PowerBlog

The Library has teamed with the Saint Mary's Department of Accounting to make available yet another premier business source. NRG Metrics provides corporate governance data on a wide range of related topics, from ownership to independence, from membership to control.  It allows both longitudinal and comparative analysis of approximately 5,500 companies in 46 countries and covers the years from 2007 to 2014.  Content is developed by an independent team of market professionals and academic researchers in the field of corporate governance. Subjects include: Boards of Directors (e.g. size, frequency of meetings, makeup of committees) Membership information (e.g. age, gender, independence, tenure on board) Audit (e.g. fees, audit firm) Ownership (e.g. director shareholdings, top 5 largest shareholders, voting rights of different share classes) More information on the data sets can be found on NRG’s web site .  Dat a is availa...

Local academic libraries, including this one, have teamed up with the Nova Scotia Legislative Library to improve public access to government documents produced in this province.  Acting through Novanet, the library consortium for Nova Scotia's colleges and universities, digital copies of  government publications produced from 2007-2013 are now searchable and retrievable from the Novanet catalogue. This is an ongoing project, with 2014-2016 material currently being added. And there are also plans to include Hansard Proceedings, the verbatim transcript of the debates in the House of Assembly , in the near future. It is also an attempt to gain a wider audience for the resources of the Legislative Library, which is chiefly used by MLAs, staff of the Legislature, political party caucuses and local media. It's important to note that the content will not be restricted to those affiliated with a college or university. Any member of the public with a ...

The survey of Saint Mary's undergrads' use of information technology has been completed.  Now ITSS and the Library needs to analyze all of that data and opinion to help determine where we go from here in the provision of academic computing hardware, software and services. In the meantime, we're happy to report that a 2nd year b usiness student, Brianna Lloy, was the lucky winner of a nice new iPad Mini.  Her name was randomly drawn from among the approximately 750 Saint Mary's students who took part in the survey,  She is shown here with Associate University Librarian Peter Webster (left) and Perry Sisk, Senior Director, Information Technology Systems and Support.

Yes, it's that time of year. Students' final stubborn papers and/or projects will be coming due very soon.  And exams will follow shortly thereafter. Which is why, like we do every year, the Library is increasing its hours of operation to accommodate all those hard-working, late-night-loving souls preparing for the home stretch. Beginning tomorrow, Saturday, March 19, and continuing until April 19, we will remain open until 1 o'clock in the morning. Some days we will open earlier in the morning too.  The best place to get the up to date schedule is on our homepage.  And all the best to all of them.

The Library is partnering with the university’s ITSS department to try and find out more about the many different ways our undergrads use information technology.   It’s part of a larger survey being conducted at schools across Canada and the U.S. by the Educause Centre for Academic Research (ECAR). All Saint Mary’s undergraduate students should have received an e-mail recently which explained the purpose of the survey and invited them to share their thoughts on how they interact with information technology and their present, even future, needs. The University has committed itself to the ongoing evaluation and responsiveness of the hardware, software and research infrastructure it provides.    So the information and opinions which are gathered as a result of the survey will go a long way to informing the decisions made in this critical area. More information on the survey and ECAR’s work can be found on their web site . If you would like to know more ...