News and Announcements
New Digital Resource: Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library includes encyclopedias and other reference works in a variety of subject areas.
Titles include Alternative Energy, American Decades, Encyclopedia of Religion, New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Novels for Students, Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film, Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, and more.
GVRL is accessible from on- and off-campus:
- Access from: on-campus | off-campus
Freedom to Read Week 2013
The week of February 25– March 1, 2013 is Freedom to Read Week in Canada, the celebration of our right to choose our reading material.
We can’t take this freedom for granted!
Every year individuals and groups demand that books with which they disagree be removed from library and store shelves. Why not see what all the fuss has been about, and spend the upcoming Week of Independent Study reading a once-banned or once-challenged book?
- View a list of some controversial books, along with their call numbers.
- An explanation of why they were banned.
You’ll find them in the Freedom to Read Week display in the R. P. Bell Library.
To learn more about Freedom to Read Week in Canada, please visit the Freedom to Read website.
New Mac Lab in the Library
The Mac Lab, located on the second floor of the Main Library, includes nine iMacs, eight with 20-inch monitors and one with a 27-inch monitor. The lab also includes a scanner and a 50-inch plasma TV (an HDMI cable and mini display adaptor are available at the Access Services desk). The Mac Lab is accessible at all times during regular library hours.
Library Fines Donated to Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief
30 November 2012 Update: A total of $550 was raised and will be donated to Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief. Thank you!
Beginning Tuesday, November 6th through Tuesday, November 20th, the Mount Allison Libraries, in response to a thoughtful suggestion from SAC, will donate all fines collected to the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief operations. Previous SAC initiatives helped raise funds (again through the collection of library fines) for relief operations following the earthquake in Haiti and earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Update on Access to ProQuest Databases
In October, the Library experienced problems with its subscription to ProQuest databases and certain content that is normally available in these databases was temporarily unavailable. This problem has now been resolved and full access to the ProQuest databases has been restored. [2 Nov/2012 ]New SpringerLink Platform To Be Launched November 26
Springer will be launching a new version of their SpringerLink platform on November 26 2012. The new platform will introduce several new features including better identification of open access materials. The new platform will also be fully compatible with handheld devices.
The new platform will have a new URL but current links and bookmarks to SpringLink will be automatically redirected to the new site. Links and bookmarks should still be updated at your convenience once the new platform is launched.
Please note that SpringerLink personal user accounts (“My Springer”) and alerts will not be migrated to the new platform. Patrons using these services will need to create a new account once the new platform is launched. Please save any information or settings relating to your account that you wish to re-enter after the platform migration on November 26.
If you have questions, please ask a librarian.
Meet your new librarians!
The Mount Allison Libraries have a new University Librarian, a new Music Librarian, and a new Technical Services Librarian!
New University Librarian: Marc Truitt
Marc Truitt began a five-year term as University Librarian on July 15. Marc brings to Mount Allison varied experiences gained at positions at Yale, Princeton, Notre Dame, the University of Houston and the University of Alberta. He also brings a clear understanding of the value and purpose of libraries in the academy.
Marc was recently profiled in the “Campus Beat” section of the University’s home page – read more about your new University Librarian here: http://www.mta.ca/news/index.php?id=3938
New Music Librarian: Laura Snyder
Laura Snyder came to Mount Allison from the University of Alberta, where she served as Music Librarian since 2007, and for the past two years also acted as Public Services Manager for the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Her long library career has taken her to many places, and many different types of positions. After a brief stint as Music Librarian at the University of Houston, she was Head of Research and Instructional Services there for seven years. Prior to that, she spent eight years working with the fabulous collections at the Sibley Music Library (Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY); she also taught a graduate music research course for several years. Other posts have included Oberlin College & Conservatory Libraries, St. Olaf College and the Indiana University Music Library.
Laura has served on the boards of the Music Library Association and the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, and has given numerous conference presentations, including two papers at meetings of the International Association of Music Libraries. She also authored a chapter, “Teaching the Graduate Music Research Course”, in Music Library Instruction (Music Library Association basic manual series, no. 3; Scarecrow, 2004).
In addition to serving as Music Librarian at Mount Allison, she is also the subject librarian for Classics, Fine Arts, Philosophy, and Religious Studies.
In her spare time she plays French Horn fairly seriously, dabbles at piano, and has been an active member of many choirs over the years. The dog and cat who rule the roost, however, both wish that she would quit the practicing already and dedicate all of her time to their care and entertainment!
New Technical Services Librarian: Anne LePage
Allisonian Anne LePage (BMus ’01) is the librarian responsible for the library’s acquisitions and cataloguing departments. She will also be working with students, faculty and other library patrons at the Research Help Desk and will be contributing to the Library’s collection development and information literacy activities.
In addition to her degree from Mount Allison, Anne has two graduate degrees from UBC, an MLIS completed in ’06 and a MMus completed in ’03. She comes to Mount Allison from Athabasca University where she also held the position of Technical Services Librarian. Anne has also worked at Douglas College, the Vancouver Public Library, the University of British Columbia, and the New Brunswick Public Library Service.
Anne’s research focuses on cloud-based library systems and catalogues, emerging technology and initiatives for e-books, and digitization initiatives overall. She has also given presentations on the Future of Technical Services and co-presented on the embedded presence of libraries in online courses.
Anne hasn’t played her bassoon much since her twin boys were born 18 months ago, but she’s looking forward to getting back into the music scene. Anne also looks forward to meeting students and faculty and reconnecting with the professors she knew when she was here as a student. Her door (located at room M18 on the main floor of the R.P. Bell Library) is always open. Please stop by!
Expanded Access to ARTFL Databases
Mount Alllison students, faculty and staff now have full access, from both on and off campus, to all of the ARTFL Subscription Databases. These databases include:
- FRANTEXT, the main ARTFL Database, comprising more than 3,500 French language texts spanning from the 12th through the 20th centuries
- French Women Writers, a collection of works from the 16th to 19th centuries
- Provencal Poetry, texts from the 12th and 13th centuries
ARTFL also provides access to a number of publically accessible resources, including Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie.
The Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL) is a cooperative enterprise of the Laboratoire ATILF (Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Division of the Humanities, and Electronic Text Services (ETS) of the University of Chicago.
Access ARTFL from: On-Campus | Off-Campus
Test Out WorldCat Local
WorldCat Local is a discovery tool that will allow you to search for books, journals, magazines, newspapers, videos and DVDs, and musical recordings and scores available at the Mount Allison Libraries and at Libraries around the world.
Though not a replacement for the Library Catalogue (which will continue to offer search functionality not available in WorldCat), this new tool offers new features such as simultaneous book and article searching (searchinf some, but not all, library databases). It also enables user-generated tagging and reviewing, and offers a citation tool that generates citations in a variety of styles (including MLA, APA and Chicago).
Note that WorldCat Local does not provide access to all ebooks or to all of the online content (such as online government publications) accessible through the library catalogue.
Want to know more? Check out the WorldCat Local FAQs page.
Try out WorldCat Local here and let us know what you think.
New Books Lists
New books added to the library collections can be browsed in the new books display area by the main entrance of the Main Library.
You can also view monthly lists of new books, A-V materials, student theses and government publications added to the library collections. Lists are arranged in call number order to facility browsing by subject area.
Library Website Gets a Facelift
The Mount Allison Libraries launched a new website in June 2011. We've tried to make it easier to find and access our resources and services. We've also tried to incorporate tips and useful (and often context-specific) information on many of our pages. There are more changes to come.
Please let us know what you think, and include your ideas and suggestions for further changes and improvements to our site!
News Archive
Looking for an odler news item? Our news archive is undergoing redevelopment and is currently offline. It will be available again soon.
In the meantime, please contact us if you would like information about a previous library news item or announcement.