As part of Welcome Week activities at Brock, we invite you to drop by our table in the Matheson Learning Commons (main floor of the James A. Gibson Library), say hi, spin, and win library swag.
What: Spin it to Win it at the Library
Where: Learning Commons (Library main floor)
When: Tuesday, Sept. 3, 11 am to 2 pm & Wednesday Sept. 4, 11 am to 2 pm.
As part of Welcome Week activities at Brock, students are invited to learn more about the services and resources of the Brock University Library by attending one of six, fast-paced sessions. Hear about how you can make use of our 3D printers, discover rare books, harness the expertise of your own personal librarian, and enrich your learning experience at Brock. We’ll round out the presentation with a short tour of the Learning Commons.
Attendees who register @ https://experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/130056 will receive credit towards the CWC Personal Growth Domain.
What: Discover Your Library orientation sessions + tour.
Where: Learning Commons Classroom B (ST 230)
When: Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 2 pm & 3 pm, Wednesday Sept. 4 at 4 pm & 6 pm, Thursday Sept. 5 at 4 pm & 6 pm.
Have you met Lynda? You should. She has a thing or two to teach you.
Brock University students, faculty and staff have unlimited access to Lynda.com which offers more than 5,000 video tutorials taught by recognized industry experts that help people learn business, technology, software and creative skills.
Here’s how to access courses of interest to you:
Go to Lynda.com
Click on the menu on the top of the screen.
Click Sign In.
Click the Sign in with your organization portal link.
Enter brocku.ca and click Continue.
Sign in with your Brock credentials. Enter your Brock username and password and click the Log in button.
display, Training & Development
Categories: Featured Collections, Main
Brock users are invited to access the content and test out the functionality of the HeinOnline and Academic Video Online databases during a trial period to last several weeks.
HeinOnline Academic Core Canada contains treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, and much more.
Trial access is available until August 16, 2019. Feedback on this database may be sent to lmorrison@brocku.ca
Academic Video Online bills itself as “the most comprehensive video subscription available to libraries. It delivers more than 67,000 multidisciplinary video titles including 14,000 exclusive to Alexander Street. All with a predictable annual cost, this collection is curated for the educational experience. The massive depth of content and breadth of content-types (such as documentaries, films, demonstrations, etc) in Academic Video Online makes it a useful resource for all types of patrons, giving libraries a high return on investment.
Trial access is available until August 18, 2019. Feedback on this database may be sent to igibson@brocku.ca
Our Collections, Research
Categories: Main
When enjoying a glass of wine from the Niagara region, have you ever thought, how did this wine come to be? The Origins of Niagara’s Winescape exhibit features artifacts from the Brock University Archives the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute. The exhibit explores the lasting legacy of Niagara’s wineries – from the first grape growers in the 1850s to the present. The exhibit runs until the end of July in the James A. Gibson Library, and will then move to the Brock University Archives.
Archives and Special Collections, display
Categories: Featured Collections, Main
Have you ever wondered who Sean O’Sullivan is and why Brock University has a theatre named after him? Have you pondered over Brock Library’s namesake James A. Gibson? Or perhaps you’ve contemplated what it takes to be a bee keeper or how to draw a pig blindfolded?
Well if you have or even if you haven’t mused over such musings, your interest must certainly be piqued! You’re encouraged to take a peak at some of the curiosities and treasures held in Brock’s Archives and Special Collections by accessing some exceptional new online exhibits.
Special Collections staff have been hard at work digitizing their collection to make it more accessible to you and in partnership with the Brock Digital Scholarship Lab they have been developing intriguing online exhibits to showcase their many resources.
By visiting these online exhibits you will learn about who Sean O’Sullivan was, see wrestling trading cards from the 1930’s, learn about Niagara’s very own Alexander Hamilton, explore the Welland Canals, and view photographs of a very young St. Catharines! You can even read a letter that the 1941 Toronto Maple Leaf’s coach Hap Day wrote to St. Catharines Mayor Charles Daley under the instruction of Conn Smythe! This list of prized content truly does not do the collection justice.
Visit the following links to explore and experience the Brock Special Collections for yourself:
https://exhibits.library.brocku.ca/s/sean-o-sullivan/page/introduction
https://exhibits.library.brocku.ca/s/ArchivalApps/page/ArchivalAppsWelcome
For more information on the Archives and Special Collections visit: https://brocku.ca/library/collections/special-collections-archives/ or drop by the 10th floor of the Schmon Tower.
If you are interested in how these exhibits were created using the platform Omeka S and would like to learn how you can create your own exhibit, contact the Brock Digital Scholarship Lab at: dsl@brocku.ca and visit https://brocku.ca/library/dsl/.
Interested in learning ArcGIS Pro by really digging into the software and using realistic data? This workshop, offered in partnership by the Map, Data and GIS Library and the Digital Scholarship Lab, will use a fictitious scenario about a flu outbreak in St. Catharines. In this workshop we will geolocate each incident of the flu and determine what schools should be shut down based on their proximity to flu incidents. We will also use network analysis to calculate the nearest medical centres. In attending this workshop, you will learn the basics of creating a visually pleasing layout and how to share your work with others. This event is open to everyone, no previous ArcGIS experience is necessary.
When: Thursday, June 27, 10-12 AM
Where: Brock University, James A. Gibson Library – Classroom A (ST228)
Register: Eventbrite
Note: Registration for this event ends June 25th
ArcGIS Pro, BrockUDSL, Digital Scholarship Lab, MDGL, Workshops
Categories: Digital Scholarship Lab, Main, MDGL
At the Brock University Digital Scholarship Lab, we are not only exploring a wide variety of tools for data processing, analysis, and visualization, as well as digital pedagogy, we are also considering ways of interacting with these tools in unique ways as a method of demonstrating the vast possibilities digital scholarship offers. In our upcoming workshop: Introduction to Data Science with Python, we will be teaching the basics of data science and visualizing results by investigating the Niagara Region’s Sci-Hub usage for 2017 through the case study: “Sci-Hub close to home”.
The SCI-Hub database is famed for providing unrestricted access to a plethora of research papers that would normally be blocked by paywalls. In this workshop, attendees will see how quickly and easily using Anaconda and Jupyter Notebooks will enable them to analyze the Sci-Hub Download Log of 2017. We will also be exploring two more ingredients; Pandas https://pandas.pydata.org/ and matplotlib https://matplotlib.org/.
No previous knowledge of coding or statistics is required for this workshop. All you need is your curiosity.
When: Monday, June 24th from 9:30 – 11:00 AM
Where: James A. Gibson Library, Brock University, Classroom A (ST228)
To register for this event, please visit: Eventbrite
BrockUDSL, Data Science, Digital Scholarship Lab, Workshops
Categories: Digital Scholarship Lab, Main
The Brock University Archives and Special Collections has again partnered with the Digital Scholarship Lab to create a digital exhibit showcasing one of their unique collections. This particular exhibit features a guided history of the life and literature of Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald, which was developed by Shauna Ribaric, Digital Resource Assistant.
Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald (1857-1947) was raised in Rockwood, Ontario and was home schooled, unlike her brothers who attended Rockwood Academy, a boarding school owned and operated by their father William. Eventually Wetherald attended boarding schools in both the United States and Ontario and went on to develop a real talent for writing. She was a contributing author for The Toronto Globe, writing on a variety of topics, but was also a highly respected poet. In this exhibit, Ribaric takes a very thoughtful approach to not only providing a snapshot of Wetherald’s life, but also highlights how her life influenced her writing and displays how the subject matter of Wetherald’s writing changed over time as a reflection of the changes that took place throughout her life.
Creating a digital exhibit such as this is not a quick and easy process. Ribaric has done a remarkable job of analyzing an entire archival collection to tell one woman’s story. Ribaric explained the approach she took when developing her project: “I had scanned some material from this collection for the Digital Repository, but quickly found that an exhibit required a different perspective. I did some research using some of the books in Archives and Special Collections (included in my source list) and decided to do a chronological approach to Ethelwyn’s life. There were quite a few moments in her life that seemed to impact her writing style and I found it interesting how life influences both style and subject matter in Ethelwyn’s writing. The items I chose had to reveal more of her life story instead of just revealing items in the collection.”
This collection was brought to life using Omeka, a publishing platform for sharing digital collections, just one of many useful tools supported by the Digital Scholarship Lab. Ribaric and her colleagues in the Archives and Special Collections have spent quite a bit of time learning how to use this tool to share content: “It’s a great way to exhibit our diverse collections and shine a spotlight on important figures or events in our area. A completely different way for our users to experience our Archives. These kinds of exhibits enable us to reveal some of the interesting work happening in the Archives and Special Collections. A digital exhibit can be a great way to share a glimpse of a collection, but also link the user to a finding aid that includes so much more. Our collections also become much more accessible to the broader Niagara community who may be interested in certain historical figures/events from our area. Digital is the direction that our users are moving and I think it’s important that we keep ourselves relevant for researchers both in the Brock community and beyond. The digital repository has allowed us to connect with researchers internationally and I think Omeka will continue to support the effort to reach as many researchers as possible.”
To view the Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald Fonds or other unique collections, visit the Brock Arcvhies and Special Collections located on the 10th floor of the Schmon Tower in the James A. Gibson Library. For more information visit their website.
If you are interested in learning more about Omeka or other digital tools, please contact the Digital Scholarship Lab at dsl@brocku.ca or visit their website.
In an effort to encourage student mental health and wellness, the Library has expanded its games and stressbusters collection. Items are available for three day loan from both the Map, Data & GIS Library and the James A. Gibson Library (at the Ask Us Desk).
In time for the fall semester, a Wellness book collection, and additional resources will be ready for use by all Brock students, staff and faculty.
Collections, Services, Wellness
Categories: Main