The David Lam Library will close for renovations on May 1, 2010 and re-open in January 2011.

Although this will be a challenging time, it will also be worthwhile. The benefits to future students and instructors from the refurbished and redesigned space will be significant.

Below are answers to some FAQs for your information. UBC Library is committed to maintaining high service standards for students and faculty. We welcome any feedback during our closure – please see a range of contact details at the end of this message.

Where will the David Lam staff be?

• Staff will be located on the third floor in Henry Angus 391 (Sauder School of Business) for the duration of the renovation.

What is happening to the physical space?

• A gift from Canaccord Financial has made it possible to renew the Library space and add new space to serve our students better. Renovations include more and better group study space, quieter individual study space, better facilities for receiving coaching and tutoring, improved collaborative workstations, a new digital media studio, better displays for materials, and more space to offer workshops, presentations and other services planned for the Canaccord Learning Commons.

What will happen to the Library’s collections?

• Some print materials have been sent to the automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
• All remaining books, journals, course reserves and audio-visual material will be moved to Koerner Library beginning May 3.
• David Lam’s books and journals will be housed in a separate area in Koerner Library on level six. Course reserve and audio-visual materials will be with Koerner reserves on level three.
• Lam Library has purchased e-books and other e-resources for some time; most resources are now available electronically.

How will reserve materials be handled?

• Lianna McAdam (lianna.mcadam@ubc.ca) will continue to place items on reserve. They will be accessible at Koerner Library.

Where should users pick up and return books?

• At any UBC Library branch, other than David Lam.

How will services be delivered?

• Circulation, reserves and audio-visual booking will be handled at Koerner Library.
• Research and reference consultations will be provided by Lam librarians via phone, e-mail, Live Messenger and roving reference. Lam librarians will also provide reference help at the Humanities and Social Sciences reference desk on level three of Koerner Library.
• Lam librarians will continue teaching the many in-class instructional sessions that have always been provided for students and instructors.

How can students get help from the business librarians?

• Students can contact us at www.library.ubc.ca/lam. Contact information is on the ‘Contact Us’ page. This page also features a form for submitting questions, and contact information for Library staff.
• Groups of students (eg, MBA students) can still set up group-coaching sessions; locations are being determined.
• Lam librarians will provide reference services at the Koerner reference desk. Hours will be publicized via the Lam website, blog and Facebook page.
• Koerner librarians will provide research coaching to students and refer questions to Lam librarians when needed.

Where should students go to find study space and computers during the closure?

• The closest libraries are Koerner Library and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Both offer group and silent study space and longer opening hours than Lam Library.
• Sauder will create computer labs – HA 118 (teaching lab) and HA 119 (drop-in lab).
• We will provide more information for students in September.

Who should faculty members contact for assistance with business research materials?

• Contact any of the three Lam librarians listed at www.library.ubc.ca/lam/contactus.htm

How can I keep in touch with future Lam Library developments?

• Check our website regularly: www.library.ubc.ca/lam
• Check or create RSS feeds to our blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/dlam/
• Join our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Vancouver-BC/University-of-British-Columbia-UBC-David-Lam-Management-Research-Library/10434725898?ref=ts

UBC has been selected as the host campus for the 2012 meeting of the ALADN Conference.

ALADN, which stands for the Academic Library Advancement and Development Network, is a group that focuses on fundraising and development issues for academic and research libraries in North America. Members include professionals involved in development and advancement.

UBC was chosen as the 2012 site for the ALADN conference following a presentation by Shakeela Begum, UBC Library’s Director of Development, at the recent ALADN gathering in Santa Monica, California. This is a great win for the Library and for UBC, as more than 200 guests are expected to attend the event.

The 2011 conference, entitled Take a Trip through Academic Fundraising, will be held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Congratulations to UBC Library and the University of British Columbia!

The 2010 LibQUAL survey is over – and UBC Library is happy to announce that participant Sara Komarnisky is the lucky winner of a $200 gift card to UBC Bookstore.

Sara, pictured above with University Librarian Ingrid Parent (left) and LibQUAL Project Leader Margaret Friesen, is a PhD student in socio-cultural anthropology who began her studies last September.

The LibQUAL survey assesses user satisfaction with services at UBC Library, and the latest round was completed in March. We received 619 responses and 276 comments – and here are some of the highlights: 

• Responses were received from 165 undergraduates, 302 graduate students and 148 faculty members
• Respondents were evenly represented from the sciences (51 per cent) and non-sciences (49 per cent)
• 74 per cent of respondents visit UBC Library to use its resources at least monthly
• 100 per cent access resources through the Library website
• 54 per cent of respondents are 30 years old or younger

Overall, many respondents praised the Library’s resources and services, yet also identified areas for improvement, including:

• more e-resources, e-journals and e-books
• more print resources
• better access from home
• more spaces for silent study and group study
• a more user-friendly website

Next steps include analyzing results, reporting findings and recommending ways to improve services. UBC Library will keep you up to date on developments.

Thank you to all respondents for their valuable input, and congratulations Sara!

Photo credit: Jill Pittendrigh

A handful of First Nations projects and the first out-of-province initiative are among the successful recipients of the 2010/11 B.C. History Digitization Program (BCHDP) awards.

The digitization program, an initiative of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, was launched in 2006. It provides matching funds that help libraries, archives, museums and other organizations digitize unique historical items, including images, print and sound materials.

In 2010/11, the Learning Centre provided nearly $200,000 for 25 projects. Altogether, BDHDP funding has totalled more than $650,000 for 76 projects throughout British Columbia.

Grant funding requests for 2010/11 significantly exceeded available resources and this meant that the adjudication committee had to make some difficult decisions. This year marked the first out-of-province grant, made to the United Church of Canada, which is headquartered in Toronto. It is one of three approved projects involving records relating to First Nations groups in British Columbia. The project will result in the digitization of visual and documentary records relating to Methodist and United Church missions in B.C.

In addition, grant funding has been awarded to eleven photographic digitization projects around the province as well as five applications that featured the digitization of local newspapers.

During the past four years, projects have included photographic collections, community newspapers, oral history recordings, city directories, medical artifacts, three-dimensional fossil specimens and more.

For a complete list of grant recipients and project descriptions, please visit here.

The upcoming Media Transatlantic conference, which focuses on the topic of media studies, runs from Thursday, April 8 – Saturday, April 10 at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.

Registration is required for the conference, but all are welcome to attend the keynote address by B.C. writer and artist Douglas Coupland, which takes place at 5:15 pm on April 8 in the Learning Centre’s Golden Jubilee Room (top level). This will be followed by a reception in the Lillooet Room on level three.

All other events are scheduled to take place in the Dodson Room, also on level three.

An international roster of media scholars will attend the conference – more information can be found at http://www.mediatrans.ca.

Art enthusiasts, take note: “Kabuki in Print” is now available for viewing on the upper level of the Asian Library. The show is presented in celebration of the Asian Library’s 50th anniversary, and in anticipation of the performance of TomoeArts’ production of “ODORI: The World of Kabuki Dance,” which will be performed at UBC’s Frederic Wood Theatre on April 10 and 11.

The exhibition examines the intimate relationship between woodblock printing and Kabuki theatre. The images document the wide thematic range of popular entertainment during the Edo period (1600-1868).

The show draws from private print collections supplemented by art historical publications from UBC Library’s collection. Highlights include several original Japanese woodblock prints by popular artists Utagawa Toyokuni (1769–1825), Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) and Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900).

“Kabuki in Print” runs until May 16. It is curated by Maiko Behr and presented by the Canadian Society for Asian Arts in conjunction with UBC’s Asian Library.

UBC Library is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of TLEF (Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund) support for two projects. “Online Learning Opportunities for Commuter and Distance Education Students” has been granted more than $25,000, and “Working 2.0: Co-Curricular Learning Tools Assessment, Evaluation and Development for a Business School Learning Commons” has been granted more than $32,000. Trish Rosseel, UBC Library’s Teaching and Learning Librarian, is the lead on the former project, and Jan Wallace, Head of the David Lam Library, is the lead on the latter project.

The Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund was created in 1991 to enrich student learning by supporting innovative and effective educational enhancements. Each autumn, the Vice Provost and the Associate Vice President Academic Affairs invites all UBC Vancouver faculties to apply to the TLEF. An adjudication committee reviews and ranks proposals and recommends appropriate funding to those approved.

Congratulations to the winning applicants, and thank you to all Library employees who applied for the latest round of TLEF funding.