by COMM 4331: Management of Organizational Change, supervised by Dr. Judith Holton
To assist with the library’s strategic planning process, Dr. Holton’s class used an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process to discover and explore what students and faculty of MTA value most about the R.P. Bell Library and its services.
Appreciative Inquiry emphasizes a holistic approach to mobilizing energy for change by focusing on what an organization or group already does well in order to amplify and continue these processes into the future.
You can read the students’ report on the project and patrons’ library experiences here:
The fee-based REFWORKS service to which Mount Allison currently subscribes – provided by the Ontario Scholars Portal – will be ending this summer (2015), when the server hosted at the University of Toronto is deactivated. At that time, some Canadian subscriber institutions will migrate their users to REFWORKS servers based in the United States.
For budgetary reasons, we regret that we are unable to continue supporting the REFWORKS service.
At this time we are not planning to replace REFWORKS with another citation management software. Our current contract will expire in the summer 2015.
Over the coming months we in the Libraries will be pleased to assist you in migrating your files from REFWORKS to another platform such as ENDNOTE, MENDELEY or ZOTERO. If you need assistance please send an e-mail to infodesk@mta.ca or call 506-364-2564.
Please see the Citation Management Service Comparison Table for a side-by-side comparison of these three popular citation management systems.
The Libraries and Archives launched a completely redesigned website in late August 2014.
In addition to a new look and overall organization, our new site features a new A-Z list of library databases that is browsable by title, subject and database type, redesigned subject guides with easier access to key resources and research and citation guides, and additional access points to research tips and guides.
One key change on our new site has to do with links to library databases and other licensed resources. In most cases, there is now a single link that enables access from both on and off campus. When off campus, you will be prompted to log in using your Mount Allison user name and password; when on campus, links will simply take you to the database or resource you wish to access.
We're still working on a few things, so stay tuned for more new features to be added soon.
New websites always need a little bit of tweaking. We'd love to hear what you think. Please send us your comments and suggestions for further improvements. You can send an email to infodesk@mta.ca or visit the Contact Us page for other ways you can reach us.
As recently announced on the library’s Twitter feed, we have added new soft seating areas -- new comfy chairs and tables, with more comfy chairs coming soon!
In order to make room for these new seating areas, we have also made changes to the library reference collection. This collection now has two locations: newer and frequently used resources remain located on the main floor of the R.P. Library, while less frequently used titles have been moved to a newly created second Reference location in the basement. Reference material for Music remains located in the Music Library.
We’re not quite done yet -- stay tuned for more changes later this term (including those additional comfy chairs!).
The Library once again has a public-use microwave. It is located next to the Mountie Money machine on the main floor (across from the coffee shop). There is also a public-use kettle in the same location.
Enjoy, and please help us keep these appliances and the surrounding area tidy.
"Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
For more information, please see freedomtoread.ca, and explore the Banned Books and Resources tabs above.
The following books, all available in our library, have been banned or challenged in years past. See dozens more in our Freedom to Read Week display at the front of the library.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by
This Canadian classic set in 1940s Montreal sparked a challenge in Essex County, Ontario in 1990. Parents demanded the book be banned from high school reading lists because of "vulgarity, sexual expressions and sexual innuendoes." The Canadian Book and Periodical Council reports that while many noted Canadian authors defended the book, the Essex County school board cautioned teachers to avoid teaching novels that "might provoke undue controversy."
Beloved by
Beloved has been challenged by several school districts and committees for its depiction of issues and topics deemed "inappropriate." Toni Morrison was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Literature for Beloved.
Black Looks by
This book by noted American feminist, scholar and anti-racist activist bell hooks is required reading in many Women's and Gender Studies courses. It has been held up at the Canadian border and examined by Customs as possible hate literature.
The Homoerotic Photograph by
In 2002, a patron at the Toronto Public Library wanted this scholarly book removed, saying the collection of photos, compiled by a New York University art critic, verges on child pornography. The library did not remove the book.
Howl by
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness...". So begins a poem so controversial the man who published it was arrested. Howl has been the repeated target of censorship, the most famous case being the 1957 obscenity trial against publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
See: Howl on Trial: the Battle for Free Expression by Bill Morgan & Nancy J. Peters (eds.). Call # PS 3513 .I74 H634 2006
To Kill a Mockingbird by
Another Pulitzer Prize winner. Lee's classic has faced numerous challenges over the years, including language and content deemed "objectionable."
Lives of Girls and Women by
Canadian writer Alice Munro won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. Her 1971 coming-of-age novel, Lives of Girls and Women, was banned from an Ontario high school reading list in 1976 because the principal objected to its language and sex scenes.
Ulysses by
Now widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, Ulysses was burned in many countries (including Canada). Kevin Birmingham's recently published The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses, examines the publishing history of this classic of modernist literature (available at PR 6019 .O9 U6257 2014)
The Wars by
This anti-war novel about the horrors of the First World War won the 1977 Governor General's Award for fiction. As recently as 2011, some parents tried to get it banned from high school English classes in Ontario because it depicts sex and violence.
Sources of the information provided in the descriptions above about the reasons books were banned, burned or challenged: Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century and Challenged Works: Selected Books & Magazines That Have Been Challenged in Canada by the Canadian Book and Periodical Council.
Top 50 banned or challenged books of the decade
From The Globe and Mail, updated Aug. 23 2012.
For more information about Freedom to Read Week, please feel free to drop by the Research Help Desk and chat with a librarian. You can also find out more about Freedom to Read Week and intellectual freedom by exploring the links below.
Beginning January 1, 2014 Mount Allison students, faculty, and staff have access to the archival contents of approximately 1,200 Elsevier journal titles in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. The purchase includes thirteen subject packages: Agricultural and Biological Sciences; Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Earth and Planetary Sciences; Engineering and Technology; High Energy/Nuclear Physics and Astronomy; Materials Science; Medicine and Dentistry; Neuroscience; Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics; Physical and Analytical Chemistry; Physics General; Psychology; Social Science; and 61 individual titles.
The titles in these packages collectively best represent our current Elsevier paper journals which will be withdrawn from the collection. These titles also include many of 11,700 articles MTA students and faculty requested between January 1, 2012 and October 31, 2013 but which could not be accessed online because they fell outside our old Elsevier licence.
A consolidated list of titles is available. The URL associated with each title can be used to access the title directly from on or off campus. If asked, enter your MTA username and password. Access is restricted to current MTA users.
On October 12, 2014 the Mount Allison Library Catalogue will be unavailable due to required system maintenance. Work is scheduled to begin at 1:00am. The catalogue will resume operation as soon as the work is completed.
The R.P. Bell Library and Access Services (Circulation) Desk will be open as usual throughout the long week-end.
The Research Help Desk will be open Thanksgiving Monday, October 13th, from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm but closed on Thanksgiving Sunday, October 12th.
Please see the Hours page for more details.
The Library will soon be offering 50-minute workshops designed to introduce you to the library, library databases and other research tools.
We’ll answer these questions and more:
Where do I start my research?
How do I find a copy of an article I need?
How do I find the best books and journal articles?
How do I know which resources to use for my research topic?
Workshops will be held in the Library Computer Lab (third floor) on the following dates:
Thursday September 25 at 7:00 pm
Friday September 26 at 2:30 pm
Wednesday October 1 at 7:00 pm
Thursday October 2 at 4:00 pm
Sunday October 5 at 2:00 pm
Tuesday October 7 at 2:30 pm
Tuesday October 7 at 7:00 pm (CANCELLED: please use the email address below to let us know if you'd like the library to offer additional worshops)
Sign-up sheets are posted outside the Library coffee shop or e-mail infodesk@mta.ca.
From time to time, the Mt. A Libraries acquire trial access to new electronic resources such as journal indexes, full-text databases and online encyclopedias. You can now find these database trials on the right-hand side of the new A - Z List of Databases.
Note that trials are only listed when viewing all databases on the A - Z List. For example, trials will not appear if you have limited the list of databases to those for a particular discipline. If you do not see any trials listed when you first access the page, try clicking Reset.
Kanopy is a video streaming database providing access to a wide range of documentaries and feature films, including titles from the National Film Board of Canada, the Criterion Collection, and the Media Education Foundation (MEF).
You can access the Kanopy trial by going to the main page of the A-Z List of Library Databases.
Trial ends October 7, 2014.
Your comments and suggestions:
Please send comments and suggestions (including requests for a database trial) to the Research Help Desk or contact your subject librarian.