All posts by AAAL

7 questions with Shannon D’Agnone

April 7, 20177 Questions, UncategorizedAAAL

April’s installment of 7 Questions With… AAAL Members features Shannon D’Agnone, Instructional Librarian at The King’s University Library.

1. When was the last time you were nervous? My family recently went on holidays and I don’t love flying. As the plane was taking off with I got very nervous and started replaying every Mayday episode (where they talk in depth about plane crashes) in my head. Thankfully the flight was uneventful and I lived to tell the tale!

2. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? Jessica Pearson from the TV show Suits. She’s smart, savvy, tough and has the most amazing clothes and handbags of anyone on TV.

3. What is your best piece of career advice? My advice is this: trust that things have a way of working out for the best and always be open to new opportunities. You just never know who you might meet or how things could work out.

4. What is your best piece of life advice? In the end, only kindness matters.

5. What is your favourite thing to binge watch? Mr. Robot!

6. What do you do when you’re not working? I have a husband and two very busy little boys. I spend a lot of time with my kids going to different activities like hockey, skiing, soccer, swimming, etc. We also have a cabin outside the city that is our second home during the summer, so we spent a lot of time there as well.

7. What is your favourite quote? “There is no discovery without risk and what you risk reveals what you value.” Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body

Registration is now OPEN for the AAAL Spring Meeting

April 5, 2017UncategorizedAAAL

Library staff from all member institutions (https://aaal.ca/membership/membership-list) are invited to join us for the Alberta Association of Academic Libraries 2017 Spring Annual General Meeting at Bow Valley College in Calgary on Thursday, April 20.

Please register at http://tinyurl.com/aaal2017agm by Wednesday, April 12! Space is limited, so register soon.

A draft agenda and meeting package are posted at https://aaal.ca/events A final agenda with additional keynote and lightning strike details will be posted to the AAAL website no later than Monday, April 10.

Please also note that the workshop committee is inviting submissions of before and after pictures of library space redesign or construction projects. We will put together a slideshow to be shown over the lunch break of everyone’s projects. Please submit photos along with the name of your institution, the title of the project and a brief description of what you achieved to Shawna Murphy (SMurphy@mhc.ab.ca) by Monday April 10 who will coordinate the presentation.

We look forward to seeing you in Calgary!

* For any voting members who pre-registered, please note that the meeting may go to 4:30PM (at latest) rather than 4PM.

Prison Libraries Network – Right to Read statement

March 31, 2017UncategorizedAAAL

In September 2016 the newly formed Canadian Federation of Library Associations
(CFLA-FCAB), the national voice of Canada’s library community, unanimously
adopted and endorsed the “Prison Libraries Network: Right to Read” position
statement.
This Right to Read statement echoes recommendations set out in the most recent
report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator. In the report, the Office
recommends that Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) “update and renew inmate
libraries so that they are compliant with policy and comparable to the services,
materials, and technologies available in the communities.” This statement clearly
asserts the value of libraries and access to information resources in all correctional
institutions.
The Prison Libraries Network: Right to Read statement, originally approved by the
Canadian Library Association (CLA) January 2016 is now posted on the CFLA website.

Or click the attached PDF for the full statement: Prison Libraries Network Right to Read Statement

Call for Lightning Strike Sessions

March 15, 2017UncategorizedAAAL

Call for Lightning Strike Sessions

The Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) Spring 2017 Meeting will take place on Thursday, April 20, 2017 at Bow Valley College.

We will kick off the afternoon with a keynote related to library space design, which will be followed by our lightning strike talks.

We invite you to submit a proposal for a 20 minute talk (this includes time for questions) on something new or engaging that is happening in your library, or on a topic applicable to academic libraries in our province! What new program, service or space are you and your library providing to your user community? What new technologies or tools are you using to improve how you, your library, or your users get things done.

Looking for ideas on what to present? Check out past AAAL Lightning Strike presentations.
Wondering how we’ll select sessions? Take a look at our new rubric and use it to prepare your proposal.
Submit your proposal online by Monday, April 3, 2017.
Need financial support to attend or present at the meeting? Apply for an AAAL Professional Development Award.

To complement our keynote presentation related to library space design, we also invite you to submit before and after pictures of your space or library redesign or construction project. We will put together a slide show to be shown over the lunch break of everyone’s projects. Include the name of your institution, the title of the project and a brief description of what you achieved. By Monday April 10, 2017, please submit these to Shawna Murphy (SMurphy@mhc.ab.ca) who will coordinate the presentation.

We hope to see you in Calgary in April!

AAAL Workshop Committee
Claudette Cloutier (UCalgary)
Shawna Murphy (MHC)
Trish Rosseel (UAlberta)

7 questions with Louise Brittain Boisvert

March 3, 20177 QuestionsAAAL

March’s installment of 7 Questions With… AAAL Members features Louise Brittain Boisvert, Digital Services Coordinator at the Olds College.

1. What is something interesting you learned in the last month? A hand saw can be played as a musical instrument. It produces this otherworldly sound. One of the many fun rural Albertan facts I have been learning.

2. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? Teleportation

3. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad, but it turned out to be for the best? My first year of undergrad was disrupted by a 3 month long strike during which classes were cancelled. I ended up dropping out before the strike ended and went backpacking for 6 months. I couldn’t have planned a better life experience.

4. What is your best piece of life advice? There are no wrong choices. Just the path you choose.

5. What is your proudest work-related accomplishment? Last semester, we hosted the first Long Night Against Procrastination event at Olds College. It turned out to be the most highly attended student event ever held at the college. Fingers crossed, our spring edition will be as popular.

6. What is your favourite quote? No one is good at everything but everyone is good at something.

7. What is your favourite colour? Blue