Changes in the Library for Fall 2020

With the Government of Alberta provincial budget in spring of this year, RDC’s Campus Alberta operating grant was reduced by 2.4% in year for 19/20, and then another 7.4%, for a total of $5.3 million, which has affected RDC’s 2020/2021 budget. That has impacted the Library in these ways.

Hours
We will reduce our regular hours during the academic year by not opening on Saturday mornings. Instead of being open 9:00am-5:00pm, our Saturday hours will be 12:00pm-5:00pm during the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms.

This time period was chosen based on data collected over the past several years. We know that Saturday morning is our least busy time of the week, in terms of people using the library and people requesting assistance from library staff. Choosing that time period to close the library will have the least impact on students.

Makerspace
Due to COVID-19, the Makerspace has been closed since March 16, 2020. As a result of the 2020/2021 budget reductions, the Makerspace will not be reopening.

Some pieces of equipment, such as the button maker and video cameras, will be available for borrowing from the Library Desk. Other pieces of equipment, such as the 3D printers and the laser machine, will be unavailable for the foreseeable future, but may eventually become available through other departments on campus.

There will be no access to the Makerspace multimedia computers. Students, faculty, and staff, will continue to have access to the multimedia computers on the Main Floor of the Library.

There will be no access to the Makerspace location (2006F), including the studio (2006G) and collaboration room (2006H).

Peer Tutoring
There will be changes to the Peer Tutoring program. Details regarding these changes have not been finalized, and may not be in place for the beginning of the Fall term. We will share more information when it is available.

These decisions were not made lightly. We recognize how they affect our students, faculty, and staff, and the wider community who use our space and access our services. However, we are confident that these difficult decisions are the right ones to ensure long-term sustainability.

Library Textbook collection … now expanded!

Recognizing the financial burden of purchasing textbooks, and hoping to ease the load for students, the Library introduced a reserve textbook collection in 2018, and we’ve been adding to it every semester since then!

When deciding which textbooks to purchase, these are the criteria we consider:

• high cost (over $100)
• first-year or introductory course
• course with a large enrollment

Reserve textbooks are available for 2-hour loans from the Library Desk or the Information Desk on the 3rd Floor of DSB (for those classes offered at the DSB). Just bring your iCard to borrow a textbook.

Select textbooks are available for the following courses:

• ACCT 204
• ANTH 200 & 201
• ART 201 & 305
• BADM 110 & 132
• BIOL 217 & 218
• BUS 201 & 311
• CHEM 203 & 211
• COMM 150, 250, & 271
• ECON 100 & 201
• EDAS 116 & 152
• EDUC 250
• EET 210
• ELCC 201 & 215
• ENCP 200
• ENGG 230
• ENGL 095, 291, & 220
• FAM 315
• GET 106, 111, &116
• HSCI 105
• INTP 102
• JUST 100
• KNSS 204 & 210
• MATH 202
• PHIL 201
• PHYS 075, 095, 205, & 258
• POLI 201
• PSYC 260, 313, 353, & 375
• SOCI 260
• SOWK 201 & 301
• STAT 251

An Urgency of Teachers: The Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy

“Critical Pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning predicated on fostering agency and empowering learners.”

An Urgency of Teachers is in the RDC Library

An Urgency of Teachers: The Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy is a collection of essays by Sean Michael Morris (@slamteacher) and Jesse Stommel (@jessifer).

In this collection, the authors explore a multitude of themes, including online learning, educational technology, social justice, open education, plagiarism, instructional design, and teaching online. These bite-sized thought-provoking essays provide food for thought and serve as a springboard for dialogue with both instructors and students.

The authors discuss An Urgency of Teachers on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Listen Now!

The authors have made available an open-access version.
Read it for Free Online

“For education to work, there can be no divide between teachers and students.”

An Urgency of Teachers is the current selection for the Quiet Book Club, an initiative of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). This title has been co-selected with the Centre for Learning & Innovation at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, Manitoba. We are excited to have them join us virtually for our book discussion in November. 

We invite all RDC students, staff, and faculty to read the book and join us in November to share how the book has impacted you personally or professionally:

Quiet Book Club Meeting – Everyone welcome!
Date: November 20, 2019 from 12-1 pm
Location: 913E

Recommended Reading from RDC Library

• An Urgency of Teachers: The Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy by Sean Michael Morris and Jesse Stommel
• Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James M. Lang
• Teaching Naked Techniques : A Practical Guide to Designing Better Classes by Jose A. Bowen and C. Edward Watson
• The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips by Judith V. Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad

Indigenous Book Club Month

June is National Indigenous History Month and marks the fourth anniversary of Indigenous Book Club Month.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, Carolyn Bennett, who launched this initiative in 2016, encourages the reading of books by Indigenous authors “to provide an opportunity to learn and ‎begin those difficult conversations about the stories, history and cultures which we never learned about in school.‎” (via CICON)

To honour the occasion, the Library partnered with the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s Quiet Book Club and held our first Book Talk event to highlight Indigenous authors.

Panelists presented a variety of must-read Indigenous titles:

• All the Way: My Life on Ice by Jordan Tootoo (memoir)
• Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit by Marie Battiste (nonfiction)
• Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead (fiction)
• A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott (memoir)
• The Missing by Melanie Florence (young adult fiction)
• The Round House by Louise Erdrich (fiction)
• The Sharing Circle by Theresa “Corky” Larsen-Jonasson (children’s literature) 
• They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars (memoir)
• Ways of Knowing: An Introduction to Native Studies in Canada by Yale Deron Belanger (textbook)

And these titles were suggested by Book Talk attendees:

• Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (request via NEOS)
• Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival by Velma Wallis (request via NEOS)

These books (and even more titles by Indigenous authors) are available at RDC Library. Add them to your summer reading list and check them out!

#IndigenousReads

Fact Checking Fake News

The Associated Press has launched a new tool in their fight against fake news. In the AP Fact Check section of their website, they provide fact checking for individual stories, as well as a weekly round-up called “Not Real News: A Look at What Didn’t Happen this Week.”  If you have questions about a story you read recently, this is a useful resource to find out if it’s true.  Check it out!

RDC Library Collection

To meet the needs of students and faculty, RDC Library provides a collection of physical and electronic resources. Resources are chosen by librarians, in consultation with faculty where appropriate. The Library obtains information in the most suitable format based on availability and user needs; electronic format is preferred where it provides obvious advantages, such as remote access (from off-campus) or access by multiple users.

The entire collection is actually made up of several distinct parts:

Main Collection
This is the major part of our collection. It includes resources such as print books, eBooks, DVDs, CDs, print and online journals (both scholarly and popular), and streaming videos.

Leisure Reading Collection
Fiction and non-fiction intended to encourage and facilitate a culture of leisure reading at RDC.

Curriculum Collection
The Curriculum Collection primarily supports teacher education programs and courses in the RDC School of Education. This collection has materials authorized by the Government of Alberta for use in Alberta schools, plus supporting materials, children’s and young adult literature, and non-book items such as sound and video recordings, games, manipulatives, models, and kits.

Reserve Collection
Reserves are high-demand items available for short-term loans, such as select textbooks and course-specific readings, laptops, and other equipment.

RDC Authors Collection
Materials written or produced by RDC faculty, staff, and students are actively acquired by the Library. You can find these items on our shelves by looking for the red “Red Deer College Authors” sticker.

The RDC Library collection is also available to members of the Central Alberta community through memberships and partnerships, and to the larger library community through resource sharing agreements.

LNAP – Winter 2019

Get together and get it done! The RDC Library is pleased to host Long Night Against Procrastination (LNAP), a “study blitz” event that provides supported after-hours study space, services, and stress relief. Meet and beat your deadlines!

Healthy snacks, juice, and hot beverages will be available thanks to the generous support of the Students’ Association.

Check out the LNAP Facebook page for updates!

Use the hashtag #LNAP2019 on twitter to share your experience!

Drop-In Services

• research help
• citation help throughout the night with an APA focused session at 10pm!
• disability resources drop-in from 4pm-6pm
• writing help
• Statistics 251 tutor sessions from 8-9pm and 10-11pm
• tech help

If you plan to attend LNAP:

• bring your own water bottle and/or mug; there will be free food and hot beverages
• plan your ride home in advance
• use the Safe Walk program to get to your car or return to RDC Residence

Questions? Call the Library at 403.342.3344.

Fun Facts from LNAP Fall 2018

Open Education Week 2019 – Resource Spotlight

What is an OER?

“Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost. Unlike fixed, copyrighted resources, OER have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights.”

–OER Commons

Started by the Open Education Consortium in 2013, the goal of Open Education Week is to increase awareness and showcase the impact of open education on teaching and learning. 

Resource Spotlight – Cree: Language of the Plains/nēhiyawēwin: paskwāwi-pīkiskwēwin

With funding from the Government of Saskatchewan, University of Regina Press offers a number of open source books for free online. Cree: Language of the Plains is an educational resource, providing a broad range of learning materials that are easily accessible to Cree language learners.

This collection includes an updated and restructured Cree language textbook, audio labs, and a workbook. The language labs are also available as podcasts, search “Cree Language of the Plains” on your podcast app.

NEOS – Blacklight Search Interface

What is Blacklight?

Blacklight is a new user interface for the NEOS Catalogue which aims to improve the user experience.

It is currently being beta tested and we would appreciate any feedback you can provide.

What’s Different?

The layout for each item record has now changed. The location of an item is now displayed on the right side and the place hold button is now located on the upper left side. A comparison of the new and old layout can be seen below.

Tips and Tricks

Citing an item
Blacklight includes a citation generator, but always double check the generated citations against the appropriate standard.

Institution vs. Library
Some institutions, such as the University of Alberta, have more than one library on campus. This limiter works to restrict searches to only libraries associated with a particular institution. At Red Deer College searching by library will be the most appropriate.

Holds
Clicking on “Place Hold” will open a new tab. Return to your Blacklight search by selecting the NEOS tab in the browser.

 Access Limiters

• At Library: is the equivalent of on a shelf (not necessarily available) and indicates any physical format such as: book, video (DVD), sound recording (CD) etc. 
• Online: electronic resource (eBook,  streaming video)
• Format > Book: = (eBook/Internet AND monograph) if you want to limit your search to books only (electronic and physical) use the Format > Book. If you only want physical books use Format > Book combined with At Library
• Electronic Format (eBook/Internet): if you want eBooks select Format >Book combined with Online. This search will eliminate streaming videos.

Expert Search Advice

• Create short, simple searches with just a few terms. Use the filters (on the More Options or search results page) to limit the results.

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• You can still use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), but only on the More Options page. (Note that Boolean operators must be in all capitals.)

As you use the new search, please send feedback to NEOS!

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Library Information Common services during Reading Break 2019

RDC will have an extended Reading Break due to the Canada Winter Games, Feb. 15 to Mar. 3, 2019.

The Library Information Common will be open regular hours during Reading Break (except closed for Family Day: Mon., Feb. 18), and most services will be offered as usual. Connect with the Library Information Common in person, by live chat, by phone, by text message, and by email.

Library
Open; all services available (research help; citation help; technology help; faculty and copyright support; library collection)

Makerspace
Closed Feb. 15 to Mar. 1
Open Mar. 2 & 3

Academic Support

• ESL Tutoring: open; check appointment availability
• Learning Skills and Strategies: open; check appointment availability or drop in
• Math Learning Centre: open; check the drop-in schedule
• Peer-Assisted Learning Sessions (PALS): closed
• Writing Skills Centre: open; check appointment availability or drop in

Disability Resources
Open; check appointment availability or drop in

Research Common
Open; check the drop-in office hours

DSB Service Desk
Closed.