Library staff are greeting the growth of networked electronic information with enthusiasm. The nine members of the Internet Resources Committee (IRC) are finding themselves particularly immersed in the new reality. The IRC has become familiar with the Internet, and, along the way, has acquired a keen awareness of the value of the Internet and its potential to enhance scholarly communication and increase access to research and learning materials.
The Internet Resources Committee is the team responsible for organizing and maintaining the UW Electronic Library (UWELib), the Library's home on the Internet. Students and scholars from UW and beyond come to the Electronic Library to search library catalogues from around the world, to read electronic texts and journals, and to access the Internet sites of other libraries, universities, and scholarly societies.
The Library's subject-specialist librarians have organized discipline-specific Internet information into discipline pages, from Accountancy to Urban and Regional Planning. The discipline pages give users access to electronic journals in the field, preprint services, and international discussion groups. Each discipline page also provides local information, such as descriptions of liaison librarian services, bibliographies of reference materials in the UW Library, and guides offering instruction in the use of the Library's reference tools.
Faculty and students are becoming increasingly familiar with computers and electronic communication. The Library is striving to take advantage of the power of the new technology. UWELib contains an electronic reference service called AskLib, and an electronic interlibrary loan service called GetLib. An Electronic Walking Tour of the libraries has proven very popular. Electronic workshops are being offered to teach students how to use the Internet to find research material on particular topics.
The Internet is a valuable teaching and research tool. If you're interested in learning more about the Library's home on the Internet, come into the Dana Porter Library for a tour, or contact Christine Jewell, Chair of the Internet Resources Committee, at 888-4567, extension 5623. UWELib is located at the Internet address: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/
UW Electronic Library won the Ontario Library and Information Technology Association's 1994 Award for Information Innovation.
The University of Waterloo Library has a twenty year history of unique joint activity and cooperation with academic libraries, especially with the libraries at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph. A cooperative agreement signed by the three university presidents and librarians in January of this year marks an important milestone and raises cooperative initiatives to a new level.
Staff members of all three university libraries are committed to working together to provide members of our respective academic communities with a seamlessly integrated programme of library collections and services. Some of the projects we are working on include:
As these initiatives develop we will keep you posted.
Murray Shepherd
University Librarian
The archival portions include a wide range of government publications, correspondence, theses, research papers, and journal articles, all of which were read by Dr. Weaver with careful attention as is evidenced by the numerous marginal annotations. This collection offers a rich and varied source of primary and secondary literature in support of research about native peoples. Moreover, as the field of comparative studies of indigenous populations continues to expand, the collection will prove invaluable in terms of its scope and distinctiveness. It is one of few such collections to assemble in one place such a wide range of documentation relating to social, cultural, political, and environmental issues concerning indigenous peoples globally.
A faculty member in the Department of Anthropology since 1966, Dr. Weaver was a respected scholar, the recipient of several awards and grants, and author of numerous books, articles, and research papers. Shortly before her death in 1993, the Weaver-Tremblay Award in Canadian Applied Anthropology was announced in honour of her work and that of Marc-Adélard Tremblay of Universite Laval.
A bookplate, specifically designed for the Weaver collection by Woodlands Cultural Centre Director Tom Hill, includes a photograph of a wampum belt depicting, "Woman with a Heart." This is a reflection of Dr. Weavers' lifetime determination and dedication to promote justice and recognition for native peoples.
Book plate designed by Tom Hill, Woodlands Cultural Centre
Mrs. Smucker first began the "donor" aspect of her life in 1986 with her gift of her papers to the Doris Lewis Rare Book Room. Her archive was welcomed by several facets of the University's teaching and research programs - women's studies, local and urban history, and English literature. Since that original disposition, Mrs. Smucker has made several accruals to her collection, each representing the research, writing, publication, advertising, and resulting reviews of a new book.
However, it is the very graphic reaction of Smucker's hundreds of youthful readers which makes her regular gifts so welcomed. The reaction from children of all ages, all over the world, usually takes the form of neatly printed colourfully illustrated fan letters.
Some letters describe the pleasure the books bring - "There was never a boring part in this book. - I felt sorry when the book ended. - You are a very good author. - Your book is so well written that it is good enough to be true. - I am glad you were live and not a video."
Other letters end with the hopeful postscript - "If you have time, please write back," and the perennial "I hope you are writing another book."
These letters, when combined with the dozens of more formal published reviews of Smucker's work and her voluminous manuscript drafts, as well as correspondence with both adult readers and her publishers, give a vivid picture of this writer.
Although now living in the United States, Mrs. Smucker frequently returns to the Waterloo area and usually brings with her another welcome gift of papers. The Library now eagerly anticipates her next donation - her archives relating to her most recent book Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt.
Last month, during my holidays, a man came by the office and dropped off a small package. I recognized it as the realization of an idea brought in for a patent search some months previously. Certainly a happy customer, and certainly a good feeling to be part of bringing something to market!
Patent searching is only one of the many library services offered by IBIS, the Industrial and Business Information Service, now celebrating its tenth year of operation. Clients range from large corporations to individual inventors, each needing information but having neither the time nor the expertise to look for it. Staff in this division do literature searches, find conference papers, technical reports, standards, newspaper and journal articles, and answer reference questions. In fact, Faye Abrams, the first IBIS Coordinator often told clients "If it's legal, we'll do it!"
Ten years ago Faye Abrams started the service and together with a number of dedicated staff members, built IBIS to its current successful state. Since November 1994 Doug Morton has been Coordinator and is continuing where Faye left off.
IBIS was started to help people, primarily from local companies, who were coming into the Library and looking for more help than could be given at a busy reference desk, and wanting more services than were available to them at the time. IBIS provides those services and charges a fee to cover overhead cost. Businesses and research centres have access to high quality library services without having to maintain their own library.
Most clients are from the Kitchener-Waterloo area but we have had phone calls from as far away as Texas, search requests from Sarnia, and thesis requests from around the world.
IBIS knows the power of the right information at the right time to make the right business decision. If you would like to take advantage of the information IBIS can provide, contact Doug Morton, Coordinator, or Wish Leonard at 888-4517.
Urquhart, a professor of Fine Arts at the University since 1972, has been a long-time friend of the Library. His talk was entitled "The Case for the Other: About Boxes and Inspirations."
We had the opportunity to peek into the mind of an artist and appreciate what is involved in the creative process. We visited Urquhart's "Other" - the other side of the ocean, Europe - as he described and illustrated how and what has inspired his work. We saw doors, arches, and graveyards through an artist's eyes. And then, we were treated to slides of his sculptures, paintings, and much revered boxes. Selected materials from the Tony Urquhart Papers were on display at the reception following the lecture.
The event also provides an opportunity to salute University of Waterloo writers. This year the books of 16 UW authors were displayed in the Library.
The third annual Friends of the Library lecture was truly an inspiring event for all who attended. The creative process is alive at UW!
Friends of the Library Newsletter is a publication of the University of Waterloo Library. It is scheduled to be published twice yearly and is supported by the University of Waterloo Friends of the Library association.
Editor: Ann Naese
Assistant Editor: Esther Millar
Contributors: Susan Bellingham, Christine Jewell, Douglas Morton, Susan Moskal, Murray Shepherd, Mary Stanley
Photography: Central Photographic University of Waterloo
Printed: Graphic Services University of Waterloo
ISSN: 1180-2480
Return to Friends of the Library Newsletter
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