Bodies of Data: An Exhibition of Digitized Bodies that Connects Online Database Information and Art

A unique art exhibition opens October 3, 2019 at the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus Library. Marilène Oliver’s art project Bodies of Data uses scientific images of the human body to create stunning works of art. The exhibition will be on display until December 2, 2019.


As part of a series of events Leonardo da Vinci, 500 Years Later that celebrates work, achievements and influences of one of the most famous artists and polymaths in the history of Western civilization, Augustana Library is honoured to host the art exhibition Bodies of Data by Marilène Oliver.

From the early stages, artists studied the human body and applied this knowledge to their art. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous artists who did this. It is well known that he was given permission to dissect human corpses in the hospitals of renaissance Italy to study and draw human anatomy. 500 years after Leonardo, Marilène Olivier continues exploring the human body. She uses contemporary medical equipment and rich online resources to do so. Marilène began using a variety of radiology images of herself and her family and as her work developed, she also engaged with digital medical tools such as OsiriX. In the artist's own words, working with Melanix, the radiology scans of an unidentified woman available through online databases, “freed [her] from having a personal relationship with the subject.” Marilène’s art successfully plays on the thin line between our curiosity for knowledge and our intrinsic fears telling us how we don’t want to know what’s happening inside of our own bodies and those of people close to us.


Originally coming from the United Kingdom, where she gained her art degrees in prestigious schools in London, Marilène currently works in Edmonton where she also does research and teaches art. Years of traveling around the world and exhibiting in renowned venues brought her to the University of Alberta in 2016.

Join us for the artist talk in Wahkohtowin Lodge on October 3, 2019 at 5 pm, and for the opening reception in Augustana Campus Library at 6 PM.

Let us introduce you to... Hutch!

Dogs in the Library - Fall 2019 Tour of Duty

It's that time of year again. The leaves are changing, the smell of pumpkin spice is wafting through the air and the pitter-patter of paws can be heard echoing through the libraries. Dogs in the Library is back to spread a little canine cheer to exhausted, overworked students, staff and faculty. As in previous years, University of Alberta Libraries are partnering with the Chimo Animal Assisted Wellness and Learning Society (CAAWLS) to bring therapy dogs to North Campus Libraries. Here's when and where you can bask in some puppy love:

* September 24th: John W. Scott Library, 12:00pm
* October 3rd: Herbert T. Coutts Library, 12:30pm
* October 9th: Rutherford Library, 2:00pm
* October 10th: Cameron Library, 2:00pm
* October 24th: Cameron Library, 2:00pm
* October 29th: John W. Scott Library, 12:00pm
* October 30th: Herbert T. Coutts Library, 12:30pm
* November 6th: Rutherford Library, 2:00pm
* November 7th: Cameron Library, 2:00pm
* November 18th: J.A. Weir Library, 12:00pm
* November 21st: Rutherford Library, 2:00pm
* November 28th: Cameron Library, 2:00pm
* December 9th: J.A. Weir Library, 12:00pm
* December 11th: Rutherford Library, 2:00pm
* December 12th: Herbert T. Coutts Library, 12:30pm
* December 17th: John W. Scott Library, 12:00pm

Just Added! The therapy dogs of Camrose's St. John Ambulance chapter are visiting in Fall 2019. Here's when you'll see them at Augustana Library:

* November 19th: Augustana Library, 11:30am
* December 17th: Augustana Library, 12:00pm

While a visit with a dog is a great way to improve your mood, sometimes we could all use a little extra support. If you are looking for academic help, or to connect with mental health services on campus, the ACCESS Outreach Team can help. You can find more information on their webpage: https://www.ualberta.ca/current-students/access-outreach

Let's Library! A 30-Minute Session to Get You Research-Ready

The first weeks of class are over and perhaps you are sitting with your course outline in-hand wondering how you will get all of your research done for your assignments. Fear not!

What are your librarians up to? Turns out, it’s a lot of teaching!

This is a guest post by librarians, Jessica Thorlakson and Janice Kung

The University of Alberta Libraries (UAL) is a strong supporter of teaching and information literacy. In 2018, your library staff taught approximately 667 sessions with approximately 17,542 library users. That’s a lot of people!

Image by rawpixel from Pixabay

One of the best ways to do this is through the collaboration between professors/instructors and subject librarians. Librarians come into classes and provide relevant library and information literacy instruction that are customized to meet the learning outcomes of the course. These are “course based” instructional sessions and can cover everything from effectively searching databases for literature, citation manager tools, research metrics, research data management, and more.

However, UAL also offers many “non-course based” instructional sessions, those not connected to specific UAlberta courses. These provide additional opportunities to pick up other information literacy skills or additional topics relevant to research or campus life, such as how to manage a unique identifier for your researcher profile (e.g. ORCID), identifying predatory publishers, and systematic review searching.

In the visualizations below, you can see some of our instruction statistics from 2013-2018.

The fall term sees the largest influx of new students, so naturally it is the library’s busiest month for instruction, as we reach out to our users and provide an orientation about our services and resources. While much of our instruction is considered “course based” (in fact, 72% of all library instruction is embedded within the curriculum), the non-course based sessions offer greater flexibility so the library can provide more in-depth sessions on a variety of topics, such as the monthly three-hour training sessions on systematic review searching.

We look forward to another busy, library instruction year with all of you. If you are looking for some library instruction for your class, try contacting your subject librarian.

Collection Connection with Alex McPhee

Students and staff use the library on the daily, in person and online. This is how...

Alex McPhee is a fourth-year geophysics undergraduate and self-taught open GIS specialist. In his spare time, he's been systematically visiting every county in Alberta. If you know anybody who has the security clearance to get visitors into Improvement District #349, he'd love to meet you!



What is your "go to" resource for research in the UAlberta collection? and what do you like about it?The whole 4th floor of Cameron is a delight. The map cabinets and the wonderful Canadian Circumpolar Library will, if you have even a passing interest in what the parts of our country you've never seen are like, take weeks of your time.

What draws you to GIS and all things spatial?I've always suffered from geography brain, but I didn't realize it until I found out that I remembered people's hometowns more easily than their names. If you want to do artwork and analysis at the same time, digital cartography is probably the best discipline in the world.
What kind of information does a map tell you that you can't get from other resources?