InsideOCULA

The Ontario College and University Library Association is seeking nominations for the following two positions on its Council:

1. Vice President/President Elect. This is a three year term serving in the following roles: Year 1 2008: VP/President Elect Year 2 2009: President Year 3 2010: Past President
2. One Councillor-at-Large (Three year term: 2008/2009/2010)

Get involved–make a difference!

Being part of OCULA Council provides an excellent opportunity to enhance your professional expertise and experience by working with your colleagues on issues that matter to college and university librarians in Ontario and beyond. It’s also a great way to meet, network and socialize with other library professionals.

Come join us! Or, if you have a colleague in mind for either position please let us know.

Application forms can be accessed and submitted online at:
http://www.accessola.com/ocula/bins/content_page.asp?cid=61-466

***** DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 15, 2007 *****

Nominees must be OCULA members in good standing.

OCULA Council represents the college and university libraries in Ontario. Councillors are elected by OCULA members by a mail-in ballot.

If you have any questions about these positions, or the role of OCULA and the Ontario Library Association, please don’t hesitate to contact Don Kinder or Cynthia Williamson through the contact information below.

For more information on OCULA, or to access its meeting minutes, newletter and blog, please visit us at:
www.accessola.com/ocula/bins/index.asp

Thank you–we look forward to hearing from you.

Don Kinder
OCULA President, 2007
dkinder@ryerson.ca 416-979-5000, ext. 6899

Cynthia Williamson
OCULA Vice President/President Elect, 2007 (President 2008)
cynthia.williamson@mohawkcollege.ca 905-575-1212 ext. 3129

What a night it was in Niagara-on-the-Lake! Delicious food, great wine, friends, colleagues and a little wine education made the first ever OCULA Fall dinner a great success.

The night began with a wine tasting led by our featured speaker Niagara College professor and Sommelier, Albert Cipryk. The wines we tasted were produced by students from Niagara College. Next we were treated to a four-course meal prepared by the students of the Culinary Arts Institute.

Both the food and wine were delicious and the setting was beautiful. Thank you to OCULA for organizing such an unforgettable event. Watch for a full review of the dinner in the next issue of InsideOCULA.

Dedication of W.P. Scott Study Room
Over the course of the summer of 2007, the Scott Library at York University underwent several major renovation projects. This included the redesign of the 3^rd floor of the library and the creation of new student study spaces. A generous donation by the W.P. Scott family helped make possible a study room renovation on the 3^rd floor of the library that proudly showcases 220 laptop-enabled new and upgraded study spaces at tables and carrels. W.P. Scott was one of the founding members of the York Board of Directors and the Scott Library was named in his honour when it was built in 1971. On October 10^th this study space was dedicated to the Scott family and named the W.P. Scott Study Room. The dedication ceremony was attended by members of the Scott family and University officials, including the new President of York University, Dr. Mamdouh Shoukri, University Librarian Cynthia Archer, and representatives from the York Foundation. The Scott family was delighted to find that the new study room was full of students when they arrived for the dedication ceremony. The student comments on the new 3^rd floor study room have been enthusiastically favourable.

Bronfman Library Celebrates its One Millionth Visitor

A moment in history, captured by a York University History PhD student.When History PhD student Ian Milligan entered the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library on Tuesday September 5^th, he was not aware that he was about to make history. The Bronfman Business Library, located in the Schulich School of Business, opened for business in September 2003 and on September 5^th, 2007 celebrated the 1 millionth person to enter the library. When asked why he choose to visit this Library, Ian remarked that it was his first visit to the Library and that he wanted to borrow two books from the collection. Not only did Ian get the two books he wanted, Elizabeth Watson, Head of the Library, presented him with Seymour Schulich’s best selling book Get Smarter which was recently published and is a “mentoring book for 20 to 40 year olds with entrepreneurial aspirations”. When the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library was opened it set a new benchmark for library buildings. The design is graceful and beautiful while meeting the many varied needs of students at York; group study, wired study, silent study, connections to collections around the globe and great staff.

PALS (Public and Academic Libraries Sharing)

The Blue Sky Region Community Network (BSRCN), a consortium of 9 libraries in the area of Northeastern Ontario surrounding North Bay (North Bay Public Library, Powassan & District Union Public Library, Callander Public Library, East Ferris Public Library, Bonfield Public Library, West Nipissing Public Library, Nipissing First Nation Public Library, John Dixon Public Library (Mattawa) and Temagami Public Library) has partnered with Nipissing University and Canadore College’s Education Centre Library to revolutionize services to local residents and college/university library users by creating a reciprocal borrowing partnership called PALS (Public and Academic Libraries Sharing).

For the first time ever, local public library cardholders will be able to freely borrow books from the Nipissing and Canadore Education Centre Library, and college/university library cardholders, from local public libraries.

This partnership creates a library of several hundred thousand books, periodicals, newspapers, videos, DVDs, public computers with Internet access, audio books and much more that can be borrowed from all libraries.

PALS (Public and Academic Libraries Sharing) is the first partnership of its kind in the region. It provides free, quick and easy access to library resources for many thousands of students, educators and the reading public. Borrowers can request books in a wide range of subjects, from popular fiction in the public libraries to scholarly and research materials in the Education Centre Library.

Further details can be obtained from the Education Centre Library, North Bay, Ontario P1B 8L7.

posted on behalf of Brian Nettlefold

Planning for OLA’s 2008 Super Conference, to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from January 30 - February 2, 2008, is well underway!

Your OCULA division has planned 36 sessions with speakers from all over Ontario and Canada as well as the United States. Topics include assessment, collaboration/partnerships, digital collections, information literacy, management, reference services, technical services, social networking, and more.

We are now looking for people to convene the OCULA sessions and are hoping that you would like to get involved.

The duties of a convenor include the following:

• Contact the speaker(s) and ensure their AV requirements are sent to the OLA office
• Elicit a short biography of the speaker(s) and use this to introduce the speaker(s) at the session
• Meet the speaker(s) at the Speakers’ Lounge 15 minutes before the session
• Get help in the event of technical problems
• Make sure that, in the case of a panel, all panelists get equal air time
• Monitor the length of the session for the speaker(s)
• Pick up evaluation forms at the end of the session
• Write a short summary of the session for the Conference Blog and/or future OCULA publications

Convenors’ names and institutions appear in the online OLA Super Conference program.

If you are willing to be a convenor please contact Gail Nichol (gail.nichol@utoronto.ca) or Caroline Stewart (caroline.stewart@guelphhumber.ca) regarding your interest and availability.

Please note that program convenors DO NOT receive a registration discount.

Thank you and we look forward to your support!

Thanks,
Gail and Caroline

Lakehead University is pleased to announce that Christopher Tomasini has been hired as the Orillia Campus Librarian. Chris received his Masters of Information Science from the University of Toronto in 2004. Prior to joining Lakehead University, he worked as a librarian at Miller Thomson LLP, as a reference librarian at the University of St. Michael’s College and most recently as a reference librarian at Durham College/University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Janice Mutz

Kresge Challenge a Success

We did it! Thanks to the unfaltering support of the UW community including students, staff, faculty, retirees, alumni and parents. The Kresge Challenge has come to a successful close.

In just under 24 months, the UW Library raised $2.8 million and as a result, we have received a $600,000 US grant from the Kresge Foundation, the largest grant that Kresge has ever awarded to a Canadian library.

The money raised during the challenge has and will continue to enable us to make truly dramatic changes within both the Davis and Dana Porter libraries. In addition, the challenge has helped create a stronger, more diversified base of support. Gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations have all played an important role. Leadership gifts have allowed us to:

• Install a state-of-the-art RFID security and collections management system in both the Davis and Porter libraries
  (3M Canada gift)
• Renovate the 3rd floor of the Porter Library which now includes the Peter and Betty Sims Reading Room, a computer research area, and new study carrels throughout the floor
  (Peter and Betty Sims gift)
• Provide high speed workstations throughout the libraries (IBM Canada gift)

The Kresge Challenge was spearheaded by our spirited library staff.  To everyone who made this feat possible, our sincerest thanks.

Jackie Stapleton

Roma Kail has joined the staff of the E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria University (in the University of Toronto) as a Reference, Research and Instruction Librarian. Roma has an MLS from Western University and an MA in English from the University of Saskatchewan. Prior to joining Victoria University, Roma worked as a Librarian at the University of Saskatchewan, Ryerson University and York University.

Submitted by Lisa Sherlock