In 2012/13, UBC Library made headlines for a number of internal changes made around branch consolidations and the relocation of library collections and how this would impact students and faculty on campus. In a broader context, we were also pleased to see in-depth coverage covering the transformative changes happening in academic institutions, a sign that libraries continue to evolve. 

Ubyssey The great copyright battle: UBC’s controversial stand against Access Copyright (March 20, 2013) A Trek to remember: The fading of UBC’s early years (October 28, 2012) Turning a Page: the changing role of the university library (October 24, 2012) ‘Three-minute march’ protests music library’s impending move (September 25, 2012) UBC music community gathers at town hall to keep library in-house (September 19, 2012) UBC postdoc strikes deal to turn 2,000 academic journals into data mine (August 8, 2012) UBC opts out of Access Copyright agreement (May 15, 2012) UBC Reports A University Library for the 21st Century (November 1, 2012) Trek Magazine The changing library (Winter 2012) The vintage appeal (Winter 2012)

New B.C. scholarly book prize shortlist announced. Quill & Quire (March 13, 2013) Exhibit looks at Chinese life on CP ocean liners. Times Colonist (March 6, 2013) Robson Reading Series to end in March. The Globe and Mail (February 5, 2013) Robson Reading Series coming to an end. Quill & Quire (February 5, 2013) UBCO library upgrade enhances teaching and research. Kelowna Capital News (October 28, 2012) Plan to relocate UBC’s music library opposed Georgia Straight (September 26, 2012) Campus library completes summer renovation Phoenix p. 11 (September 3, 2012) UBC Okanagan library gets major upgrade Vernon Morning Star (September 5, 2012) UBCO library to receive improvements. Kelowna Capital News (June 3, 2012) Elsevier Experiments With Allowing ‘Text Mining’ of Its Journals. The Chronicle of Higher Education (May 6, 2012)

View UBC Library’s latest media clippings.

View UBC Library’s latest press releases.

Items from the Chung Collection, located in Rare Books and Special Collections. Photo: Martin Dee

An article on UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) – including its exhibits and exceptional collections – appears in the Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper.

“We want people to know that we’re here to support your research, we’re here to support your studies and we want you to feel comfortable and confident in your use of rare and archival sources,” says Sarah Romkey, an Archivist at RBSC. 

Read A bibliophile’s dream: The rare books exhibit that you didn’t know existed in the Ubyssey.

UBC Library’s preservation program for physical and digital items is highlighted in a UBC Reports article. 

“The long-term stewardship of materials both digital and analog is one of the cornerstones of libraries,” says Bronwen Sprout, Digital Initiatives Coordinator at UBC Library. The article also features the Library’s Alvan Bregman and Jo Anne Newyear Ramirez.

Read The fight against mould, rot and decay in UBC Reports.

UBC Library’s Spring Update appears in the latest edition of the BCLA Browser, the online, open access publication of the British Columbia Library Association. 

Highlights include renovations at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, a new book prize for B.C. scholarly books, the digitization of the Westland television series and more. 

An in-depth article on how UBC is responding to a complex and changing copyright environment appears in the Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper. The article features UBC Library’s Allan Bell and Joy Kirchner, along with other UBC representatives including David Farrar, VP Academic and Hubert Lai, University Counsel.

Read The great copyright battle: UBC’s controversial stand against Access Copyright in The Ubyssey (March 20, 2013).

Sarah Romkey of UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) comments in an article about an exhibit at the Maritime Museum of B.C. 

The exhibit, Floating on the Margins: Chinese Life on the Canadian Pacific Passenger Liners, illustrates the lives of early Chinese-Canadian sailors and passengers on the Canadian Pacific passenger liners. Items from the renowned Chung Collection, housed at RBSC, were loaned to the Maritime Museum for the show. 

Read more from ”Exhibit looks at Chinese life on CP ocean liners,” in the Times Colonist (March 6, 2013).

Alvan Bregman, UBC Library’s Head of Technical Services, comments in a University Affairs article about the theft of rare materials in Nova Scotia. Some of the items, including manuscripts and books, are believed to have been taken from university collections.

“Archival thefts know no boundaries and many items are of irreplaceable cultural value,” says Bregman.

Read “RCMP asks archivists to help identify stolen artifacts” in University Affairs.

UBC Library’s Great Reads Collection is highlighted in the Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper.

“We’re trying to leverage ourselves in terms of technology, to be more out there and be able to perceive students’ needs,” says Jo Anne Newyear Ramirez, Associate University Librarian, Collections Management. “So we’re trying to serve both: the physical presence and the digital.”

Read “New library collection highlights good reads, the old-fashioned way“ in the Ubyssey.

Naomi Beth Wakan reads at a Robson Reading Series event. Photo credit: Robson Reading Series.

The conclusion of the Robson Reading Series is featured in the Globe and Mail and Quill and Quire.

For more information, please see the announcement about the reading series. Readings remain scheduled until the end of March – please visit the Robson Reading Series for more information.

Detail, Koerner Library.

University Librarian Ingrid Parent’s remarks about the challenges and opportunities facing UBC Library, and research libraries around the world, are highlighted in the Fall 2012 issue of the CPSLD Newsletter. 

Other news includes the Library’s jump in ARL standings; a collaborative agreement between UBC Library and the Peking University Library; a tribute to Basil Stuart-Stubbs, UBC’s former University Librarian and Director of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies; updates on cIRcle, UBC’s digital repository; and more.

The Library’s submission begins on page 24 of the newsletter, which is published on behalf of the Council of Post Secondary Library Directors, British Columbia.