Did you know that nearly 43% of post-secondary students in Canada are food insecure? Added to that, many students who live on campus are far from home and do not have access to the groceries they need to prepare a meal that reminds them of home.

The Student Union, the Global Engagement Office and UBC Okanagan Library are collaborating on a food drive to help stock the shelves of The Pantry student food bank with items for our diverse campus community. Taste of Home Food Drive encourages UBCO staff, faculty, and students to donate unique and nutritious items.

Help give UBCO Students a Taste of Home. Donations will be collected at UBC Okanagan Library (1st floor) and at Picnic (UNC 1st floor) from November 4 until November 30.  

Suggested items to donate:

*when possible, items should be obtained in small portions, or can be repackaged in smaller portions to accommodate student use.

Learn more 

Food Security is a major public health issue. Learn what UBC is doing to address food insecurity.

Food Security Initiative

Physical Food Hub

Faculty, staff, and student partners from UBC Okanagan Library and UBC Advanced Research Computing (ARC) were awarded a Data Champion grant from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada for their project, Data Futures.

Data Futures centres on the effective management—collection, handling, and dissemination—of research data in graduate research labs and addresses issues of turning research data management (RDM) principles into effective practices catered to specific disciplines.

This work will contribute to normalizing strong and equitable RDM practices for the next generation of researchers and will offer a scalable model for RDM training through the dissemination of open, adaptable materials.

Partners on the grant include Librarians Mathew Vis-Dunbar and Marjorie Mitchell, ARC RDM specialist Nick Rochlin, Drs. Heather Gainforth, Jason Pither, Fiona McDonald, and Emily Murphy, and graduate students Hanna Paul and Liam Johnson.

Read about the grant call here.

This work will draw on research supported by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. The Digital Research Alliance of Canada plays a critical role in advancing the Government of Canada’s National DRI Strategy. It coordinates and funds activities related to and including Advanced Research Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software. Learn more

On April 1, we entered into Fiscal Year 2023. We, here at Okanagan Records Management Program, would like to wish you a Happy New Fiscal Year! Perhaps there aren’t any fireworks or champagne, but we extend an invitation for you get rid of your financial records that have fulfilled their retention responsibility.

When the fiscal year changes, financial records that have reached their retention (7 years) can be disposed, as per the official UBC Records Management Office retention schedules.

Are you unsure if it’s time to destroy your financial records? Do you need somewhere to store your records until they reach their retention? Is your tiny paper shredder overwhelmed by the volume of records that need to be destroyed? The Okanagan Records Management Program can help!

Records Manager Michael Stewart can advise you on matters of records classification, retention, and disposition. Under the Library’s custodianship, your physical records can be transported into our secure storage vault by Central Receiving and Mail, and even your digital records can be securely transferred to a digital repository using the Records Management tool “Move-It”. Once your financial records are in the custodianship of the Records Management Program, we enter the items into our database and track the retention for you. Once the retention period is over, any paper records that are approved for destruction can be placed into a shred queue for our next on-site visit from Shred-It.

Lastly, did you know that you can destroy physical copies of financial records after 90-days, as long as a digital copy has been properly uploaded in Workday? Financial records in Workday become the authoritative copy of a record, replacing the physical copy. For more on digitization standards and other similar instructional documents, please visit Policies, Guidelines, Best Practices and Standards.

Now that you have some ideas about how to alleviate your unit’s document load, get in touch with Records Management Assistant Stephanie Plumb to learn how you can make use of the Okanagan Records Storage Program’s services.

Kid kits

Designed to help keep kids busy while parents are studying, our three kid kits include a book and an activity in a plastic container. Choose from Lego, colouring, or dinosaurs. Borrow these at the Library Service Desk, the loan time is 2 hours, but this can be extended upon request. 

Includes Lego blocks and books about building

CHECK AVAILABILITY

Large games 

Large games are perfect for an active study break with friends. Options include: ring toss, giant checkers, wooden dominos, outdoor chess, and Twister. Borrow these at the Library Service Desk. The loan time is 2 hours, but this can be extended upon request.  

Includes fabric mat and plastic game pieces

CHECK AVAILABILITY

Lawn chairs 

Take your studying outdoors! Find the perfect spot in the sun or shade with a library lawn chair. There are 4 lawn chairs available. The loan time is 2 hours, but this can be extended upon request.  

Lawn chairs with armrests and a drink holder

CHECK AVAILABILITY

UBC Okanagan is legally required to retain certain record types for an allotted period of time and must align with Board of Governors Records Management Policy GA4. The Records Management Office (RMO), in conjunction with University Council, is developing new retention and disposition schedules to best suit the unique needs of each unit at UBC and to improve records management by directing units on their legal, business, research, administrative, and historical requirements for the proper care and disposition of their records.

There will be two rounds of revision where stakeholders can leave their comments and feedback on the schedules that apply to their unit:

• First comment period: March 15 to April 8, 2022
• Second comment period: May 16 to June 9, 2022

If you are an office administrator, an admirer of all things records related, or someone with a keen awareness of your unit-specific records and functions, then you are invited to leave your feedback on the schedules which are geared towards your work and knowledge-base.

Retention Schedules

Questions or concerns can be sent to the Okanagan Records Manager, Michael Stewart, at m.stewart@ubc.ca

Indoor Nature: A Library Wellbeing Initiative

What are we doing?

Bringing nature indoors through potted plants and images of trees.

Why are we doing this?

By bringing potted plants and vibrant images of trees inside the Okanagan Library, we will provide indoor exposure to nature, relying on an established health promotion strategy with demonstrated positive impacts on physiological and psychological health.¹ View a map of plant locations.

The Okanagan Library was renovated in 2018 and continued efforts are underway to improve inclusivity, facilitate a variety of quality study spaces, and determine creative ways to support student academic success.

By adding potted plants to areas with natural light and images of trees to internal areas of the building, indoor exposure to nature will enhance local environmental satisfaction.² An increasing body of research focused on direct benefits of indoor nature exposure to students in a campus environment.³

How does this project support UBC Wellbeing?

This project directly supports the Okanagan Charter by utilizing health promotion evidence to improve the campus environment by enhancing learning spaces. It also addressed multiple categories of the Wellbeing Strategic Framework including the built and natural environment and mental health and wellbeing. This project creates intersection in these priority areas by altering the indoor environment by relying on evidence that the following health criteria can be positively impacted by either potted plants, images of nature (specifically trees), or both: mood, brain activity, cognition, temperature, stress, perceived attractiveness, general health, pain tolerance, restorativeness.¹

Learn About the plants

Dracaena trifasciata (Snake Plant)

Monstera Deliciosa (Swiss cheese plant)

Zamioculcas (ZZ plant)

Learn about the Tree Prints

Title: Jacaranda Creator: Ian Sanderson Tree: Jacaranda mimosifolia https://flic.kr/p/AfwrM8	Title: Milky Way between Ponderosa Pines Creator: Ed Suominen Tree: Ponderosa Pine https://flic.kr/p/fH5Xat	Title: Plum Blossom Creator: Patrick Vierthaler Tree: Plum/Cherry blossom (Prunus mume) https://flic.kr/p/SbQa6f	Title: Bodhi Tree Creator: pixelarity Tree: Bodhi Tree https://flic.kr/p/7DrvZC	Title: jacaranda Flickr Creator: sharin Tree: Jacaranda mimosifolia https://flic.kr/p/bfWoeB
Title: First Magnolias Creator: cahadikin Tree: Magnolia https://flic.kr/p/e51XCV	Title: Bamboo Forest, Kyoto, Japan Creator: Lenny K Photography Tree: Bamboo https://flic.kr/p/DFXwUA	Title: Sunset in the Kootenays (Rossland, BC) Creator: Roman Rodyakin Tree: Douglas Fir and Cedar https://flic.kr/p/j81TAq	Title: TK 287 Creator: Ty Korte Tree: Ponderosa Pine https://flic.kr/p/Fuyfvp	Title: Branch of Japanese Maple Tree Creator: Stanley Zimny Tree: Japanese Maple https://flic.kr/p/2dNWjbX

Acknowledgement

This project is made possible by funding from the UBC Wellbeing Strategic Initiative Fund.

Note: This news story was updated in 2023 to reflect the established plant/photo program.

Works Cited

¹Mcsweeney, J., Rainham, D., Johnson, S. A., Sherry, S. B., & Singleton, J. (2015). Indoor nature exposure (INE): A health-promotion framework. Health Promotion International, 30(1), 126-139. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dau081

²Dopko, R. L., Zelenski, J. M., & Nisbet, E.   K. (2014). Nature salience increases judgments of environmental satisfaction. Ecopsychology, 6(4), 207-217. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2014.0042

³van den Bogerd, N., Dijkstra, S. C., Seidell, J. C., & Maas, J. (2018). Greenery in the university environment: Students’ preferences and perceived restoration likelihood.PLOS One, 13(2): e0192429 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192429

UBC Okanagan Library has partnered with Okanagan Regional Library to showcase the children’s book Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang. Pages of this book will be displayed in the windows of the buildings surrounding The Commons Field behind Nechako Residence from February 14-28.

Don’t be a Grumpy Monkey! Get outside for a study break and walk the perimeter of The Commons Field behind Nechako to read a silly story. Getting fresh air and taking a break from the computer can help you feel energized and allow you to return to your work refreshed.

What did you think of the StoryWalk®?
Let us know and enter to win one of three unique prize packs!
Enter to win!

Find more MOVE UBC events
MOVE UBC

Check out more ORL StoryWalks®
StoryWalks®

Did you know that the Okanagan Regional Library has a location within UBC Okanagan Library? Check it out!
UBCO ORL

_________

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.

Okanagan Special Collections releases Simpson Family Fonds online!

The Simpson Family fonds is the cornerstone of Okanagan Special Collections and is the first archival collection acquired by UBC Okanagan Library. Images in this collection provide a valuable window into an historical era of Okanagan industry. Okanagan Special Collections has now digitized 700+ historical photographs from this collection and made them publicly available through the British Columbia Regional Digitized History portal. Many of these images depict Kelowna in the mid-twentieth century and include many land- and city-scapes which have changed profoundly over the past few decades.

Explore the Simpson Family fonds

Title: S.M Simpson Ltd. Sawmill at Manhattan Beach, Kelowna North End
Description: Photo taken facing north. Showing log booms in Sutherland Bay and foothills of Knox mountain*

Title: Aerial view of Kelowna floating bridge
Description: Kelowna floating bridge adjacent to Kelowna City Park*

Title: Box factory, ca. 1943
Description: Factory workers on the assembly line at a box factory*

Title: S. M. Simpson, Ltd. Mill
Description: Verso of image reads: “S.M. Simpson Mill 1952″*

*Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from UBC Okanagan Library Special Collections and Archives

Project title: Open digital learning and assessment resource for Engineering Mechanics (Dynamics)
Project lead: Peyman Yousefi (UBCO Faculty, Engineering),
Project team: Ernest Goh (UBCO Faculty, Engineering), James Ropotar (UBCO Engineering student) and Akshat Poddar (UBCO Computer Science student); with support from: Firas Moosvi (UBCO Faculty, Computer Science) and Donna Langille (UBCO Librarian).

Background on the Open Educational Resource project.
The goal of this project is to develop a question bank that contains formula-driven questions, including random numerical values, for pre-, post-, and in-lecture activities. Using the open-source online platform, PrairieLearn, all UBC students will have access to these questions, which were previously only available to students with paid textbook access. In this manner, active learning is promoted and students are engaged in lectures and course materials. Instructors explain sample questions during lectures, and students follow along by solving the same questions with different numerical values. Additionally, instructors may use these materials without restriction by a limited access time and adapt or modify them for the courses with similar content.

There are three phases of this project: Phase (I) is the in-lecture activities; Phase (II) is the tutorials and assignments; and Phase (III) is the assessment and practice materials. The team is currently working on phase (I), which will be available for students in UBCO by January 2022. Students and faculty members of UBCO and UBCV, as well as all Canadian universities, will be able to use the learning materials.

Why choose Open?
In a learning environment, equity and inclusion should be prioritized to ensure that learners with different knowledge backgrounds and abilities can flourish. The affordability of commercial learning tools is a concern for students, especially international students. And so, Open Educational Resources (OER) and providing free materials to students are important steps on a path to improving equity and inclusion. The way UBC supports students around the world and provides resources that address these concerns, led Dr. Peyman Yousefi to embark on OER development. OERs are constantly growing and, in many cases, self-modifying over time, and the users (students) contribute to this growth by providing feedback and monitoring their course progress; therefore, OERs help promote more effective learning. Furthermore, active learning allows students to assess their own learning, and the results of their self-assessment practice can be useful in strengthening their understanding of course content.

Project Impact
Engineering Mechanics (Dynamics) is a core course taken by all engineering students in their first year of study. Practice resources developed through this project will be used in APSC 181 Dynamics, with about 400 enrolled students. By providing free access to the learning materials, students will be able to develop a deeper understanding of the course content. The course’s active learning strategy further enhances students’ understanding of engineering calculations.  In addition, students will have access to these online resources in the subsequent years of their studies, so they can refresh their knowledge on engineering. The proposed learning resources can be re-used or updated by a broader community of engineering and science educators, providing students with an alternative to expensive commercial resources.

Advice for those considering OERs
Involve students in the development of OER. The students can use the provided materials and provide feedback to assist their further refinement.

In general, the use of OERs is not limited to the course for which they were originally developed, but can be shared with educators building similar materials in courses that have similar content.

While this project is a small building block of OER, Dr. Peyman Yousefi encourages everyone to take steps to enhance learning environments to create a better experience for students and for the future community.

Explore more Spotlights

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 our orange shirts and pins on September 29 in recognition of Orange Shirt Day. 

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, as a library, wear our orange shirts and pins 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. 

Learn more about Orange Shirt Day. Explore the Okanagan Syilx Research Guide.  

What is the library doing beyond Orange Shirt Day?
The UBC Okanagan Library is committed to implementing the Indigenous Strategic Plan and assembled the Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) Working Group in the winter of 2020. The ISP Working Group has been working to implement UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan and more largely the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The ISP Working Group is committed to the important and long-term work of reconciliation.

Learn more about the ISP Working Group.