February 21-27, 2010 is Freedom to Read Week, an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Take this opportunity to celebrate your freedom to read!

First year student Sajin Alexander, with Chief Librarian, Madeleine Lefebvre, is our winner of the “My Learning Commons is …” Netbook draw. A big thank you to all the students who took part and made the Open House a great success!

Want to keep up to date with the Olympics in Vancouver? 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. Users will also be able to view the geographic location of the country, as well as statistical data and selected images. Please note that Mozilla Firefox is required to view Olympic Watch.

Olympic Watch has been designed for viewing on a wide screen, so please drop by the Library to view it on the LCD panel in the Library lobby throughout the Games. It will also be viewable on the 4th floor, alongside television coverage of the Olympics. The Paralympics, taking place in March, will also be featured in Olympic Watch.

To learn more about Olympic Watch, please contact Graham McCarthy, Innovative Technologies Librarian or Dan Jakubek, Map and GIS Librarian.

Along with other Ontario universities, the Library will be participating in the MINES Survey from February, 2010 until February, 2011. This online survey collects demographic information about users of electronic resources, as well as information about the purpose of their research.

Users will be asked to complete a short survey during 1 in every 250 requests to access an e-resource through our Get It! Ryerson link. The survey is completely anonymous.

We appreciate your participation in this survey, which will help us assess how e-resources are being used across the province.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Library has several books from the collection on display in the glass case near the Reference area on the main floor, and in the New to the Collection section of the Library homepage. More books on this topic are viewable in the Library catalogue, or ask for help at the Reference Desk.

To learn more about Library resources relating to Black History, please see the following research guide, The Black Experience in Canada.

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has also identified many films in its collection relating to Black History Month, which can be viewed online, and even from your iPhone. These are freely accessible, and can be used for both recreational or educational purposes.