News

  • Two Day Data Carpentry Event Coming to Brock

    Friday, December 06, 2019 | By

    Coming to the Brock Digital Scholarship Lab February 2020, a two day Data Carpentry workshop!

    Data Carpentry develops the fundamental data skills needed to conduct research. Its target audience is researchers who have little to no prior computational experience, and its lessons are domain specific, building on learners’ existing knowledge to enable them to quickly apply skills learned to their own research. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

    This course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You do not need to have previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.

    For more information on what will be taught and why, please see the paper “Good Enough Practices for Scientific Computing“.

    All the details about this event can be found on ExperienceBU.

    Contact: Please email dsl@brocku.ca for more information.

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    Categories: Digital Scholarship Lab, Main

  • New Library System Coming Soon

    Tuesday, December 03, 2019 | By

    On Dec. 12, Brock University Library, in partnership with 14 Ontario universities, is launching Omni. Omni is an academic search tool that will allow you to search Brock’s local collections (books, e-books, media, equipment, and more), online journal articles, and coming in 2020 – seamless search and access to physical resources across 14 Omni libraries. With Omni, you’ll have ready access to an incredible trove of scholarly materials from across Ontario, simplifying your research process.

    Want more? Omni is making things easier in other ways:

    • Long, 120-day loan periods for undergraduates, graduates, faculty and staff
    • No more late fines on regular print material
    • Borrow as many as 500 items at a time
    • One handy menu bar enabling users to
      • quickly find links to journal titles
      • browse by author, title, call number and subject heading
      • link out to subject-specific databases
      • find research guides by program
      • sign-in to view loans, due dates and to renew items

    Read more about the collaborative effort behind Omni in the Brock News.

    Have questions? Please contact libhelp@brocku.ca or your Liaison Librarian.

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  • Brock University cover art on display

    Tuesday, December 03, 2019 | By

    The Matheson Learning Commons digital art wall is displaying the cover art of various publications from Brock University since 1964.

    From these works, you can see the changing graphic art styles, how Brock promoted itself to prospective students, and special milestones in our over 50 year history.

    The originals books can be found in the Brock University Archives & Special Collections located on the 10th floor of the Library.

     

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    Categories: Featured Collections, Main

  • How are you managing citations? Share your feedback

    Wednesday, November 13, 2019 | By

    Are you struggling with citations? Or do you have a great system for managing all your references for essays or scholarly papers?

    We want to hear about it! Please take a few moments to answer a short Library survey on citation management, which refers to the use of systems or software to store and organize references and format in-text citations and bibliographies. Results from the survey will be used to help the Library develop a strategy to support users’ citation management needs. Your responses will be anonymous.

    Anyone at Brock can respond. Survey participants can enter a draw for one of two $25 Brock cards.

    The survey closes Dec. 6 at 5 pm.

    Questions? Contact Elizabeth Yates, Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian at eyates@brocku.ca or x4469

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  • GIS Day to be celebrated this week

    Tuesday, November 12, 2019 | By

    As part of Geography Awareness Week, the Brock University Map, Data & GIS Library (MDGL) will be hosting GIS Day on Wednesday, November 13. Visit the MDGL between 12 and 2 p.m. to enjoy a pizza lunch ($) and a slice of their famous GIS Day cake (free!)

     

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  • Award-winning photographic series on display in the Learning Commons

    Thursday, November 07, 2019 | By

    Dare alla Luce by Professor Amy Friend of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts has arrived at a screen near you.

    The Dare alla Luce series is Friend’s best known work to date. It has been exhibited internationally, travelling to over nine countries. The series is also presented in two artist monographs, Dare alla Luce (Photolucida Publishing) and Stardust (L’Artiere Edizioni). A selection of this work was included in the stage design for Canadian Jazz Musician Diana Krall’s, Turn Up the Quiet world tour.

    Friend notes: “in this series I am not specifically concerned with capturing concrete reality. I aim to use photography as a medium that explores the relationship between what is visible and non-visible. I have continued to work on the Dare alla Luce series over a period of time; initially responding to a collection of vintage photographs, retrieved from a variety of sources. Through hand-manipulated interventions I alter and subsequently re-photograph the images re-making photographs that oscillate between what is present and absent. I aim to comment on the fragile quality of the photographic object but also on the fragility of our lives, our history. All are lost so easily. By employing the tools of photography, I re-use light, allowing it to shine through the holes. In a playful and yet, literal manner, I return the subjects of the photographs back to the light, while simultaneously bringing them forward. The images are permanently altered; they are lost and reborn, hence the title, Dare alla Luce, an Italian term meaning, “to bring to the light” in reference to birth.”

    Curator and author Laura Serani describes the imagery in the Stardust monograph by stating, “Throngs of tiny lights with a mysterious provenance seem to emanate from the places and characters themselves, confirming the theory of what is visible and non-invisible. In daylight they penetrate the atmosphere and speak of hope; at dusk they inhabit skies where they seem to project dreams.”

    Also playing: Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home, 2018-ongoing

    This recent series by Assistant Professor Amy Friend explores the topic of migration. The imagery presented here combines a selection of over 300 letters written between family in Italy and Canada with photographs taken in Havana, Cuba (my husband’s homeland) at the famous Malecón. This location is steeped with an aura of hope, imagination, as well as longing and loss, that is not specific to a Cuban-only perspective. I utilize this place as a carrier of meaning, a literal and symbolic passageway, an ending point, a starting point and, a point of stasis in relation to migration. I felt it necessary to reflect on these personal histories with the aim of connecting people, to stories that relay what makes us human and alike. Some of the photos include folds that mimic those found in the letters written between family, while other folds indicate migratory map routes. The politics of migration are present in this work, through my investigations I do not resist this relationship, but rather offer a place to reflect – on the complex experience specific to these movements in life.

    View this beautiful exhibit until Friday, November 15th in the Matheson Learning Commons of the James A. Gibson Library.

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  • Makerspace News

    Monday, November 04, 2019 | By

    person wearing virtual reality headset with a large display and brock banner in the background

    What’s New This Month!

    Technology Highlight

    In October we introduced the Brother LB6950, Embroidery and Quilting machine to the Makerspace. So far students have regularly been utilizing this classic piece of making technology to learn a new skill or work on a personal project. Our new sewing machine is a great compliment to our Cricut Maker which cuts hundreds of materials quickly and accurately, from the most delicate paper and fabric to matboard and leather.

    This month we’ll be learning how best to use the embroidery function of this machine and creating a series of sewing workshops for the new term. Join us on this journey by visiting the Makerspace.

    IMPORTANT features

    Equipment for Loan – All students, faculty and staff have the ability to borrow technology from our loanable equipment catalogue for up to 3 days. If you are an instructor or faculty member in need of equipment for a course or research, fill out our Support Form to get started. We’ll then follow up with you and schedule a time for you to connect with our knowledgeable Makerspace staff.

    Pay for Print – The Makerspace is open and available for everyone to use, including community members! Our new pay for print model allows all users more freedom to print 3D models from online platforms in your desired resolution. More Details

    Upcoming events & workshops

    AS OF DECEMBER 1ST LOANS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AS THE MAKERSPACE IS MOVING LOCATIONS. LOANS ARE SET TO RESUME WITH THE RE-OPENING OF THE SPACE IN THE NEW YEAR!

    Makerspace Event Calendar

    Subscribe to our Experience BU page to stay up to date on our events and learning opportunities.

    More Events

    Featured Faculty Partnerships

    All stories

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    Categories: Makerspace

  • Library supports Brock researchers publishing in Frontiers journals 

    Tuesday, October 08, 2019 | By

    Brock University Library has signed an institutional agreement that provides a 50% discount on article processing charges for Brock researchers who choose to publish with Frontiers, a major international publisher of peer-reviewed open access journals. 

    This discount is the latest demonstration of the Library’s strong commitment to investing in open access resources, reflecting its mission to enhance access to information and accelerate knowledge production. Recognizing that some Brock authors choose to publish in open access journals which charge APCs, these investments include: 

    The library also provides financial support to several open platforms such as the Directory of Open Access Journals and partnering with Scholars Portal to offer Open Journal Systems to our users for free. In addition to advancing free, immediate access to scholarly resources for all, the Library thus signals the importance of open scholarship to the Brock community and is pursuing a longer-term goal of reforming a dysfunctional scholarly publishing system.    

    Brock authors may claim the Frontiers APC discount during the article submission process by selecting ‘Brock University’ as institutional payer in the invoice section of the process. Frontiers will then verify authors’ eligibility with Brock University Library, and if confirmed, 50% of the APC will be paid by the Library upon acceptance. Researchers will receive an invoice from Frontiers for the remaining 50% of the article processing charge.  

    Questions? Contact Scholarly Communication Librarian Elizabeth Yates ~ eyates@brocku.ca 

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  • Brock Library to Celebrate International Open Access Week

    Friday, September 27, 2019 | By

    Brock University Library will celebrate International Open Access Week on Oct. 21 with events focused on the theme of Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge. All are welcome to attend these interactive and engaging learning opportunities. 

    10:30 am -12 pm, Rankin Family Pavilion Room 214 — Open Access award presentation and movie screening 

    Join us as we announce the winner of the Brock University Award for Open Access and discover who is the university’s newest champion of open scholarship! Following the award presentation, enjoy a screening and discussion of the documentary Paywall: The Business of Scholarship – a scathing indictment of how academic publishing systems creates barriers to access and innovation. Popcorn will be provided. Facilitator: Elizabeth Yates, Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian. 

    1-2 pm, Library Classroom A (ST228) — Introduction to Data Science with Python. Case Study: SCI-Hub close to home 

    You’ve probably heard of Python, but have you heard of Anaconda or Jupyter? This session will present the basics of data science and visualizing results using these two platforms plus two more key ingredients: Pandas  See the impact that downloading journal articles has in terms of lost revenue and impact against Open Access. Our example will look at analyzing the Niagara Region’s Sci Hub usage for 2017. Sounds interesting? No previous knowledge of coding or statistics required. All you need is your curiosity. Presenter: Tim Ribaric, Acting Head, Digital Scholarship Lab. 

    2-3 pm, Rankin Family Pavilion Room 214 — Equity in Open Scholarship: enacting academia’s core values 

    When and where to publish is often determined by our disciplinary communities. This interactive session will explore and discuss publishing’s prestige economy and its alignment with our vision for a better world. Join Giulia Forsythe, Associate Director of the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation, for this provocative conversation. 

    3-4 pm, Rankin Family Pavilion Room 214 — Accelerating Entrepreneurship with Open Access 

    Are you an entrepreneur? Have you had to find market research, articles, or other research to help you with your entrepreneurial venture? As a member of the Brock Community, you have access to library articles, data, and research that the library pays for. This is great when you are a student, but what do you do after graduation, when you don’t have library access anymore? Venture Development, Brock University Library, and the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation are leading a discussion about what challenges entrepreneurs have in finding and accessing research, and what type of research is openly available without having to have access to library-specific resources. Presenters: Giulia Forsythe, Associate Director of the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation; Linda Lowry, Liaison Librarian; Nicole Nolan, Associate University Librarian, and Cassie Price, BioLinc Co-ordinator. 

     

     

     

    Categories: Digital Scholarship Lab, Main

  • On the Learning Commons Digital Art Wall: Every 40 Seconds …

    Tuesday, September 10, 2019 | By

    The He-ART-Istic Journey highlights individual patient experiences of heart disease in a creative and artistic encounter. This arts-informed dissemination presents science and art together in what promises to be a unique glimpse into the lives of individuals who live daily with cardiac disease. We used an arts-based creative research analysis -the ABELE method- [Arts-Based Embodied Layered Exploration] to translate the experiences of 23 individuals’ journeys through symptom recognition of heart disease. Key words and phrases were extracted from the interviews and constructed into 4 poems. Patients’ stories were interpreted and art was created to represent the early warning signs of heart disease and individuals illness experience.

    Sheila O’Keefe McCarthy
    Assistant Professor, Nursing, Brock University.

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