Talk out loud

  Ar e these late summer or early fall sugar peas? I’m torn. I planted this crop after the storm that plowed through our little corner of Eastern Ontario in mid July. Hail the size of large pieces of rock salt shredded Hosta leaves, corn stocks, and my peas as well as beans that were just ready for picking. Fortunately, some of that first crop of vegetables was harvestable (and tasted good!). As an experiment, I decided to plant more sugar peas and cosmos (love their cheerfully waving blooms) the week after the storm. Low and behold! The seeds took, the plants grew, and we are about to enjoy our second crop. The resilience of Mother Earth. And just in time for seasonal change—in my garden and on campus. Although “on campus” is a relative term. I am not “on campus” in this fall of 2021. I am still teaching essentially online and look forward to supporting faculty and undergraduate as well as graduate students via Brightspace. I’m also available for individual researc...

T he first month a new term goes by in a whirl ... but now that we are almost through September, there might be time to think about making time for research skills workshops and some of the other library services that can make life as a grad student easier. Here are two options to consider: A. Research skills workshops 1.  NVivo:  Introduction to a qualitative data analysis tool. See how NVivo can help you keep your research project organized. Learn how to create projects and import a wide variety of data types (text, audio, video, social media). 2.  Grad Navigate:  A hub of graduate-specific workshops, for example, Conducting a Literature Review and various Data and GIS services that will assist you in navigating different aspects of your grad school experience and developing professional skills 3.  Citation management:  Explore some of the many available tools that help you manage and organize the references you gather during your research.  I am fam...

My department (Research Support Services) has launched a new initiative to support grad students: The personal librarian. As the "personal librarian" for grad students in my subject areas (the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies and Women's and Gender Studies), my role is to: 1. Keep students informed  about new Library resources and services. 2. Answer questions about using Library resources and services. 3.  Assist students' with finding information  for their assignments and papers, by helping them identify the best sources and to develop effective search strategies. Grad students: Please reach out of you have questions and would like to discuss your academic work (email: martha.attridgebufton@carleton.ca). In the meantime, feel free to check out the library services for graduate students. And please share this post with others.

MacOdrum Library is now offering a limited curbside pickup & mailing service for print materials in our collection.  In this first phase only materials not available online will be eligible for a contactless pickup or mailing for students, faculty and staff. Faculty, staff, and students can start placing requests today and they will be filled on a first come, first served basis.  See the service guidelines and make your request online . The library building remains closed at this time. Note: Curbside pickup does not mean the resumption of interlibrary loans for print materials. If you have any questions, please email me at martha.attridgebufton@carleton.ca

The MacOdrum Library is participating in the implementation of OCUL’s (Ontario Council of University Libraries’) Collaborative Futures project.  Work on this project began this summer and will take place over the coming year with a "go live" date of December 2019. Project background The Collaborative Futures project foresees the selection, procurement, and implementation of a shared library services platform (LSP) among OCUL members, allowing for: improved management and preservation and of library collections streamlined internal operations improved discovery of and access to these collections and increased support for the educational and research needs of students and faculty at Ontario’s university libraries. Benefits of this shared LSP for users, including students, faculty and researchers include: improved user experience integration with university financial systems and a shared user interface providing opportunities to collaborate in the area...

In case you missed the news, as of September 4 (2018), the MacOdrum Library has removed late fees from overdue books.  Read more ... Photo credit: Rawpixel on Unsplash