UNews - e-book

Library boasts impressive e-book count

trevor.kenney — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:38:46 +0000

Did you know that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library has more than 65,000 e-books in the collection? That means there are over 65,000 books that you can access from your laptop or your computer at home, on our Calgary and Edmonton campuses, on vacation, from anywhere, anytime.

The e-book collection covers a wide range of subject areas, including management, education, political science, religious studies, literature, sociology, economics, history, philosophy and more.

Many reference books, such as encyclopedias, handbooks and dictionaries, are also available in e-book format. The library has the most current editions of the Oxford English Dictionary, Encyclopedia Britannica and many other specialized and general reference books available electronically. There are plenty of online alternatives to Wikipedia available from the library catalogue.

In order to locate e-books, you can limit your library catalogue search to "E-book". Some e-books allow for multiple users to view them at one time, while others only allow for a single user. If you are having trouble viewing one, it could be because someone else is using the book. Currently, the library doesn't have the capability for users to check out an e-book from the collection and transfer it to an e-reader.

The library's e-books are provided through several different platforms, such as MyiLibrary, Ebrary or SpringerLink. Most platforms will allow you to download or print about 10 pages or a chapter at a time, and to annotate pages, bookmark pages and save books to a bookshelf. You may need to sign up for your own free account within the platform for full functionality.

There is also a link on the library's website to the Directory of Open Access Books (look under DOAB in databases by title), which is a way to find peer-reviewed and edited open access books available electronically.

Don't hesitate to ask your librarian for more information.

This story first appeared in the November 2012 issue of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

IRDF project investigates world of new media

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:53:23 +0000

The very aspect of new media that makes it so engaging is also what makes the discipline challenging. While change is both exciting and invigorating, the pace at which new media practices and software evolve is almost too quick to fully explore the medium.

"I've been really fortunate in my career that I've been working at a time that has seen enormous changes in the way I work," says Leanne Elias, assistant professor in the department of New Media.

"At the same time, it just changes so rapidly that as an artist, it can be very frustrating because we never have the chance to fully exploit the tools and options that we have available to us in software before something new comes along and we then move on to that."

The IRDF project team (l to r) Cheryl Meheden, Leanne Elias, Dr. John Usher, Dr. Janice Rahn and Michael Campbell are exploring the world of new media.

In an attempt to capture how artists, educators and practitioners of new media approach and adapt to continual change in the medium, Elias and four other U of L researchers will produce the E-book of New Media Research Methods and Practice as one of three funded projects through the new Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund (IRDF).

"I see this as a perfect opportunity to examine how others are working in our world," says Elias, the principal investigator.

The project also includes Dr. Janice Rahn (education), Dr. John Usher (management), Michael Campbell (art) and Cheryl Meheden (management).

Elias says the group plans to conduct upwards of 50 video interviews with new media artists from around the world who are driving innovations in software and communication design, or exploring unexpected ways of working with technology. The goal is to discover how these people are using new media tools and how they, as educators, can work together to expand research and teaching practices.

"We have already learned that we all approach new media practice differently," says Elias. "There are some big unanswered questions about how we all teach, such as why does the way we teach change between disciplines, what are the crossovers between disciplines, and are we delivering the right curriculum?"

Data collection (interviews) will begin this summer and continue through to spring 2013, at which time a host of essays will be written interpreting the interview results. Both graduate and undergraduate students will assist in the process.

"The team members will analyze the results collaboratively through different research methodologies and I think that's where it really becomes interdisciplinary.

The exciting aspect about the e-book is that it will use current technology and be produced as an interactive book meant for tablet devices. This allows its creators to produce a living entity, dynamically changing over time. Although the book is expected to be released in 2014, updates to the book could be released as new interviews are created. Users of the book will be able to view the full video interviews, see art and design projects, read the interpretive essays or even hone in on one particular interview question and see the results from each respondent.

In the end, both students and educators will benefit from the project, as long as they are willing to adapt to the ever-changing landscape it explores.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

Library turns its eye to helping out environmentally

trevor.kenney — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:30:24 +0000

In addition to the regular 'green' initiatives found elsewhere on campus – such as paper and beverage container recycling and motion-sensor lighting – the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library has recently made some other moves towards environmental sustainability.

Several of these changes come in the form of acquiring e-resources rather than print items. The library is purchasing more e-books to add to its collection; we have also made a decision to move towards e-reference materials, wherever possible. And increasingly, more of our journals are found online rather than in print. All of these digital documents help the environment by not consuming paper and ink, and by using less energy in the production and transportation process. It also helps save library space, as our shelves are getting quite full. Theoretically, we could also be saving commuting costs for those people accessing these resources on their home computers rather than driving to the library to get the physical items.

While the argument might be made that energy is wasted in the production and use of the computers used to access e-resources, chances are that a researcher already owns and is using his or her computer, so the only additional cost to the environment from reading an e-book or journal versus a printed version is the incremental energy used while actually viewing the material.

While there will always be a demand – and a desire – for the printed page, it's nice to know we can soften our environmental footprint somewhat by making electronic alternatives available where appropriate.

As well, the library has also been delivering most of the articles requested via inter-library loan electronically. Links to PDFs are now emailed to the requester rather than a physical copy of the article faxed from the lending library, as they were previously. While recipients may still print the article, chances are not all of them do. (Please note that e-mailed articles are still copyright protected and are provided for requestors' personal research or study only.)

And what happens to the discarded material – those books and journals weeded from our collection due to age, lack of use, or suitability?

Previously, this material was not able to be recycled because of the integration of non-recyclable materials (such as book covers, anti-theft strips, etc). Now, the library has partnered with an organization called Better World Books, which accepts shipments of books (free of charge) and then re-sells them to other organizations.

Not only are we diverting our discards from the landfill, but we are also supporting literacy efforts through our affiliation with this program. Those books that are not sold through this process are disassembled, and the parts that can be are recycled.

These are just some of the ways that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library is attempting to align itself with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Strategic Plan by enhancing the environmental sustainability of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Library turns its eye to helping out environmentally

trevor.kenney — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:32:58 +0000

And what happens to the discarded material – those books and journals weeded from our collection due to age, lack of use, or suitability?

UNews - e-book

Library boasts impressive e-book count

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IRDF project investigates world of new media

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Library turns its eye to helping out environmentally

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Library turns its eye to helping out environmentally

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