PowerBlog

Usually, the library is alive with people – sitting and reading, meeting friends, borrowing books, getting help.   But now it’s just a few days until the university closes up shop for the Christmas break.   And the signs of it are everywhere.   Fewer staff at work, far fewer students in the halls, pretty quiet everywhere, not just here in the library. So it’s the perfect time to pause and remind ourselves of the great things which happen on our campus and what a pleasure it is to be part of it.   Things will return to their “normal” state once the new term arrives (we re-open January 5 by the way).   But until then, there’s plenty of time to relax, recharge and enjoy a well-deserved break. And everyone here in the Patrick Power Library hopes you do just that.

This library, along with the others in the Novanet system (which includes all of Nova Scotia's university and college libraries), has become part of an initiative to help welcome the refugees who will be coming to Canada over the next few months. 25,000 Tuques is the name of a group which started in Quebec and has spread to other parts of Canada, including this province. The idea is to encourage people to donate a tuque wh ich they have made and include a personal greeting with it (translations available) . The organization does not want anyone to buy hats or any other things. Nor do they want financial donations. There are lots of local and national organizations which would be more than happy to accept those kinds of gifts.  For all the details and a complete list of FAQs, visit their web site. For information on the local scene, visit 25000 Tuques Nova Scotia's Facebook page . There is also a good article at the Halifax Metro web site.  And, of course, you c...

  Our Faculty Author Series continues this week.  Dr. Rohini Bannerjee from Modern Languages and Classics will be here to read from and talk about the short story she wrote for the recently-released publication, India in Canada/Canada In India .   This new book includes contributions from academics around the world on various aspects of the relations between the two countries. The event will be held: Thursday, November 26 at 2 o'clock in Room LI135 (Library, first floor) Everyone is welcome!

 Our Faculty Author Series continues next week and it's the English Department's turn this time.  Dr. Goran Stanivukovic will be here to discuss his latest work, Knights in Arms: prose romance, masculinity and eastern European trade in early modern England, 1565-1655 . This is a book which should be of interest to a lot of people.  Luckily, everyone is invited to attend: Tuesday, November 10 at 3 o'clock in Room LI135 (1st floor of the Library) And refreshments will be served.

The first talk in this year's popular Faculty Author Series will take place this week. Sobey School of Business professor Dr. Albert Mills is the co-author of a new book entitled, The Routledge Companion to Management and Organizational History.   Here's what it says on the publisher's site: " Written by a team of globally renowned scholars, this comprehensive companion analyses management and organizational history, reflecting on the most influential periods and highlighting gaps for future research. From the impact of the Cold War to Global Warming, it examines the field from a wide array of perspectives from humanities to the social sciences" Drop by to hear more about the book's findings from the author himself.  The event will be held: Wednesday, November 4 @ 1 o'clock in Room LI135, Patrick Power Library (main floor) Everyone is welcome (and refreshments will be served).

The Library is pleased to be hosting a very special event this week.   Halifax writer Darren Greer will be here to talk about his latest book, Just Beneath My Skin , this year’s selection for One Book Nova Scotia , a province-wide collective of university and public libraries which encourages readers to experience the same book at the same time. The novel is a portrait of growing up in small town Nova Scotia and has been described as “Gritty, unrelenting, yet peppered with Darren Greer’s trademark poignancy, Just Beneath My Skin is the work of an author at the height of his game”. Here are the details : Time: Friday, October 30 at 2 o’clock Location: Room LI135, Patrick Power Library (main floor) Saint Mary's folks and community members are all welcome.

Alex Boutilier graduated from Saint Mary's a few years ago with an MA in Atlantic Canada Studies. He has since taken his thesis and developed it into a full length book on the early military and cultural life of our city and the fortress which dominates its landscape. Its titled  The Citadel on Stage: British military theatre, sports and recreation in colonial Halifax and the Library is pleased to be able to help launch the new book next week: Time: Tuesday, October 27 at 3 o'clock Location: Room LI135, Patrick Power Library (main floor) The author will read from his work and discuss what his research revealed about this little-known aspect of Halifax society. Everyone is welcome.  And refreshments, as they say, will be served.  

As you've probably heard, there is a big push this year to get more young people involved in the democratic process by voting in the upcoming election.  Elections Canada has even set up temporary polling stations on college and university campuses around the country.  Well Saint Mary's is one of them and it's right here in the Library. Our classroom on the 1st floor has been transformed into a polling station and any eligible student, professor, staff member or even members of the public can vote there. And you can vote for the candidate in your own riding, not just Halifax.  As for the identification you’ll need, there are lots of options. You can get all the details from www.elections.ca , by calling 1-800-463-6868 or TTY 1-800-361-8935 or drop by the Library and talking directly with the folks from Elections Canada. It will be open Monday to Thursday this week, October 5-8, from 10:00am-8:00pm.

Most stores, offices, etc. will be closed on Monday (Labour Day).  And that includes the Library. A 3-day weekend for our hard-working staff.  It doesn't happen often.  But we'll take it. At least we'll be open every day after that, right up until the Christmas break (sorry to mention it, but at least it's a very long way away). So, "Everyone", hope you enjoy the long weekend as much as we will.

Need your SMU ID card?  Need your bus pass? How about information on meal plans, health plans or athletics.  You can get all of that (and a lot more), every day, from now until the middle of next week, from 10am till 4 in the afternoon.  All you have to do is drop by the Services Expo in Room 290 in Loyola. It's a great opportunity to get answers to many of the questions you may have about the university, especially if you're new to Saint Mary's. And if you go before the weekend, you stand a good chance of avoiding some pretty serious line-ups - which are sure to appear once the residence students arrive. There's a display dedicated to the Library but the best thing to do is drop by the real thing.  See you soon.

Over the years Twitter has graduated from frivolous to influential.  Yes, it is still full of "What I had for breakfast this morning" kinds of stuff.  And gossip, of course.  But it is also a major contributor to breaking news, personal communication and social interaction. So we thought it was high time that this Library joined that huge part of the global community which tweets and re-tweets. And you can find us at @SMUHfxLibrary Naturally, we'll focus on things happening here and elsewhere on the Saint Mary's campus. But there will be lots of links on everything from books and reading and research to seemingly random but perhaps interesting events, opinions, insights or revelations from around the digital world. Why not follow us? 

You could be forgiven for assuming that the Library will be closed on Monday.  After all, August 3 is Natal Day, a holiday, and most of this campus and offices and services around town won't be open. But we're still in the middle of summer school and what would summer school be without a library? So, yes, we will be open.  It won't quite be for our usual Monday hours but they are easy to remember: 9:00am - 9:00pm. A space to work, lots of computers, lots of books and staff to help. If you do have to work on Monday, here's hoping you get a lot done.  And that you have at least some time to enjoy the festivities.

Good news for those interested in comprehensive and timely analysis of Canadian economic, political and social issues. The Patrick Power Library is now able to make available the entire collection of documents from the Conference Board of Canada . The database includes approximately 6,000 reports and surveys, even webinar transcripts, from 1998 to the present.  New titles will be added as they become available. If you're affiliated with Saint Mary's, here’s what you need to do in order to access the collection: Click “Conference Board of Canada E-library” on the Library’s Databases A-Z page Click “Sign In” (top right corner) Click “click here” (at end of Sign In for Schools and Media – University or College Students, Staff or Faculty Members ) Click “Access the e-library” (under Educational Access ) Select the document(s) you would like to download – or search by topic, title, author or date It should only be necessary to follow those s...