A record number of McMaster University faculty and staff members are receiving grants to support projects that will foster the creation and integration of free, high-quality open textbooks and course materials to improve teaching and learning.

Are you a McMaster instructor searching for high-quality open educational resources (OER) to use in your courses but don’t know where to start? A team at McMaster University Libraries is here to help with a new OER finding service introduced this month. 

"There’s a lot of high-quality OER materials out there but it can be challenging to find them,” said Katie Harding, teaching and learning librarian, OER and STEM at McMaster University Library. “We are here to help with this new service supported by our knowledgeable librarians.” 

Vivian Lewis, who led the reopening of two campus libraries during the pandemic with a third library currently under construction, is continuing her leadership with the new title of associate vice-president and university librarian. 

Her ongoing appointment starts July 1, 2024, following approval by McMaster University’s Senate and Board of Governors on April 18.

Lucy Catherine Russell’s tragic death has been the primary subject of scholarly writing and discussion, if she is written about at all.

The curator behind a new digital exhibition from McMaster University Library is looking to shift the narrative.

Gillian Dunks, archives arrangement and description librarian at the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, has assembled an online time capsule of Lucy’s life with materials from her fonds at McMaster.

Jaclyn Desforges, an award-winning Hamilton writer and the 2023-2024 Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence, will be wrapping up her residency at the end of April. 

The Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence program is an annual partnership between the Faculty of Humanities’ Department of English and Cultural Studies, the McMaster University Library and the Hamilton Public Library. Each year, a Canadian author is invited to work with creative writers both from McMaster and within the Hamilton community. 

Now that the total solar eclipse has passed, what can you do with your solar eclipse glasses?

Community members who aren’t tucking them away as a keepsake are invited to donate them so they can be used again.

The glasses will be donated to the Astronomers Without Borders Solar Eclipse Glasses Recycling Campaign. The U.S.-based organization collects gently-used eclipse glasses from across the U.S. and Canada to send to underserved communities and schools internationally for use in future solar eclipses.  

McMaster University has signed new agreements that will provide McMaster authors with immediate open access publishing capabilities in select Elsevier and Oxford University Press journals.

This equates to greater publishing opportunities for researchers, regardless of their career stage or whether they have research grants or departmental funding.

Worried about exam season and looking for ways to manage your time and stress?

The latest LinkedIn Learning Club @ McMaster set of courses has launched just in time for April as McMaster University students prepare for exam time. 

Students can use their free LinkedIn Learning account to access short videos about effective planning and ways to reduce stress.

Tanvir Singh, a third-year computer science student and LinkedIn Learning ambassador, says he hopes these videos will help students cope with their busy schedules.

McMaster University Libraries are hosting a mini conference next month for Ontario academic library employees to explore teaching and learning within the library setting.

The event takes place on April 26, 2024, at L.R. Wilson Hall on McMaster’s Hamilton campus.

The mini conference aims to create an opportunity for attendees to participate in interactive programming and networking sessions to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange focused on teaching and learning.