PowerBlog

It's been 20 years since the creation of the Environmental Science program at Saint Mary's.  20 years of teaching, learning and researching the biological, chemical and physical bases for the planet's ecological challenges. One of the events to help mark this milestone is being held this coming Thursday, March 5 at 3 o'clock in the Library's classroom (LI135) . Professors Jason Clyburne, Cristian Suteanu and Aldona Wiacek from the Environmental Science program will talk on the theme, “Our Oceans of Air: from carbon-capture to air quality and climate change”. As always, everyone is welcome to attend and refreshments will be readily available. Or if you would prefer to read about any of the vast array of environmental issues out there, the Library has put together a very nice display of SMU faculty publications and other green-oriented books in one convenient location, also on the main floor and easily found.

It's that time of year.  From now until March 1, you can save money and help a worthy cause at the same time. How?  Drop off non-perishable food items at the Circulation Desk.  For each item you donate, any overdue book fines you have will be reduced by $2.  How does it work?  Owe 30 dollars in fines?  Then bring in 15 items worth a dollar each and your fines will be taken care of. All of the food (and any cash people want to donate) will be given to local food banks.  So everybody wins. Food For Fines is a Novanet-wide initiative which, since its inception about a decade ago, has generated many thousands of donations.  Let's keep it going!

The final event in this year's Faculty Author Series is coming up: Wednesday, January 28 at 3 o'clock Room LI135 (main floor) Dr. Brian Bartlett from the English Department will be here to talk about the process of creating his new book, Ringing Here and There: a Nature Calendar.   He will discuss his reasons for writing it and the research he did and answer questions as well.  The whole thing will probably take about an hour - time well spent. Everyone (students, faculty, members of the public) is welcome.

Tomorrow (that's Wednesday, January 21) at 2:30 the Library's Faculty Author Series resumes. Irish Studies professor Padraig O'Siadhail will be here to talk about his biography, Katherine Hughes: a life and a journey.   The book traces Hughes' evolution from PEI-born "Canadian Imperialist" to Irish Republican activist, from her birth in 1876 to her death in 1925. The talk will take place in Room LI135 on the first floor of the Library.  Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served.

On the surface, nothing's changed.  Our homepage looks the same as it did yesterday.  But below the surface, a lot has changed.  That white search box?  The one under "Start your research here"? It's a whole lot different. The consortium of university and college libraries in Nova Scotia (you know it as Novanet) has invested in a new and better way to get access to our vast print and online collections.  Now, when you type some words into that box, it will be easier than ever to find the books, fulltext articles, e-books and other materials you need. The new, streamlined interface offers many things we think you'll love, including :  Immediate indication whether a book is available (or not) Just one click to get the fulltext of articles Improved subject indexing Easy access to your Novanet account so you can request materials or renew loans online Access to LiveHelp chat for assistance with your research questions So the results page will have a...

There now exists a real opportunity for you to directly influence future online access to Canadian historical materials... The Canadiana Heritage Historical Documents Digitization Project is a partnership with Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Knowledge Research Network and others. Canadian universities, including Saint Mary's, have invested several million dollars in their work. The Project is now seeking input on which paper historic documents are most important to digitize. The Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J9T6PHP (Please note that it closes December 19, 2014) asks you to  select the paper documents which you would most like to see digitized.  The Heritage Project will use survey input to guide future work. So I encourage you to take a moment to fill in the survey, and pass it along to others who might be interested. - Peter Webster Associate University Librarian, Information Technology Patrick Power Library 902-420-5507  pete...

In the coming year, Statistics Canada will be moving to a new, reorganized web site.  This could have a significant impact on how Saint Mary’s researchers access Statistics Canada data.  So we encourage all of you to have a look at the site redesign and provide feedback.  Changes to the way CanSim socioeconomic data is delivered is of particular importance for those who use that resource.  If you have any questions about Statistics Canada webpage changes and changes to data delivery,  please contact: Peter Webster Associate University Librarian, Information Technology Patrick Power Library, Saint Mary's University 902-420-5507  peter.webster@smu.ca For a bit more background (and links), here's what it says on the Statistics Canada site: "Statistics Canada is testing a new way to organize its statistical information.  Our goal is to make sure that our products are user friendly and easy to find on our website. ...