Do you ever get overwhelmed when looking for materials in the Library’s collection? Do you feel clumsy about research, wish it was easier, or just need some guidance? If you answered yes, then our lunchtime mini-sessions are for you!

At Library Lunch and Learn, you’ll get an overview of subject-specific databases and learn ways to improve your research and citing skills. Each 30-minute online session is free for RRC Polytech staff and students!

Spring sessions run from March 29 to April 26. See below to learn about individual sessions and to register.

PART 1 – For Students Who Research and Cite

OneSearch: The Library’s Search Engine – March 29 at 12:15pm

The Library’s main search tool is similar to Google, however it is tailored to find materials in our Library. In this session, you will receive an overview of OneSearch, the tool that allows you to search, access, and enjoy the Library’s various collections.

Getting Started with Research* – March 31 at 12:15pm

This session provides the guidance you need for a solid start on your research. We provide an overview of various information sources, as well as the benefits and pitfalls of each. We also provide tips for staying organized and planning your project. At the end of this session, you will have a clearer idea of how to start your research.

*Related session: Enhancing Your Research Skills

Getting Started with APA Style 7^th Edition – April 4 at 12:15pm

A post-secondary student’s first time following any academic writing style can, at first, feel scary and overwhelming. But don’t worry, the RRC Polytech Library is here to help you get ready to use APA confidently and competently.

This session will introduce you to the purpose and basic conventions of citing sources in-text and in a reference list using the APA Style 7th Edition. It will also include a demonstration of the many student-friendly APA resources available through RRC Polytech Library.

Enhancing Your Research Skills* – April 7 at 12:15pm

When it comes to research, many of us struggle with creating keywords and building them into useful search strategies. After this session, you will be familiar with how to break down your search question, find keywords, and use operators to create useful search strategies. These are essential skills which enable you to succeed in your research.

*Related session: Getting Started with Research

RefWorks: Reference Management – April 12 at 12:15pm

RefWorks simplifies the process of research, collaboration, data organization, and writing by providing an easy-to-use tool for citation, bibliography, and reference management. Learn the basics of using this web-based tool and make writing your papers that much easier.

PART 2 – For Nursing Students

Nursing Reference Center Plus – April 19 at 12:15pm

Designed specifically for nurses, this premier resource provides evidence-based information for point-of-care, along with skills videos, continuing education, drug databases, nursing research, and more. Come learn what the new Nursing Reference Center (NRC) PLUS can do for you.

The New PubMed – April 26 at 12:15pm

PubMed is an open-access database, created by the National Library of Medicine, that contains more than 30 million citations and abstracts of peer-reviewed biomedical literature. PubMed is used by researchers the world over. In this session, we will explore the multiple facets of the popular PubMed database.

Have questions?

Connect with us through ‘Ask Us’ at library.rrc.ca or visit us in person during regular Library hours. Our friendly staff will be happy to assist you!

Written by Linda Fox, Program Support and Promotion

The last couple of years has seen a transformation in education and teaching techniques. The transition to largely online learning saw many educators quickly having to relearn how to deliver and rewrite their course content to match. Not all course materials and delivery methods transitioned easily to an online delivery model, and everyone had to work double-time developing new content, and searching out alternative materials. Throughout, Open Education Resource’s (OER’s) made this job easier, and lot more affordable, both institutionally, and for students.

OER’s. Applaud them. They are the real MVP’s. Going out there every day, offering themselves up to be reviewed, taken apart, and reassembled – within the limits of what their creative commons licenses stipulate, of course – all to meet so many different needs and applications, and asking almost nothing in return… well, maybe attribution (see how to use OER’s correctly.)

If you have never used an OER (as unlikely as that seems) find out about them today. It’s Open Education Week and there are lots of great open-access online resources to learn about and adopt. A great place to start learning about OER’s is the RRC Polytech Libraries OER Guide

OER’s come in all shapes and sizes, for every education level, but it is important to know where to find ones that are open access, copyright free, and fit your curricular needs.

In recognition of Open Education week, here is a list of just some of the many great OER resources available online.

Textbooks

• Textbook (eBook) Open Resources For Nursing (Open Rn) Nursing Fundamentals
• Textbook (eBook) Open Resources For Nursing (Open Rn) Nursing Skills

Open Textbook Repositories in Canada

• BCcampus: Open Textbook Collection
• eCampusOntario: Open Library
• Manitoba Open Textbook Initiative

Learning Resource Repositories

• Sol*r: Shareable Online Learning Resources
• Skills Commons
• MIT Open Courseware

Search Tools

• The Mason OER Metafinder (MOM)
• Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) This tool will simultaneously search 44 different open content sources.

Need a process for evaluating whether an OER resource is appropriate for your purpose? Try this OER Evaluation Checklist adapted from Kirkwood Community College Library.

When using OER’s, it’s important to know how to identify licenses and credit appropriately, but don’t let that intimidate you. You can easily learn all about creative commons licenses and how to use OER’s correctly.

Still feeling lost on how to use something you found online? Did you know that Red River College Polytech Library and Academic Services has a Copyright Officer? Ebony Novakowski, is your copyright expert on using all forms of media on LEARN, in presentations, and more! You can find out even more on the Libraries copyright page.

Artemis Hedrich
Reference Technician
Library and Academic Services, Information & Program Delivery
Red River College Polytechnic

Image credit: freepik.com, Electrical neon ‘open’ signage Free Psd

Starting March 7th, the Academic Success Centre (LAS) is kicking off it’s second Motivation Mondays workshop series of the term! We’ve scheduled six new interactive 30-minute workshops – bright and early – to support students in finishing their Winter term strong.

Our facilitators will provide students with active learning strategies and tools to enhance their academic success and pose discussion questions to encourage self-reflection and goal setting for the remainder of the term.

Students can pre-register by clicking the links below:

Nursing Reference Center Plus isn’t your typical reference database. Instead, it is an evidence-based, point-of-care information resource. Unlike UpToDate, it is designed specifically for nurses.

Nursing Reference Center Plus has many unique features. For example, you can use NRC+ to:

• Access Evidence-Based Care sheets, Care Plans and Quick Lessons on diseases and conditions
• Read clinical papers and access competency checklists on skills and procedures
• Find Cultural Competency documents that cover key considerations in providing culturally competent care to specific groups
• Search two trusted drug collections simultaneously for monographs and drug-related topics
• Catch up on the latest in essential nursing leadership and management topics such as assessing competencies, developing leadership skills and succession planning, fostering employees, organizational change, Interprofessionalism and more
• Learn more with interactive learning continuing education (CE) modules
• Access research instruments and scales
• Quickly refer to thousands of eBooks
• Access printable, easy-to-read patient education handouts
• Find images of conditions
• Watch skills videos that demonstrate procedures
• Access NRC+ on the go with the mobile app

Did you think we already had all of that? Not quite.

The Library recently upgraded its Nursing Reference Center databases subscription to Plus. So, why is this a big deal? Here are a few of the advantages of Plus:

“Sounds awesome; how do I learn more,” you ask? Let me show you!

Library Guide

The Nursing Reference Center Plus Guide(https://library.rrc.ca/NRC-PLUS) is chock-full of screenshots and clear instructions to guide you through everything you need to know to master using this database.

Would you prefer to watch a 30-minute lecture?

Lunch & Learn Live Webinars

Join us for our next Nursing Reference Centre PLUS (database) webinar in May 2022 to see the database in action. We will spend 30 minutes exploring the different facets of what makes this database unique, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Registration and more information

Can’t wait until May?

Recorded Lunch & Learn Webinars

Our recorded webinars give you the best of both worlds with an accessible recorded video format on demand. In addition, the closed-captioned recording is only 19 minutes long.

We have also included the PowerPoint for the webinar for your convenience.

Still have questions?

Send me a message, I would be happy to answer your questions or set up a one-on-one tutorial.

(Instructors, feel free to link to any of these resources in your LEARN content.)

Related Guides and Library Lunch & Learn

For more information, please contact Rosemary Woodby, Reference Technician

It’s Freedom to Read Week and libraries across Canada are talking about intellectual freedom.

What is Freedom to Read week about? It’s about protecting intellectual freedom, access to information, and freedom of expression.

This year, Freedom to Read week falls during a time when the persistent controversy in the southern states around LGBTT+ literature is upsurging and making headlines, with many books being challenged, banned, and removed from school libraries. It’s important, even in Canada, to remember that book banning, and the oppression of free expression are not issues of the past, that they are ongoing, global issues.

Please take advantage of the Libraries collections this Freedom to Read Week and celebrate your freedom to express and share ideas with others.

Gender & sexuality : Canadian history through the stories of activists

Gender and Sexuality unearths a diverse spectrum of struggle through the accounts of longstanding activists and social movements participants.

Main Stacks NDC HQ 73.3 .C3 N45 2012

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Trans (but Were Afraid to Ask)

Leading activist and essayist Brynn Tannehill tells you everything you ever wanted to know about transgender issues but were afraid to ask.

EBook, Available online

Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction

Queer Africa is a collection of unapologetic, tangled, tender, funny, bruising and brilliant stories about the many ways in which we love each other on the continent In these unafraid stories of intimacy.

Ebook, Available Online

Out proud : stories of pride, courage, and social justice

Produced in partnership with Egale Canada Human Rights Trust, Out Proud: Stories of Pride, Courage, and Social Justice is the second in a series of essay anthologies designed to give attention to issues that are sometimes ignored in the mainstream media–and a voice to those most closely affected by them.

Main Stacks NDC HQ 73.3 .C3 O88 2014

Prairie fairies : a history of queer communities and people in western Canada, 1930-1985

Prairie Fairies draws upon a wealth of oral, archival, and cultural histories to recover the experiences of queer urban and rural people in the prairies. 

Main Stacks EDC HQ 73.3 .C2 P735 2018
Ebook, Available Online

Trans People in Higher Education

While more trans students, faculty, and staff have come out on US college campuses today than ever before, many still report enduring harassment and discrimination.

Ebook, Available Online

LGBTQAI+ Books for Children and Teens : providing a window for all

This resource gives school librarians, children’s, and YA librarians the guidance and tools they need to confidently share these books with the patrons they support.

Ebook, Available Online

This year the College launched the new Gender and Sexual Identities: Advancing Understanding and Inclusion Training for RRC Polytech employees.

“This self-directed training aims to enhance Red River College Polytechnic employees’ understanding of gender and sexual diversity identities, and provide strategies for advancing inclusion.”

Libraries are responsible to provide and protect access to information, even those ideas and materials considered controversial or distasteful to some. CFLA FCAB Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries

Written by Artemis Hedrich, Reference Technician

We find and interact with materials online everyday and most of that online content we interact with is protected by Copyright. “So much of our normal everyday behavior puts us at risk of infringing copyright, especially since so much of our life is digital.”[i] “The copyright regime cannot be considered fit for the digital age when millions of citizens are in daily breach of copyright, simply for shifting a piece of music or video from one device to another. People are confused about what is allowed and what is not with the risk that the law falls into disrepute.”[ii]

February 21 – 25th marks Fair Dealing week a time to highlight user rights, and promote the opportunities presented by the Fair Dealing provision of the Copyright act. During this week we aim to explain Fair Dealing and how it applies to our daily uses of copyright materials.

As part of Fair Dealing week the video guide to Fair Dealing posted above has been created. The the RRC Polytech Copyright officer. The video touches on the basics of exercising user rights in relation to Education, Private Study, and Research in the video.

How we engage with copyright materials matters. As students and educators are not only individuals who use content, but are also creators of content. Fair Dealing is the doctrine that balances the right of users and creators and allows the navigation of user and creator rights for innovation that benefits society at large.

The RRC Polytech Library is dedicated to helping students, faculty and staff, navigate our institutional copyright policy. We offer a Fair Dealing tool to help streamline policy navigation and help ensure copying is in accordance with our policy guidelines. If you need to make a copy check out this quiz based tool!

The library also hosts a suite of copyright support services to help inform staff and students toempower those within our college community to make copyright decisions that exercise their user rights and respect the rights of creators in accordance with our policy.

To learn more about copyright be sure to check out our copyright resource pages on the RRC Polytech library website. For copyright support or assistance at any point get in touch with the RRC Copyright Officer.

Happy Fair Dealing Week.

——————————————————————————————————————–

[i] Muller, Stan. Crash Course Intellectual Property #3: Copyright, Exceptions and Fair Use.

[ii] Hargreaves, Ian. Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth. UK Intellectual Property Office. P 5

Red River College Polytechnic is a diverse student and employee community, with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as one of three commitments in our new Strategic Plan. However, as human beings, we all have hardwired unconscious biases that can affect our learning and working relationships and our actions can then affect our efforts towards diversity, equity and inclusion.

What is Immersive Stories?

In the context of March 21, International Day against Discrimination, the new Immersive Stories Program will present a series of five one-hour lunchtime sessions.

The Immersive Stories Program is designed to give students, faculty, and staff a first-hand opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding about multi-layered socio-cultural identities and lived experiences. As outlined in our new Strategic Plan, this program is part of the College’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, and the pursuit of equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.

Participants will develop skills that will allow them to regularly check their personal, social, and cultural assumptions so that they can avoid making quick conclusions and judgments. This in turn will help to foster a diverse and inclusive College environment for students and faculty.  

Featured Guests

Each session in the Immersive Stories Program will involve a discussion with a member of our RRC Polytech community, during which they will share their unique lived experiences, and invite participant questions and dialogue. These conversations will provide participants an opportunity to gain insights into the lived experiences of our diverse community and will assist in becoming aware of our own biases.

Join us for the following meaningful conversations which will be held on Webex. Participants are welcome to register for up to five sessions in March and April 2022.

Wednesday, March 2 | 12 noon

GUEST: Vassan Aruljothi
HOST: Kaleigh Quinn

Conversation topics: Racism, Discrimination in Malaysia, Deodorant and international students, Racism among people of colour, Effects of colonialism.

Wednesday, March 9 | 12 noon

GUEST: Jocelyne Olson
HOST: Rebecca Hiebert

Conversation topics: Barriers to participation, Neurodivergent change management, Teaching with ADHD, Navigating the workplace, Inaccessible accessibility.

Wednesday, March 23 | 12 noon 

GUEST: Anahita Aminian
HOST: Nora Sobel

Conversation topics: My Ethnicity, My Family, My Religious Journey, My Education and my Approach to Early Childhood Education, My Language and Communication Skills.

Wednesday, March 30 | 12 noon 

GUEST: Ebony Novakowski
HOST: Sarah Lee

Conversation topics: My Sexual Orientation, Morbid Obesity and experienced perceptions, Chronic Illness and Polycystic Kidney Disease, My gender and sexual orientation in relation to work experience, My Family and Religion.

Wednesday, April 6 | 12 noon 

GUEST: Marshall Richard
HOST: Rebecca Hiebert

Conversation topics: Intergenerational trauma, Effects of Colonization, Social Inequities, Racism, Reclaiming Indigenous identities.

Please note that in order to create a safe and brave space for presenters and participants, only the introductions of the presentations will be recorded.

This program is brought to you by the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group within Library and Academic Services, with the support of the Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, Human Resources Services, and Education Technology Vision (eTV).

The Library re-launched two guides early this year. In partnership with the Academic Success Center, we have enhanced and expanded these guides with new content and updated resources.

The new Academic Writing and Citation (https://library.rrc.ca/academic_writing) guide expands on the previous Getting Started with Academic Writing guide. It now incorporates original content from the ASC Writing Centre (https://library.rrc.ca/writing_students) as well as content from the Citation and the Moving from APA6 to APA7 guides (now retired).

This guide can assist you in understanding how to write your papers better, increase your fluency with APA 7 and other citation styles, and learn about plagiarism and how to avoid it.

The updated Academic Study Skills (https://library.rrc.ca/academic_skills) guide builds on our original Study Skills guide with original content from the ASC’s Academic Coaching and Study Skills pages.

Here you will find strategies for time management, reading and note-taking, study skills, and test-taking. This guide can help to increase your understanding of course material, improve your marks, and make learning a little less stressful.

Both of these guides are located in the Student Success folder of the Guides page (https://library.rrc.ca/StudentSuccess)

Each guide contains tons of helpful advice along with links to books, ebooks, videos, streaming videos, websites, self-directed tutorials and much more.

A big thank you to Nora Sobel, Nick Schroeder, and Dayna Graham for working with myself and Fatima DeMelo to update, release, and promote these fantastic resources.

For more information, please contact Rosemary Woodby or Fatima DeMelo, Reference Technicians

The following poems were submitted by students in the Summer 2021 EA Program Intake following the completion of a group project — a mobile made of 1000 paper cranes.

When the 1000-crane mobile was completed, the class met Elder Una Swan for a second pipe ceremony to bring the project to a close. The first pipe ceremony occurred 14 weeks earlier with Miss Una blessing the project.

Each student wrote a haiku as part of the ELA Content & Practice course. Writing the poems helped them connect the project experience with a learning outcome from the course. As students gazed at their origami mobile of 1000 cranes, they were inspired to write the following words:

Origami fused with project-based learning

Paul Bourget, who designed this project, explains:

The goal of the origami project is to show the possibilities of actively involving students in an art form that links the principles of Reconciliation and understanding of the EA program course concepts such as math, ELA. 

–Paul Bourget, instructor

The 1000-crane mobile: significance of colours

The colours of the 1000-crane mobile (pictured below) are thoughtfully chosen, incorporating the 4 directions of Traditional Teachings (red, black, yellow, white in top layer) and “Every Child Matters” (orange in bottom layer), as well as diversity of peoples joined in harmony (multiple colours in middle layer).

An act to follow

Many thanks to Paul Bourget for sharing this project, and inspiring the RRC Polytech community to be innovative in incorporating Truth and Reconciliation and the Calls to Action into our work at the College. Learn more about Paul Bourget’s work here: Truth and Reconciliation Faculty Star: Paul Bourget.

Original written by Paul Bourget; edited version and video by Linda Fox; poems
by students in the Educational Assistant program (summer 2021 intake)

This post originally appeared on February 8, 2021.

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black Canadians through history. They have helped make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate and prosperous nation it is today. This special compilation of streaming videos and other resources is designed to help you learn more about Black history.

Deeply Rooted

Filmmaker Cazhhmere is a seventh-generation black Canadian. Despite this deep history, she’s constantly asked to explain where she’s from — even though the answer is always “Canada.” Cazhhmere is a proud Canadian. Her ancestors were among the first black settlers to come to Canada — her family has spent hundreds of years weaving itself into the fabric of our nation. Despite this deep history, Cazhhmere is constantly questioned about where she is originally from. In Deeply Rooted, Cazhhmere will change your perception of what a multi-generational Canadian family looks like. In a country that is widely known for being a “global melting pot,” our nation can easily forget that not every person of colour is a newcomer to Canada.

Invisible City 

The film is set in the inner-city housing project of Toronto’s Regent Park; Kendell and Mikey, like their surroundings are in the process of transformation; the environment and social pressures tempting them to make poor choices, their mothers and mentors rooting for them to succeed. Turning his camera on the often-ignored inner city, Academy-award nominated director Hubert Davis sensitively depicts the disconnection of urban poverty and race from the mainstream.

Hardwood

Hardwood is a personal journey by director Hubert Davis, the son of former Harlem Globetrotter Mel Davis, who explores how his father’s decisions affected his life and those of his extended family. Elegantly structured into three chapters entitled “love,” “recollection” and “redemption,” Davis uses personal interviews, archival footage and home movies to delve into his father’s past in the hope of finding a new direction for his own.

Mighty Jerome

In 1959, at just 19, Harry Jerome was Canada’s most promising track and field star on his way to the Olympics in Rome. By 1962, after suffering a gruesome leg injury, there was every reason to think that his racing days were over. But Jerome was not just a champion on the track; he was doubly determined off it. And so began his climb to what his coach, Bill Bowerman, called “the greatest comeback in track and field history.”

The Skin We’re In

Urgent, controversial and undeniably honest, The Skin We’re In is a wake-up call to complacent Canadians. Racism is here. It is everywhere. It is us and we are it. Following celebrated journalist Desmond Cole as he researches his hotly anticipated book, this documentary from acclaimed director Charles Officer pulls back the curtain on racism in Canada.

Explore Black History on the Web

If you ever have the time and interest in exploring Black history, there are many websites worth checking out. Here you will find a combination of historical images and true stories that bring Black history and culture to life.

Various websites

• Black History in Canada Collection (Canadian Encyclopedia)
• Being Black in Canada (CBC News)
• Black History Month (Government of Canada)

Canadian Museum for Human Rights Stories

• Black sleeping car porters: the struggle for Black labour rights on Canada’s railways
• One woman’s resistance: Viola Desmond’s story
• The story of slavery in Canadian history: It happened here, too
• The story of Africville

Video Collections from Curio.ca and NFB

• Black History Month Collection (Curio.ca)
• Black Communities in Canada (National Film Board)

Browse the Library’s e-book collection

Browse the e-book collection: Black History

Have a question or suggestion? Connect with us!

To connect with us through our online service desk, simply visit library.rrc.ca and click on the Ask Us button. We’d love to hear from you!

Follow us on social media!

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