News

• Fresh Start

  Thursday, January 02, 2025 | By Amanda Emery

  

  Welcome to a new year, new term, new chapter!

  Embrace a fresh start and explore books in this featured collection that focus on overcoming burnout, getting organized, mindfulness, health eating, wellness, and more.

  • Read the newly published Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, which helps people pursue meaningful accomplishment and avoid being overloaded.
  • Explore Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga’s The Courage to be Disliked and ask yourself if happiness is something you choose for yourself.
  • Do you use to-do lists? Check out Eat That Frog! and learn how to structure your task lists and defeat procrastination.

  Browse all of these titles and more on the display next to the Ask Us desk in Matheson Learning Commons, or view eBooks online.

  Tags: display, Our Collections, Virtual Book Display
  Categories: Featured Collections

• Career Opportunity in Library Collections Services

  Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Brock University Library invites applications for the full-time position of Acquisitions Coordinator in Library Collections Services.

  The Acquisitions Coordinator plays a critical role in the procurement process for Brock University Library by overseeing the ordering, receiving, and invoicing of library materials for the James A. Gibson Library, the Map, Data & GIS Library and the Archives & Special Collections.

  Learn more about this opportunity and apply by December 22, 2024.

  Tags: Employment opportunity
  Categories: Main

• Crime and Consequence

  Tuesday, December 03, 2024 | By Amanda Emery

  

  Do you have a curiosity for true crime? Are you interested in learning about justice and the legal system? Check out some of the mysterious and fascinating stories in December’s Featured Collection of books.

  • Read about the notorious ‘Georges’ communities of British Columbia and their reputation as Canada’s most dangerous city prior to World War I.
  • Explore the newly published Outlaw Bikers as Organized Crime, providing research on outlaw bikers and clubs from all over the world.
  • If you are interested in cross-border organized crime, read up on the millennial mobsters who brought chaos and the cartels to the Canadian underworld.

  You can browse the Crime and Consequence collection by visiting the book display next to the Ask Us desk in Matheson Learning Commons, or view the eBooks online.

  Tags: display, Our Collections, Virtual Book Display
  Categories: Featured Collections

• Career Opportunity

  Tuesday, November 26, 2024 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Brock University Library seeks applicants for the new position of Resource Sharing Coordinator in the User Services & Engagement department.

  The Resource Sharing Coordinator is responsible for coordinating interlibrary loan (ILL) workflows for the borrowing and lending of physical and electronic document delivery and oversees the work of Library Assistants in carrying out their ILL responsibilities. In addition, the Resource Sharing Coordinator, provides circulation, basic copying and printing services, and reference assistance to users at the Ask Us Desk and is also a member of the library’s group of Reference Assistants who provide in-depth research help to students.

  Learn more about the role, the key skills & experience required, and apply by December 15, 2024.

  Tags: Employment opportunity, Services
  Categories: Main

• Message from the University Librarian: Library Collections Update

  Tuesday, November 19, 2024 | By nnolan

  

  November 19, 2024

  As Brock community members are 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). This translates to a projected $250,000 shortfall due to the perpetual rise in the costs of library subscription prices.  

  Background 

  During the summer of 2024, the library conducted a comprehensive review of our collection expenditures. To have a balanced budget, we determined that we need to reduce spending on both journal subscriptions and books/e-books.  

  As shared in our June update, a significant structural challenge is the ‘Big Deal’ model: Major publishers bundle their catalogue of journal subscriptions into large, expensive packages.  At Brock, the Big Deals with Elsevier, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, Springer, and Sage exert outsized pressure on our constrained budget, even when the data demonstrates that researchers are not using a majority of these bundled journal titles.  

  Decision and Impact 

  The outcome of this evidence-based evaluation is that we are cancelling the Springer Big Deal subscription, effective January 1, 2025. Our analysis indicated that cancelling the Springer package (~2,100 journal titles) would help us achieve the necessary savings while having a lesser impact on Brock’s research and teaching when compared to other packages. Relative to our other Big Deals, Springer has the poorest value proposition, with relatively lower usage but at a high cost.  

  As a result, the Brock community will lose subscription access to Springer publications from 2025 onwards. Researchers will continue to be able to request new Springer articles using the expanded interlibrary loan service. Open Access versions of articles can often be located using a number of alternative approaches. 

  Please note: 

  • Permanent access to all Springer journal content from 2024 and earlier will remain available through Omni and Springer Journals Online. 
  • Springer Nature journals are not impacted; these subscriptions are managed separately.   
  • The Library is currently exploring individually subscribing to a small number of high-use Springer journals. Once determined, this information will be shared on the Subscriptions and Budget FAQ page. 

  Cancelling the Springer package will achieve about half of our budget reduction target. The remaining savings will be found by reducing our spending on new books and e-books, and cancelling a number of smaller, low-use subscriptions.  

  Communication and Next Steps 

  At Senate meetings this fall, I shared the state of the collections budget and the challenging context of the profit-driven scholarly publishing industry.  We had productive discussions about the unsustainable ecosystem and the frustrations of academics worldwide. The Library continues to advocate for and support Open Access publishing as the main path to effect change.  

  We appreciate your support for the Library and your patience with this process. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at  nnolan@brocku.ca 

  Regards, 

  Nicole Nolan
  University Librarian
  Brock University Library 

  Tags: Budget, Collections, Research
  Categories: Main

• International Education Week, 2024

  Monday, November 18, 2024 | By Amanda Emery

  

  Explore this curated collection of books and eBooks focusing on international education and studying abroad. International Education Week (IEW) is celebrated globally on the third week of November each year. IEW highlights the importance of a globally oriented learning experience and showcases the impact that international education has on learning, research, and community.

  Brock International Education Week events, held November 18-22, are great opportunities to get involved, expand your knowledge, and connect with the world.

  Tags: Our Collections, Virtual Book Display
  Categories: Featured Collections

• Notice: potential service disruption

  Friday, November 15, 2024 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  As of November 15th, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (Canada Post) are on a national strike. Some of our Interlibrary loan services, particularly physical items from our national partners, will be affected by this strike. Please expect delays for the duration of the labour action. 

  Interlibrary loans continue through many Ontario university library (OMNI) partners and international lenders. Digital lending (articles and book chapters) is unaffected.  

  Questions about our interlibrary loan service can be directed to libhelp@brocku.ca.

   

   

  Tags: Interlibrary loan, Services
  Categories: Main

• Career opportunity

  Tuesday, November 12, 2024 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  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.

  Tags: Employment opportunity, Services
  Categories: Main

• Exhibits: Voices of Remembrance, and Some Were Neighbors

  Monday, November 04, 2024 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time” (Elie Wiesel, Night, 1960). Wiesel’s words remind us that memory is a moral act, essential in preserving the past and preventing future hatred.

  Chabad at Brock presents “Voices of Remembrance,” an exhibit featured in the Thistle Corridor and the Learning Commons at Brock University Library. Organized under the lead of Chabad at Brock’s Holocaust Education Chair, Brooke Braverman, this display brings together the stories of Brock students who are descendants of Holocaust survivors. Through their narratives, we reflect on the antisemitism that led to the Holocaust and honour the resilience needed to carry these memories forward.

  In the Learning Commons, Some Were Neighbors, a traveling exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, further examines the actions and moral choices of ordinary people during the Holocaust, inviting us to consider our own responsibilities in confronting hate.

  Additionally, the library has curated a collection of books to support Holocaust Education Week, offering historical insights, survivor testimonies, and scholarly perspectives on antisemitism and resilience.

  We invite you to explore these stories and reflect deeply on their message. In bearing witness to this living history, we commit to fighting against antisemitism, hatred, ignorance, and indifference wherever they appear.

  Tags: display, Students
  Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

• Political Landscapes

  Thursday, October 31, 2024 | By Amanda Emery

  

  Our November Featured Collection explores works on the intricate and evolving landscapes of current politics in the United States and Canada. With the US election a trending topic, this collection of books and eBooks highlights a variety of related subjects including democracy, campaigns, polling, and parties.

  Read the relevant Electable: Why American Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House…Yet with a focused chapter on Kamala Harris and the 2020 US election.

  Explore the growing discussion around Illiberal Democracies as it pertains to the history of political ideals in the United States. The newly published Illiberal America: A History looks to the past to understand this recent resurgence.

  If you are interested in a Canadian perspective you can read up on current movements in What’s Trending in Canadian Politics? which explores political communication and democratic governance in a digital age.

  You can browse the collection by visiting the book display next to the Ask Us desk in Matheson Learning Commons, or view the eBooks online.

  Tags: display, Our Collections, Virtual Book Display
  Categories: Featured Collections