Congratulations to all recipients of the 2024 Aspire-2040 Learning Transformations fund.
We are especially excited to see Academic Integrity in the Disciplines, lead by Robert Janke, Deputy University Librarian, funded in the Program and Learning Experience Enhancement Stream and Photogrammetry as a Tool to Build 3D Virtual Resources funded through the Constellation Protostar Fellowship Stream.
The Sharron Simpson Family Community Engagement Endowment Fund supports experiential learning opportunities at UBC Okanagan Library that establish and enhance impactful university-community relationships with an emphasis on raising awareness of public history and regional identity. Successful applicants work with community partners and university mentors on their proposed project while gaining valuable skills in collaboration, secondary research, project management, and knowledge dissemination.
This year, Sarah Craven’s project, “Cultivating Perspectives through Okanagan Literature,” was awarded funding. In partnership with the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL), Craven proposes to use the funds to purchase books by Okanagan authors for book club kits, which can then be made available to community book clubs through the ORL.
“The ability to easily access books by Okanagan authors at zero-cost will help community book clubs build knowledge and cultural competency about Okanagan history and identities,” says Craven, who volunteers with Kelowna Inclusive as the leader of their book club, Perspectives.
She also hopes to hold author talks by the Okanagan authors of the books at ORL branch locations. “The author talks are a platform for gathering community together to dive deeper into the stories the author has created and explore how regional history and identity influenced their writing.”
Sarah Craven is a graduate student at UBC Okanagan in the School of Health and Exercise Science pursuing a health research career. Her interest in this project comes from the importance she places on inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) principles. “Community book clubs are an excellent avenue for advancing IDEA by cultivating safe environments for inclusive knowledge sharing and exploring new perspectives,” says Craven.
Learn more about the Sharron Simpson Family Community Engagement Endowment Fund and the projects funded in the past.
Learn more about Sarah Craven’s research:
Article: Sarah Craven is learning valuable research and career skills
May 10 | 5:30 – 7 pm
Laurel Packinghouse
1304 Ellis St, Kelowna
Calling all artists, writers, and creatives!
Learn all about zines–a legendary, underground, DIY art form–at this upcoming workshop!
In anticipation of the Queer Zine Fair on June 3, UBC Okanagan Library has partnered with Kelowna Museums to offer a free zine-making workshop. This workshop will provide a brief history of zines and consider Indigenous Knowledges and copyright in relation to zine making. Supplies will be provided, and attendees will have the time and space to create their own zines. Also, there will be pizza!
Creators are invited to showcase, sell, or trade their zine creations at the Queer Zine Fair on June 3, during Kelowna Pride Week. Register by May 27.
June 3, 6 – 8 pm
Laurel Packinghouse
1304 Ellis St, Kelowna
Come and check out Kelowna’s first Queer Zine Fair, hosted by Kelowna Museums and the UBC Okanagan Library and taking place during Kelowna Pride Week.
Zines are often hand-made small-batch booklets and have been a powerful underground and DIY force of expression and cultural movement in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community since the ‘70s. Queer zine fairs showcase and celebrate zines created by 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals or focusing on 2SLGBTQIA+ themes. Queer artists, writers, and creatives can sign up for free to exhibit, sell, or trade their zines.
After 8 pm, the fair will be followed by an open mic where attendees and exhibitors are invited to sign up to share spoken word, music, comedy, or read passages from their zines aloud.
No registration is necessary to attend, and attendees are welcome to bring food to the venue. Tables will be set up during the fair and open mic.
Questions? Contact Donna Langille, Community Engagement and Open Education Libarian, at donna.langille@ubc.ca.
Zine creators are invited to showcase, sell, or trade their zine creations at the Queer Zine Fair on June 3, during Kelowna Pride Week. Register by May 27.
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.
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Spices and Sauces:
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*when possible, items should be obtained in small portions, or can be repackaged in smaller portions to accommodate student use.
Food Security is a major public health issue. Learn what UBC is doing to address food insecurity.
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.
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
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
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
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:
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.
Questions or concerns can be sent to the Okanagan Records Manager, Michael Stewart, at m.stewart@ubc.ca
Bringing nature indoors through potted plants and images of trees.
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
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
 Dracaena trifasciata (Snake Plant) |
 Monstera Deliciosa (Swiss cheese plant) |
 Zamioculcas (ZZ plant) |
 Title: Jacaranda |
 Title: Milky Way between Ponderosa Pines |
 Title: Plum Blossom |
 Title: Bodhi Tree |
 Title: jacaranda |
 Title: First Magnolias |
 Title: Bamboo Forest, Kyoto, Japan |
 Title: Sunset in the Kootenays (Rossland, BC) |
 Title: TK 287 |
 Title: Branch of Japanese Maple Tree |
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.
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
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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.