Try Scholars Portal E-Books

Posted on February 16, 2010 by William Denton

We’re happy to announce that recently Scholars Portal (a collaborative project of Ontario university libraries) launched its new EBooks Platform. Try it out!

It contains over 40,000 books from commercial publishers, including material from Springer, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, and the Gibson CRKN and Public Policy collection. In addition, there are 200,000 books from the Internet Archive, which include material digitized by a number of schools as well as a collection of Ontario government documents identified by the Ontario Digitization Initiative.

The new EBooks search/browse interface includes:

faceted browsing,
related books and journal articles in your results,
ability to export citations to RefWorks/Endnote,
and a variety of fulfillment options including Racer, WorldCat and Amazon.

Scholars Portal EBooks also has a new web reader with the following functions:

full text search of the document,
PDF creation from a portion of the text,
copy and paste,
grid view for navigation (currently generating thumbnails for all the books),
downloading for out of copyright material.

Over the next couple months Scholars Portal will be continuing to add content and working on a French language interface, as well as an accessibility review and usability testing to enhance the interface/reader.

Night Owl (24/5) Study Hours Resume in Scott Library

Posted on September 25, 2009 by William Denton

Attention all night owls! Late night study resumes October 4^th in the Scott Library.

Round the clock access to study space will be available 5 nights a week (Sunday to Thursday nights) this academic year:

from October 4th until the end of exams in December
from January 31st to the end of exams in April.

Hours during this period will be Sunday opening through to Friday closing (currently that is Sunday 12 noon to Friday 8pm). Check here for updates.

During these periods the 24 hour study space on the 1^st floor Central Square area of the Scott Library will be available 5 nights a week (Sunday to Thursday nights). Please note that Friday and Saturday nights this area will close at 8pm.

The late night study area offers study space, computers, wireless access, network drops, photocopiers, printers (colour and b&w), access to the Scott reserve collection and group study rooms. This section of the Scott library has 155 study seats and 22 desktop computers at your disposal. In addition we’ll be lending laptops to augment computer access.

This late night area is monitored at all times by CCTV cameras for your security. During late night hours patrons are encouraged to take advantage of the services offered by the goSAFE program, which operates from 6 pm to 2am every day.

Those who rely on public transit should be aware of transit schedules. (Please note the last TTC bus leaving campus is at 1:45 am, and the first bus arriving on campus in the morning is at 5:45 am.)

For more details on Library services and operations, please check the Library website.

YorkU Community Festival – May 9, 2009

Posted on May 7, 2009 by William Denton

The Scott Library’s reading room will have on display a model of the solar system as part of an installation later this summer on campus and an astronomy photo exhibit. Photographs and memorabilia will be displayed in the reading room and the Atrium.

At Frost Library an exhibit hosted by Julie Drexler, Glendon Alumni in Print is on public view.

Further information regarding the festival is available at:

http://www.yorku50.ca/festival/

During the festival, library services will not be affected in any way. If patrons are seeking quiet study space it is recommended they visit the SSH! room (Silent Study Hall) on the second floor of the Scott Library. Alternatively, the Bronfman Business Library and Steacie Science and Engineering Library can also be used as quiet study areas.

Web site, catalogue are back

Posted on April 7, 2009 by William Denton

This web site, the library catalogue and all electronic resources will be unavailable Friday, April 10th, 7 am – 12 noon, due to electrical work in the libraries. We apologize in advance for this inconvenience.

The electrical work is done and everything’s working. Thanks for your patience.

Welcome, Archives of Ontario

Posted on April 6, 2009 by William Denton

The librarians and archivists of York welcome their recently relocated colleagues of the Archives of Ontario. The provincial archives has moved into its new home under the research tower beside York Lanes, after off-gassing any residual construction-related chemicals that could damage the new tenants.

Previously located downtown by Bay and College, the Archives of Ontario’s new modern site will offer incredible research and outreach opportunities to researchers, student and citizen alike. The building’s extensive reading room, meeting spaces and exhibit area will enhance the Archive’s role as the guardian of our shared provincial documentary heritage. The logistics of moving staff and holdings to the new storage and operational facilities were surely a significant challenge, and York salutes the dedication and hard work of the archivists to get things done!

Our provincial colleagues may be pleased to know that York librarians and archivists are freely available for solicited and unsolicited advice on adjusting to the commuter lifestyle, savouring the academic flavour of working on a university campus, savouring the various cuisines at restaurants around the campus, and celebrating the unique character of our student body.