News

• Public library memberships available

  Wednesday, September 06, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  We love libraries! All kinds. So we are delighted to announce on-campus visits by staff from the St. Catharines and Thorold Public Libraries.

  Getting a card is easy, and free. Fill in a form, present some ID, and then you’ll be all set to borrow video games, join book clubs, experience adult craft nights, and more. Online resources such as popular magazines, audio books, streaming videos and music are also available, and offer the perfect complement to our more scholarly collections.

  Who: Thorold Public Library
  Where: Matheson Learning Commons (Library main floor)
  When: Wednesday, September 13, 2-4 pm.

  Who: St. Catharines Public Library
  Where: Matheson Learning Commons (Library main floor)
  When: Thursday, September 14, 1-5 pm.

   

  Tags: Community, Events, Services, Students
  Categories: Main

• Treasures from the Shickluna Shipyard Dig.

  Tuesday, September 05, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Back in 2018, a research team led by Brock University archaeologist and maritime historian Kimberly Monk received federal funding to excavate the Shickluna Shipyard site in downtown St. Catharines.  The team’s discoveries and insights form the basis of a stunning new display hosted in the Library and Learning Commons this fall.

  The exhibit is comprised of two parts which, when combined explore the evolving cultural landscape which we refer to as the Shickluna Shipyard site. The Changing Human Landscape on Twelve Mile Creek (displayed at the south entrance to the Learning Commons), sets the scene of the dig and characterizes the sites’ earliest occupants. Uncovering Historic Landscapes at the Shickluna Shipyard: A Multi-Component Archaeological Site is displayed inside the library, and explores the history of the site after 1891.

  Although the on-going project is focused on Shickluna, and the over 60 years of shipbuilding that took place at the site, the exhibit recognizes the breadth of human history that has shaped this landscape over time. The next phase of fieldwork will explore deeper and adjacent contexts. Follow the project, and new developments on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

  Stop by and view the exhibit which runs until October 16.

   

   

   

  Tags: Community Collaboration, display
  Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

• Fall wellness book club registration now open

  Friday, August 18, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Registration is now open for the fall 2023 Wellness Book Club.  This term, we will be reading a book all about the promises and the darker side of wellness culture.  Described as “a clear-eyed exploration of what wellness can actually offer us,” The Gospel of Wellness is written by a journalist who has tried nearly every wellness trend: the ‘clean’ eating, the detoxes, the boutique fitness classes, and more.  Rina Raphael argues that, rather than alleviating stress, the wellness industry creates unrealistic and costly burdens on consumers.

  The Book Club is hosted by librarian, Justine Cotton, who is passionate about the positive impact of reading and community.  You can contact her with any questions about the Club at jcotton@brocku.ca.

  Members will receive a copy of the book and a wellness care package.  Meetings will be held virtually during the month of October and participants may choose to participate in a research study on the benefits of reading “for fun” on stress levels in university students.

  Register here: https://bit.ly/fall23wellnessbookclub

  *maximum 10 participants

  Tags: Book Club, Events, Wellness
  Categories: Learning Commons, Main

• Join in the hunt on International Geocaching Day

  Wednesday, August 09, 2023 | By sjanzen

  

  Have you ever wanted to go on a real-life treasure hunt, but never did because you thought it was only real in children’s stories and the movies? Well, get ready for adventure and exploring because geocaching is 21st century treasure hunting! Geocaching is a free outdoor activity that uses GPS technology to find the containers unsurprisingly called a geocache that have small treasures to trade, and a log book to sign.  

  To start, borrow a GPS device from the Map, Data & GIS Library, or download a geocaching app on your smartphone like Geocaching (Android, iPhone, and iPad), Cachly (iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch), or c:geo (Android), and input the coordinates for the geocache you want to find. There are two geocaches on Brock Campus – Welcome to Brock, a micro-cache, and Fin de Siècle, a multi-step cache. 

  Next, find the cache! Stay on the trail if there is one, and once you’re close, use your hands and eyes to finish the hunt. They can be well hidden so be creative while searching and while they are never buried, they are not always on the ground. When you find it, sign the logbook, take a treasure, and always leave another treasure of equal or greater value for the next geocachers. Take your trash out with you and leave the site better than you found it.  

  Join geocachers around the world on August 19, 2023 for the 12th annual celebration of International Geocaching Day! Go to www.geocaching.com for more information on geocaching and events. 

  Tags: MDGL
  Categories: Main, MDGL

• Architecture

  Tuesday, August 01, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  This month and next, the Library presents you with a collection related to something we all experience everyday and, probably take for granted: our built environment.  

  Among the curated titles, this newest featured collection lets you:

  • consider how animals produce spaces for themselves with Animal Architecture
  • look at architecture from the other parts of the world in The Tampitaviharas of Sri Lanka,  Paris and her cathedrals and China’s Architecture in a Globalizing World
  • explore the architectural period that inspired the design of Brock University’s own tower with The Brutalists.

  Explore the Architecture collection online, and in print on the display shelves next to the Ask Us desk.  

  For resources related to Brock’s built environment including scale models of the campus, check out Architecture in the Brock University Digital Repository.

  Tags: Our Collections
  Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

• The Barbenheimer craze

  Friday, July 21, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Today (July 21), marks the release of two biopics in movie theatres. Barbie, a comedy, features the doll and her partner Ken on a voyage of self-discovery after their expulsion from “Barbieland”. Oppenheimer, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, is the story of the nuclear physicist who was the head of Los Alamos Laboratory, which was instrumental in the development of the first-ever nuclear bomb.

  Many moviegoers are making a double feature out of the two films, which have become known as “Barbenheimer.”

  The Library has compiled a featured collection of Barbie and Oppenheimer e-books and print titles. You can find the print volumes atop our Badger Books shelves on the main floor.

  Tags: Our Collections
  Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

• Employment opportunity

  Wednesday, July 12, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Join our User Services & Engagement team at the James A. Gibson Library as a Library Assistant, Engagement. In this role you will:

  • promote Library services and build awareness of Library services and resources
  • initiate engagement and outreach activities
  • manage the Library’s social media accounts
  • create physical and virtual promotional / informational materials
  • act as first point of contact for users and assist with research and general inquiries
  • provide back-up support, as needed, to departmental teams supporting other key service areas (e.g. Reserves, Interlibrary loan, Stacks maintenance).

  If you are a highly creative and collaborative person with a strong service ethic, please apply on the Career Services website by August 12 at 12:01am.

  Note: Interested applicants are asked to provide a sample of their promotional work along with resume and cover letter.

  Tags: Employment opportunity
  Categories: Main

• Instructors encouraged to submit fall term reading lists soon

  Tuesday, July 11, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Reserve request processing for the fall term is underway at Brock University Library. Beat the rush and ensure your students have timely access to their fall course materials. We encourage you to submit reading lists as soon as possible. Ideally by early to mid-August.  

  An instructor self-serve option is also available, providing flexibility to instructors who wish to do this work themselves. All self-submissions will get a final check for copyright compliance, and will then be active for students. 

  Questions? reserve@brocku.ca

  Tags: Faculty, Services, Students
  Categories: Main

• Improvements coming to interlibrary loan services

  Friday, June 23, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  The RACER software that has supported interlibrary loan activity for over 20 years, has reached end-of-life and is being discontinued. Over the past several months, Brock University Library and our Ontario partner universities have been transitioning interlibrary loan activity to the Omni platform which has become the predominant tool for interlibrary loan activity here at Brock. This summer we will be completing the transition to using the Omni interface exclusively. All Ontario universities are required to make this shift.  

  Effective July 1st, Brock RACER accounts will no longer be functional, and the system will not accept requests.   

  • Any in-progress requests will still be completed. 
  • If you have information in your teaching materials directing students to RACER, please remove/replace with information directing them to Omni instead. 

  The good news is that Omni, our academic search tool, is equipped to support all of your interlibrary loan needs!  

  Rest assured that no services are being lost with this change. Access to materials at other libraries remains the same. 

  More improvements! 

  • there will no longer be a need to create and maintain a separate RACER password: Your Brock account credentials provide access to Omni and all related services.   
  • When searching in Omni, you can select ‘Get it from another library’ to request an item that Brock does not own (see screen shot below).  
  • Or skip the searching and use the Omni blank request form available on the library website to submit a request! We’ll do the searching for you!     

  

  We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible and have notified active RACER users and faculties directly of the change.  

  Please feel free to send any questions to: cmackinnon@brocku.ca

  Tags: Services
  Categories: Main

• Exhibit: The A. & C. Black Twenty Shilling Book Series

  Tuesday, June 20, 2023 | By Evelyn Smith

  

  Select titles from the A. & C. Black Twenty Shilling Book Series are featured in our latest exhibit in the Library and Learning Commons.  The series consists of ninety-two high-quality travel books illustrated in colour by various artists and published from 1901 to 1921. The print runs for these books were limited – typically to 3000 copies or less. Decades later, this scarcity has made the books quite collectible.

  As passionate travellers, David Murray and Elizabeth Surtees of Niagara-on-the-Lake fell in love with these books. For over 15 years, they assembled a complete collection of the 20 Shilling Book Series. In December, 2022, they donated their collection to the Brock University Archives and Special Collections with a wish to share the resource with the Brock community.

  View this very special exhibit in the Library and at the south entrance to the Learning Commons until late-July.

  Categories: Archives, Featured Collections, Learning Commons