News from UW Library

Following is quarterly news from Sion romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian. News focuses on UW collections and databases.

February 2013
News from the Libraries – Research & Writing Workshop for Task Force Students
Siôn Romaine, U.W. Canadian Studies Librarian

November 2012
News from the Canadian Studies Librarian
Siôn Romaine, U.W. Canadian Studies Librarian
 
 

July 2012 
U.W. Libraries Awarded a Government of Canada Grant
 

March 2012 
Libraries Receive Grant from Government of Canada 
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

October  2011
Arctic and Northern Studies
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

January 2011
Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

December 2010
Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - Vive le Québec
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

October 2010
Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - Vive le Québec
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

June 2010
UW Tacoma Library Receives Government of Canada Grant

Spring Quarter 2010
Create Research Guides for Courses!
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian
Library News Winter Quarter 2010
Subject Guides for Canadian Studies
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian
Library News Spring Quarter 2009
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Centennial Celebration
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian
Sion Romaine

Winter Quarter 2009
Canadian Digitization Projects
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

Fall Quarter 2008
Arctic Library Donation
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian
Sion Romaine

Summer Quarter 2008
UW Libraries receive Canadian Government Grant
Sion Romaine, UW Canadian Studies Librarian

 

News from the Libraries – Research & Writing Workshop for Task Force Students
by Siôn Romaine, U.W. Canadian Studies Librarian

Siôn Romaine, Canadian Studies librarian (front), with Louise Richards, Fisheries & Oceanography librarian, Dan Mandeville, Nordic Studies librarian, and Jenny Halpin and Cammie Dodson of the Odegaard Writing & Research Center.

In early January, librarians Dan Mandeville (Nordic Studies), Louise Richards (Fisheries/Oceanography) and Siôn Romaine (Canadian Studies) collaborated with Jenny Halpin and Cammie Dodson of the Odegaard Writing & Research Center to lead a Research & Writing Workshop for members of the SIS495 Arctic Security in the 21st Century Task Force.

Overall goals of the workshop were to have Task Force members collaboratively construct a topic concept map, articulate possible research questions, identify their audience, so as to make appropriate stylistic writing choices, and identify appropriate resources for their topics.

Topic concept mapping was a key component of the workshop. Students used whiteboards to cluster and relate key words, concepts and research questions related to their topic. Empty whiteboards were quickly filled with terms covering all aspects of Arctic security, from food security, sovereignty and environment, to oil, China and climate change. Writing Center staff then helped Task Force members identify a writing style that would be most appropriate for their audience of policy makers and government officials in Québec City and Ottawa, while librarians discussed resource types and which ones might be most suitable.

The three librarians then covered some of the key resources that Task Force members could use in their research. One key resource demonstrated was EBSCO’s Arctic and Antarctic Regions, the world's largest collection of international and interdisciplinary polar databases. Other key resources demonstrated included web sites of the Government of Canada (which indexes documents and policy papers from government departments as well as news items from the CBC/SRC), the Arctic Institute/Center for Circumpolar Security Studies (papers on Arctic policy issues), and the Congressional Research Service (papers from the public policy arm of the U.S. Congress).

Student then had a few minutes to work on matching their initial research questions and concept maps to sources suggested on the Task Force research guide. The librarians and Writing Center staff were on hand to answer questions and suggest other resources.

Resources discussed in the workshops, as well as tips on writing, editing, and evaluating resources can be found on the SIS495 Task Force Class Guide at:
http://guides.lib.washington.edu/taskforce13/arctic/

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News from the Canadian Studies Librarian
Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - by Sion Romaine

Cover of Seaweed on the Street.
Building a strong collection in any subject area is not a simple task. Librarians must consider what is needed now with what might be needed by historians in the future, and must meet those needs within our budgets.

To build collections, librarians rely heavily on approval plans, reviews in relevant magazine and journals (such as the American Review of Canadian Studies journal), as well as analysis and comparison of collections with those of other libraries. However, we also rely on word-of-mouth from faculty, students, or staff about materials that might be suitable for the collection. These suggestions can be invaluable, for they may not only help confirm that we are collecting in the right area, they may also inform us about new areas of interest, be it for research, recreational reading, or a combination of the two.

Recently, I received a suggestion from a faculty member in Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at UWT. Would the Libraries consider purchasing Stanley Evans’ Silas Seaweed mystery series? The faculty member explained that although they are probably more public library fare, they are set on Vancouver Island, feature a protagonist of First Nations descent, and offer insight into Pacific Northwest issues. Although the Libraries does not routinely purchase novels in the mystery genre, materials with a Canadian, First Nations or Pacific Northwest themes are always of interest to Canadian Studies. Such a series would be relevant to those interested in studying contemporary Canadian popular literature, or interested in analyzing the portrayal of First Nations characters in literature over the years. I agreed to purchase the series and let the faculty member know.

Got a purchase idea? Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome. Use our purchase suggestion form or feel free to contact me or any of my colleagues directly.

Siôn was appointed Canadian Studies Librarian in 2005. His degree is from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia with a research focus in First Nations library services. Siôn oversees the Libraries’ Subject Guide on Canada, provides a monthly notice of new Canadian Studies acquisitions, and serves as the Library representative on the Executive Council for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.

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U.W. Libraries Awarded a Government of Canada Grant

Betsy Wilson, Dean, U.W. Libraries, accepts a check from Denis Stevens, Canadian Consul General, Seattle, to build the Canada collection. Siôn Romaine, Canadian Studies Librarian (right), wrote the successful grant. They are joined by Terry (AISLIN) Mosher (far left) and Don Hellman, Henry M. Jackson School. (05/12)


Siôn Romaine, U.W. Canadian Studies Librarian, wrote a successful Matching Library Support grant to the Government of Canada receiving $2,000 for the Canada Collection to be purchased this summer and fall.

The Canadian Studies Center, along with consortium partners, the Center for Canadian-American Studies, Western Washington University, are the Canadian depositories for federal and provincial government publications. Combined map holdings total over 40,000 map sheets, including almost 26,000 Canadian topographical maps. The librarians maintain collections and support Canadian Subject Guide websites including an Advanced Research Guide, a monthly listing of new collections, and Class Help Pages, which provide information and resources for Canadian Studies courses.

Subscription-free desktop access to hundreds of full-text newspapers and periodicals is available around the clock. Access World News, a full-text news database, provides access to CBC News and Canadian Newswire video transcripts and full-text articles from 165 Canadian news sources. Press Display provides sixty-day back issue access to online facsimiles of over 100 Canadian newspapers, including many French-language newspapers. Canadian Business and Current Affairs, a full-text periodical database, provides in-depth access to a wide diversity of Canadian periodicals. Canadian Research Index catalogs thousands of federal, provincial, and municipal documents, scientific and technical report literature, and Statistics Canada monographs and serials. There is no question that the U.W. Libraries has one of the top Canadian Studies collections in the nation.

Siôn was appointed Canadian Studies Librarian in 2005. His degree is from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia with a research focus in First Nations library services. Siôn oversees the Libraries’ Subject Guide on Canada, provides a monthly notice of new Canadian Studies acquisitions, and serves as the Library representative on the Executive Council for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.

The Government of Canada Library Support Program is designed to assist university libraries to strengthen their Canadiana library holdings in order to support teaching and research in Canadian Studies. Funds are available only for the purchase of library materials considered to be Canadiana and which are deemed by the Embassy of Canada or High Commission to qualify as having a specific bearing on the study of Canada and/or Canadian culture.

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UW Libraries and Canada Collections

Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - by Sion Romain

This spring, the Libraries received a grant from the Government of Canada to support the purchase of the 2011 Microlog microfiche set. Microlog is the clearinghouse for Canadian research and report literature in all subject disciplines. The set includes research, scientific, technical and annual reports, policy papers and statistical materials and is indexed in the Canadian Research Index, available online through the Libraries website. The success of our students and researchers depends on access to high-quality and often uniquely held resources. The generosity of our donors is greatly appreciated!

Later this spring, the Libraries will run a 3 month trial of Érudit, a electronic resource platform of scholarly and cultural journals, books, proceedings, theses, documents, and data formed by the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and Université du Québec à Montréal. Érudit collocates 150 Canadian publishers, focusing on the dissemination of French-language Canadian journals in the humanities and social sciences. Many of these titles are already available in the library catalogue as open-access titles; however, access to the most recent 2-3 years of content is restricted to subscribers only. This trial will provide access to the most recent content. Look for an announcement about the trial and how to access the content in the near future. 

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UW Libraries and Canada Collections

Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - by Sion Romaine

Arctic & Northern Studies is the study of the culture, history, peoples, government and politics of areas north of the Arctic Circle.

Visit the site for more information:
http://guides.lib.washington.edu/canada-arctic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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UW Libraries and Canada Collections

Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - by Sion Romaine

The challenge: guide students in the Jackson School’s Task Force courses to the many quality resources and services available through the University Libraries and the Odegaard Research and Writing Center, and by doing so, improve the final reports produced by each Task Force.

Iceberg between Langø and Sanderson Hope, south of Upernavik, Greenland
Iceberg between Langø and Sanderson Hope, south of Upernavik, Greenland

The solution: have the University Libraries subject librarians partner with Task Force instructors and the Odegaard Research and Writing Center to create a research and writing workshop that will assist Task Force students in creating a research concept map, help them develop research questions they can use to find and evaluate appropriate policy sources, and point them to quality and relevant information resources.

For SIS495A Governing the Arctic, librarians Louise Richards (Fisheries/Oceanography) and Mike Biggins (Russian Studies) and Odegaard Research & Writing Center director Jenny Halpin met with SIS495A Task Force students and instructors and covered concept mapping, tools for critically evaluating resources, and collaborative research and writing processes. Additionally, Richards and Biggins worked with Anna Bjartmarsdottir (Nordic Studies) and Siôn Romaine (Canadian Studies) to create a class resource page that will guide students to recommended resources on researching Arctic governance and policy issues. The page contains links to a wide selection of resources including those purchased by the Libraries as well as quality resources freely available over the internet. Select resources are noted below. More are available at http://guides.lib.washington.edu/taskforce

Background information …
• Arctic Strategy Documents (strategy documents from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, the United States, and the European Union)
• Encyclopedia of the Arctic (an online encyclopedia covering the Arctic's environment, climate, history, resources, economics, politics, indigenous cultures and languages, , and many other topics)

Current news & blogs …
• Who owns the Arctic (Blog of Dr. Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia)
• Eye on the Arctic (A collaboration of circumpolar media outlets that seeks to better tell the stories of Arctic communities and people)

The interdisciplinary nature of Arctic studies meant that multiple subject librarians were involved in creating a class guide for SIS495A, and presenting at the research and writing workshop. Sometimes, you really can have too many cooks and still come up with a good broth!

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UW Libraries & Canada Collections

Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - Vive le Québec!, by Sion Romaine

Did the recent Seattle cold-snap leave you feeling like you just wanted to curl up at home with a good DVD and make it all go away? Experience the Arctic all over again, (but without the cold feet and icy nose), with this list (http://uwashington.worldcat.org/profiles/sionromaine/lists/2134679) of DVDs, available through the University Libraries.

Three Polar bears approach the submarine USS Honolulu 280 miles from the North Pole. The bears investigated the boat for almost 2 hours before leaving. Commanded by Cmdr. Charles Harris, USS Honolulu collected scientific data and water samples for U.S. and Canadian Universities as part of an agreement with the Arctic Submarine Laboratory and the National Science Foundation. (This file is a work of an employee of the U.S. Navy. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.) width=
Three Polar bears approach the submarine USS Honolulu 280 miles from the North Pole. The bears investigated the boat for almost 2 hours before leaving. Commanded by Cmdr. Charles Harris, USS Honolulu collected scientific data and water samples for U.S. and Canadian Universities as part of an agreement with the Arctic Submarine Laboratory and the National Science Foundation.

Arctic Territories is a 10 part DVD set by filmmakers Vic Pelletier and Ole Gjerstad. This comprehensive series looks at climate change, national sovereignty, military presence and control, as well as mineral exploitation, navigation and fisheries, and the changing lives of indigenous people in the North.

Arctic Rush, Battle for the Arctic and Strait Through the Ice examine how the shrinking Arctic ice cap and an ice-free Northwest Passage has created the last greatest land grab in human history with what could be grave consequences for the world's economy, the environment and for the million who live in the region. Oil on Ice and Arctic Quest focus more narrowly on the potential impacts of oil and petroleum exploration.

Finally, for a bit of comic relief, kick back with Qallunaat! : Why White People are Funny. A National Film Board of Canada production, this Gemini-winning film is a witty "study" of Qallunaat (white people) from the Inuit point of view.

New films on order, such as David Suzuki's Arctic Meltdown, and Broken Promises: The High Arctic Relocation, will be added to this list once they have been cataloged and processed.

And remember, DVDs from any of the University Libraries' three Media Centers may be requested and delivered to any library location, usually within 1-3 days!

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Sion Romaine (right) receives a Government of Canada Library Support Grant check from Kevin Cook, Political, Economic and Academic Officer, Consulate General of Canada, Seattle.

Note from the Canadian Collections Librarian - Vive le Québec!
By Sion Romaine

UW Libraries is pleased to announce two major acquisitions made earlier this year to support Canadian and Québec Studies at the University of Washington (UW).

Le Son des Français D’Amérique is a landmark series of 27 documentary films on traditional Francophone culture. Francophone culture is based largely on music, songs and dances handed down from generation to generation, even in places where the language itself was discouraged. Filmed between 1976 and 1984, the series shows the music, history and the presence of the four French-speaking people of America: the Québecois, Acadians, Métis and Creoles. UW is one of only two U.S. institutions to hold the complete set (the other is the Acadian Archives at the University of Maine-Fort Kent). Le Son des Français D’Amérique is now available for loan at the Libraries Media Center.

This purchase was made possible through the generous support of the Government of Canada; the Anna Murray and Charles Fremont Porter Endowed Library Fund; and the Canadian Studies Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.

The Québec Popular Music Collection demonstrates the immense musical, cultural, and linguistic diversity that characterizes the vast genre of popular music in Québec. Compiled by ethnomusicology student Cody Case with the aim of teaching the French language and Québec culture through popular music, the collection consists of recordings that demonstrate Québec’s eclectic varieties of music, and artists that are popular, well known and/or possess innovative musical and lyrical aesthetics. Titles in this collection are now available for loan at the UW Libraries Media Center.

This purchase was made possible through the generous support of the Gouvernement du Québec; and the Canadian Studies Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.

Finally, this fall UW Libraries received a grant from the Government of Canada to support the purchase of the 2010 Microlog microfiche set. Microlog is the clearinghouse for Canadian research and report literature in all subject disciplines. The set includes research, scientific, technical and annual reports, policy papers and statistical materials and is indexed in the Canadian Research Index, available online through the Libraries website.

The success of our students and researchers depends on access to high quality and often uniquely held resources. The generosity of our donors is greatly appreciated!

Romaine’s degree is from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia with a research focus in First Nations library services. Sion oversees the Libraries Subject Guide on Canada, provides a monthly notice of new Canadian Studies acquisitions, and serves as the Library representative on the Executive Council for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.

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UW Tacoma Library Receives Government of Canada Grant

Jennifer SundheimThe University of Washington Tacoma Library has received a Government of Canada Library Matching Grant as part of the Canadian Studies Library Support Program. Jennifer Sundheim, Head of Collections and Access Services for the University of Washington Tacoma Library, applied for the grant and intends to acquire monographs across a range of disciplines to support the integration of Canadian Studies across Tacoma's diverse curriculum.

Tacoma faculty from the Social Work, Education and Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences programs have participated in the Government of Canada Grant Programs to study in Canada in past years. Ms. Sundheim will also be consulting with Siôn Romaine, Canadian Studies Librarian for the University of Washington Seattle campus, to insure the monographs acquired will compliment the Canadian Studies materials throughout the University of Washington Libraries 16 different libraries.

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Create Research Guides For Courses!
News from the UW Library Collections, Spring 2010

By Sion Romaine

 
Siôn Romaine, Canadian Studies Librarian, and Deb Raftus, Romance Languages and Literature Librarian, review Québécois language and literature resources available through the University Libraries.

Siôn’s degree is from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia with a research focus in First Nations library services. Siôn oversees the Libraries’ Subject Guide on Canada, provides a monthly notice of new Canadian Studies acquisitions, and serves as the Library representative on the Executive Council for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.

Did you know your subject librarians are available to create customized library research pages for your courses?
Thanks to a new piece of software called LibGuides, subject librarians can easily create research guides tailored to your course, providing your students with a quick way to determine the most relevant article databases, catalogs, reference books and web sites for their course research. Current class guides may be browsed online, by visiting http://guides.lib.washington.edu/ and selecting Class Guides.

For Spring 2010, Deb Raftus, Romance Languages and Literature Librarian, created a class guide for French 327B La Culture Québécoise Contemporaine, a conversational French course taught by instructor Lisa Connell. Siôn created a class guide for Communications 495 Québec Film, Culture and Society, taught by instructor Natalie Debray, also in Spring Quarter. Both guides provide students studying Québec with a customized portal to the resources and services offered by the University Libraries.

Do you need a research guide created for your Canadian Studies class, or an instructional session on library resources? Don’t hesitate to contact Siôn, Deb or your subject specialist librarian. We’re your partners in teaching and learning!
 

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Subject Guides for Canadian Studies
News from the UW Library Collections, Winter 2010

By Sion Romaine

Library News
Sion Romaine (Canadian Studies Librarian) and Faye Christenberry (English Studies Librarian) review resources for Canadian literature available through the UW Libraries.

Sion’s degree is from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, at the University of British Columbia with a research focus in First Nations library services. Sion oversees the Libraries Subject Guide on Canada, provides a monthly notice of new Canadian Studies acquisitions, and serves as the Library representative on the Executive Council for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.

Not sure where to start when beginning your research? Consider checking out the Libraries’ newly revamped subject guide pages.

This summer, the University Libraries migrated all of its subject guides to a new platform called LibGuides with the goal of creating a more intuitive experience for users needing assistance with the research process. The LibGuides software provides access to library resources – including article databases, catalogs, reference books and web sites – organized by topic.

As part of this project, UW librarians have been hard at work creating and revising subject guides for specialized research topics in Canadian Studies. Theresa Mudrock (History) revised her guide for Canadian history, while Faye Christenberry (English Studies) revised her guide for Canadian literature. And I created a new guide for the Arctic and Circumpolar Regions.

LibGuides also allows UW librarians to easily and quickly create specialized research guides for classes or lectures. For example, for the recent Douglas Janoff roundtable on the Impact of Homophobia on LGBT Citizens: A Comparative Canada-U.S. Perspective, Cass Hartnett, subject librarian for Gay and Lesbian Studies, mounted a hyper-linked version of Janoff’s recommended resources for further reading.

To browse the revamped subject guides, visit http://guides.lib.washington.edu/ and select Canadian Studies to see the guides related to Canada.

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Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition Centennial Celebration
News from the UW Library Collections, Spring 2009

By Sion Romaine

Library News
Sion joins two Alaska-Yukon-Pacific fairgoers in exploring Canadian content from the Libraries’ Special Collections Division.

Sion Romaine has served as Canadian Studies Librarian since joining the UW staff in 2006. He has a strong background in Canadian Studies, graduating from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia with research interests in First Nations library services. Sion oversees the Libraries Subject Guide on Canada, provides a monthly notice of new Canadian Studies acquisitions, and serves as the Libraries representative on the Executive Board for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.

This year, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition (AYP) celebrates its centennial. Organized to publicize the development of the Pacific Northwest, the AYP was located on the small but growing University of Washington-Seattle campus. Then, as now, Canada was one of the US’ most important trading partners, so it is no surprise that both the Government of Canada and the Grand Trunk Railway (which would eventually become Canadian National Railways) chose to participate with their own exhibit buildings.

Neither exhibit building exists today. However, hundreds of photographs and postcards of these buildings and other AYP exhibit buildings, as well as various paper memorabilia, can be found in the Libraries’ Special Collections Division. Approximately 1,200 photographs and prints of the AYP have been digitized and are available online through the Libraries’ website (http://www.lib.washington.edu).

Browsing these photographs, one is struck by how, even a century ago, the Government of Canada was able to use stereotypes successfully to promote the country. For example, the Canada Building’s exhibit on Canadian beavers – which included two tanks with live beavers – slyly noted that Canada beavers are “the earliest known wood cutters and dam builders in the world.” A magazine of the day described the Canada Building as epitomizing “the abounding prosperity of which even now Canada is mistress, and of the still rosier future to which she is destined.”

In celebration of the AYP’s centennial, Special Collections staff has created three exhibits focusing on the fair. Located in the Suzzallo Exhibit Room, the Allen balcony, and the Special Collections lobby, the exhibits will run through October 30. Be sure to visit our website or stop by in person and view the photos of the beaver exhibit!

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Canadian Digitization Projects
News from UW Library Collections, Winter 2009
By Sion Romaine

SOC WF 312/405 course photo
The Center serves as Secretariat for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium. At the Annual General Meeting in Portland, Sion Romaine (right), UW Canadian Studies Librarian and Gary Wilson, University of Northern British Columbia, look over meeting notes.
The Canadian Studies collection held by the University of Washington Libraries is one of the premier collections in the nation comprising over 155,000 cataloged volumes, including government publications, an estimated 39,000 map sheets, and the second largest video collection in the country. Sion Romaine has served as the UW Canadian Studies Librarian since 2006.

It’s not news that the world wide web has become the preferred information portal for students and faculty doing research. With the web now being the biggest service point for many organizations, libraries and other government agencies around the world have ramped up digitization projects. Two recently completed digitization projects that will be of interest to Canadian Studies scholars include Victoria’s British Colonist newspaper and select films from the National Film Board of Canada. A third resource, the Canadian Music Centre, streams archival recordings through their website.

The University of Victoria, in cooperation with the Victoria Times-Colonist and other British Columbia libraries, has fully digitized the British Colonist newspaper (predecessor to the Times-Colonist). Full text searching of every issue from December 1858 to June 1910 is now available free online at http://britishcolonist.ca/

Canada's National Film Board (NFB) has created an online screening room as part of a $1.3 CDN million project to digitize its collection of historic films. More than 700 films, chosen by a group of filmmakers and curators, are now online, including Oscar-winning and nominated films like Neighbours, I'll Find a Way, and The Cat Came Back, as well as documentaries on a wide range of topics. Films may be searched by keyword, director, language, year, genre or length. Thematic playlists are included. Available free online at http://www.nfb.ca/

As the primary place to find scores, parts and recordings of Canadian contemporary music composers, the Canadian Music Centre (CMC) is a unique information resource for composers, media, presenters, conductors, choreographers, performers, broadcasters, students and all those who simply listen to and enjoy music. The CMC has five centers across Canada, in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Sackville. For those of you not close to a physical location, the Centre offers a free-of-charge lending library of over 15,000 scores and/or works of Canadian contemporary music composers. In addition, their website, http://www.musiccentre.ca, offers live chat research assistance and free streaming access to nearly 9000 archival recordings. Tune in, sit back and enjoy!

(The Center’s Canadian Music Collection, initiated by former Affiliated Graduate Student, Devon Leger, has just been expanded by 2007-08 FLAS Fellow (French), Cody Case. See pg. 10 for an introduction to the latest collection of modern Canadian music.)

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Arctic Library Donation, Fall 2008

Since UW was founded in 1861, gifts have made significant contributions to the excellence of the University Libraries and have helped build its outstanding collections. In 2007-2008, the Libraries’ Gifts Program processed nearly 60,000 items from over 1,300 donors.

Many students and researchers may consider their books or collections to be of little to no value upon graduating or finishing their research and might either discard them or donate them to charity; in fact, these materials are often of great interest to the Libraries because their content is directly related to an academic program! (Materials that do not fit the Libraries collection scope are, whenever possible, distributed to other institutions; for example, as a partner in the Books for Libraries Program, the University Libraries last year distributed more than 4,000 excess gifts and withdrawn materials to libraries throughout Eritrea in Northeast Africa.)

This fall, UW graduate Tim Pasch donated his collection of Canadian and Arctic Studies materials, comprising books and media he used while pursuing a doctoral degree in Communication. Notable items in this donation include a bilingual (English/Inuktitut) Nunavik Terminology Database, monographs and reports published by local government and tribal agencies, short runs of serials published in the North, and annual reports from the Nunavik Inuit Elders’ Conferences.Much of this material is either not widely held by research libraries or is difficult to source from outside the Canadian Arctic. With climate change and sovereignty issues propelling the Arctic to the global stage, these materials will prove invaluable for scholars and researchers.

Thanks Tim - it’s donations like these that have helped the Libraries create and maintain a world-class collection!

I would also like to report that The Orbis Cascade Alliance, the consortium of Oregon/Washington academic libraries that participate in and are responsible for the Summit shared catalog, is changing software vendors. The new WorldCat catalog will give you access to over 107 million library records, made accessible through powerful and easy-to-use search capabilities. Now, more than ever, resources for Canadian Studies from the world’s libraries are findable and requestable directly from your desktop! You may experience minor changes in service levels when requesting materials from other institutions, as staff get used to using the new system. More information at: http://www.lib.washington.edu/ill/summit/

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UW Libraries receive Canadian Government Grant, July 2008

Sion Romaine, Canadian Studies Librarian, University of Washington, July 2008.

The Libraries has received a $2000 matching library grant from the International Council for Canadian Studies Library Support Program through a contribution of the Government of Canada and with the assistance of the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle, to support the purchase of the 2007 Federal Non-Depository documents on microfiche (Microlog).

Microlog includes research, scientific, technical and annual reports, policy papers and statistical materials issued by research institutes and government laboratories; policy, social, economic, and political reports; Statistics Canada monographs, and serials. These documents are noted in the library catalog, and are indexed and abstracted in the online Canadian Research Index, available through the University Libraries.

The Library Support Program is designed to assist university libraries to strengthen their Canadiana library holdings in order to support teaching and research in Canadian Studies. Funds are available only for the purchase of library materials considered to be Canadiana and which are deemed by the Embassy of Canada or High Commission to qualify as having a specific bearing on the study of Canada and/or Canadian culture.

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Canadian Studies Center
University of Washington
Box 353650
Thomson Hall, Room 503
Seattle, WA 98195-3650
T (206) 221-6374
F (206) 685-0668
►canada@uw.edu