347 research outputs found
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Learning from Decoding across Disciplines and within Communities of Practice
No full textThis final chapter synthesizes the findings and implications derived from applying the Decoding the Disciplines model across disciplines and within communities of practice. We make practical suggestions for teachers and researchers who wish to apply and extend this work
“The deportation of the Hindus from British Columbia will be a blessing to all concerned.”: Intersections of class and race in the British Honduras Scheme.
No full textIn the fall and winter of 1908, the Canadian Government developed the British Honduras Scheme, a plan to transport all South Asian immigrants from British Columbia to British Honduras. To justify this relocation, the Canadian Government argued that British Honduras needed cheap labour to maintain sugar plantations, railroads and that these immigrants could not survive in Canada because they faced unemployment, starvation, and they were not suited for harsh winters. This attempt was well received by many white Canadians of British descent. Many agreed that this transportation would benefit the South Asian community and white Canadians. Analyzing this scheme in the context of the way newspapers represented it at the time demonstrates how class and race intersected in popular understandings of South Asian people in Canada. Primary sources also reveal how South Asian immigrants resisted the scheme. They show that despite popular views of South Asians being hapless, hopeless, and inferior “hindoos” who could not survive in the northern hemisphere, the South Asian community recognized and advocated for their own interests, while resisting discrimination. These sources depict a community who at times possessed significant agency within Vancouver while challenging attempts to force them out
Embeddedness Creates Opportunities for Enhanced Library Liaison Services and Relationships [Evidence Summary]
No full textA Review of:
O’Toole, E., Barham, R., & Monahan, J. (2016). The impact of physically embedded librarianship on academic departments. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(3), 529-556. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0032
Abstract
Objective – To examine whether liaison librarian interactions increase when librarians are physically embedded in their liaison areas.
Design – Natural experiment using quantitative measures.
Setting – A large, public university in the United States of America.
Subjects – Liaison librarian reference interactions.
Methods – This research is organized around four primary research questions that examine the effect of liaison librarian physical, co-located embeddedness on the following: 1) the frequency of walk-up reference transactions of the embedded location versus the service desk; 2) the frequency of reference and instructional transactions with liaison areas after the implementation of embedded services; 3) the frequency of walk-up transactions at embedded sites compared to the number of reference and instructional transactions after embeddedness began; and 4) liaison librarian participation in new collaborative or integrative activities with their liaison areas. Researchers used data collected between Fall 2012 and Spring 2014 and compared this to data collected in the pre-embedded period for Fall 2010 to Fall 2011. Data sources included the library’s locally developed reference services statistics tracking tool, individual librarians’ calendar appointment records, and librarian performance agreements. The analysis uses descriptive statistics.
Main Results – Researchers discovered a decrease in the frequency of liaison librarians’ walk-up reference transactions at the service desk, as tracked by transactions per hour, occurring before the transition, during the transition, and after the transition to embedded librarianship. They note a decrease of 45% in the number of walk-up interactions at service points for the three librarians involved in the study from the pre-embeddedness service period during Fall 2010 as compared to Spring 2012. The data show this decline through Spring 2013 before rebounding in Fall 2013 and Spring 2014. They identified a median decline of three transactions per hour at the service desk from the pre-embeddedness to post-embeddedness periods.
They identified an increase of 371% in the number of email transactions following the implementation of embedded librarianship as compared to the pre-embeddedness period. Telephone interactions declined overall during the research period, though they were already in decline before the transition to embeddedness began. The overall number of face-to-face reference appointments increased during the transition to embeddedness and continued to rise during the post-embeddedness period, with a 275% increase in the median number of appointments between pre- and post-embeddedness periods. The new embeddedness service did not have as significant an impact on the frequency of information literacy instruction sessions, with a small increase of 11.5% between the pre- and post-embeddedness periods, but it did spur the creation of online course research guides, which saw an increase of 54%.
Regarding the third research question, researchers totalled the combined numbers of reference transactions by phone, email, and appointment, and compared those against walk-up interactions and also against instruction activities. In both cases, they did not discover any apparent impact of embeddedness and the frequency of these activities.
The final research question addressed whether embeddedness led to liaison librarians having new collaborative and integrative activities with their subject areas. The researchers indicate that the liaison librarians “indeed experienced novel interactions with their assigned departments that fall into both categories” (p. 547). They highlight several types of activities experienced by the liaison librarians in the study, such as participating in the grant proposal process, assisting department projects, and involvement in student activities.
Conclusion – This library’s expanded embedded library services led to an increased frequency of reference interactions, instruction opportunities, and opportunities for new collaborative and integrative activities between the liaison librarian and their subject area. This study reveals several opportunities for future research around embedded services as well as models of embeddedness, including opportunities to address impact and benefits of such services on the liaison areas
Undergraduate Perceptions of Social Media and Meaning Making: Validated Survey Instrument
No full textThis instrument was developed as a part of the Erika E. Smith’s (2016) doctoral thesis, Exploring undergraduate perceptions of meaning making and social media in their learning, completed at the University of Alberta. For more information, please see: https://doi.org/10.7939/R33J39B71 and https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0049-
Openly Obsessed: Open Educational Resources Policy in Western Canada & Conceptualizing Openness in Higher Education
Get PDFThis lightning talk was given during an afternoon event hosted by the MRU Library Scholarship Sub-Committee on December 12, 2017. It discusses the progress of two research projects on open educational resources (OER) - one of OER policy in Western Canada and the other on the challenges introduced by openness in higher education
Media's Impact on Campus Rape Culture
Get PDFThe term ‘rape culture’ was coined in the 1970s by American feminists, to describe a culture of intimidation whereby male aggression toward women is both normalized and encouraged (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth, 1993). This honours project explores rape culture transmitted via an online medium at a Canadian university campus. Despite over 40 years of addressing sexual assault in Canada, research continues to show that approximately 20%-28.5% of Canadian undergraduate females are sexually assaulted during their four-year degree (Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher & Martin, 2009, p.643; Newton-Taylor, DeWit, & Gliksman, 1998, p. 156; Suran, 2014, p. 274). This is especially concerning since, in comparison, police reporting of sexual assault was at 5% in 2014 (Perreault, 2015, p. 25) and on-campus reporting consisted of only 700 documented cases from 87 Canadian universities and major colleges, between 2009 and 2013 (CBC News, 2015). Only since 2014 have universities and colleges begun to openly acknowledge the need for such policies and protocols (Mathieu, 2014, para. 6). The focus of this Honours project is to examine the student-led Facebook page “MRU Confessions” that is directed towards Mount Royal University students in Calgary, Alberta. Using a content analysis approach, the aim is to examine how, and to what extent media facilitates or challenges campus rape culture. Although this project is exploratory in nature and focuses on only one Canadian campus, it provides a basis from which other studies exploring rape culture on university campuses can emerge. Ultimately, this project aims to invoke discussion and increase awareness concerning rape culture while providing commentary to the development of a national framework that universities can use in shaping policy, programs, and education
Sentencing
Get PDFSentencing in Canada has remained fairly consistent since formalized courts, at both the federal and provincial levels, were established shortly after Confederation in 1867. Once an accused person is convicted (found guilty) of a crime, the court must decide on an appropriate sentence. Sentencing is one of the most challenging and controversial aspects of our justice system. The public has strong opinions about it, the media reports its perspective, and the written law has its framework. In addition to all of that, there are the individuals affected by the crime—victims and offenders—who also have a broad range of religious, social, cultural, and moral values and views that influence their perspectives on sentencing. Regardless of any opinion or belief, a judge must adhere to the sentencing guidelines within the Criminal Code
Supporting Indigenous Studies Programs Through Sustainable Budget Allocation
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Collection Management on 31 Oct 2017, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2017.1337600This study assesses acquisitions budget allocation for sustainable support of Indigenous Studies (IS) and the challenge of addressing the needs of an emergent subject area. A survey of collections librarians provided context for library allocation practices of other Canadian institutions offering IS programs. An analysis of titles purchased before and after creating an IS subject fund was performed; results reveal that there was an increase in the number of IS titles purchased annually after the fund was created. A defined subject fund allowed flexibility beyond conventional library collections structures to address the unique needs of IS as an academic discipline
Early career researchers demand full-text and rely on Google to find scholarly sources [Evidence Summary]
No full textA Review of:
Nicholas, D., Boukacem-Zeghmouri, C., Rodríguez-Bravo, B., Xu, J., Watkinson, A., Abrizah, A., Herman, E., & Świgoń, M. (2017). Where and how early career researchers find scholarly information. Learned Publishing, 30(1), 19-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/leap.1087
Objective – To examine the attitudes and information behaviours of early career researchers (ECRs) when locating scholarly information.
Design – Qualitative longitudinal study.
Setting – Research participants from the United Kingdom, United States of America, China, France, Malaysia, Poland, and Spain.
Subjects – A total 116 participants from various disciplines, aged 35 and younger, who were holding or had previously held a research position, but not in a tenured position. All participants held a doctorate or were in the process of earning one.
Methods – Using structured interviews of 60-90 minutes, researchers asked 60 questions of each participant via face-to-face, Skype, or telephone interviews. The interview format and questions were formed via focus groups.
Main Results – As part of a longitudinal project, results reported are limited to the first year of the study, and focused on three primary questions identified by the authors: where do ECRs find scholarly information, whether they use their smartphones to locate and read scholarly information, and what social media do they use to find scholarly information. Researchers describe how ECRs themselves interpreted the phrase scholarly information to primarily mean journal articles, while the researchers themselves had a much expanded definition to include professional and “scholarly contacts, ideas, and data” (p. 22).
This research shows that Google and Google Scholar are widely used by ECRs for locating scholarly information regardless of discipline, language, or geography. Their analysis by country points to currency and the combined breadth-and-depth search experience that Google provides as prime reasons for the popularity of Google and Google Scholar. Of particular interest is the popularity and use of Google Scholar in China, where it is officially blocked but accessed by ECRs via proxy services. Other general indexes, such as Web of Science and Scopus, are also popular but not universally used by ECRs, and regional differences again point to pros and cons of these services. Some specialized services are emphasized, including regional tools such as the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, as well as certain broad disciplinary resources, such as PubMed for its coverage of sciences and biomedical information.
Researchers report that ECRs participating in this study were less concerned about how they gained access to full-text scholarly information, only that they could access full-text sources. In particular, ECRs do not take much notice of libraries and their platforms, seemingly unaware of the steps libraries take to acquire and ensure access to scholarly information, while viewing physical libraries themselves primarily as study spaces for undergraduate students and not places for the ECR to visit or work. While ECRs occasionally acknowledge library portals and login interfaces, researchers found that these participants mostly ignored these, and that they found discovery services to be confusing or difficult.
Concerning social media use, participants identified 11 different platforms used but only ResearchGate was mentioned and used by participants from all seven countries represented. Social media tends to be used directly for keeping track of research trends and opinions and also the work specific researchers are publishing, and indirectly when referred to sites such as ResearchGate to find full-text of a specific article. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are used occasionally or moderately, but not universally. Researchers highlight regional differences of social media use in China, where ECRs are more likely to connect with other researchers and receive notifications when those researchers publish.
The study reports limited information ECRs’ use of smartphones for information seeking. About half of ECR participants reported use of their smartphone for discovering scholarly sources. The advantage smartphones provide includes near-ubiquitous Internet access and therefore the ability to access scholarly materials on the go, though ECRs are less likely to download or read full-text articles via their smartphones. The rate of adoption of smartphone use for scholarly materials varies by country.
Conclusion – Early career researchers access scholarly information in a wide variety of ways, with Google and Google Scholar as the preferred starting location, and with social media also proving useful. Ease-of-use and full-text availability are paramount concerns; the spread of open access materials helps fuel the availability of materials, and Google makes these easy to find. Though physical libraries are perceived to be of limited use, the digital access they provide to full-text scholarly sources is still vital even if ECRs do not make the connection between having that important access and the fact that libraries act as buyers and providers of access
Prostitution and missing and murdered women and girls in Canada
Get PDFIf ever there was a topic most debated, it is prostitution. Beliefs about it vary greatly, from one end of the spectrum to the other, and they vary within provinces and across countries. In Canada, each province has the autonomy to administer the federal law and justice system how it sees fit, which is often driven by the ruling political party at the time. And furthermore, you may find that within one province, the various municipal and/or provincial policing agencies have different mandates when it comes to enforcing prostitution laws and choosing subjects to target. All of this adds to the complexity of supporting “the best” idea to address prostitution.
Prostitution involves two specific and symbolic domains of society—sexual relations and economics—and since these domains are highly gendered, the female prostitute or sex worker has long represented a troubling figure, disrupting what are traditionally deemed to be natural gender binaries (males should be active whereas females should be passive; economics is in the public domain whereas sexual relations is relegated to the private arena). Often simultaneously viewed as an inevitable feature of all human societies, prostitution is held to meet the supposedly powerful and biologi- cally given sexual impulses of men. Thus it is sometimes described as a “necessary evil” and considered to protect the virtue of “good” girls and women by “soaking up” excess male sexual urges which would otherwise lead to rape and marital breakdown (O’Connell-Davidson, 2007).
Take what you will from such dichotomies, there remain a variety of ideas and positions about prostitution and this chapter will introduce you to some of the ideas that currently consume the literature. What is presented here is overly succinct but the intent is to provide you with factual information so that you may contribute to the recurring and robust debate