Welcome to winter term 2022. Although we find ourselves starting another term virtually and with uncertainty, I know there is still the same anticipation of new classes, new ideas and new possibilities. The University Library remains committed to making sure you have what you need to succeed wherever you are located and however you reach out to us Whether you are a student looking for a safe study space, access to specialized equipment, or expert research help; or an instructor needing digital course readings, open textbook alternatives, or embedded research instruction from a librarian; or a researcher wanting to create a research data management plan, find advice on publication and dissemination, or join our interdisciplinary research collaboratory, the Library’s team of experts is here to collaborate and assist.
The Library has a robust digital infrastructure, and a team with considerable experience working in both virtual and in-person modes. We provide academic programming and services to suit the shifting environment — and do so with health and safety always in mind and in action.
We thank you for your patience with evolving health and safety protocols and for doing your part to help us keep everyone safe.
Wishing you all the very best for a successful 2022 full of learning, new possibilities and ideas.
The University Library and Positive Space are collaborating in order to bring together a curated list of books, videos and more by Trans authors and on Trans research for Trans Awareness Month, accompanied by actions you can take to support a trans-inclusive environment.
Consider this list an invitation to participate in an asynchronous book club, with a variety of options. The broader community is welcomed to read and watch their choice of selections from this list, available for free to students, staff and faculty via the University Library.
Do Something
If you are inspired to act, learn how some librarians across Canada are speaking out against Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) speech in libraries. Add your voice! Below are two more ways to get involved.
Increase Representation in Wikipedia
Wikipedia and other reference resources have lower levels of representation of notable trans people than of notable cis people. Take part in this month-long asynchronous Wikipedia-edit-a-thon by enhancing or creating Wikipedia pages featuring trans people. Taking part is simple: if you have never edited a Wikipedia page, here are some guidelines and instructions.
Eradicate Deadnaming and More
The University Library is working to eradicate disrespectful language from catalogue records. Libraries across Canada follow controlled vocabularies and standards but when these standards are slow to remove offensive subject headings some libraries make decisions not to follow the instructions. The Cataloging lab is one space where this work is discussed & shared. Our University Library has made several changes. In order to create a more trans-inclusive campus environment we removed various subject headings and replaced them with:
Gender-nonconforming people
Transgender people
Two-spirit people
In addition to topical headings, the names of authors are controlled so as to be able to bring together variant forms/languages of a person’s name, which you can see in the metadata record for Malcolm X, for example. Cataloguers can document personal and professional details about an author, including name changes.
Metadata records often include a great deal of valuable information about a person, yet libraries can also respect the wishes of creators by omitting information. In the metadata record for Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama there is a Special Note informing cataloguers to leave her birthdate out of the metadata.
At this Library we will connect the links between names on request, and we will also remove links between works to avoid deadnaming, based on the direction of the author. We welcome suggestions as to how we can build a welcoming and respectful space for research for everyone. If you are an author represented in our collection, let the University Library know how you would like to be represented by emailing: tgrover@torontomu.ca.
TMU Libraries provides access to resources and services that support teaching and learning at Toronto Metropolitan University including online research skills instruction for classes, online workshops, individual research and reference help and access to a wide range of electronic resources, including: ebooks, ejournal databases, primary source databases, streaming media and more.
Subject librarians are providing online specialized research group workshops and research skills instruction to classes. Please contact your subject librarian to discuss and schedule a live virtual session for your students.
Subject librarians assist faculty with locating online course materials, including, but not limited to: readings, data sets, videos, podcasts and streaming media.
The supplementary course materials guide provides information on the Library’s online educational materials (ebooks, videos, OER and more). It also includes a curated list of alternate educational resources available to faculty and students. Access to all online resources is available 24/7.
Ensure students have convenient (and copyright compliant) access to customized digital course readings embedded in D2L course Shells. To request eReserve course readings, please email reserve@torontomu.ca.
For information on copyright in instruction, SRC or scholarly publishing please email Copyright and Scholarly Engagement Librarian, Ann Ludbrook: aludbrook@torontomu.ca. To request eReserve course readings, please email reserve@torontomu.ca.
This fall, the Library’s Print Reserve service is providing access to print textbooks. Students can borrow print textbooks on short term loan.
For specific electronic textbooks, please check the TMU Campus Store for available purchasing. While the Library has access to some ebooks, commercial sale is primarily available to students only. Additionally, the Library cannot guarantee every student will have access, at the same time, to an ebook the Library has been able to purchase. This is especially important to note if using an ebook for an open book exam.
Check the Campus Store for access to electronic textbooks for specific courses.
Scan and Deliver Service is available to students, faculty and staff who require access to portions of printed works (chapters, articles, etc.) that fall within copyright permissible amounts. Requests can be placed through the Library’s online catalogue.
Accessibility Services in the Library
For information on accessible formats, media captioning, and shifting to alternate accessible course delivery modes, please visit Library Accessibility Services.
Research help is available online to all students and TMU community members. Visit the Library’s Ask a Librarian live chat service, or email your question to: refdesk@torontomuca
TMU Libraries hosts a number of virtual and in-person workshops each month. Learn about everything from finding credible resources including electronic articles and books, how to do literature and systematic reviews, or learn Adobe Creative suite applications for projects and for fun!
Research guides get you started on how to plan and carry out your research. Online research tutorials are available to help walk you through each step of the research process.
Quiet study space is available on floors 4-7, and 9. Silent study space is on floor 10.
Group Study Room Booking
Group study rooms are now available for booking.
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Borrowing and Lending Services
Laptop Lending
TMU Libraries has laptops available for loan from the Circulation Desk on the main floor.
Laptops may be borrowed for an eight hour period during the hours that the Library is open. The first time you borrow a laptop, you will need to complete and submit an Online Laptop Loan Agreement Form.
TRSM Laptop Lending
Laptop Lending for TRSM is restricted to undergraduate and graduate students, both full-time and part-time and who are currently enrolled in Ted Rogers School of Management programs only. TRSM users will need to complete and submit this TRSM Laptop Lending Request Form to access this program. Students who are experiencing financial hardship will receive priority.
Online Resources
Access to all online resources including ebooks, ejournals, data, streaming video/media and more, remains available 24/7.
Print textbooks are available on short-term loan for the majority of undergraduate courses. Textbooks are available from the reserve collection at the Circulation Desk on the main floor of the Main Library and can be requested by call number.
The University Library subscribes to a wide array of electronic resources (articles, ebooks, data, video). To access these resources, you must be a student (full or part time), staff or faculty member with an active my.torontomu account. These are available remotely 24/7.
The Interlibrary Loan service enhances the resources of the University Library by making material available from other libraries, organizations and document delivery services. Students, faculty, staff may use this service to request materials from another library provided the University Library does not own a physical copy or the online access is restricted. Please email any questions to interlibloan@torontomu.ca.
Scan and Deliver Serviceis available to students, faculty and staff who require access to portions of printed works (chapters, articles, etc.) that fall within copyright permissible amounts. Requests can be placed through the Library’s online catalogue.
TMU Libraries provides customized online course readings for many courses. These are prepared based on instructor requests and are typically provided for access at the start of term.
If you have challenges or questions regarding access to these resources, please email: reserve@torontomu.ca
The citation guide provides assistance properly citing all material in various citation styles like APA, plus a list of free citation management programs.
Library hours: For Library hours for the beginning of this semester, please check the Library hours page.
The Library provides access to subject expertise, a wide range of scholarly resources, and other SRC services and programs to support and collaborate with researchers and faculty on scholarly, research and creative activities (SRC).
Scholarly communications
The Library’s Scholarly Communications Guide contains helpful information related to scholarly communication and publishing. This includes information on where to publish, copyright, how to identify high quality journals and avoid predatory journals, tips on self-archiving your research, and details about open access publishing. For more information, email Brian Cameron bcameron@torontomu.ca.
Copyright
The Library can assist faculty, researchers and students with information on copyright and TMU’s Fair Dealing Guideline, as well as provide support for copyright compliance, author rights and currently licensed Library materials. For more information, email Copyright and Scholarly Engagement Librarian, Ann Ludbrook aludbrook@torontomu.ca.
Research data management
The Library’s Research Data Management (RDM) service assists researchers in managing data throughout the course of a research project. Organizing, storing and securing data from the outset can make it easier to work with and help to meet privacy requirements. For more information, email Research Data Management Specialist, Nora Mulvaney, nmulvaney@torontomu.ca
TheGeospatial, Map and Data Centre (GMDC) labs provide faculty, researchers and students access to GIS software, statistics and data resources, and our paper map collection.
Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections provides faculty, researchers and students with access to the Library’s special collections including photography, film and cultural history object collections, and University archival collections.
Interlibrary Loans
The Interlibrary Loan service enhances the resources of the University Library by making material available from other libraries, organizations and document delivery services. Students, faculty, staff may use the Interlibary Loan service to request materials from another library provided the University Library does not own a physical copy or the online access is restricted. Please email any questions to interlibloan@torontomu.ca.
University Library Digital Repository
Share your work! RShare, the University Libraries’ digital repository, collects, archives, and provides online access to research materials created by the University community and includes theses, articles, and more. For more information, email Brian Cameron bcameron@torontomu.ca.
ORCID iD
Enhance your online research profile with your ORCID iD–a unique identifier that enables faculty, researchers and graduate students to distinguish their research online, ORCID iDs are also increasingly being required by publishers and granting agencies. For more information, email Copyright and Scholarly Engagement Librarian, Ann Ludbrook aludbrook@torontomu.ca.
Subject librarians
Subject librarians support faculty and research teams in locating online research materials, including: journals, databases, data sets, streaming video, and more. They can help identify relevant journals for publication, and provide advice and best practices for systematic reviews, including use of citation management tools.
Scan and Deliver Service is available to students, faculty and staff who require access to portions of printed works (chapters, articles, etc.) that fall within copyright permissible amounts. Requests can be placed through the Library’s online catalogue.
New acquisitions
The Library has added a wealth of new electronic resources to our collections to help advance SRC, and teaching and learning. Search the full list of resources by subject or name of publisher/package).
In March 2020, four students and one team of students, submitted their extraordinary project ideas for the Library DME Creators Grant, just prior to the university’s closure due to COVID-19. While the world was trying to grapple with a global pandemic and contain the spread of a swift moving virus, these students continued to charge ahead and take hold of projects they felt passionately about.
Join us on July 22 as they present their now completed projects!
The Ryerson Library and an MFA Documentary Media student helped create an experience based on remembrance project
A Stolperstein, or stumbling stone, which is a remembrance project by German artist Gunter Demnig. Each stumbling stone contains the names, date of birth, date of deportation, and date of death or destiny of the victims of the Holocaust. They are located at the entrances of buildings that were the last freely chosen home of the individual named on the stumbling stone.
If you walk down certain cobblestone streets in Europe, you might come across a Stolperstein (stumbling stone) at your feet.
The Stolpersteine are commemorative cobblestones that are placed in front of houses that were the last freely chosen homes of people who were victims of the Holocaust – imprisoned, displaced or murdered. German artist Gunter Demnig started the project in 1996 and has so far installed more than 70,000 brass plaques in 21 European countries.
In May 2020, the German Consulate Toronto approached Ryerson Library with the idea to jointly create a virtual experience based on the Stolpersteine memorials and a year later this creative partnership produced “Stolpersteine: Stories Through Generations.” The project brings the stories of four Canadian families alive through the narrative of audio interviews and private family images.
Last year, shortly after the province-wide lockdown, the Library put out a call to Ryerson community members asking for contributions to a digital archive.
The COVID-19 Community Archives project was born as a way to help the Ryerson community collectively record lived experiences during a global pandemic that swiftly altered the way we studied, attended class, worked, bought groceries and visited with family and friends.
One year later, we are now living through a third wave that has continued to push us to establish new routines. Students and faculty have nearly completed a full year of online, remote learning. Researchers have sought new ways to access materials and conduct research. Events and workshops have brought people together virtually to share discussions and knowledge online. Libraries have set up study space booking systems and ways of delivering print items without contact, while increasing digital collections and research help services.
Now, as vaccine rollout increases, there is some light but continued concern as variants spread.
Throughout the pandemic the Library has continued to collect images, photographs, writing and poetry from our community, documenting the ways we have come to experience the world. “We’ve received essays and audio journal entries reflecting on the impact of COVID-19 on student life, as well as our relationship with outdoor space and technology,” says Special Curatorial Specialist, Olivia Wong.
Bangkok sunset. Photo courtesy of Sarick Chapagain
Wong notes that in addition to local experiences, students have also provided their global perspectives. “Some submissions are from international students who documented their journey flying home early in the pandemic and shared their experience attending classes while being in a completely different time zone than Toronto,” says Wong
The COVID-19 community archives is a growing repository of grassroots primary source documentation which provides access to a collection of first-hand accounts of the pandemic experience for researchers who will investigate and study this time. “Through this archive, we’re collecting the first-hand experiences of our community, and making these valuable primary sources available to students, researchers, and historians in the future,” says Alison Skyrme, special collections librarian.
Photo courtesy of Sharah Haque.
“With the majority of our learning and working happening in private, our individual experiences have become invisible, particularly for students,” says Skyme. “Our sense of community has changed dramatically. The way we learn, teach, and socialize is completely different, and it’s still unknown how this experience will change us or alter our “normal” moving forward.”
For more information on the project and how to submit content, visit the Archives and Special Collections Covid-19 Community Archives
Open Education at Ryerson highlights the work that’s being done at Ryerson University in support of open education. This includes the use of open educational practices and open pedagogy in the classroom, and the creation and adoption of open educational resources.
Learn what support is available, from grants and funding to publishing tools, find about upcoming workshops and events, and connect with other Ryerson community members working on open.
Open Education Week events:
Open Images for the Digital Classroom and Beyond
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
This Library-led workshop is an overview of how to find online open images, how to use open images in teaching or projects, and how to advise students on the use of Creative Commons images in social media or web projects.
Join us to learn more about this learner-driven, experiential, and inclusive pedagogy, and how it can be applied in both the virtual and face-to-face classroom. Bring your course outlines, activities, or assessments so we can discuss how they could be transformed through open teaching principles.
Open Pedagogy Tools: Pressbooks, H5P and Hypothes.is
Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
An overview of Pressbook, an online book publishing platform hosted by the Library, and some of the new interactive features that have been released recently in Pressbooks. We will also look at H5P and how Hypothes.is can be used with Pressbooks and other web content.
Toronto Metropolitan University Library has partnered with the Aga Khan Museum in a creative collaboration that harnesses digital technology to create innovative experiences for the Museum’s exciting new Remastered exhibition.
The Aga Khan Museum recently launched it’s vibrant Remastered exhibition—November 7 to March 21, 2021—showcasing 11 classic Islamic manuscript paintings complemented by 40 digital interventions.
The digital interventions are the work of Library Collaboratory team members, Lead Developer Michael Carter-Arlt, Web Developer and Support Technician Jae Duk Seo, with Information Technology Services Head Fangmin Wang and Web Services Librarian Sally Wilson acting as administrative consultants on the project.
In collaboration with the Museum and exhibition curator Dr. Michael Chagnon, the Library team developed new ways to experience the historic manuscripts, introducing alternative learning opportunities through the exploration of digital technologies.
“The Remastered exhibition has given us the valuable opportunity to reimagine how we interpret classic Islamic artworks using modern technology available at the Ryerson Library,” says Carter-Arlt. “The intention of this project is to tell a story for each artwork, and in doing so provide a greater understanding through interactive digital media.”
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The Library’s partnership with the Aga Khan Museum began in 2019 when the Museum approached the Library about creating unique learning experiences using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies.
Following initial meetings, the Library and Museum worked together on an exploratory research project, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, which sought to develop and assess digital and experiential learning resources that would help to increase classroom engagement, and expand access to collections beyond in-person visits to the Museum.
The Aga Khan Museum supplied the Library with high resolution photographs and descriptions of three objects from their collection, including: an astrolabe (astronomical instrument), an illuminated and illustrated leaf from a manuscript, and a green ceramic bottle.
The Library team then used digital and emerging technologies to create new experiences that could be tested for their engagement and educational value.
In total, four experiences for the three objects were developed. They included: an AR animation with translations and audio for the leaf of the manuscript; AR and Looking Glass (holographic) experiences for the green ceramic bottle; and an acrylic replica astrolabe, which could be taken apart and rebuilt.
Image of original astrolabe (astronomical instrument). Courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum
Acrylic replica of the astrolabe. Laser cut at the Library Collaboratory.
Library team members, Sally Wilson, E-learning and Accessibility Services Librarian Kelly Dermody, and Operations Specialist Cristina Pietropaolo then conducted focus groups to further understand the engagement impacts and potential of the digital resources for in-class learning, as well as increased access to museum collections.
“The purpose of this project was to translate select items of the Museum’s collection from their physical confines to digital formats using Augmented Reality (AR) and other technologies,” says Pietropaolo. “The long-term intention of this work is to facilitate accessible and meaningful education around these objects for both educators and their students in the classroom, as well as for members of the public in an effort to transform and enhance access to arts and culture education.”
Image of original green bottle. Courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum
Augmented reality image of bottle. Educators and students can use mobile devices to see, interact, learn and experience the object.
The work which began in 2019 is ongoing as Library team members continue to investigate opportunities for digital and experiential learning in the context of gallery, library, archives and museum education.
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In April 2020, the Aga Khan Museum once again approached the Library to collaborate on the Remastered exhibit, curated by Dr. Michael Chagnon.
The task: to develop digital experiences to accompany ancient Islamic manuscripts for the exhibit. To complete the project, the Library was given exclusive access to high resolution folios in order to rework and reimagine them in digital formats. The result was 40 new experiences including: seven animations, five 3D holograms, five digital restorations, and 23 interactive folios. The Library and Museum also received a generous loan from Looking Glass Factory to assist in the display of the holographic images.
Salih Takes Mah-Pervin on Board . Fol. 29r from a manuscript of Tuhfet ul-Leta’if Turkey, Istanbul, 1593–1594. Opaque watercolour, gold, and ink on paper. AKM280.11 Digital intervention by Michael Carter-Arlt.
The digital elements, now part of the Remastered exhibit, enhance the overall learning and storytelling experience for visitors through digital restoration, innovative engagement elements and new digitally enhanced explorations.
“We are very excited to partner with the Aga Khan Museum. It has been a wonderful opportunity to bring the Library’s role in interdisciplinary research, knowledge sharing and digital information tools to this unique learning environment,” says Chief Librarian Carol Shepstone. “This project is an excellent example of how the GLAM sectors (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) can come together to leverage unique expertise and shared goals.”
In March 2020, four students and one team of students, submitted their extraordinary project ideas for the Library DME Creators Grant, just prior to the university’s closure due to COVID-19. While the world was trying to grapple with a global pandemic and contain the spread of a swift moving virus, these students continued to charge ahead and take hold of projects they felt passionately about.
