Cast Your Vote for Images of Research People's Choice Award Winner

The Images of Research Competition (IOR) is now closed to entries. We received over 100 submissions from current UAlberta graduate students, and now invite all on campus to cast a vote to determine the winner of the People's Choice Award. The winner for this category will be awarded $250, and the winning image will be included in the IOR Exhibition in April.

Vote online anytime between Thursday, March 31st through Sunday, April 10th.  One vote per person, CCID login required.

The Images of Research competition is an opportunity for current University of Alberta graduate students from all disciplines to capture, share, and present the essence of their research in one image, diagram or drawing. This competition and its accompanying exhibition aims to showcase and preserve graduate student research in print and digital form, foster student engagement, and support graduate students’ academic endeavours.

For more information, visit the Images of Research web site.  

If you have questions or comments, please contact ior@ualberta.ca.

Public Knowledge Project Announces UAL as Major Development Partner

The Public Knowledge Project (PKP) is pleased to announce that the University of Alberta Libraries (UAL) have entered into a major development partnership with PKP, furthering a commitment to the development of scholarly communication software.  As a result of this agreement, UAL will provide significant financial and in-kind support to assist with PKP’s ongoing development and support of its open source software suite - Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), Open Conference Systems (OCS), and Open Harvester System (OHS).

Brian Owen, Associate University Librarian at Simon Fraser University Library and PKP’s Managing Director stated: “The University of Alberta Libraries are a real powerhouse with their contributions to a wide variety of open source projects in the library community both in Canada and elsewhere.  PKP is looking forward to working closely with UAL staff on a number of initiatives.”

“We are excited to take the relationship between PKP and UAL to the next level. Leveraging our shared knowledge to improve open source publishing environments is an opportunity too great not to take advantage of it” commented Geoff Harder, Associate University Librarian for Digital Initiatives at the University of Alberta Libraries.

UAL will be working with PKP on the following areas in the coming years:

• user interface/user experience review and testing for the all new version of OJS 3.0
• specific software enhancements such as digital object identifer (DOI) support
• OJS journal hosting deployment strategies
• article level metrics

“This partnership creates a wonderful opportunity for PKP to tap into UAL’s leadership in library systems and scholarly communication,” said John Willinsky, PKP’s founding director and Stanford professor,  “with benefits for the larger academic community and the public, as well, through the expansion of open access.”

“PKP’s mission and global reach aligns perfectly with UAL’s own commitment to the creation of an open, sustainable and responsive environment for scholarly communications” added Gerald Beasley, Vice-Provost (Learning Services) and Chief Librarian.

• Visit the UAL journal hosting site to view currently OJS-hosted journals and get information about using this service
• Read more about The Public Knowledge Project

Visit Patient Immersion Experience Exhibit @ Scott Library

These compelling works of art are part of the MD program’s Patient Immersion Experience (PIE) program, a longitudinal initiative introduced in 2013. Pairs of incoming medical students are partnered with a patient mentor in an innovative program designed to instill a deeper understanding of the human side of medicine by learning directly from patients’ experience of disease and illness. The culmination of this program is the creation of a unique piece of art inspired by the experiences and connections forged between student and patient.

We invite everyone to come by the John W. Scott Library between March 23 and April 22, 2016 to view this wonderful exhibit, which includes paintings, sculptures, photographs and audio-visual installations.  The Health Sciences library is located on the 2nd floor of the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre (enter the University of Alberta Hospital via the 114 Street entrance across from the Health Sciences/ Jubilee LRT Station, or using the the 112 Street entrance; ask for directions at the Information Desk).

A Recap of Open Education Week

Here's a recap of some of the buzz around Open Education Week at the University of Alberta Libraries! The University of Alberta Libraries hosted several events this past week in celebration of Open Education Week 2016. Here is what attendees were tweeting, sharing and learning at these events. Thanks for coming out everyone!