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Call for applications: Undergraduate Research Fair 2020

Applications for participation in York University’s multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Fair are open to student applicants until Jan. 31. The fair’s organizing committee is calling on York instructors to encourage students to apply. In addition, students who have created a piece of artwork for a 2019 York credit course are invited to apply to have their work exhibited in the Scott Library Art Walk during the fair.

Organizers know from previous fairs that faculty support is instrumental in giving students the confidence and motivation to apply to participate in this valuable experiential learning event. As you grade final assignments, please consider suggesting to students who have produced a strong research or creative arts project in a York undergraduate course (January to December 2019) to apply to present a poster session about their project at the juried fair.

The eighth annual Undergraduate Research Fair takes place on Wednesday, March 4 from 11:00 a.m. to ­1:30 p.m. in the Scott Library Collaboratory. Student musicians and photographers from the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design will perform and record the event.

A student test virtual reality at a previous Undergraduate Research Fair.
A student tests virtual reality at a previous Undergraduate Research Fair.

Jointly sponsored by York University Libraries and the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the Undergraduate Research Fair honours student researchers and provides them with an opportunity to share their work. Fair participants design a poster and present the results of a course research essay or project to the York community in a friendly, cross-curricular environment. Students apply by filling out an application form, writing an abstract about their project, and appending their graded project or honours thesis. A workshop on designing and presenting a poster session will be offered to successful applicants, and the Libraries will arrange to print the posters at no cost to participants. This is an excellent experiential learning opportunity for both upper-and-lower-year undergraduate students. The 2020 fair welcomes applicants from all York faculties, including Glendon College.

Monetary prizes ($200, $500, and $600) in different categories will be awarded. All student-presenters will receive an invitation to submit an article on their project, to be considered for publication in the refereed e-journal Revue YOUR Review (York Online Undergraduate Research Review) associated with the fair. One artwork submission will be chosen to grace the cover of the e-journal.

Last year’s Undergraduate Research Fair drew a large audience of students, faculty, and administrators from across the York community, as well as friends and families of student-presenters.

This is an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to participate in the cycle of knowledge production and dissemination.

For more information about the fair, participant eligibility, and how to apply to present a poster or display artwork, visit the Undergraduate Research Fair website.

York University celebrates Ada Lovelace with a Women in Science Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

Painting of Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace, English writer and mathematician (1815-52), daughter of Lord Byron and friend of Charles Babbage.
BJ5F25 ADA LOVELACE

Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of women’s achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), took place this year on Oct. 8. Lovelace was a 19th-century English mathematician and writer who also happened to be the very first computer programmer. She wrote what were essentially computer programs for the analytical engine that computing pioneer Charles Babbage was designing but never actually created. Her contributions were largely overlooked – an issue that continues to exist for women in many fields, especially science.

York University is joining the global celebration of the legacy of Ada Lovelace with a Women in Science Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Friday, Nov. 1, from 12 to 4 p.m. in Room 021 (Basement Lab), Steacie Science & Engineering Library. Enter by way of the library rather than the stairs at either end of the building.

The Wikipedia Edit-a-thon focuses on improving Wikipedia articles about women in STEM fields, as well as related fields such as nursing and medicine.

To learn more, visit researchguides.library.yorku.ca/ada.

Upcoming symposium will celebrate experiential education at York University

Students at York University
Featured image

The Experiential Education (EE) Symposium at York University, on Jan. 21 and 22, 2020, will celebrate and showcase the achievements of students who have participated in experiential education activities. Co-sponsored by York University Libraries and the Office of the Vice-President Teaching and Learning, the symposium is co-led by the YU Experience Hub, York University Libraries and the Teaching Commons. The organizers’ goal is to bring the York community together to highlight the many ways experiential education has helped students to learn, develop and make a positive impact on campus, locally and internationally.

Applications opened on Oct. 7 for students to participate in the EE Symposium. Undergraduate students from all years and Faculties are invited to submit an idea for a poster that will highlight the positive impact of their EE experience, including their most meaningful insights or lessons and how the experience may have deepened or supported their classroom learning. Students will have the opportunity to present their posters at the symposium to their peers, faculty and staff, while also interacting with Learning Commons partners who will be on hand to provide resources and helpful advice on making the most of an EE experience.

With the opening of the application window, organizers request that faculty share this information with their students and encourage them to consider applying to present a poster at the symposium. The application window closes on Nov. 4.

For more information, visit eesymposium.yorku.ca. Questions can be directed to eesteam@yorku.ca.

Dean of Libraries Joy Kirchner reappointed for a second five-year term

Vari pond

The following is a message to the York University community from President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton:

I am pleased to inform the York community that, following a consultation process with York University Libraries (YUL) staff, Joy Kirchner has accepted the invitation of the provost and myself to undertake a second five-year term as dean of libraries, commencing July 1, 2020. On Oct. 7, the Board of Governors concurred with our recommendation and approved the renewal.

Joy Kirchner

Kirchner has provided outstanding leadership throughout her first term. She has led an important restructuring of the Libraries in order to position them for the future and enable them to better support the University’s teaching and research activities. Some of her notable achievements include: the development of a Student Learning & Academic Success Department to support the inclusion of skills development in course curricula through curricular review and enhancement; the revisioning of the Learning Commons; and the creation of a Research & Open Scholarship division in YUL. She has also advanced a number of key initiatives at the University and across the profession, such as open access, digital literacy, development of an institutional Research Commons, support for Indigeneity and Markham Centre Campus planning.

Kirchner has brought to York University a breadth and depth of library experience and perspective gained from positions in university libraries in Canada and the U.S. over the past 20 years. She joined York in 2015 from the University of Minnesota Libraries in Minneapolis, where she held the position of associate university librarian for content and collections and interim associate university librarian for research and learning. Her responsibilities included oversight of acquisitions, collection development, open scholarship and the development of digital scholarship services.

Prior to the University of Minnesota, Kirchner held several increasingly senior positions at the University of British Columbia (UBC), most recently as the head of the UBC Scholarly Communications & Copyright Office, where she established service models for digital scholarship, scholarly communications and copyright services. In that role, she was also responsible for campus-wide discussions and education in relation to these issues. Previously, she worked at Columbia University in New York City, where she pioneered the development of infrastructure to support new electronic journals and databases.

Kirchner’s research and professional collaborations with colleagues in the U.S. and Canada have focused on developing mechanisms for cross-institutional print stewardship programs, defining critical success factors in establishing Centres of Excellence for information services, investigating new models of digital scholarship, and instigating a robust slate of scholarly communications and open-access campus outreach programs for institutions across North America. Additionally, she was former Chair of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Advancing Research Committee, where she advanced several open access and open education infrastructure supports for Canadian institutions.  She has also served on a joint Canadian Association of Research Libraries/Canadian Research Knowledge Network task group to examine national open access policies that involved consultation with the Tri-Council research funders. She currently serves as executive Chair of the Ontario University Council of University Libraries and has been elected to serve on the prestigious Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition based in Washington.

I would like to thank the members of the community for their contributions to the reappointment process.

I look forward to working with Joy Kirchner as she continues to bring leadership to this important role. I hope that all members of the York University community will join me in congratulating her.

Bookstore hosts launch event for four York faculty authors, Oct. 10

FEATURED image Book Launch

Four York University faculty members will celebrate the launch of their new books on Oct. 10 during an event hosted by the York Lanes Bookstore from 4 to 6 p.m.

The four faculty authors launching their books at the event are:

• Jody Berland, a professor in the Department of Humanities, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), with her book Virtual Menageries

From cat videos to corporate logos, digital screens and spaces are crowded with animal bodies. In Virtual Menageries, Berland examines the role of animals in the spread of global communications. Her richly illustrated study links the contemporary proliferation of animals on social media to the collection of exotic animals in the formative years of transcontinental exploration and expansion. By tracing previously unseen parallels across the history of exotic and digital menageries, Berland shows how and why animals came to bridge peoples, territories, and technologies in the expansion of colonial and capitalist cultures.

• Elicia Clements, an associate professor in the Departments of Humanities and English, LA&PS, with her book Virginia Woolf: Music, Sound, Language

Arguing that sound is integral to Virginia Woolf’s understanding of literature, Clements highlights how the sonorous enables Woolf to examine issues of meaning in language and art, elaborate a politics of listening, illuminate rhythmic and performative elements in her fiction, and explore how music itself provides a potential structural model that facilitates the innovation of her method in The Waves. Woolf’s investigation of the exchange between literature and music is thoroughly intermedial: her novels disclose the crevices, convergences, and conflicts that arise when one traverses the intersectionality of these two art forms, revealing, in the process, Woolf’s robust materialist feminism. This book focuses, therefore, on the conceptual, aesthetic, and political implications of the musico-literary pairing.

• Andrea Katherine Medovarski, an assistant professor in the Department of Humanities, LA&PS, with her book Settling Down and Settling Up

Comparing second generation children of immigrants in black Canadian and black British women’s writing, Settling Down and Settling Up extends discourses of diaspora and post-colonialism by expanding recent theory on movement and border crossing. While these concepts have recently gained theoretical currency, this book argues that they are not always adequate frameworks through which to understand second generation children who wish to reside “in place” in the nations of their birth. Considering migration and settlement as complex, interrelated processes that inform each other across multiple generations and geographies, Medovarski challenges the gendered constructions of nationhood and diaspora with a particular focus on Canadian and British black women writers, including Dionne Brand, Esi Edugyan, and Zadie Smith.

• Scott McLaren, associate librarian in the Department of Humanities, LA&PS, with his new book Pulpit, Press, and Politics

When American Methodist preachers first arrived in Upper Canada in the 1790s, they brought with them more than a contagious religious faith. They also brought saddlebags stuffed with books published by the New York Methodist Book Concern – North America’s first denominational publisher – to sell along their preaching circuits. Pulpit, Press, and Politics traces the expansion of this remarkable transnational market from its earliest days to the mid-nineteenth century, a period of intense religious struggle in Upper Canada marked by fiery revivals, political betrayals, and bitter church schisms.

The event is open to all, and light refreshments will be served.

Senate approves Open Access Policy

Woman typing on a keyboard

At its meeting on June 25, the Senate of York University approved an Open Access Policy, reinforcing York’s commitment to the democratization of knowledge by making its research widely accessible to citizenry and the global community.

“The Open Access Policy advances our mission in the pursuit, preservation and dissemination of knowledge by removing barriers and making our research as widely available as possible,” said Lisa Phillips, provost and vice-president academic. “Adopting this policy allows us to increase the impact of the amazing work being done by York’s faculty and researchers and to share that knowledge with the world.”

The policy was developed by York’s Open Access/Open Data Steering Committee, in accordance with the principles established by the Budapest Open Access Initiative as well as the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications. York University joins the more than 120 institutions worldwide that have adopted open access policies so far, including Canadian universities.

“Adopting a formal open access policy allows York faculty and affiliated researchers to provide equal access to scholarship, while also helping to provide greater transparency around research outcomes,” said Joy Kirchner, dean of Libraries and co-chair of the Open Access/Open Data Steering Committee. “This new policy will also increase the visibility and reach of research, ensuring work is posted to a trusted and easily accessible repository, while also strengthening researchers’ supports for their authors’ rights.”

For more information on York’s Open Access Policy, including the policy’s full text and answers to frequently asked questions, visit the Open Access Policy website.

York University Libraries moving to new search platform in December

typing writing computer

The library catalogue isn’t what it used to be. Today, it moves beyond searching one single catalogue, allowing users to simultaneously search across many library databases and electronic resources. Beginning in December, York University Libraries will implement a superior search platform through a partnership with 13 other Ontario university libraries.

This initiative, Collaborative Futures, is a project of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL). It will provide all members of the York community with a modern search interface that provides significant improvements in terms of resource discovery, as well as simplifying access to the Libraries’ collections across a wide range of formats.

It will also enhance the Libraries’ ability to work more effectively with Collaborative Futures partners to share expertise and access to the province’s valuable print and electronic research collections.

The Collaborative Futures project has undergone significant planning over the past few years and is now in its implementation phase. The partners will collectively implement a shared library services platform that will build upon a long record of successful co-operative work by OCUL members to enhance resource discovery, access and other services for our campus communities.

What does this mean for everybody?

For students, faculty and staff at York University, the Libraries’ current search interface (VuFind) will disappear and will be replaced by PrimoVE, facilitating improved discovery capabilities and more streamlined access to resources held both at York Libraries and across the Collaborative Futures partner libraries. This change will occur on Dec. 10.

The Libraries will provide more detailed information about this transition over the coming months, including specific details on timelines. For background information about Collaborative Futures, see the OCUL website. Questions about the project should be directed to Adam Taves, implementation lead for Collaborative Futures, York University Libraries.

Story provided by Adam Taves, implementation lead for Collaborative Futures, York University Libraries

It’s Digital Literacy Week, drop by the York Libraries to learn more

Photo by Денис Евстратов on Unsplash

From May 27 to June 1, the City of Toronto is celebrating Digital Literacy Week, highlighting the importance of this new form of literacy as well as the challenges and opportunities it creates for people of various ages and skill levels.

Digital literacy week event May 27 to June 1The meaning of digital literacy and what it could be in the future will be explored at events throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including sessions, exhibits and workshops at York University through the University Libraries. Featured events at York University include a panel discussion on fake news and how to deal with it in the run up to the 2019 federal election; a seminar on how researchers can open up academia to a wider audience by looking at citizen participatory research; a day-long workshop for graduate students on data management and research computing; and a photography exhibit providing a behind-the-scenes look at the early evolution of Canada’s Information Age.

All events are offered free of charge.

Fake News and the 2019 Federal Election

With a federal election coming up in October, learn how to best separate the real news from all the fake information circulating online. John Dupuis, associate librarian in the Steacie Science & Engineering Library, together with a panel of experts will discuss just what constitutes fake news, why it is so prevalent and how to spot it.

Date: May 27
Time: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Scott Library – Collaboratory

Opening up the Academy – harnessing the power of community collaborations to advance research and scholarship

Joy Kirchner, dean of Libraries at York University, will describe trends in citizen participatory research and scholarship. She will draw on a variety of examples that speak to a new vision for citizen-engaged research and scholarship.

Date: May 28
Time: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: Steacie Science & Engineering Library

Data Management and Research Computing Bootcamp

Note: This event is fully booked. (Due to its popularity, another event will be held in the fall semester.)

This day-long event aimed at graduate students will cover the basic data management and research computing skills needed to get more out of one’s research in less time. Covering everything from how to create a data management plan to how to clean data with R and OpenRefine, this workshop will help graduate students take their research to the next level.

Date: May 30
Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Scott Library

Portraits of Digital Canada: A Photo Exhibit

Get an inside look at how one of the world’s most influential companies has evolved from the early 20th century up through the beginnings of mainframe computing all the way up to this new era of digital literacy. Cultivated from thousands of photographs donated by IBM, see how Big Blue went from developing punch cards to shaping the way modern businesses work today.

Date: May 27 to June 1
Time: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Location: Scott Library – First Floor

About Digital Literacy Week

Digital Literacy Week is the result of the City of Toronto and the Toronto Public Library collaborating with an innovative and digitally inclusive group of more than 20 local organizations, including the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board, to host digital literacy-themed events throughout the city.

To learn more about the events happening in and around the GTA, visit toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/digital-literacy-week.

York University Libraries organize events to mark Digital Literacy Week, May 27 to June 1

Photo by Денис Евстратов on Unsplash

From May 27 to June 1, the City of Toronto is celebrating Digital Literacy Week, highlighting the importance of this new form of literacy as well as the challenges and opportunities it creates for people of various ages and skill levels.

Digital literacy week event May 27 to June 1The meaning of digital literacy and what it could be in the future will be explored at events throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including sessions, exhibits and workshops at York University through the University Libraries. Featured events at York University include a panel discussion on fake news and how to deal with it in the run up to the 2019 federal election; a seminar on how researchers can open up academia to a wider audience by looking at citizen participatory research; a day-long workshop for graduate students on data management and research computing; and a photography exhibit providing a behind-the-scenes look at the early evolution of Canada’s Information Age.

All events are offered free of charge.

Fake News and the 2019 Federal Election

With a federal election coming up in October, learn how to best separate the real news from all the fake information circulating online. John Dupuis, associate librarian in the Steacie Science & Engineering Library, together with a panel of experts will discuss just what constitutes fake news, why it is so prevalent and how to spot it.

Date: May 27
Time: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Scott Library – Collaboratory

Opening up the Academy – harnessing the power of community collaborations to advance research and scholarship

Joy Kirchner, dean of Libraries at York University, will describe trends in citizen participatory research and scholarship. She will draw on a variety of examples that speak to a new vision for citizen-engaged research and scholarship.

Date: May 28
Time: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: Steacie Science & Engineering Library

Data Management and Research Computing Bootcamp

Note: This event is fully booked. (Due to its popularity, another event will be held in the fall semester.)

This day-long event aimed at graduate students will cover the basic data management and research computing skills needed to get more out of one’s research in less time. Covering everything from how to create a data management plan to how to clean data with R and OpenRefine, this workshop will help graduate students take their research to the next level.

Date: May 30
Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Scott Library

Portraits of Digital Canada: A Photo Exhibit

Get an inside look at how one of the world’s most influential companies has evolved from the early 20th century up through the beginnings of mainframe computing all the way up to this new era of digital literacy. Cultivated from thousands of photographs donated by IBM, see how Big Blue went from developing punch cards to shaping the way modern businesses work today.

Date: May 27 to June 1
Time: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Location: Scott Library – First Floor

About Digital Literacy Week

Digital Literacy Week is the result of the City of Toronto and the Toronto Public Library collaborating with an innovative and digitally inclusive group of more than 20 local organizations, including the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board, to host digital literacy-themed events throughout the city.

To learn more about the events happening in and around the GTA, visit toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/digital-literacy-week.

New look at York’s UIT Service Desk coming this fall

typing writing computer

As part of the overall strategy for enriching the community’s experience and capacity to act through technology, the University Information Technology (UIT) Service Desk will have a new look.

The new Service Desk will open in September in the Steacie Library building. Over the next few months, there will be a number of important events to note.

The William Small Computing Commons (WSC) will close on Friday, May 3. As a result of its closing, there will be a temporary Service Desk location in the main hall of the Steacie Library building starting on Monday, May 6. This temporary location will offer the same level of service previously available at the WSC.

For those wishing to use one of the lab computers, there will be a temporary lab location set up in 1002B Lassonde Building, at the north end of the building. In addition to that lab location, operations will continue in the Accolade East Building computer lab (ACE 017).

The new location is the first phase of the UIT Service Desk’s two-phase redesign and relocation initiative. Phase two, to be completed in the last quarter of 2019, will include the introduction of new technology learning spaces in the Steacie Library building.

The focus on these upgrades is to increase service. Staff, faculty and students are key service partners to UIT, and all contribute to an enhanced learning and teaching experience. Along with Faculty IT partners, UIT provides an inclusive, technology-based service experience to the York community in support of the University’s goals. The new Service Desk will support this mission by providing superior, efficient and effective support at any of our in-person locations or via the AskIT portal (askit.yorku.ca).