the repository are theses, dissertations, articles, technical reports, working papers, conference papers, etc., which are freely available to anyone.  Upon her induction to the Open Access Wall of Fame, Professor Middleton made the following statement:  “Publishing work in open access venues like the RULA Digital Repository is crucial to make academic research accessible to broad and diverse audiences, including policy makers, students at all levels, and interested citizens.”  There will be a forthcoming event to celebrate Catherine’s contributions to open access.

Interested in demonstrating your personal commitment to open access?  Download these posters for your office or faculty area on Open Access Lingo Demystified, and Know Your Author Rights, or request a print copy from bcameron@ryerson.ca

The Library’s Digital Media Experience Lab (DME) was recently featured on both RyersonianTV and Daily Planet. See the clips here: RyersonianTV and Daily Planet and also visit the DME’s website to learn more about the lab and how it can improve both your teaching and learning experiences here at Ryerson.

After working as Curatorial Specialist at RULA, Alison Skyrme was recently appointed to the position of Special Collections Librarian. Alison holds a BFA in Photography Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University (2002) and a Master of Information from the University of Toronto (2015). Alison is also a 2007 alumnus of the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management (PPCM) graduate program, and has been an active instructor with the program for several years. She specializes in collections management and documentation in the heritage sector and has over 15 years of collections experience in galleries, libraries, archives and museums.