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The 5th Annual Aboriginal Student Showcase

Posted on March 12, 2014 by

The 5th Annual Aboriginal Student Showcase is scheduled for Monday March 31st, and all are welcome to attend. This year’s agenda includes presentations by students across four faculties, Ryerson library and faculty speakers, and representatives from the Aboriginal Education Council. Light refreshments will be served.

Agenda

12:00 pm- 12:30 pm – Opening remarks by Madeleine Lefebvre, Chief Librarian; Dr. Cyndy Baskin, Chair – Aboriginal Education Council; Dr. Denise O’Neil Green – Assistant Vice President/Vice Provost – Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; and Joanne Dallaire, Elder – Aboriginal Education Council.

12:30 pm-1:00 pm – 1st presentation by Jeff Swartzentruber, Mechanical Engineering – presenting on his research and mentorship with Dr. Peter Lui of the OMAX Corp. in Seattle, Washington.

1:00 pm-1:30 pm – 2nd presentation by Nicole Wemigwans & Kathleen Longboat- presenting on their experiences attending the Child & Youth Care World Conference in St. Johns, Newfoundland.

1:30 pm-2:00 pm – 3rd presentation by Brittany Ryan -RULA’s very own student assistant, presenting on her mentorship with acclaimed actor, director, and choreographer, Michael Greyeyes.

2:00 pm – 2:30pm – 4th presentation by Caitlin Davey, Doctoral student of Clinical Psychology – presenting her project work entitled: Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Knowledge Translation Strategy to Enhance Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Aboriginal Students.

The Jack Layton Book Club Series

Posted on March 4, 2014 by

The second annual Jack Layton Book Club Series is coming to the Toronto Metropolitan University Library and Archives this March and April. Join distinguished guest speakers and faculty as they discuss the books that influenced the late Jack Layton. Former professor of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University, Jack Layton’s collection of books was donated to the Library and Archives in 2011, and his collection informs this book club series. All book club meetings will be held on a Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in the archives on the 3rd floor of the library building.

March 18^th join visiting practitioner, nurse, and social activist, Cathy Crowe as she discusses Layton’s work Homelessness : How to End the National Crisis

March 25th join associate professor Dr. Doreen Fumia as she addresses the AIDS epidemic and Randy Shilts’ film, And the Band Played On

April 1st join associate professor Dr. Henry Parada as he discusses social injustices and victim blaming in William Ryan’s book, Blaming the Victim

Whether or not you have read the book, you are most welcome to attend!

2014 The Year of Reading Women

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

Each year the organization, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, publishes the Vida Count to tally the number of women published in and reviewed by major literary publications. In 2012 the tally revealed that just 16% of the reviewers in the New York Review of Books were women, and only 22% of the books reviewed were written by women (VIDA). In response to the gender disparity in the publishing industry the collective campaigning efforts of individual writers, artists, bloggers, libraries, and book stores are calling for readers to make 2014 The Year of Reading Women. Some of the initial efforts include those of Lily Rothman, journalist and contributor at Time, who published a list of works by women authors; writer and illustrator Joanna Walsh who posted bookmarks promoting 2014 as the Year of Reading Women on her blog and started the hashtag #readwomen2014; and Daniel E. Pritchard, co-founder of The Critical Flame, who announced that his publication will dedicate one year of its review coverage wholly to women writers and writers of colour. As Ryerson prepares to celebrate International Women’s Day with events planned for this Friday March 7^th, consider who you read, and celebrate women’s authorship by reading works by women!

Freedom to Read Week

Posted on February 26, 2014 by

Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Get involved by considering some of the titles that have been challenged or banned in Canada, and the reasons why.

The Freedom of Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical Council has created a list of 100 books, magazine, and other written works that have been challenged in Canada in the past decades. Ryerson Library holds several of these titles in our collection including: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Alice Munro’s The Lives of Girls and Women, Timothy Findley’s The Wars, David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars, and J.K. Rowling’s The Harry Potter Series. Check out a banned book today, and celebrate our freedom to read!

Sochi Olympic Medal Watch

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Sally

Want to keep up to date with the Olympics in Sochi? The Library has created an innovative mash-up that integrates automatic updates of medal standings with Google maps, statistical data and historical images of the Olympics from Library collections. Olympic Watch uses RSS feeds to provide instant updates of medal counts as they are reported on the official Olympic website. You will also be able to view the geographic location of the country, as well as statistical data and selected images.

Olympic Watch has been designed for viewing on a wide screen, so please drop by either the Geospatial Map and Data Centre (2nd floor) or the 4th floor of the Library to view it on an LCD panel throughout the Games.

To learn more about Olympic Watch please contact Dan Jakubek, Map and GIS Librarian.

Celebrate Black History Month

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Cecile

February is Black History Month! The Library has many items in the collection relating to Black History – a sample of titles is available in the display case on the main floor.

The display case is open for browsing – please feel free to borrow a title! For more help locating similar items in the Library collection, please visit the Research Help Desk on the main floor.

5000th Article Milestone in Interlibrary Loan

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Cecile

Wow! Our Interlibrary Loan department just surpassed the 5000 article mark in Relais, an online system which facilitates electronic delivery of interlibrary loan requests to patrons and to other libraries. Interlibrary loan is a service which provides students, faculty and staff with access to materials from other university libraries if they are not available at Ryerson.

The Library recently began electronic delivery of most articles requested through interlibrary loan. This afternoon, a patron in the School of Business Management was the recipient of the 5000th e-delivered article in Relais!

Looking for some GoodReads for the holiday?

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Cecile

Looking for your next great read, Ryerson? Let us help you decide – join us on GoodReads – the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations!

Ryerson Library staff are avid readers, and want to share their reviews of books in our Popular Reading Collection – a collection of fiction and non-fiction titles we hope encourages our students, faculty and staff to read for pleasure. Here are some of the books we’ve recently reviewed:

We build the collection by looking at titles popular in public libraries and in the media, and regularly analyze what titles are being borrowed. This helps the collection remain current and appealing to the community.

Got a suggestion? Want to pick our next read? We’d love to hear from you!

Latest issue of Nexus, the Library newsletter

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Cecile

Catch up on library news with the latest issue of Nexus, the library newsletter! Highlights include the new RULA service kiosk, an introduction to the new incoming Associate Chief Librarian, and much more.

Laptop Loan Survey Results

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Cecile

With over 65,000 circulations annually, laptop loans account for ¼ of the total circulation transactions at the Library. Staff recently conducted a survey to assess the current program and provide recommendations for future service models. Thank you to over 1,500 students who filled out the survey, and congratulations to the winner of the Chromebook! The following are highlights from the survey results:

64% of survey respondents were undergraduate students; half of which had borrowed a library laptop.
In rating various tablets and Android devices, 88% of students rated laptops as the #1 most important mobile device for their academic success.
Students borrowed laptops so they didn’t have to bring their own device from home, to study away from the computer areas or outside the library or because the computers in the library were all busy.
Students borrow laptops primarily for academic work, such as access to class notes and readings via Blackboard, to write assignments or to check emails.
Students would like to see service improvements in the following areas: length of the loan period (currently 4 hrs), laptops with faster performance and longer battery life, more library laptops, and customized desktops on the laptop with icons for important links such as Blackboard, Copyrite, and wireless printing.