Faculty

By Sarah Polkinghorne I’m a librarian in the Library’s Collection Strategies Unit (CSU), and a lecturer in the School of Library and Information Studies. I’d like to offer some things to consider around ebooks. As instructors work to adapt courses for a mainly-online Fall term, Library staff support this work, in part by fielding questions about all sorts of publications. This post shares key information about ebooks in particular, ie., books existing…

Written By Abbie Schenk When we think of data visualizations, we often think of charts, maps and other forms of expressing data in digital ways. But humans have visualized data for thousands of years, long before computer screens were invented. Some of the earliest data visualizations go back to 5500 BC when Mesopotamians used clay tokens to visualize data. Today, representing data in a physical manner is called data physicalization. The Digital…

Are you the type of person  who constantly has music on in the background? Do you play an instrument or have an interest in music theory or history? Do you like diving through the unknown corners of the digital space in search of a hidden musical jewel? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, what you find below will be the ticket to your next great musical journey!  The…

Since the majority of us are stuck inside and online, we all have to find ways to work, learn, stay connected, shop, exercise or entertain ourselves… well… online. Even though the internet has been part of our world for a while now, and most of us take advantage of it already, ‘social distancing’ has resulted in significantly more time spent in front of our screens and a higher demand for quality streaming…

This is a challenging time for students and researchers alike, as we all adapt to working without many of the resources essential to our daily work. On the U of A Library Digital Initiatives team, staff has been working for years to build robust and interesting online research collections. Although we can’t wander among the shelves in person, we did ask our team to recommend some online collections that offer a similar…

In this unique exhibition, you will learn about the phenomena of structural colour and use microscopes to experience how it works in nature. This exhibit highlights how structural colour connects the latest research in science, art and design. It runs from January 30 to March 27 at the Augustana Library. Structural colouration is a phenomena in nature in which colour is obtained through microscopically structured surfaces of living organisms and their connection…

Attention: To mitigate infection spread risks of COVID-19, Dogs in the Library will be cancelled March 13 – April 13 inclusive. Our four-legged friends from CAAWLS are back to trade snuggles for smiles. This term is extra special, as the dogs make their debut at Bibliothèque Saint-Jean. Here’s when and where you can take a break from your studies and partake in a delightful doggie visit. January 16th: Rutherford Library, 10:00am January…

Staff profiles tell the story of an organization. Here at the University of Alberta Library, this is ours… Meet Sean Luyk!Sean Luyk is our Digital Projects Librarian, working on the 2nd floor of Cameron Library. You have an interesting title of Digital Projects Librarian. What kind of projects does a Digital Projects Librarian do? In my role, I’m responsible for our media archiving service (ERA A+V). This involves working with our users to archive…

This is a guest post by librarians, Jessica Thorlakson and Janice Kung The University of Alberta Libraries (UAL) is a strong supporter of teaching and information literacy. In 2018, your library staff taught approximately 667 sessions with approximately 17,542 library users. That’s a lot of people! One of the best ways to do this is through the collaboration between professors/instructors and subject librarians. Librarians come into classes and provide relevant library and…