Why do my students need Library Instruction?

Many students begin college believing Google can provide all the answers. Concepts such as crafting effective searches and evaluating information may not be familiar to them. Library instruction provides the initial direction students need to navigate the world of information with skill and confidence. Library staff also offer further guidance through one-on-one research help.

How does it work?

Upon request, a Library staff member will work with your schedule to provide live instruction to your class (online or in-person). Topics frequently covered include (but are not limited to) effective searching, source evaluation, and citation techniques. Whether it be a general session such as an introduction to using the Library, or a more focused session on finding resources for a specific assignment, Library staff will tailor the session to your needs.

Click the button below to learn more and request a session. We are currently booking sessions for fall, so please contact us soon so we can accommodate your request.

Written by Rosemary Woodby and Linda Fox – Library and Academic Services

Photo source: frameryacoustics.com

With both quiet and privacy in high demand, the Library welcomes a new kind of study space featuring glass doors (so you can feel safe and included) and a soundproof, sleek interior (so you can feel comfortable and undisturbed).

Also known as the Framery Q, the Library’s new multifunctional, soundproof space fits 1-4 people and is ideal for quiet study, group work, brainstorming sessions, and private conversations.

Features

• Fresh air ventilation
• Stylish finish
• LED lighting
• Two power sockets
• Two sofas and a turntable
• Adaptable set-up (for sitting, standing, and shared conferencing)

You are invited to try the new Soundproof Study Room at the NDC Library today!

Written by Linda Fox – Library Technician, Program Support and Promotion

Open Education Week

Open Education Week (March 6-10, 2023) raises awareness and highlights innovative open education successes worldwide. OE Week provides practitioners, educators, and students with an opportunity to build a greater understanding of open educational practices and be inspired by the wonderful work being developed by the community around the world.

As costs continue to rise for students, educators are looking toward free open resources made by educators for educators to help ensure students have access to the course materials they need to succeed. These resources also ensure educators have permission to adapt lesson materials without seeking complicated copyright permissions or encountering restrictive digital access requirements. To date, the adoption of Open Textbooks by instructors at RRC Polytech has saved students $477, 500 in textbook costs. Thank you to all our instructors who participate in Open Education!

During OE Week take the time to:

• Visit Library and Academic Services’ OER Support Page – View past OER sessions at RRC Polytech and learn the basics of Open Education.
• Register for the “Opening” Options for Accessibility OE week session – Participants in this session will explore and evaluate OERs with regard to accessibility guidelines.

Happy Open Education week on behalf of the Copyright Officer.

Written by Ebony Novakowski – Copyright Officer, Library and Academic Services

Louis Riel the founder of Manitoba was a lifelong advocate for Métis rights. He shaped the future of Manitoba and was an important figure in Canadian politics.

Did you know?

• As a young man he was educated in Montreal at a junior seminary.
• Was head of the provisional government set up in 1969 to govern what was to become Manitoba.
• Negotiated the Manitoba Act in 1870, making Manitoba a province of Canada.
• Twice elected in 1873 and 1874 to the Canadian Parliament in the federal riding of Provencher, but unable to take his seat due to hostile feelings in Eastern Canada.
• Officially exiled from Canada in 1875 for his political activity.
• A husband and father of two children.
• Executed by the Canadian Government in 1885 for his participation in the Métis demands for rights and resistance in what was to become the province of Saskatchewan.

Discovery more about Louis Riel through our Library collection!

Louis Riel Books

Click a book cover to discover its location and availability.

Louis Riel Videos

Riel Country

The great possibility : Louis Riel & the Métis resistance

The Mystery of the Bell

Discover More Louis Riel Resources

Click the OneSearch link below to browse “Louis Riel” related items in our collection:

Written by Bettina Allen, Reference & Circulation Coordinator (Library and Academic Services)

Red River College Polytechnic’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy talks about promoting group knowledge and literacy at various times throughout the year. Black History Month celebrates the contributions of Black Canadians in areas such as politics and literature while not losing sight of the country’s history of racism and discrimination.

Part of promoting that knowledge and literacy starts with a library collection and access to information for people wanting to learn more about Black History Month and participate in events happening throughout the month. The Anti-Racism Steering Committee and the Library offer their Black History Month Book Tasting Events from 11:00-1:00 on February 27 at the EDC Library and NDC Library (Active Learning Classroom, CM27) on February 28 from 11:00-1:00.

Book tastings offer a way to browse books within an event resembling an evening at a restaurant, complete with tablecloths and cutlery in some instances. If you want to expand your knowledge palate this month, here are some resources ranging from notable print titles to online resources.

Around the Library

Take another look at our Anti-Racism Learning Toolkit, especially the section on Anti-Black Racism for curated resources about Black Canadians. Among notable titles:

Black Like Who? by Rinaldo Walcott

Viola Desmond’s Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land by Graham Reynolds and Wanda Robson

Interested in web resources? Scroll down to the section on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Stories or National Film Board Resources.

The library collection also boasts a selection of black authors, especially Giller Award Winners Esi Edudyan (Washington Black, 2018 and Half-Blood Blues, 2011), Andre Alexis (Fifteen Dogs. 2015), and Austin Clarke (The Polished Hoe, 2002).

National & Local Information

The Government of Canada, through Canadian Heritage, has a website with information about upcoming events around the country, YouTube videos, and data about black communities in Canada. The site also displays this year’s Black History Month theme in Canada, “Ours to Tell,” to hear the stories of Black Canadians in their own words, not only from history but within the present, including stories of success.

Manitoba has its own Black History Month Celebration Committee with a calendar of events to mark the month. Check out the rest of the website for more resources and information with a local focus.

Written by Fatima DeMelo, Reference Technician

There are times you can benefit from meeting with a tutor. You may have specific questions or want something explained another way. You may want someone to observe you working through pinch points; offering solutions that are responsive to your needs.

At the Academic Success Centre, found in the  Notre Dame Campus and Exchange District Campus libraries and online, there are many ways you can access tutoring and writing supports.

Drop-In Help Desks are one of those ways.

There are two streams of Help Desks – Writing (general writing skills and nursing writing) and clustered around courses or programs. Trades Math, Business Math and Accounting and Engineering Math are all examples of these clusters.

How does Drop-in tutoring work? Easy! Visit the schedule at Help Desk Drop-In Tutoring and attend. Bring your questions, assignments or  course notes/materials; a staff tutor will be more than happy to help with your course !

In addition to helping you untangle a question, assist with the writing process and/or provide opportunity for review, Help Desks provide comfort, confidence and foster active learning – you may feel more comfortable asking questions in a Help Desk setting. Furthermore, you become actively engaged in your learning process – you get to identify and articulate what you want to review.  All this leads to academic improvement and an increased value to your college experience.

We look forward to seeing you at one or more of the following Help Desks:

NDC Drop-In, Help Desk Tutoring Schedule Winter 2023

EDC Drop-In, Help Desk Tutoring Schedule Winter 2023

The events of Inclusion Week only go until November 4, but the work continues for the remaining 51 weeks. Library collections reflect this ongoing work with efforts to keep current and provide access for those wanting to learn more after the last speaker finishes. LibGuides curate resources to help facilitate discovery on specific topics. While some Indigenous guides cover the legacy of residential schools and encountering racism in various settings, two more guides provide resources about diversity and further exploration of racism in Canada’s past and present.

Intercultural Competence & Diversity

One of the earliest guides in our collection, Intercultural Competence & Diversity, introduces viewers to experiences previously unknown but still a daily reality for groups such as the disabled or Black Canadians, to name a few.

In addition to videos and books, organizations feature mainly those in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community taking steps toward their true selves. A keyword section recommends search terms to put into OneSearch for further reading and viewing on specific topics.

The guide includes topics related to sexuality, disability issues, and the anti-black racism section.

Anti-Racism Learning Toolkit

The Anti-Black Racism page from the last guide links up with the Anti-Racism Learning Toolkit, a guide devoted to educating about racism with a Canadian focus. The History of Racism section provides websites and other resources about incidents within Canada’s History, including Japanese Internment camps, the Komagata Maru, and many others. Some resources reflect Canada’s past, and plenty of resources help understand the country’s present. Again, a keyword section will supply words to research a topic within the larger subject.

A new addition to the guide is the Anti-Racism Training Section. It’s designed to do alone or as part of a group with videos, articles, and some documentaries requiring college credentials for viewing. Reflection questions can stimulate conversation or pause for thought on the issues.

Academic Coaches have long worked one-on-one with RRC Polytechnic students. They guide students to achieve their academic goads and overcome obstacles by looking at new approaches to learning.

Our academic coaches are exceptional listeners. They raise self-awareness, stick closely to the agenda, and encourage the student to take responsibility for themselves.

In our coaching model, we look at options; we look at choice. We are searching for “what is possibly, in this situation?”

When students access academic coaching, they are stating that they are not accepting the default choice (to do nothing). In his writings on the philosophy of education, John Dewey underscores this importance of choice and change: “The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through the choice of action.” Coaching is about raising self-awareness as a precursor to the nature of the choices we make.

This fall term, we’ve explored various ways to offer Academic Coaching and advanced the program with two key practices:

1. Recognizing the value in an authentic coaching sessions. When students and academic coaches have the opportunity to observe, provide feedback and see common issues, students can see that they aren’t alone in their challenges and coaches can home in on skills – all of which leads to ways forward for students.
   
2. Bringing our Peer Coaches into the fold. Peer coaches are peer tutors with additional training to help ease the transition to college for new students. The insight peer coaches provide as both students and coaches inform our coaches on what students are currently experiencing. And, as like many supports, there is a certain amount of reciprocity:

“What I like about being a peer coach and a peer tutor is the ability to share my experiences with students and, at the same time, learn from them too. It’s like having a conversation with a friend but having the ability to help and support them as they go through the adventures of being a college student.” Peer Coach, Kim Patricia Reyes,

Our Peer Coaches joined the Academic Success Centre’s Academic Coaching meetings. Their presence and input add to the richness of our coaching community. Meeting topics include moving from online to in-person learning, retaining information throughout the terms for multi-level/stackable courses, and adapting to changes in a timetable.

This fall, we have offered students the opportunity to attend a Group Coaching session. In these sessions students hear about a relatable issue or goal that a peer has, and options to work through the issue or meet the goal. Students are invited to contribute to the conversation or be active listeners.

The next Group Coaching session is scheduled for Monday, Nov 21^st at 12pm in the NDC Library Classroom CM-27.  For more information, visit https://library.rrc.ca/academic_coaching/welcome

Through Group Academic Coaching, Academic Coaching Training + Development, Peer Coaching and one-on-one Academic Coaching, we provide students with impactful questions, “what makes this an issue now, what have you already tried, what are the implications of doing nothing or carrying on as things are?”; a bank of resources and, most importantly, the opportunity to identify and address and move a goal forward.

Submitted by Dayna Graham and Nick Schroeder, ASC

Did you know that October is also Dyslexia* Awareness Month? Did you know that 1 in 5 people have dyslexia? Do you know what dyslexia is?

Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects the ability to read, write, and comprehension skills. Dyslexia is something that affects more than just how your brain processes words and their sounds. It can affect many other areas of the brain such as phonemic awareness*, motor control, memory, spatial awareness*, and more. People with dyslexia cannot “try harder” to catch up with their peers. It’s a neurobiological disorder*, which means that when you compare the two brains of someone with dyslexia and without you will notice that their brains respond differently when learning new words, spelling, etc.

Dyslexia is something that is a lifelong struggle. Which, in turn, affects adult learners in a variety of ways. They might be hesitant to do assignments with heavy reading, could be stressed out about deadlines, or avoid places like the library altogether.

Library and Academic Services is ready to help all students and we can cater to the unique set of needs that someone with dyslexia may need such as:

• • A collection of audiobooks
  • Auto renewals for physical books
  • Videos with closed captioned options
  • eBooks with dyslexia friendly fonts
  • One on one reference support services
  • And more!

Dyslexia (duh·slek·see·uh): A brain-based learning disorder that affects the ability to read, write, and spell.

Phonemic (fuh·nee·muhk) Awareness: The ability to focus on and manipulate different sounds in spoken words.

Spatial (spay·shl) Awareness: Knowing where your body is in relation to objects or other people.

Neurobiological (nur·ow·bai·aa·law·jee·col) disorder: Disorders of the nervous system caused by genetic, metabolic, or other biological factors.

Written by Justine Hawley – Resource Management Technician

Library and Academic Services is expanding to greater support the scholarly communication lifecycle for researchers at RRC Polytech!

Research Services Offered

Researchers and faculty can benefit from Library Research Services in numerous areas including:

Searching for Information Sources

We can assist you with advanced searches in discipline specific and larger databases; developing search strategies; grey literature searches; and with knowledge synthesis projects (including systematic reviews in the Health Sciences).

Open Access

A librarian can help you with selecting Open Access journals for publication or with complying with the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications.

Author Support
(for scholarly communications)

We can help you navigate the steps between writing and having your work published by traditional and alternative publishers.

Research Data Management

Assistance with writing Data Management Plans (DMPs), data handling best practices, data description, storage, and preservation. Learn about what the Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy applies to the research data you collect.

Research Impact

Support for understanding measurements of citation and bibliometrics.

Research Ethics

A librarian can help you with the steps towards receiving Research Ethics Board (REB) approval – necessary when conducting research involving human subjects.

Research Consultations Now Available

Research consultations with a research librarian are now available, in person or via Teams!

You can book a research consultation by filling out a Research Consultation Request Form. The form allows you to attach any protocols, initial searches, or documentation for the librarian to review beforehand to ensure a productive consultation.

Library and Academic Services is looking forward to supporting you in your research endeavours!

Written by Chris Read, MLIS – Research Services Librarian