Trout Unlimited Supports Local Libraries

On Jan 8, 2013, Doug Pullan, Secretary of the Central Alberta Chapter of Trout Unlimited Canada, presented donations to Kristine Plastow from Red Deer College Library and Ron Sheppard from Parkland Regional Library.

This is the third year that this chapter has provided funds to purchase books and DVDs that focus on fish, fish habitat and the surrounding riparian areas. The value of this year’s donation was $1500. The books that were approved by the chapter’s executive committee were tailored towards people of all ages as well as college level reference texts. The chapter has received encouraging feedback from the libraries indicating people are more concerned about our water resources and are looking at good stewardship in a different light.  The Central Alberta Chapter believes education is an important part of the mission and goals of Trout Unlimited Canada and will continue with further financial contributions to local libraries in the future.

Photo: Kristine Plastow (RDC Library), Doug Pullan (TUC’s Central Alberta Chapter), Ron Sheppard (PRL)

 

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Got a question? Text RDC Library!

Got a research question? Need directions? Wonder when we’re open? Now you can text us your question!

If you’re ever sitting in your PJs and need last-minute help citing an article, have a great spot in the Library and don’t want to leave your stuff, or are in your office and can’t remember how to find RefWorks,  RDC Library has a solution just for you.

Starting this Fall, you can Text RDC Library @ 403.800.8945.   Text us your questions during Library hours and we will text you right back!

Longer question? No cell phone?  RDC Library is available by phone @ 403.342.3152, by email @ rdclibrary@gmail.com, and by chat.

And, of course, you are more than welcome to come to the Library and see us in person!

A New Kind of Library

Columbia architecture grad John Locke is conducting an experiment on the streets of New York City, setting up impromptu libraries in phone booths.  So far he’s set up two, but has plans for several more.  Check out the photos, read the interview, and then tell us what you think.  Is this a good idea?

Ever wonder what a day in the library is like?

Check out the Library Day in the Life Project.  Started by librarian Bobbi Newman, the project is a semi-annual event during which people who work in libraries all over the world document what goes on in a typical day.

The most recent event took place from January 30 to February 5, 2012, and one of the participants was our very own Robyn Hall.  Take a look and see if you can find her posts on the wiki.

A Little Piece of Magic in Scotland

For most of last year, a mysterious, anonymous artist enchanted Scotland’s library and literary community by leaving amazingly intricate paper sculptures made out of books at various libraries throughout the country.  Ten sculptures were left in all, between March and November.

Chris Scott, a photographer who took pictures of all of the sculptures, tells the story of these gifts much better than I can.  Enjoy the story, and the photos of the beautiful sculptures that accompany it.

Thanks to Danielle, who pointed me in the direction of this story.

Your Library: A Place Unbound

Innovative.
Transformative.
Connected.

Canada’s libraries are evolving to meet the needs of an increasingly information-driven society.

In October, this evolution is celebrated during Canadian Library Month. The theme, Your Library, A Place Unbound, highlights the shift to innovations such as digital and downloadable books, music, movies, electronic databases, gaming and reaching out to library users via social media.

Today, there are over 22,000 libraries in incredibly diverse Canadian communities, from major metropolitan areas to towns and rural hamlets, from research-intensive universities to colleges of art and design. (By comparison, there are just over 3,000 Tim Hortons stores in Canada.)

Learn more about Canadian Library Month.

Ask Us… By Appointment

Do you know students who want some extra help with their research? Send them to the library!

In addition to answering research questions at the library’s Information Desk as they come up, we are relaunching our Ask Us… By Appointment service on October 25, 2010.

This service allows students to make appointments for in-depth, 30-minute research consultations with library staff throughout the academic year.

Appointments might involve helping a student to:

• Narrow a research topic and get started finding sources
• Search databases, the library catalogue and/or the Web
• Distinguish between popular and scholarly sources
• Properly cite sources

Students can make appointments by phone (403-342-3152), email (rdclibrary@gmail.com) or in person at the Information Desk.

For more information, please visit the Ask Us! section of the library website.

Please let your students know about this great service!

Is a Future Without Libraries OK with You?

Lorne Daniel posted a column on the Life as a Human website last week, pondering the question of whether libraries as an institution would be invented today.  The post is too interesting for me to try to summarize it here, so I’ll just recommend that you read it, and then let me know what you think.  Would we invent libraries now, if we didn’t already have them?

APA Style Manual Corrections

APA has made a number of corrections to the 6th edition, a complete list of which is available on their website , along with new sample papers. While most of the changes are relatively minor, a few corrections are quite significant in terms of formatting.  Please take a look and update the information you’ve given to students as soon as possible.  For official information from APA regarding the corrections, please see their blog.

As you are probably aware, the Library has created an online guide to provide extensive assistance to APA users.   This guide has been updated to reflect the relevant corrections.  We have also updated our popular APA handout. The updated handout is available for downloading from the online guide, or is available in print in the Library.

If you have brought your students to the Library this fall for instruction in using APA 6th Edition, the librarian who worked with your students would be happy to visit your class and go through the most significant changes.  This visit likely won’t take more than about 15 minutes; please contact the relevant librarian if you’re interested.

Please contact your Liaison Librarian if you require more information about APA 6th Edition.