Guest Author

This post was written by Amanda Wakaruk, University of Alberta Library’s Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian and co-editor of the Hugo Book Club Blog (2021 Hugo Award nominee for best fanzine). Science fiction (SF) helps us reflect on and improve our understanding of the power and role of scientific discoveries and technological innovation in society — current, past, and speculative. It can also be a lot of fun to read, with stories…

This guest post was written by Christian Isbister who worked with our team at the University of Alberta Archives to help begin the process of decolonizing their collection. Tanisi, hello! My name is Christian Isbister, I’m a Métis librarian/archivist, and I most recently completed a contract with the University of Alberta Archives where I made some early steps towards decolonizing their collection. Here I’ll talk about some of the inherent difficulties in…

When thinking about the heritage and rich cultures of the vast and diverse Asian continent, it is hard not to consider how these holistic views continue influencing people on a global level. Asia is a cradle of major world religions. Most of these religions developed their own philosophies that shaped societies across centuries and created a knowledge and wisdom base that branches deep into every cell of society and personal life. Ways…

With the recent announcement about the end of the University of Alberta’s subscription to RefWorks on October 1, 2021, we wanted to give those interested in trying a new reference manager some information about alternatives to RefWorks. During the last three weeks we have been sharing information about three commonly used citation managers. This final post is about EndNote… This post was written by Megan Kennedy one of our librarians from the…

With the recent announcement of the end of the University of Alberta’s subscription to RefWorks, on October 1, 2021, we wanted to give those interested in trying a new reference manager some information about alternatives to RefWorks. This is the second in our three part series about commonly used citation managers. Meet Zotero… This post was written by Lauren Stieglitz who is a librarian at Cameron Library What is Zotero? Zotero is…

With the recent announcement of the end of the University of Alberta’s subscription to RefWorks on October 1, 2021, we wanted to give those interested in trying a new reference manager some information about alternatives to RefWorks. Over the next three weeks we will be sharing information about three commonly used citation managers. First up is Mendeley… This post was written by Megan Kennedy, one of our librarians from the Scott Library…

Happy World Health Day! Were these normal times, everyone would be hunkering down in library spaces for that final push before end of term and our friends at the Healthy Campus Unit would have several fun and healthful diversions set up in their Wisdom Corners. Sadly, the majority of us are still working from home and we can’t take advantage of on-site Unwind Your Mind activities. In spite of this challenge, the…

We the kitty companions of the University of Alberta Library’s intrepid reference team are taking a stand. Today, what you know as “chat (emphasis on the hard – T) reference service” — will now be known as “chat (the much more refined French pronunciation – ʃa ) reference service.” But fear not gentle students and researchers, you can still expect the same purr-fessionalism and purr-spicacious services you would expect from our human…

“Storytelling is a part of our history, and while books offer us an endless supply of knowledge and adventures, being able to take part in the unique setting of a human library, is an experience like no other. The courage that you witness while you listen first hand to the experiences of the ‘authors’ is not only humbling, but life changing. I am honored and forever grateful to have had the opportunity…