Collections

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.…

Congratulations to ISTL: Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship, for publishing their 100th issue this month!  With its first issue published way back in 1991, ISTL was an early adopter of the electronic publishing medium. Back then, they were distributed using simple text files, and used ASCII art to represent the logo of STS (Science and Technology Section of the American Library Association)! Over the years, ISTL’s format evolved into HTML and…

This post was written by Katie Cuyler, Librarian (Arts & Law) & Government Information Librarian Today, governments share almost all of their public information on their websites. But, what happens when these websites change? When policies, mandates, or governments change? How can researchers access government information from previous governments? The answer is often through the Wayback Machine and Archive-it. Archive-it and the Wayback Machine are invaluable tools when it comes to accessing…

Are you teaching a course this fall? A huge consideration that goes into planning an effective course is the required reading materials that your students will need to consume to be successful in your course. Are they going to be able to access their course materials should the unforeseen occur? If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that situations can change suddenly. Students could lose access to physical items that are located…

This post was written by Sarah Severson, Digital Initiatives Project Librarian This is a 3-part series on the Digitization of SEE Magazine and VUE Weekly. This post is an overview of the project, which answers the question: “How?”  In the coming weeks, we’ll post a short history & timeline of the publications (the “What”), and close out with a collection of personal memories and discuss the research potential of collections like these…

“A book is a magical thing that lets you travel to far-away places without ever leaving your chair.” Katrina Mayer Sometimes all you need for an amazing adventure is a comfy armchair and a fantastic book. With high prices at the pumps and chaos at our airports, why not discover adventure from the comfort of home? Whether planning a road trip across Canada, retracing an intrepid Viking voyage, or cycling the tour…

Among many commemorative titles including Blueberry Month and International Zine Month, July is also anti-boredom month. When you work at a library there are endless amounts of resources to pour over when you need a brain break. Oftentimes during quiet periods at the desk, I like to poke around in the collections our digitization team have made available through Internet Archive. We’ve examined the process of digitization in a previous blog post,…

The Canadian Indigenous music scene is home to sounds and styles that encompass all genres. In celebration of National Indigenous History Month we are highlighting a few of the talented musicians whose work celebrates Indigenous cultures. Their music and vocals entertain but also educate and challenge us by focusing attention on crucial issues. Willie Dunn – Performing at folk festivals in the 1960s and 70s his compositions gave an eloquent voice to…

Au cours de la dernière décennie, le nombre d’écrivains, d’illustrateurs et d’éditeurs autochtones dans le paysage du livre pour la jeunesse a augmenté de façon notable. La bibliothèque de l’Université de l’Alberta continue d’enrichir ses collections de l’excellent travail qui se fait actuellement dans le domaine de l’édition pour enfants et jeunes adultes.  Pour célébrer le Mois de l’histoire des autochtones, nous vous présentons notre liste de lecture d’ouvrages pour la jeunesse…

Congratulations to you, University of Alberta graduate! You’re ready to hit up the real world with your brain full of academic wonder, but what happens when someone tries to challenge your knowledge base once you’ve left U of A’s bunny-frolicked campus grounds? Which academic resources can you use as an alumni to solidify your arguments? Fear not! Your University of Alberta Library has got your back! First, stop by the ONEcard office…