Ever wondered how other faculty members experience the library or what professors “in the know” know about acquiring information to support their research and teaching? The FIND (Faculty Information Nugget and Discovery) series profiles several faculty members and the kinds of information resources and services they use in the course of their work.
Faculty
Carolyn Podruchny, Assistant Professor in History
Research Interests:
encounters between the French and Algonquian-speaking peoples of northern North America from the 17th to 19th centuries
folklore and oral traditions of voyageurs and their Algonquian-speaking partners in the trade
currently part of team editing, annotating and publishing a French-Anishnaabemowin dictionary compiled in the mid-19th century by Georges-Antoine Belcourt, a Roman Catholic missionary.
Information
Current Research and the York University Libraries
As a historian, Carolyn finds that the York University Libraries’ (YUL) exhaustive collection of published primary and secondary sources on early Canadian history is indispensable to her research. She has also had discussion with Archives and Special Collections on how they could work together to build the Archives collection in her areas of research interest. She recognizes that the Libraries support her research, particularly the Archives and Special Collections and the inter-library loan services which she anticipates using in the future.
Information Literacy and York University Libraries
The Libraries support Carolyn’s teaching; most notably the Archives and Special Collections. She has worked closely with Michael Moir, the University Archivist, in several capacities. For Carolyn’s fourth-year seminar, “Cultures and Colonialism: Canada, 1500-1900”, Michael has provided a workshop on the history and nature of archives in general, how to use the Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections and researching electronic archival resources.
Nugget
Recent readings
Edwards, Brendan Frederick R. (2005). Paper Talk: A History of Libraries, Print Culture, and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada before 1960.
Brown, Jennifer S. H. and Peterson, Jacqueline (2001). New Peoples: Being and Becoming Metis in North America.
Discovery
A hidden library gem that Carolyn has discovered is Michael Moir, the University Archivist and head of the Archives and Special Collections. She strongly recommends that History faculty consult him for workshops on archives.
