Author

Junelle Mah

Junelle (she/her) holds a BSc in Human Ecology from the University of Alberta and a MA in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University. She is deeply rooted in lessons passed on to her from the matriarchs of her family, which includes a love of kitties & quilting.

    Ask Us! | Reach Out to Our Library Chat Service

    by Junelle Mah
    written by Junelle Mah

    In Winter 2020, the University of Alberta plunged into the unknown world that was study/work from home. The University of Alberta Library was able to seamlessly transfer one aspect of our services out-of-office without missing a beat: our Ask Us! Library online chat service. We continue to help our community through this valuable online medium. Read on to find out what makes this chat service so awesome, besides the people who staff it!

     

    Your library help is just a click away!

    Our library chat service is staffed by our Information Service Specialists and Student Information Service Assistants (SISAs are students enrolled in their Master of Library and Information Studies with U of A’s School of Library and Information Studies). WE ARE NOT BOTS! We are here to support patrons with any library-related questions or inquiries they may have. Anyone can ask us a question online during our chat hours, it doesn’t matter if you’re affiliated with the U of A as a student, staff, or instructor, or if you’re alumni or member of the public!

    Our folks support our library chat service either from their office desks or their library’s main service desk.

    Our goal is to provide tips and tricks on where to find the answers you need that will allow you to comfortably navigate our systems on your own. That being said, we know that snags can happen (we experience them ourselves), and we are always here to help you with whatever question you may have –  big or small!

    A screenshot of our Legal Research (Law) subject guide with a chat pop-up window in the upper right-hand corner.

    Our most common questions usually involve how to search our website for a textbook, article, or database. We direct folks to our library subject guides for discipline-specific resources, as well as refer more in-depth questions to our librarians for 1:1 support. Another brilliant resource that we have at our fingertips is our citation guides to help ensure folks get their reference lists correct according to citation style.

    That being said, we know that sometimes folks don’t know where they can ask a random question and while some of our inquiries are not library-related, we will do our best to get you headed in the right direction. Our U of A Google skills are pretty exemplary and we have directed folks to our colleagues at the Registrar’s Office, Students Union, Health & Wellness Support and more!

    We are here for you! If you are in need of library support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on our chat service (or pop into any of our locations and see us in person)! We have a chat box on our main page, a pop-up that will appear on the upper right corner of your screen on any of our library site pages, as well a chat box on our Ask Us! page that will also show additional contact options and chat service hours.

    Thanks for the read! Love us on the blog? Chances are, you’ll love us on social media! Follow us, @uofalibrary, on Instagram & Twitter!

    This content is licenced under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence.

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  • 2023 Images of Research Winners

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    The University of Alberta Library, in partnership with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Graduate and Research Studies (FGSR), is pleased to announce the 2023 winners of our Images of Research Competition and Exhibition (IOR). We were thrilled to receive 89 spectacular submissions from a diverse pool of graduates, which made our judges’ tasks all the more difficult. The submissions were narrowed down to 24 images, which were then assigned a first,…

  • Vote Now for the 2023 Images of Research People’s Choice

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    The University of Alberta Library, in partnership with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Graduate and Research Studies (FGSR), is pleased to open the People’s Choice Voting for our 2023 Images of Research Competition and Exhibition (IOR). Our committee was thrilled to receive 89 spectacular entries into this year’s competition. Our five judges had the challenge of whittling this substantial pool down to 24 semi-finalists. To Vote:To view our selected semi-finalists’ work…

  • Images of Research Competition and Exhibition Returns for a 6th Year

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    The University of Alberta Library, in partnership with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Graduate and Research Studies (FGSR), is pleased to announce the return of our annual Images of Research Competition and Exhibition (IOR). The IOR competition, digital exhibition and showcase for semifinalists preserves graduate research in digital form, providing an opportunity for graduate students to communicate their research in a different medium and capture the attention of new audiences. All…

  • Hidden Gems: HeinOnline’s LGBTQ+ Rights Database

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    The University of Alberta Library offers access to numerous resources that are core for certain disciplines, but also really deserving of wider attention. Here is one of those gems… HeinOnline recently provided a new addition to our current subscription. Our University of Alberta community now has access to their LGBTQ+ Rights database, which is perfect to feature during U of A’s 2023 Pride Week, March 13-17. HeinOnline has long been a go-to…

  • Library Resources | The Gift that Keeps on Giving

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    As the winter break descends upon the University of Alberta (U of A), now may be a great opportunity to set aside the research items and indulge in some not-so-guilty pleasures from your library friends…and by friends, we don’t just mean those from the U of A Library. There is a veritable treasure trove of recreational delights within the collections of both U of A Library, AND Edmonton Public Library (EPL). And…

  • Library Staff Call-out | Best Study Spaces

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    As a student, finding the perfect study space is as essential to the study process as having the right books, notepads, pens, playlists, extra super-duper large coffee…well, you get the idea. As we power into the remaining weeks of the semester, we reached out to our Library Staff for their insight into their favourite secret/not-so-secret study areas in order to give you some new, or maybe not-so-new locations to prep for your…

  • World Hello Day | Library Materials that Greet You

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    Welcome to World Hello Day 2022! Internationally observed on November, 21st, World Hello Day is recognized as a University of Alberta Day of Action in which we hope to extend the lines of communication and friendship across cultures, as well as build connections with one another. In 2021, our U of A Library blog provided some background on World Hello Day, with tips on how to make the most out of our…

  • What is an Interlibrary Loan?

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    The University of Alberta Library fields a number of different questions through our service desks and chat service. A common question that regularly pops up involves the term Interlibrary Loan or ILL for short. But what is an ILL? An Interlibrary Loan refers to an item that does not exist within the U of A Library’s holdings, nor the holdings of NEOS, which is a consortium that U of A belongs to.…

  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Subject Guide

    by Junelle Mah
    by Junelle Mah

    In 2019, the University of Alberta released their Strategic Plan for Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity. This document sets forth the institution’s strategic initiatives to, “embed EDI into the culture of the University of Alberta community, from the grassroots to the senior-most levels”. To compliment these initiatives we created a subject guide that highlights intersecting resources on Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity (EDI). Subject guides are a treasure trove of knowledge for researchers; they…

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