Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Let us introduce you to... Elisabet!

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Staff profiles tell the story of an organization. Here at the University of Alberta Libraries, this is ours...

Meet Elisabet!
June 30th is Social Media Day and we’re celebrating early by interviewing one of our Communications and Outreach members, Elisabet Ingibergsson, who handles the University of Alberta Libraries Facebook social media.



What is your role at UAL?
I am a public services assistant at Bibliothèque Saint-Jean.

What is the coolest thing about working at Bibliothèque Saint-Jean?

I just love that although I live in an English speaking province, the moment that I set foot onto Campus Saint Jean (and its lovely green spaces) I enter a bubble of francophonie. There are french speaking Albertans throughout the province, but here the French language rules!

How does it feel to have recently won a Service Excellence Award?


I was completely surprised and delighted to have been nominated, and actually winning the award was the icing on the cake. Last year I served at Cameron Science and Technology library filling in for a temporary placement. It was a big learning curve for me as I became accustomed to the databases, subject guides and people at the North Campus. I even learned how to operate the 3D printers! I strongly believe that excellence in public service can only be achieved when we have teamwork. This award is also a reflection on my colleagues in similar service desk positions and all those people who are helping us in the background - from the shelvers, the facilities staff, cataloguers, IT magicians, to the librarians and management! We can't shine without all the pieces of the puzzle doing their part for the whole.

What is your favourite emoji?
😁 full faced grin is great when an " ! " is just not enough.


What was the highlight of your Ireland trip this last spring? Recommendations?
Well, for sentimental reasons I visited the old library at Trinity College in Dublin where my parents met and fell in love💘 . Who can resist a library visit? Belfast is often overlooked by North American visitors, but is a lovely vibrant city, and from there a trip up the Antrim coast on the Causeway Coastal road is an unforgettable experience! End to end only a few hours, but days and days of adventures and side trips to little villages and castles!

Northern Ireland Ocean Cliff with a closeup of colourful wildflowers. Photo taken by Elisabet Ingiberggson

The emerald green fields of Ireland on a sunny day with sheep in a field. Photo taken by Elisabet Ingiberggson
Picturesque views caught by Elisabet while visiting Ireland

If you ever find yourself at the Bibliothèque Saint-Jean, come in and say Bonjour!

The French version of this article is available here: http://uabsj.blogspot.com/2019/06/laissez-nous-vous-presenter-elisabet.html

Monday, June 10, 2019

Indigenous Initiatives Projects at UAlberta Libraries

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Here at the library we have a stellar team of library folks working on indigenous projects to further our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.

The team consists of:
Kathleen De Long, Associate University Librarian
Kim Bates, Learning Manager
Kayla Lar-Son, Academic Librarian Resident
Gabrielle Lamontagne, Indigenous Intern
Leigha Rind, Indigenous Intern
Geordie Cardinal, Public Service Assistant
Larry Laliberte, GIS Librarian
Debbie Feisst, Interim Head, HT Coutts Library
Sharon Farnel, Metadata Coordinator
Anne Carr-Wiggin, Coordinator, Indigenous Initiatives
Paul Gareau, Assistant Professor, Native Studies.

Here’s a quick overview of what they have been working on lately. Stay tuned for more updates on these projects in the future.

On May 8, 2019 Paul Gareau and Tanya Ball from the Faculty of Native Studies provided some insights into Indigenous Research Data Management (RDM) from the perspectives of a faculty member and a PhD student. Kayla Lar-Son (UAL Digital Initiatives) moderated the session while discussing the concept of Indigenous data sovereignty.
As part of a recent Instagram takeover, Indigenous Academic Resident Kayla Lar-Son highlighted some of the work that she is doing in Digital Initiatives (DI) including spotlighting some of UAL’s unique Indigenous collections. Currently, issues of Alberta Native News are in the process of being digitized in a project lead by DI Librarian Michelle Brailey.




A post shared by University of Alberta Library (@uofalibraries) on
The Decolonizing Description Project team has been actively engaging members of Indigenous communities both on and off the UAlberta campus in a holistic, collaborative, flexible and ongoing process to address problematic terminology in resource descriptions. Knowledge gathering events on North and Augustana campuses, as well as at the Maskekosihk (Enoch) First Nation open house, have been well received, and we have learned a great deal that we can apply to our practices. Further knowledge gathering sessions are being planned.

UAL staff have been working with health sciences students, faculty and clinicians to envision what a Health Sciences Indigenous Information and Learning Commons as part of the Health Sciences Library might be.  Several engagement sessions with stakeholders have been held through March and April.

Kayla Lar-Son, Allison Sivak and Leigha Rind hosted library sessions for Native Studies - Aboriginal Women (NS 362) students before their class every Tuesday evening during the Winter 2019 term. To focus on building relationships, the sessions were casual and there was always time for coffee & visiting. The students were given instructional sessions about library services. They also visited Jessica Thorlakson in Cameron library for a 3D Printing tour, explored hidden gems in the Circumpolar collection, and created work for their class project, the Visual Arts Journal.

UAL is happy to announce a new electronic resource 4 Seasons of Reconciliation, a multi-media teaching unit that promotes a renewed relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Canadians. This educational initiative, developed for secondary, post-secondary and the workplace incorporates teacher guides, slideshows, videos and films along with engaging online portals.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Real Life Special Collections - The Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection

1 comment :

CRACK

“Daddy! Mom got egg shells in the batter!”

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was baking a cake from a recipe book I had taken out from The University of Alberta Libraries. The book was Let Them Eat Cake and my daughter had chosen to make the “Cocoa cake” based on the tempting photo on the cover of the book.

We eventually get the egg shells out of the batter and follow the remaining steps in the recipe’s instructions. While the cake baked, I flipped through the pages of Let Them Eat Cake and devoured each baked good with my eyes and imagined their delicious scents.
Frosting is Betty Crocker - Milk Chocolate
and not from the recipe book.

I flipped to the front cover to start my visual buffet again when I saw the crest that embossed the inside front cover “Ex Libris Universitatis Albertensis - Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection.” Intrigued, I set out to find out a little more about The Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection.

I grab my phone and ran a quick search in the catalogue from the University of Alberta Libraries website and found the collection holds over 3700 items. As I scroll through the catalogue listings I find not only recipe books but there are books on wine pairings, gastronomy, the story of Pyotr Smirnov and so much more. A particular title that popped out at me was Collecting culinaria: cookbooks and domestic manuals mainly from the Linda Miron Distad Collection, which is the printed catalogue of the Bruce Peel Special Collections in-house exhibition.




Let Them Eat Cake cover, tempting no?
At work on Monday, I got in touch with Bruce Peel Special Collections Librarian Linda Quirk, and their special exhibition for exhibition for Collecting Culinaria occurred over the Fall/Winter terms in 2013/14. If you have FOMO over this fear not! The online exhibition Culinaria: A Taste of Food History on the Prairies is the companion to the physical exhibit and is full of food history related to the Canadian Prairie provinces and its influences. 

Quirk also directed me to the Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Research Collection website where I could learn a little bit more about the late Linda Miron Distad and her collection that is now housed at our Research & Collections Resource Facility (RCRF).

If you would like to check out any books from The Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection you can simply search our catalogue for the collection or click here to place a hold on any or all the titles that make your tummy rumble. You can also check out the book display that is on the main floor of Cameron Library through the month on June and check out any of the books on display.

The Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection on display at Cameron Library throughout the month June.


If you’re looking for a little extra you can learn more about on previous in-house exhibitions from our Bruce Peel Special Collections and other Research Collections by exploring online or by scheduling an in-person visit.