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  • Career opportunity

    Tuesday, November 12, 2024 | By

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    Brock University Library is recruiting a Circulation Clerk for our User Services & Engagement department.

    Circulation Clerks in Access Services are responsible for assisting users with locating, using and borrowing material and providing basic copying and printing services to all users at the Ask Us desk. Depending on departmental needs, Circulation Clerks may work a variety of days/shifts including day, evening, weekend and/or holiday on an “on-call” temporary basis.

    Learn more about this position and apply by November 24, 2024.

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  • Spotlight your research, teaching, or BUSU club interests in the Learning Commons display cases

    Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | By

    Thistle hallway display cases at the entrance to the Matheson Learning Commons

    The Library welcomes members and groups of the University community to showcase their work within the Matheson Learning Commons.  We offer display space to bring attention to the unique research, services, and teaching & learning projects that are happening around campus.

    See exhibit guidelines and make your booking request.

    Questions? Please email esmith@brocku.ca or aemery@brocku.ca

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  • GIS Day coming November 20th

    Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | By

    Aerial photo of grasslands

    Wednesday, November 20th marks a special day in the geography world as we gear up to celebrate GIS! Geographic Information Systems (GIS) combines software, hardware, data and people to create, analyze and disseminate geospatial data and ideas around where and why things happen as they do.

    Join us this year to learn more about GIS including ArcGIS Online Analysis tools and the Esri Site License. The Map, Data & GIS Library is hosting a few online and in-person events including:

    Wednesday, November 20, 2024

    9:00-9:30 a.m.: ArcGIS Site License Q&A: This brief Question & Answer session will offer an informative conversation about the Esri educational site license. Esri is the producer of the ArcGIS suite of products including ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Esri CityEngine and more! Come with your questions, leave with some answers and guidance. Registration suggested but not required. https://experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/269153 (This is an online event).

    10:00-11:30 a.m. Vector Analysis in ArcGIS Online: This hands-on workshop introduces attendees to this popular modern GIS while answering questions about the distribution of childcare centres, infant capacity, drive-time analysis, polygon enrichment (demographic data from Environics) and more! Registration is strongly recommended but experience with the software is not required. https://experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/269156 (This is an online event).

    12:00-1:00 p.m. Pizza and Cake in the MDGL: Join the Tourism and Geography Society for lunch in the MDGL where anyone can buy a slice of pizza and partake of the infamous GIS Day cake (free)!

    Visit the ArcGIS Storymap https://arcg.is/0uPbPK for more details.

    GIS Day is an annual event that celebrates Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and its impact on society. It typically takes place on the third Wednesday of November during Geography Awareness Week. The day provides an opportunity for GIS professionals, educators, students, and enthusiasts to showcase how GIS is used in various fields like environmental management, urban planning, disaster response, and more. GIS Day was first observed in 1999, initiated by Esri, a prominent GIS software company, as a way to promote GIS technology and its potential to solve real-world problems. Events held on GIS Day often include workshops, presentations, map demonstrations, and educational activities aimed at raising awareness about the benefits of GIS and inspiring new users to explore its possibilities.

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    Categories: Main, MDGL

  • The Digital Repository is getting an upgrade and associated downtime

    Wednesday, October 09, 2024 | By

    Starting October 28, 2024, the Brock University Digital Repository will begin an upgrade process that will last 5 weeks. During that time adding new submissions to the system will not be possible. However, it will still be possible to search and use content. Submissions will return on December 2, 2024 when the upgrade is complete.

    In the meantime, please consider using our staff-assisted deposit program. We can take your submission details and submit on your behalf once the system is back online.

    The new version of the site should bring better stability, and some other behind the scenes enhancements. Any questions or concerns? Please contact us.

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  • Professional librarian career opportunity

    Friday, September 13, 2024 | By

    icon of a person inside a magnifying glass

    Brock University Library invites applications for the full-time, permanent position of Teaching & Learning Librarian, Math & Science and Applied Health Sciences.

    The successful candidate will join the Library’s highly collaborative Teaching & Learning department. Reporting to the Head, Teaching and Learning, this position will support the teaching & learning mission of the Library alongside a team of four other librarians. The Teaching & Learning Librarian, Mathematics & Science and Applied Health Sciences collaboratively develops tools, processes, and resources that support the department’s strategic goals, including curriculum integration. The successful candidate will lead the department’s instruction and course support within the Faculties of Mathematics & Science and Applied Health Sciences.

    Learn more about this role, and apply by Monday, October 7, 2024 at 12:01 am

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  • Who’s behind the Ask Us desk

    Thursday, September 12, 2024 | By

    The Ask Us desk is your main stop in the Matheson Learning Commons, and is staffed by the User Services & Engagement department. Services at the desk include retrieving course reserves, borrowing resources, lending wellness items, and much more.

    There are several teams working behind the scenes:

    • Course Readings; we help you with access to high-demand course materials in a variety of formats at no cost to students.
    • Engagement and Outreach; we connect you to library resources through events, displays, and partnerships.
    • Interlibrary Loan; we support your borrowing requests by sourcing items from other libraries around the world.

    Learn more about how we can help you by visiting the Use the Library page.

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main

  • MDGL is Open!

    Tuesday, September 03, 2024 | By

    The Map, Data & GIS Library space features group seating and cozy spots with light streaming in from skylights.

    The Map, Data & GIS Library (MDGL) would like to welcome back the Brock community for the academic year 2024-2025! After being open By Appointment Only, we will return to our regular working hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The MDGL will remain closed for weekends, holidays and intercession.  Reading Week hours will be By Appointment Only.

    Email maplib@brocku.ca for more information.

    The MDGL offers study space, computers, knowledgeable and friendly staff to assist with finding and using our cartographic collections including maps, atlases, books, digital air photos and more! We look forward to serving you.

    Welcome back, Badgers!!!

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  • Welcome Autumn, and the Wellness Book Club

    Wednesday, August 21, 2024 | By

    Do you love to hear what others have read and loved?

    Are you bursting with excitement to share the book that enthralled you this summer?

    Do you need some inspiration to read for fun (and reap the benefits!)?

    This is your opportunity to try out a new kind of book club! The Wellness Book Club is returning this fall with a new spin…instead of reading the same book, you are invited to bring along a book you recommend and tell us why you loved it.

    Join Teaching & Learning Librarian, Justine, for a gathering this fall – bring your coffee/tea and let’s chat about books. Participants will also have the opportunity to be part of a research study about the effects of recreational reading on stress levels in university students.

    Sign up here: bit.ly/autumn2024bookclub

    We will meet in October and November – dates will be announced soon.

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main

  • Career Opportunity, Library Leadership Team

    Wednesday, July 10, 2024 | By

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    Brock University Library invites applications for the full-time, permanent position of Associate University Librarian (AUL), Research.

    As a member of a collaborative senior library leadership team, the AUL Research will work closely with the University Librarian, other colleagues in the Library, and the wider university community to provide creative leadership in the development and implementation of the Library’s strategic priorities and objectives.

    Direct reports currently include the heads of the Collections Services, Archives & Special Collections, and the Research Lifecyle departments. The portfolio of this AUL includes leadership in the strategic development and delivery of the Library’s services advancing research at Brock including:

    • Collections Services, such as collection development, acquisitions, content management.
    • Archives & Special Collections, such as print and digital preservation, collection development & acquisitions, relationship management.
    • Research Lifecycle, such as scholarly communications, research metrics, persistent identifiers, data management, and digital scholarship.

    Learn more about the role, qualifications, etc. and apply by August 26, 2024 at 12:01 am.

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  • Collections update: budget planning for 2024-2025

    Wednesday, June 26, 2024 | By

    Sign which reads: Looking Ahead

    As Brock community members will be aware, the university underwent an intensive budget mitigation exercise in order to reduce the operating deficit for the fiscal year 2024-2025. As a result, the Library acquisitions budget was frozen at the 2023-2024 level ($5.75 million): We did not receive the inflationary protection increase as we have in previous years. For context, annual inflationary protection in the acquisitions budget (~2-3% increase) has historically aimed to sustain the library collection.

    Structural Challenges: Annual Subscription Increases

    In planning for the coming year, the Library must account for standard annual subscription price increases from publishers and vendors. These increases can range from zero to over twelve percent.

    Subscriptions constitute the majority of our annual spending (see Figure 1). As a result, recurring pressure in the form of annual increases can have an outsized impact on the overall picture.

    Pie chart of the 2024 Library Acquisitions Budget.

    Figure 1: The 2024 Library acquisitions budget is $5,745,000. Subscriptions account for 75% of the total, books: 19%, and infrastructure: 6%

    As terms come up for renewal, we are negotiating to keep increases as low as possible – but a frozen acquisitions budget means we need to find savings to absorb anticipated price increases.  

    Structural Challenges: The ‘Big Deal’

    The prominent business model for most publicly funded research is the profit-driven, highly consolidated scholarly publishing industry. Publishers gain the rights to the work of academics and then sell the research back to university libraries with steep profit margins.  

    The major publishers bundle their catalogue of journal subscriptions into large, expensive packages, known as “Big Deals”. Brock University Library subscribes to all five major scientific journal Big Deals: Elsevier, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, Springer, and Sage. 

    Over the last decade, academic libraries worldwide have been responding to the combination of budgetary pressures and a broken, exclusionary publishing system by closely assessing and sometimes cancelling some of their Big Deals.  A non-comprehensive list of “Big Deal” journal cancellations can be found on SPARC’s website: Big Deal Cancellation Tracking – SPARC (sparcopen.org) 

    Summer 2024 Assessment Project

    The Library is currently focused on an assessment project, reviewing our current usage and spending patterns to find savings. The assessment team includes librarians and staff from the Collections Services department, led by the Head of Collections Services.

    Project Principles:

    1. Ensure any cuts are distributed: Not overly harming a single discipline.
    2. Evidence-based. Collect usage data to inform decisions. 
    3. Assess high-cost materials. Evaluate Cost Per Use/value for money.
    4. Balance with qualitative data. Consider Brock’s unique programs and strategic directions.
    5. Consider what work the library can reasonably absorb: Cuts are not labour-neutral & typically remove efficiencies. 

    Communication

    In April 2024, the Library presented information about the acquisitions budget and collections assessment to various stakeholders, including Research & Scholarship Policy Committee, Teaching & Learning Policy Committee, Research Strategy Operations Group, Library Representatives Meeting, and the Associate Deans Meeting. Library budget planning was also presented at the February meeting of the Planning Priorities and Budget Advisory Committee. 

    Further communication efforts will include keeping this webpage updated with project developments and additional information sessions in the fall. 

    You are welcome to contact us with questions or concerns. 

    Monica Rettig, Acting Associate University Librarian Research mrettig@brocku.ca  

    Alicia Zorzetto, Head Collections Services azorzetto@brocku.ca  

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