Collections

By David Sulz, Public Service Librarian You can access tens of thousands of Chinese-language items through University of Alberta Library, many of which are not on the open internet. We have physical and electronic items; historic and recent; scholarly and popular non-fiction; poetry and fiction; newspapers and magazines; music and film; art and photography; and even primary source documents.  We collect them for everyone from fluent Chinese speakers, to language learners, and…

As the University of Alberta Library highlights China and Chinese culture in this month’s blog, I feel very fortunate to write a two-part special on Chinese tea. Not only do I get to venture into my favourite section of Rutherford’s stacks (fourth floor, call range GV 2907), but I get to transfer a piece of my personal history into written word. Part One will introduce Chinese tea, as well as some of…

With summer in full swing, many of us are taking time to explore our hobbies and interests, or we are digging deeper into the things we are studying. With the library stacks still closed, let me take you all on a short browse through the stacks to explore some books about Art. I at first felt a bit intimidated on how to approach such a wide and impactful topic. The word ‘art’…

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…

Congratulations to all the 2021 Spring graduate students! Did you know that their theses are in ERA, our institutional repository? There are over 300 to explore that are open to everyone. Governor General’s Gold Medal This spring, Michelle Lavoie, as part of her PhD in Educational Policy Studies, won the Governor General’s Gold Medal for achieving academic excellence at the graduate level. At the University of Alberta, the award recognizes the doctoral…

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…

As Indigenous History Month continues, now is a great time to explore the over 500 individual items on Indigenous research in The University of Alberta’s Educational and Research Archive (ERA) and The University of Alberta media streaming repository, Aviary. The Situated Knowledges, Indigenous Peoples and Place (SKIPP) Virtual Colloquium took place in the Summer of 2020. SKIPP showcased University of Alberta scholars’ journeys into or with Indigenous-engaged research and scholarship. Streaming videos…

Are you like Monty & Ainsley and need a break from textbooks, papers, and Zoom calls? It could be time set aside the academia (for a wee scootch) and delve into some other reads that the University of Alberta Library (UAL) has to offer. Additionally, you could also explore the wonderful partnership our library has with our friends at Edmonton Public Library (EPL) through our L-Pass. The L-Pass allows current U of…

Last June, I took readers on a brief overview of some of the streaming audiovisual resources that feature media content concentrated on Indigenous peoples of North America and beyond. Now I would like to take everyone on a deeper dive into one of the resources featured in that original post: NFB Campus. Those of us who spent our formative years in Canada are probably familiar with National Film Board of Canada (NFB)…

When I first came onboard at University of Alberta Library, several years ago, I was given a tour of our North Campus facilities, including the dwellings of our collections and bibliographic services team where books are prepared for their final on-shelf destiny. To get to the staff workspaces we had to traverse a room filled with shelves and boxes of books that had been donated by former students and ardent supporters of…