Library Update - Spring 2009
Library
- Friends of the Library Lecture - Mr. Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited and UW's new Chancellor elect, gave his first campus address as featured speaker in this year's Friends of the Library Lecture on Monday, April 20. Watsa's talk was entitled “Fair, Friendly Acquisitions… The Fairfax Story” and focused on the culture, principles, and values guiding Fairfax.
- E-Initiatives
- Primo – The Library launched the beta version of its new smart search tool, Primo, this fall in collaboration with its TUG partners, Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Guelph. The Library will be launching Primo as its primary search tool in coming months.
- Historical Air Photos in Google Earth – Google Earth has recently added the Map Library’s digitized Historical Air Photo Collection. The collection contains over 1,500 black and white air photos of the Kitchener-Waterloo area taken during the years of 1930 and 1945-47.
- Ares e-Reserves Software – Staff continue to implement Ares, a new e-Reserves software, with an expected deployment in the spring term.
- Library Budgets — The University announced a $400,000 increase to the base of the Library Acquisitions budget for 2009-2010. There will be a campus-wide 3% cut to operating budgets in 2009-2010 and a possible 5% cut in 2010-2011. See below re “UW’s Financial Situation."
- Copyright FAQ - The Library coordinated the preparation of a Copyright FAQ on the recommendation of UW’s Academic Integrity Committee. The FAQ was created in collaboration with representatives from departments at UW who hold copyright responsibilities.
- Main Floor Renovations Complete at the Dana Porter Library - The main floor of the Dana Porter Library reopened this fall to reveal a new look and layout, as well as a range of new and updated features.
- Library Photo Contest — UW students submitted photos of their favourite Library spaces in a photo contest held during the winter term.
- Library Update Report — The Library published its latest update report in February.
University
- Canada Excellence Research Chair Finalists — UW has four research chair finalists that will advance to the final round of selection for 20 Canada Excellence Research Chairs. UW's proposals make up 10 per cent of the successful finalists and include:
- Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ecohydrology: Sustainable Groundwater Management for Aquatic Ecosystem Health
- Canada Excellence Research Chair in Experimental Quantum Information Processing
- Canada Excellence Research Chair in Green Mechatronic Automobiles
- Canada Excellence Research Chair in Integrated Wireless Communication Technology
- Corridor for Advancing Canadian Digital Media — UW's recently announced Stratford Institute will share $10.7 million in federal government funding with Communitech to create a Corridor for Advancing
Canadian Digital Media (CACDM), which will focus on commercialization and research.
- Support for the Institute of Quantum Computing – The federal government has committed $50 million to support the research efforts of the university's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC).
- TVO talks innovation at Waterloo — The Waterloo Region was selected as the community of choice for a discussion on TVO's Agenda focusing on the topic of Ontario's Innovation Economy. As part of the discussion, nearly 100 people participated in a TVOntario Agenda Camp on UW ’s campus on March 29; the Agenda broadcast following on March 30 from the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI).
- UW's Financial Situation — UW President David Johnston issued a UW Community Update in April. A town hall meeting was held, giving the UW faculty and staff an opportunity to ask questions of President David Johnston, Provost Amit Chakma, and Vice-President External Relations Meg Beckel about the university's 2009-2010 budget and other topics.
- School of Environment, Enterprise and Development — UW's Board of Governors have approved the creation of a School of Environment, Enterprise and Development to be based within the Faculty of Environment. The School will encompass two successful undergraduate programs currently delivered by the Faculty of Environment and will include two master's programs by 2010. The school will also launch an Environmental Training Institute to offer professional certificate and diploma courses.
Administrative Assistant
Last Updated: April 21, 2009
