Library News
Graduate student travel scholarship available for OpenCon 2017
McMaster University Library is pleased to sponsor one McMaster graduate student to attend OpenCon 2017 in Berlin, Germany from November 11-13, 2017. This year’s conference is organized by SPARC, a global coalition devoted to advancing Open Access*, Open Data and Open Education, and the Right to Research Coalition, a student arm of SPARC, in partnership with the Max Planck Society.
OpenCon brings together a community of early career researchers and scholars from around the world to showcase Open Access projects, discuss issues related to Open Access and to explore ways to build a more open system for research and education.
Read about 2016 travel scholarship winner, Mike Galang's, experiences at OpenCon
The travel scholarship, valued at approximately $3300 CDN, will cover the cost of the successful candidate’s registration fee (which includes most meals), roundtrip flight and shared accommodation.
In return, the University Library asks that the successful candidate produce a short 800-1000 word report on the conference experience. The candidate may also be asked to participate in activities related to International Open Access Week, Oct. 23-29, 2017.
To apply, complete the secure online application form. Applications will close at midnight on Wed. Sept. 6, 2017.
For more information, please contact Olga Perkovic, Research and Advanced Studies Librarian.
*Open Access is a global movement to make scholarly articles publicly available online, free of financial or legal barriers.
New Library Catalogue is here
Filed under Library News: Alerts Archives & Research Collections e-Resources Instruction Lyons New Media Centre Maps, Data, GIS Research @ McMaster Thode Web Resources
The University Library and Health Sciences Library have now launched the new Library Catalogue.
On the University Library and Health Sciences Library websites, you will find Quick Search, which integrates journal articles with books and other library collections, as well as options to search only the catalogue and a refreshed 'classic' catalogue. We’ve created an FAQ document with tips and information about the new search interfaces that may be helpful in getting started.
User accounts, including the ability to place holds and recalls, are once again available. All of your currently checked-out items should appear in your account. Library accounts now have PIN codes in order to make them more secure. You will be prompted to create a PIN the first time you log in. Here’s how:
- Click on Account/Renewals from the Library homepage or select My Library Account from the top right corner of the catalogue page.
- On the login screen, enter your name (either first or last is sufficient) and the 14-digit barcode number on your McMaster ID card. Leave the PIN field blank. Click Submit.
- When you are prompted to enter a new PIN, choose a numeric code at least 4 digits long.
The system will log you into your account and save your PIN. The next time you need to access your account, enter all three pieces of information on the login screen. Always remember to log out of your account, especially when using a public or shared computer.
If you have questions about the new search interfaces or the features available from your user account, please feel free to contact us. We appreciate your patience during the transition over the last few days.
Attention students: Want a job at the Library?
Work program job postings for a variety of student positions at the Library are now live on Mosaic.
WorkStudy students can apply to work 10 hours a week in a range of positions available across libraries at McMaster and in different library departments.
To see a list of job postings, go to the Mosaic website, click on ‘Career Opportunities,’ then select 'Student Work Program.' Just search the word ‘library’ to find all available jobs.
Student can apply for multiple jobs. Applications MUST include an APPROVED WorkStudy application form to be considered for an interview.
Students can check their eligibility for the Work Program positions by visiting the Student Financial Aid & Scholarships (SFAS) website.
New Library catalogue Aug. 16: What’s new, how to get ready
The University Library and Health Sciences Library's new catalogue system includes a number of new features including an inproved search interface that integrates journal articles with books and other library collections.
The University Library and Health Sciences Library will be launching a new library catalogue in the coming weeks.
The system, which will launch on Wednesday August 16, brings with it new library accounts as well as a host of new features. The most visible change will be an improved search interface that integrates journal articles with books and other library collections. A refreshed 'classic' catalogue will also be available on the University Library and Health Sciences Library websites.
All existing checkouts and hold requests will move automatically to the new system and will appear in users' new accounts. Those with lists of items saved in their existing account will need to take steps to export their lists to the new system. The steps are outlined below.
New Features:
- Create a PIN code to keep your library account secure.
- Keep a list of library materials that you’ve checked out and returned to the library by turning on Reading History in your user account.
- Receive text messages alerting you to new information about your checkouts or hold requests by turning on SMS Messages in your user account.
- Request books from Mills, Thode, or Innis Libraries and have them waiting for you at the service desk. (And, of course, browsing and self-serve from the shelves is always available!)
How to prepare:
Before October 31, you will need to export any lists of items that you have saved in your existing user account.
Option 1: Export your lists from your account and import to your preferred citation management tool. The main Library Catalogue interface on our website makes it easy to export your lists to EndNote, EndNote Web, and RefWorks, and in more general citation file formats BibTeX and RIS. After the new catalogue is launched, use this link to access your previous library account and retrieve your lists.
Note that if you've created lists using the Classic Catalogue they are separate from those in the main catalogue. You can print or e-mail those lists after logging into your account from the Classic Catalogue, or follow the steps below.
Option 2: After August 16, you can recreate your lists in your new user account by following the steps below:
- Do a search in the new catalogue for an item on your list.
- Click the folder icon under "Additional actions" for your item in either the search results or the record detail page.
- Repeat steps 1-2 for each item on your list.
- Click the My Folder link at the top right corner of the page.
- Select (check) the items you want to save to a list.
- Choose Save to List from the action toolbar.
- If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to log into your account.
- Once you are logged in, the system displays the Save to My List form. From here, you can either:
- Choose an existing list from the drop-down menu and click the Add button to add the items to an existing list.
- Or, click Save to new list to start a new list of items. If you create a new list, enter a name and description, and then click Create.
The Libraries are excited to bring you these new features and to provide an updated search interface that better integrates our physical and electronic collections.
If you have questions about these changes, please feel free to contact us. We appreciate your patience and support as we've worked through the changes and roll out of this new library services platform.
2017/18 Graduate Residency in Digital Scholarship: Apply now
The Ruth and Lewis Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship invites applications for the 2017-2018 Graduate Residency in Digital Scholarship.
The residency program is designed to assist outstanding graduate students who are interested in developing digital scholarship as a component of their research and to involve them in a scholarly community engaged in digital scholarship at McMaster University and beyond.
Current or accepted graduate students from all Faculties at McMaster University may apply.
The deadline for applications is Friday, September 8 at 5:00 p.m.
Learn more about the 2017-2018 Graduate Residency in Digital Scholarship
Mapping a nation: McMaster's Canadian rare maps
McMaster Univeristy Library has an extensive and varied collection of maps that help chart the evolution of Canada. The following video explores some of the rare and historic Canadian maps contained in the Library's Lloyd Reeds Map Collection, dating back as far as the 16th century.
New international journal explores Students as Partners in teaching and learning
(From left) Anita Ntem, an undergraduate student from Bryn Mawr College and Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, a PhD student at the University of Queensland speak at the launch of the International Journal for Students as Partners. Both students are members of the journal’s editorial team. The journal was developed in partnership with the MacPherson Institute and is hosted by McMaster University Library Press.
A new online journal, hosted by McMaster University Library Press, is exploring how students are working in partnership with faculty and staff to enhance teaching and learning in higher education.
The International Journal for Students as Partners (IJSaP) developed by the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching – with the guidance of an advisory group made up of international experts – contains scholarship focused on emerging perspectives, practices and policies related to faculty-student partnerships in teaching and learning in higher education.
The journal, which is peer-reviewed and open access, is accepting scholarly articles, case studies, opinion pieces, reflective essays, and reviews in the area of “Students as Partners,” an emerging field of scholarship that involves students as co-creators, co-researchers, co-teachers, co-producers and co-designers in teaching and learning.
IJSaP is inviting international submissions particularly those co-authored by students and faculty or staff. The first issue was published in May and includes contributions by 21 students and 28 faculty or staff from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Vivian Lewis, McMaster University Librarian and member of the International Advisory Group for IJSaP, says increasingly, fully digital, open access journals like IJSaP represent the future of scholarly publishing.
“Times have changed and new, open access journals are emerging and beginning to take prominence,” says Lewis. “Also, the ‘born digital’ format both dramatically reduces the time from the original submission to final posting without jeopardizing the rigorous peer-review process, and allows visual and other digital media to be incorporated into submissions. We are proud to be a part of this innovative undertaking and to host this journal on our open access, online platform.”
In addition to IJSaP, McMaster University Library Press (MULPress) hosts a number of high-quality, peer-reviewed journals on its platform. To see a list of student journals published by the Library, please visit Student Journals @ McMaster University.
For questions about IJSAP, or to send comments, please send an email to ijsap@mcmaster.ca, or to start an open access, peer-reviewed, faculty or student journal, please contact scom@mcmaster.ca.
Canada 150: From McMaster’s Archives
Materials from the collections of (from top left) Bruce Cockburn, Margaret Laurence (from bottom left) Pauline Johnson and Pierre Berton are among the artifacts featured in a new video series created to commemorate Canada 150.
In celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, archivists in McMaster University Library’s William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections have delved into the Library’s holdings to select artifacts that help shine a light on some of Canada’s most beloved figures, our national heritage, and our place in the world.
In the following videos, McMaster archivists Rick Stapleton, Renu Barrett, Myron Groover and Bridget Whittle help to tell Canada's story by looking at our past:
Farley Mowat, Canadian literary icon, environmentalist and recipient of the Order of Canada.
Pierre Berton, author, broadcaster and journalist, who received the Governor General's Award for non-fiction multiple times and was a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Margaret Laurence, one of Canada’s best known literary figures who twice won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction among many other accolades.
World War I and World War II: McMaster archives provide a personal and poignant glimpse into the reality of war through the letters and personal effects of McMaster students who served.
Pauline Johnson, performer, writer, humourist and feminist of Mohawk and English descent who, throughout her distinguished career, travelled across the country 19 times.
Bruce Cockburn, singer-songwriter, environmental activist and recipient of the Order of Canada who was also inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Basil Johnston, Indigenous writer, revered storyteller and preserver of the Anishinaabe language.
Jack McClelland, renowned Canadian publisher.
Library joins with other research-intensive universities to preserve low-demand books, journals
McMaster Library is partnering with four Ontario research-intensive universities on a state-of-the-art storage facility that will preserve seldom-used print materials, while increasing space within the library for study, research and collaboration.
McMaster University Library is collaborating with libraries at four of Ontario’s largest, research-intensive universities in a new joint program to ensure that infrequently used scholarly material is preserved and readily accessible to students and researchers for generations to come.
Through the Keep@Downsview partnership, McMaster, the University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, Western University and Queen's University will share a high-density storage facility designed to provide a secure, environmentally controlled space for the long-term preservation of valuable, but seldom-used print journals and books.
McMaster University Librarian Vivian Lewis says the Library’s participation in the partnership is part of a larger movement in higher education for universities to collaborate and share resources and costs in support of both current and future scholars.
With demands on space increasing while research collections continue to grow, she says moving seldom used items to the facility – located at the University of Toronto’s Downsview campus – will also increase library space for study, research and collaboration.
“We believe it’s essential for these very low-demand but important collections to remain available to McMaster’s academic community well into the future,” says Lewis. “Participating in the Keep@Downsview partnership allows us to work with other research-intensive universities to preserve this material in a secure, cost-effective way, while creating space within the library to foster new types of scholarship, offer new library services, and support both collaborative and individual work.”
Locating and requesting materials will be seamless for McMaster Library users. All titles transferred to Downsview will continue to appear in the Library’s catalogue where they can be requested and quickly returned to campus if needed. Users can also request on-demand scanning of journal articles and book chapters which will be delivered in PDF format.
While McMaster currently has a storage facility for low-use material located in Dundas, Lewis says it is not equipped for long-term preservation and adds that, over time, materials in this facility will be moved to the Downsview facility or returned to the campus libraries, depending upon their usage.
Keep@Downsview was funded, in part, through the Ministry of Training Colleges and the Universities Productivity and Innovation Fund. Some capital and all operating costs will be shared amongst the five universities.
Read an FAQ document to learn more about how Keep@Downsview will work at McMaster. Read an overview of the Keep@Downsview program
New medals display sheds light on the extraordinary life and career of Henry Thode
Medals awarded to former McMaster President Henry G. Thode (1910-1997) are part of a special exhibit on display in Thode Library that sheds light on the extraordinary accomplishments of one of Canada’s most celebrated scientists.
He was an internationally-renowned scientist, a pioneer in harnessing atomic energy for peaceful purposes, and one of McMaster’s most visionary leaders.
Now, medals awarded to former McMaster President Henry G. Thode (1910-1997) are part of a special exhibit that sheds light on the extraordinary accomplishments of one of Canada’s most celebrated scientists.
The exhibit, now on display in McMaster’s H.G Thode Library of Science and Engineering, showcases 16 of the many medals awarded to Thode throughout his distinguished life and career.
Thode was recognized globally as a leading geochemist and nuclear scientist whose work spanned a number of scientific disciplines. But to those that knew him personally, he was also a modest and unassuming man with a deep love of knowledge who, as both a farmer and a musician, had many interests and abilities that extended well beyond his work as a researcher and administrator.
He designed and constructed Canada’s first mass spectrometer – an instrument that measures isotopes and produces fissionable materials for use in nuclear reactors. During World War II, while on a leave of absence from McMaster, he was a pivotal member of the Atomic Energy Project of the National Research Council in Montreal, conducting research that would later be instrumental in the development of the CANDU reactor and Canada’s nuclear energy industry.
Recognizing the potential of radioisotopes for use in medicine, Thode helped establish a medical research department at McMaster where he, along with Charles Jaimet, investigated the use of radioactive iodine in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease, the first medical application of radioactive iodine in Canada.
Thode’s later isotope research focused on the geological history of the Earth and the solar system. He was one of only two Canadians to obtain rock samples from the lunar landing in 1969, studying the samples to understand the origins and geological structure of the moon.
Over his career, which spanned six decades, Thode was honoured by governments and scientific societies around the world, including in China, Germany, Britain, and the United States.
He was made a member of the Order of the British Empire for his wartime contributions to atomic research. He also received the prestigious Arthur L. Day Award from the Geological Society of America. in 1943, at the age of 33, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 1967 he was one of the first 10 Canadians, and the first scientist, to be made a Companion of the Order of Canada. All these medals are contained in the display.
“Henry Thode was a scientist of international stature whose groundbreaking work cemented McMaster’s reputation as a research institution,” says Robert Baker, McMaster’s vice-president, Research. “The breadth and significance of the medals showcased in this exhibit are a reflection of the profound global significance and lasting legacy of his work, the impact of which continues to be felt at McMaster and around the world.”
Thode first came to McMaster as an associate professor of chemistry in 1939, and held many key roles at the university including director of research and head of the Department of Chemistry from 1948-1952. He was the principal of Hamilton College (an affiliated college dedicated to science) from 1949-1957. He was named vice-president of McMaster in 1957 and served as president and vice-chancellor from 1962-1972.
He oversaw an unprecedented era of expansion at the university which included the construction of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, the McMaster Health Sciences Centre, the Engineering building (now the John Hodgins Engineering Building), the Senior Sciences Building (now AN Bourns Science Building), the Arts complex, as well as the founding of McMaster’s world-renowned medical school.
The medals came to McMaster from the estate of Henry Thode through his son, Patrick Thode. They are part of the Henry G. Thode archive, which is housed in McMaster University Library’s William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections.
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