News

• Career Opportunity in Library Systems & Technologies

  Tuesday, October 31, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Brock University Library invites applications for a full-time Library Systems Analyst.

  Working in our Library Systems & Technologies department, the systems analyst will be responsible for:

  • Day-to-day operation of the technical aspects of the Library Services Platform (LSP):  configuration, maintenance, troubleshooting, training, working with outside parties to resolve problems, etc.;
  • Providing development specifications for library system integrations, working as part of a team to enhance and streamline integrations with existing University systems (in collaboration and consultation with ITS partners);
  • Implementing library application solutions that are reliable and secure;
  • Analyzing and implementing robust data management procedures by integrating third-party software solutions, and more.

  Learn more about the role from the Brock Career Services site.

  Apply online by November 22, 2023 at 12:01am EST.

  Questions? Email jyounker@brocku.ca, Head, Library Systems & Technologies.

  Tags: Employment opportunity
  Categories: Main

• GIS Day Buzz

  Tuesday, October 31, 2023 | By sjanzen

  

  Wednesday, November 15th 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 about where and why things happen as they do. Join us this year to learn more about GIS and specifically ArcGIS, the industry standard for mapping technology. The Map, Data & GIS Library is hosting a variety of events including:

  Wednesday, November 15, 2023

  10-11:30 a.m. GIS for Faculty and Staff: A 90 minute workshop introducing attendees to the Esri site license and ArcGIS software options for research, teaching and administrative tasks. Registration recommended.

  12-1:15 p.m. Pizza & Cake in the MDGL: Join the Tourism and Geography Society (TAGS) for lunch in the MDGL where anyone can buy a slice of pizza ($$) and partake of the infamous GIS Day cake (free)!

  1:30-3:30 p.m. GIS for Brock Community: This 120 minute session will introduce students, faculty and staff to GIS with a hands-on component. Attendees should bring their own device to engage fully with the session. Registration recommended.

  Further to the Brock GIS Day festivities, interested parties can take advantage of the FREE online GIS Days Conference hosted by Western University Libraries. The conference runs from Nov. 13-16, 2023. Check out the schedule and register today!

  Brock representations at the GIS Days conference includes:

  Tuesday, Nov. 14, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Introduction to ArcGIS Online by Sharon Janzen

  Thursday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m. HGIS Lightning talk by Rebecca Nickerson

  Questions? Contact maplib@brocku.ca (Map, Data & GIS Library, MC-C306)

  Tags: ArcGIS, MDGL, Training & Development, Workshops
  Categories: Main, MDGL

• GIS Day is coming …

  Monday, October 30, 2023 | By sjanzen

  

  It’s that time of year again when we start planning for GIS Day! November 15th will mark this eventful day for all users of GIS technologies. We will have presentations, contests and displays as well as tutorials, pizza ($$) and CAKE (FREE!). Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, November 15, 2023 and stay tuned for details.

  GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems and broadly represents the technology behind analyzing and creating map products. There are many departments using geospatial technologies for research and teaching at Brock University: Geography & Tourism Studies, Earth Sciences, Health Sciences, Political Sciences, History, Modern Literature & Languages, etc. If you haven’t tried giving a spatial context to your work, perhaps it’s time to explore the options available.

  Follow us on Instagram for up-to-date information.

   

  Tags: Events, GIS Day, MDGL
  Categories: Main, MDGL

• Exhibit: Modern Languages, Literatures, Cultures

  Monday, October 30, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  As stated by Noam Chomsky: “Language is not just words. It’s a culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates what a community is”. The Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures welcomes you to browse through the display showcasing the cultures that are explored in our courses that is currently mounted in the Library and Thistle corridor. Let your curiosity be piqued, ask the questions rooted in the history of these cultures, smile – and perhaps shiver, as Halloween is the theme of the current installation.

  Questions and comments are welcome. Please send them to: dbielicki@brocku.ca

   

  Tags: display
  Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

• Learn about systematic reviews, scoping reviews and more

  Friday, October 27, 2023 | By Elizabeth Yates

  

  Join the Library’s evidence synthesis team members Elizabeth Yates, Denise Smith and Ian Gordon for an online workshop entitled Introduction to evidence synthesis research – including systematic reviews and scoping reviews – as part of the Building Better Research series on Nov. 2, 12-1 pm.  

  Evidence synthesis projects such as systematic or scoping reviews use rigorous and comprehensive methods to gather, synthesize and analyze data from large sets of primary studies. These reviews are increasingly popular in a variety of academic disciplines. However, these time- and resource-intensive projects are challenging, involve a team of researchers, and are not appropriate for all research objectives. This session will cover the key steps and tools in conducting a systematic or scoping review, present alternative review types, and discuss how to identify the review type most suited to your research question. 

  Register for this workshop via Experience BU 

  Tags: Research, Research methods, Workshops
  Categories: Main

• Library supports for open access publishing

  Wednesday, October 25, 2023 | By Elizabeth Yates

  

  Library supports for open access publishing 

  Global celebrations of International Open Access Week from Oct. 23-29 are a good opportunity to highlight how the Library supports Brock researchers in achieving broad reach and deep impact for their publications. 

  Open Access refers to free, immediate online access to research and brings many benefits, including increased visibility for Brock research, higher citation rates and public access to publicly-funded research. Supporting open access has always been a key priority for the Library, which: 

  • Provides free hosting support for 12 open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals operated by Brock researchers 
  • Disseminates Brock research globally via the open access Brock Digital Repository 
  • Invests in a wide range of open access platforms which benefit researchers and readers around the globe 
  • Participates in a growing number of read-and-publish agreements which allow Brock authors to publish for free, or at a discount, in journals which charge fees for full or hybrid open access publication 
  • Supports researchers in meeting the expectations of Brock University’s Open Access Policy  

  To learn more, please consider participating in Brock’s Open Access Week activities or email Elizabeth Yates, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian ~ eyates@brocku.ca

  Tags: OA Week, Open Access, Scholarly Communication
  Categories: Main

• Resources to learn more about Open Access

  Tuesday, October 24, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  As part of 2023 Open Access Week activities at Brock, a virtual collection of books and ebooks focused on open access and information sharing activities is available to browse. Discover how free, unrestricted online access to research outputs can benefit society, researchers included!

  Tags: OA Week, Open Access, Our Collections
  Categories: Featured Collections

• Open Access Week 2023: Celebrating community over commercialization

  Sunday, October 22, 2023 | By Elizabeth Yates

  

  Community over Commercialization is this year’s theme for International Open Access Week, Oct. 23-29. This is more than a slogan. It is a timely statement for a movement that has seen much growth in open access infrastructure and alternative providers in research years. These alternative publishing options for researchers emphasize and facilitate the building of an open access community of researchers and scholars, a deliberate alternative to commercial publishers, which are for-profit companies that extract profits from the work of scholars.

  The Brock Library continues to invest in several such open access platforms. The overall goal of these platforms is to make research freely available to readers around the world. These open infrastructure initiatives are examples of part of this growing movement that takes the products of publicly funded scholarly research out of the commercial sphere- a space largely controlled by a small number of actors, and moves this into a community-operated system of research sharing. The impact of such developments for open access research is far reaching. In this system, both the writers and readers of scholarship have access to the most current findings without having to navigate a paywall.

  To learn more, join Elizabeth Yates, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, and Laurie Morrison, Collections Librarian, on Oct. 24, 12-1 pm, for a discussion of the perils of prioritizing profit over the public good and the promise offered by community-controlled publishing platforms. Registration via ExperienceBU.

  This workshop is part of the Library’s Open Access Week activities, which also include an Oct. 26 workshop focusing on planning for open access publishing at little or no cost, a virtual collection of books and ebooks focused on open access and information sharing activities.

  Tags: OA Week, Open Access, Scholarly Communication
  Categories: Main

• Now hiring: Digital Scholarship/ Special Projects Librarian

  Wednesday, September 27, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Brock University Library invites applications for the full-time, 12-month limited-term position of Digital Scholarship/ Special Projects Librarian from qualified candidates who have demonstrated interest in and understanding of open publishing, digital scholarship, and/or the research lifecycle.

  The successful candidate will:

  • Contribute to the open publishing infrastructure on campus using Brock’s instance of Open Journal Systems;
  • Contribute to the administration of Brock University’s Institutional Repository;
  • In collaboration with the Scholarly Communications Librarian, promote a culture of open scholarship on campus;
  • Provides services to support digital scholarship including consultations, project support, instruction, workshop development and delivery;
  • Collaborate with campus partners and continuously learn about digital scholarship trends, tools and methods currently available on campus and beyond;
  • Provide recommendations about existing digital scholarship initiatives and services, in consultation with the Head, Research Lifecycle;
  • Develops and promotes educational content (tutorials, guides, etc.) that supports digital scholarship on campus;
  • Collaboratively support departmental goals and activities;
  • Engage in ongoing professional development and apply useful developments into practice.

  Learn more about this opportunity, and apply by Thursday, October 26th (12:01 AM).

  Tags: Employment opportunity
  Categories: Main

• Honouring Indigenous Women and Girls

  Tuesday, September 19, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  This month’s featured Omni Collection is intended to honour and remember the lives of Indigenous Women and Girls in recognition of the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Sisters In Spirit Day. Browse and borrow from the print collection displayed next to the Ask Us desk and head online to view the Indigenous Women on Film sub-collection of documentaries.

  The collection also acts as a complement to The Canadian Library, a grassroots art installation project that acts as a memorial to all Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people. The goal of the CLP is to wrap 8,000 books across Canada in fabric prints that reflect First Nations, Métis and Inuit as a testament to the lives lost. Before each book is placed on the gallery bookshelf in the library, the name of one of the MMIWG2S+ is written in gold along its spine.

  Brock Library is hosting three drop-in wrapping events in Learning Commons Classroom B (ST230). While no RSVP is required, registering on ExperienceBU and checking in at the events, will provide participants with credit toward their co-curricular record.  Sessions will be held on Monday, September 25 (2:30-5pm), Friday, September 29 (1:30-4pm), and Monday, October 2 (1:30-4pm).

  Tags: Indigenous Collection, Our Collections, Workshops
  Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons