UBC Okanagan Library has designed a BC Heritage Walk as part of BC Heritage Week and Move UBC month. 11 stops are located between the Library and The Commons to help you learn more about Okanagan history and explore archival materials. Participate in this activity and enter for a chance to win prizes from Theytus Books at the final stop.

The first stop is located on the main floor of the Library near the service desk.

Interested in learning more about local history? Visit British Columbia Regional Digitized History or UBC Okanagan Special Collections and Archives for more information.

Is your unit swimming in a pile of digital or paper records that you do not know what to do with? Are you using most of your time looking for or re-creating documents because your classification system needs to be revamped? Are you and your colleagues intrigued about when, how, and where you should be storing your working files (K:\ drive, OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, etc.) in order to facilitate collaboration? If you are facing these or other similar recordkeeping issues, then the UBC Okanagan Records Management Program has the solution for you.

Introducing Records Management: Building Blocks for Success; a free, in-person, 3-part professional workshop series geared specifically towards helping office administrators and all those who are interested in building order, trustworthiness, and compliance into their recordkeeping practices. These 90-minute sessions will provide attendees with counsel, resources, and hands-on practical experience on the essential principles of records management to support your work at UBC.

Key topics include, but are not limited to:

• What is a record and what are my recordkeeping responsibilities?
• How do I recognize and safeguard Personal Information?
• How do I read, interpret, and apply the University Retention and Disposition Schedules correctly?
• What record types am I responsible for? How do I know what is archival and what can be immediately deleted?
• How do I get the most out of the K:\ drive, Teams, and OneDrive?
• How can I manage my email more effectively?

This is an interactive workshop series and questions and/or examples from your work experience at UBCO are welcome and encouraged. Get the tailored help you need from the Okanagan Records Manager while building connections with other administrative professionals from around the campus!

• Workshops will be delivered in small cohorts and scheduled based on participant availability.
• All participants who complete the three sessions will receive an RM Certificate issued by the UBCO Records Management Program.

To sign up for the workshop series, please fill and submit the online registration form. If you have any questions please contact the Okanagan Records Manager, Michael Stewart, at m.stewart@ubc.ca.

Results from UBC’s Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) needs assessment survey have been released as a joint report from UBC Library, and UBC Advanced Research Computing (UBC ARC).

The report outlines findings from a survey of over 200 UBC researchers on both campuses undertaken in spring 2021, and reveals three key recommendations on how to support UBC researchers to access appropriate training and services in digital research skills such as data and statistical analysis, accessing/applying machine learning, data visualization, data privacy and security, and more.

Read the report here:

• Executive Summary
• Full Report

The three overarching recommendations are for UBC to:

1. Develop a unified web presence and governance structure to connect resources, support and tools from across the institution that serve DRI, to provide a single point of entry to DRI at UBC.
2. Establish a unified communication strategy across these service providers that is cohesive and researcher-focused.
3. Implement a unified training and support strategy that leverages the roles and expertise of various UBC partners and that is inclusive of, and sensitive to, the staffing, resources, and unique contexts of each campus.

The findings echo those of the national Canadian Digital Research Infrastructure Needs Assessment, released in October from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, including outlining the need for greater awareness of services, a need for training and support across a range of DRI elements, as well as there being multiple locations in which researchers seek DRI services.

A digital research infrastructure working group comprising members in research data support roles across the university has been assembled to respond to the findings. The DRI working group’s mandate will include ensuring strong alignment between their response and the recommendations of UBC’s forthcoming research data management strategy, set to be finalized and released in spring 2023.

Any comments or questions regarding the assessment can be sent to arc.support@ubc.ca or submitted here.

Do you have a favourite 2SLGBTQIA+ book or film? We want to hear from you!

For Queer Orientation, UBC Okanagan Library is asking UBCO students, staff, and faculty to recommend their favourite 2SLGBTQIA+ literature, films, and more as we expand our collection. Recommendations can be sent to @UBCOLibrary on social media from October 4-8. Learn more about Queer Orientation 2022 and the events that are happening.

Please send your recommendation in a comment, direct message, or by mentioning @UBCOLibrary on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter channels.

Interested in reading the recommendations from last year? Click the link below!

See Recommendations from Last Year

Orange Shirt Day is held annually on September 30 to honour, acknowledge and remember those who have been affected by Residential Schools. Since campus is closed on September 30 and we cannot all be together, library employees will wear orange shirts in recognition of this important day on September 29 instead.

Orange Shirt Day facilitates global conversation and meaningful discussion about the legacy and impacts of Residential Schools in Canada. We call upon our campus to listen with open ears to the stories of Survivors and their families, and to remember those who are not with us today.

We, in the UBCO Library, wear our orange shirts to signify that we stand in solidarity with Survivors and those who have been affected by the harmful legacy of Residential Schools in Canada. We continue to create space amongst our team to learn and acknowledge the ongoing legacy and trauma of Residential Schools. The Library is committed to implementing the Indigenous Strategic Plan. Our work on this plan and other reconciliation work can be explored on the UBCO Library’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion page.

What is the Library doing beyond Orange Shirt Day?
The UBCO Library assembled the Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) Working Group in the winter of 2020. The ISP Implementation Subcommittee has been working to implement UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan and more largely the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action. The ISP Implementation Subcommittee is committed to the important and long-term work of reconciliation. Visit the EDI LibGuide to learn more about the subcommittee and explore related resources, such as this book list for Orange Shirt Day.

See events and resources

In commemoration of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, UBC Okanagan Library has created a book display. The book display will be on the main floor of UBC Okanagan Library from September 26 to October 2, 2022. The books can be borrowed with your UBC ID card. 

Book displays are one way that libraries highlight areas of its collection and are often created around days of significance. This book display will feature many of the Indigenous authors currently in the UBC Okanagan Library general collection, particularly Syilx authors, with a general focus on the historic realities and ongoing legacies of the Residential School system.

We welcome any feedback or thoughts that you may have. Please direct any comments, questions or concerns to Christian Isbister, Indigenous Initiatives Librarian, at christian.isbister@ubc.ca.

View the list of books below:

Learn more

Science Literacy Week: Mathematics

Science Literacy Week (September 19-25, 2022) is a national, weeklong initiative that aims to highlight the diversity of Canadian science. Each year libraries, museums, science centres, schools, and not-for-profits celebrate a specific theme that pertains to science by featuring books, films, events, and workshops.

This year’s theme is mathematics, the language in which science is written. In its oldest forms, mathematics studies trajectories in space, solves equations, calculates probabilities, generates statistics, and much, much more.

UBC Library and UBC Okanagan Library will offer resources and activities on mathematics, as well as resources like curated book lists, streaming film recommendations, and research guides.

Here is a selection of what is being offered at UBC Okanagan Library:

Book Display

UBC Library has a variety of books, films, and other resources about Mathematics. Browse the books on display on the main floor of UBC Okanagan Library from September 20-25.

Activities

Contest – Counting Beans Books at UBC Okanagan Library

Have you ever wondered how many books are in the stacks at UBC Okanagan Library? Take a guess and submit your answer at the Library Service Desk for a chance to win a prize.

Math in Film at the Sawchuk Family Theatre 

A selection of featured mathematics-related films will be played at the Sawchuk Family Theatre from September 20-22.

Learn more

Drop-in Math Support

The Student Learning Hub will be hosting a drop-in table to provide math resources and support. Visit UBC Okanagan Library on September 20 at 2:00pm-3:00pm.

Find more resources:

UBC Library Guide to science Literacy Week

UBC Okanagan Library has partnered with Okanagan Regional Library to showcase the children’s book All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. Pages of this book will be displayed near the buildings surrounding The Commons Field while you take a walk around campus. The story will be available to read from September 1-15, 2022.

Start your walk at the top of the stairs behind the Nechako building.

Did you know that you can visit the Okanagan Regional Library on the first floor of the UBC Okanagan Library? Click the link below to learn more!

ORL @ UBCO Library

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The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library.