“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” 

- Margaret Mead 

When people think of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), autism, and other conditions, we often see those from a disease-based perspective originating from human brain science and outdated ideas regarding disability. These perspectives lack an anthropology or sociology framework and disregard individual differences from the standpoint of a diversity model.

The new Neurodiversity Library Guide provides learning resources to understand some brain conditions from a diversity perspective, highlighting how some cultural values affect our perceptions of these brain conditions.

In addition, without ignoring the challenges and barriers that individuals within the spectrum of neurodiversity navigate during every-day life, this guide takes a strength-based approach focusing on an individual’s hidden strengths and talents as a way to advance efforts towards inclusion and removing stigmas.

The Neurodiversity Library Guide includes sections on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum, Anxiety, Dyslexia, Mood Disorders, and Intellectual Disabilities. The content includes recommended books, articles, videos, and podcasts, as well as some additional College and community resources.

Special attention was paid towards selecting films and videos with testimonies sharing lived experiences within the spectrum of neurodiversity. Books can provide a foundation of knowledge, but it is the personal stories that can contribute to make emotional connections in order to build understanding and empathy.

The guide was developed by Fatima DeMelo (Information & Program Delivery) and Nora Sobel (Academic Success Centre). The content of the guide is based on the work of Thomas Armstrong, Howard Gardner, and Norman Doidge, and has been reviewed by staff from the Disability & Community Support program, and Student Support Services.

The guide is being launched in October, during Disability Employment Awareness Month, and it is already available at https://library.rrc.ca/neurodiversity.

Written by Nora Sobel (Academic Success Centre)

Library staff member, Rosemary Woodby, recently worked with three RRC Polytech Nursing instructors – Joanne Loughry, Krystal Boyce-Gaudreau, and Carla D. Andreamatteo – on the creation of specialized Library Guides for their courses. It was a rewarding experience for everyone, but most importantly, it made the learning materials required for these programs easier for their students to access.

Before diving into the benefits of Guides, are you familiar with what they are?

What are Library Guides?

Library Guides pull together and organize Library books, videos, and databases, along with a variety of online sources such as webpages, videos, and reports. Guides present all of this information in one place, where any student can access them. You can link to Guides in your LEARN site, and we can update content as needed.

Learn more >> Visit the Library Guides

How do Library Guides benefit students?

“The guide has the potential to save the students valuable research time and cultivates a supportive and progressive learning opportunity… These essential research skills and increased exposure to credible resources will prepare our students to be practice ready when entering the workforce.”

— Joanne Loughry, Nursing instructor

At RRC Polytech, our mission is to help students succeed in their studies and move on to rewarding and successful careers. The greatest benefit of Library Guides is felt by the students, which is one of the main reasons our instructors request them. Feedback from Nursing instructors confirms this fact.

Krystal Boyce-Gaudreau describes her newly developed guide, Leadership, Management and Collaborative Practice, as a time-saving and learning opportunity for her students. Through the Guides, students are presented with a gateway to high-quality information categorized by topic, saving “students time searching through website and journal articles for relevant and appropriate resources.” Carla D Andreamatteo, who requested the Nutrition and Lifestyle Guide for her students, describes it as “a great one-stop location for students to access resources to assist with their learning in the course.”

Joanne Loughry requires her students to utilize several kinds of resources from varied sources. In her opinion, Library Guides help students learn to develop their research skills and gain exposure to navigating credible sources. In her words, “The guide has the potential to save the students valuable research time and cultivates a supportive and progressive learning opportunity… These essential research skills and increased exposure to credible resources will prepare our students to be practice-ready when entering the workforce.”

How does an instructor set up a Library Guide?

Guides are created by the Library staff member assigned to your program area, as listed in our Collection Development Contacts. You may send a request to your subject specialist directly, or send a general inquiry to the Library through our Contact Us page.

Follow Library and Academic Services on social media!

For everything from fun series to service and programming updates, follow us on social media. We’re active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

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

We respectfully acknowledge that Red River College campuses are located on the original Lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

In June 2021 the Federal Government of Canada passed legislation to make September 30^th a federal statuary holiday as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day provides the opportunity to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Residential School Systems. Undoubtedly before this federal legislation, September 30^th has been recognized and observed as Orange Shirt Day or as Every Child Matters throughout Canada to recognize the victims of the Canadian Residential School System, and in support of Truth and Reconciliation. Library and Academic Services staff are honoured and eager to show our continued support for Truth and Reconciliation.

This past year has ignited national attention towards Truth and Reconciliation after the unmarked graves of 215 children were found near a former Residential School in Kamloops, BC. This number soon increased to over 1300 across Canada as more former Residential School sites across Canada were investigated. With these discoveries, it seemed Residential Schools and Truth and Reconciliation became pertinent conversations in our households and global environment. However, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRCC) was formed in June 2008, releasing its final reports and the 94 Calls to Action in 2015, and has been a pertinent conversation for a long time.

The unsettling news from Summer 2021 was a reminder that the past cannot be forgotten and that education about the truth is the way forward.

Library Resources: Helpful Starting Points to Build Your Understanding of Truth and Reconciliation

Our library contains many resources about Truth and Reconciliation, Residential Schools, and Indigenous Experiences throughout its’ collections. These resources are helpful starting points towards building understanding of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. We invite you to look at some of these resources to acquaint yourself with Truth and Reconciliation.

Guides

Guides like Residential Schools and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls highlight books, videos, articles, and websites that help build understanding and educate about these issues.

Books

Books that are available from the library include:  

• Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Volume one: summary: honouring the truth, reconciling for the future
• Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors by Larry Loyie with Wayne K. Spear, Constance Brissenden
• The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation by David B. MacDonald
• A knock on the door: the essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
• Picking up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman; Kristie Hudson
• 21 things you may not know about the Indian Act by Robert P. C. Joseph.
• Pathways of reconciliation: Indigenous and settler approaches to implementing the TRC’s calls to action

Videos

We also have streaming videos available through our collections. Video Databases like Curio have collections like Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and Residential Schools: A Sad Chapter in Canadian History.

Videos you might consider to learn more about Canadian Truth and Reconciliation include:

• We Were Children available from the Nation Film Board of Canada
• Holy Angels available from the Nation Film Board of Canada
• A Residential Schools reckoning, again available from Curio
• The fallen feather Indian industrial residential schools Canadian Confederation available from the library collection.

Truth and Reconciliation at Red River College

Red River College is hosting its third annual Truth and Reconciliation Week virtually from September 27 to October 1, 2021. The week is dedicated to deepening our understanding of Canada’s history, Indigenous cultures, and sparking a conversation around Truth and Reconciliation.

We also encourage visiting Indigenous Education’s Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement to learn more about Indigenous Events and Initiatives at Red River College and its communities.

Written by Sarah Lee, Library Resource Management Technician

Sexual Violence Awareness – Education, Prevention and Supports

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), a month dedicated to raising awareness about the prevalence and impacts of sexual violence and sharing information about available resources to support survivors of sexual violence. Red River College is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all members of our College community. This includes a working and learning environment free from all forms of sexual violence.

As part of a sexual assault awareness campaign at the College, a new guide called Sexual Violence Awareness — Education, Prevention and Supports is now available through RRC Library. This guide serves as a jumping-off point for research and resources related to sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence. Within the guide, you will find books, ebooks, videos, websites, and more on topics related to the larger theme of sexual violence.

The Versatility of the Library Guide Format

RRC Library has a broad range of guides, most of which gather together resources on a specific subject area. The guide format is particularly versatile, allowing information to be organized and arranged in multiple ways. Jess Spindler, Resource and Resolution Officer at RRC, was involved in the production of this guide. She describes the value of the library guide format eloquently.

Developing a library guide allowed us to pull together a large number of sources, and present them in a readable, accessible format. One thing I especially like about library guide format is that it allows you to organize readings and resources by subtopic, so the user can find materials specific to what most interests them. — Jess Spindler

An additional feature of guides is that they “are not static, meaning we can continue to add new resources as the literature and body of research grows.”

Fruit of a Collaborative Effort

RRC Library staff are aware that the most valuable guides come from input and collaboration with other College departments, so when Jess reached out to the Library about building this guide, she received a favourable response.

I approached Rosemary Woodby, a staff member at the Library, about an idea to bring together resources on the topic of sexual violence and supports for survivors as part of an awareness campaign for Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April. Rosemary was a pleasure to work with and helped identify a number of current texts within the library’s existing collection to highlight.

This is not the first time a guide collaboration has reaped fruitful results. Other successful joint efforts with Rosemary Woodby involved guides for students in Engineering Technology and Oncology Nursing.

Do you have an idea for a Library Guide?

If you have an idea for a guide that you would like to see developed, please contact us. We would love to hear from you, and we are always open to suggestions!

Plagiarism always has concerned instructors and students alike, especially as part of a more extensive discussion involving academic integrity. Much of the concern has to do with what it is, how people do not mean to commit it, and more importantly, informing themselves about the topic. The Getting Started with Academic Writing guide addresses those issues, and others, depending on the given need:

• Overviews of plagiarism types with infographics for quick reference.  Many sections feature some curated YouTube videos explaining the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of plagiarism and the skills needed to counter it.
• Some new sections on topics such as unauthorized group work and learning about paraphrasing/direct quotation skills needed during the writing process.
• Direct Links to our citation guide and our Writing Centre, saving time searching the guide page.

This guide also serves as a companion to guides such as the  Communication Guide, APA 7th ed Highlights, RefWorks, and a newly redesigned Writing Centre page from the Academic Success Centre.  Library Services continues to support student success with more exciting ventures and as always, reach out to the ‘Ask Us’ chat bubble if you need assistance.

Spotlight on the Geotechnical Engineering Technology Guide

RRC Library staff member, Rosemary Woodby, recently collaborated with instructors in the creation of a Geotechnical Engineering Technology Guide especially for students in RRC’s Engineering Technology program. Instructors Nathalie Emond, Alena James, and John Kuchak describe the process:

We are very pleased with the creation of the Geotechnical Engineering Technology Guide! The process was simple. Rosemary Woodby created a framework and with a few brief discussions, we collaborated to develop a robust resource. Students in the Civil Engineering Technology (Environmental, Municipal and Structural), as well as other related programs, will have a point of access which will provide them with a broad range of resources to explore and support their learning.

What are Guides and why are they useful?

Guides pull together Library resources such as books, videos, and database articles along with many online sources such as webpages, YouTube videos, online reports, and more. Guides put everything in one place, where any student can then access them. This can be especially beneficial when topics are shared across multiple classes. You can link to Guides in your LEARN site, you can even link to individual pages within the guides. Even better, guides aren’t static, we can add more/update/change content as we go.

What does the collaborative process look like?

I can build these myself but when developed in collaboration with faculty they are so much richer; and create a strong resource that is tailored to the needs of the students. (Rosemary Woodby, RRC Library)

The process of collaborating on a guide is flexible but typically starts with a discussion. What is needed for that class? What type of resources and topics will this guide focus on? After the background information is worked out, we start to incorporate the instructor’s recommendations. Are there webpages, videos, books, or articles that an instructor recommends to their students? Those recommendations will be combined with items from the Library into a guide format using our LibGuide software platform. When we are all happy with the result, the guide is published and made available to students and the College community.

How do I request a Guide for my class?

Guides are created by the Library staff member assigned to your program area, as listed in our Collection Development Contacts. You may send a request to your subject specialist directly, or email the Library’s general account at library@rrc.ca.

Explore further: Additional Engineering Technology Guides created through collaboration

• Environmental Science – with Jonathan Mitchell, Civil Engineering Technology instructor
• Structural Engineering Technology – with Crystal Ungarian, Structural Engineering Technology instructor

Follow us on social media!

For everything from fun series to service and programming updates, follow us on social media. We’re active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

If you are new (or even if you are returning) to RRC Library, the various options on our website can seem overwhelming. At the same time, what you see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg. We encourage you to check out our Library 101 collection of guides, which are designed to help you get the most out of your Library experience. These are a great starting point if you are unfamiliar with our Library or just want general guidance.

There are three sections, which may be used in any order:

• Using Library Resources
• Writing, Citing, and more
• Databases and more

Our online service desk is open

In addition to our Library 101, our online service desk is open during our regular hours. If you have a question, Ask Us at library.rrc.ca! We’d love to hear from you!

Collaboration resulted in a tailor-made guide

In this special edition of Guide Spotlight, we celebrate the collaboration between a Library staff member and an instructor from RRC’s Nursing Department. The Oncology Nursing guide began as a conversation and resulted in a tailor-made guide which “contains up-to-date and comprehensive Oncology resources and allows students enrolled in [the] 3rd-year Oncology Nursing elective to engage in meaningful research that will be individually tailored to their learning needs. Access to these up-to-date resources will also benefit our students as they prepare to enter practice in our health care settings across the province.” (Joanne Loughery, Nursing Instructor)

Special thanks to Rosemary for the support and valuable research expertise she provides to our nursing students as we prepare them for excellence in nursing practice in complex health care settings.

What is a guide?

Library Guides pull together a range of resources on a given topic. These include materials from the Library’s collection such as books, videos, and articles as well as online sources such as webpages, YouTube videos, and online reports. Guides house all of this information in one place, simplifying access and providing a single link you can place on your LEARN site. One of the great aspects of guides is their flexibility – they can be updated, adapted, and transformed at any time.

What is the process?

Rosemary Woodby describes the process of collaborating on a guide as “flexible, but typically starts with a discussion about what is needed for the class – what type of resources and topics will this guide focus on? I then ask for recommendations – are there webpages, videos, books, or articles that an instructor recommends to their students? I combine those recommendations with items from the Library into a guide format using our LibGuide software platform and when we are all happy with the result the guide is published and made available to students and the college community.”

I can build these myself but when developed in collaboration with faculty they are so much richer; and create a strong resource that is tailored to the needs of the students. (Rosemary Woodby, Library Services)

Interested in collaborating on a subject guide?

If you are interested in working with a Library staff member on the creation of a guide, please contact the Library by emailing library@rrc.ca or click on the Ask Us bubble at library.rrc.ca.

Visit the Guides

• RRC Library Guides (home page)
• Oncology Nursing (with Joanne Loughery, Nursing)
• Palliative and End-of-Life Care (with Jackie Santiago, Nursing)

This academic year finds us in quite a different world; however, our commitment to providing you with the supports and services you need to succeed at RRC remains unchanged. As we continue this year together, the Academic Success Centre & Library are here for you.

Working from Home – A Guide for Students

With courses moving online, we need to change the way we approach our work and study. In addition, you may be coping with anxiety and/or other emotions connected to COVID-19. Indeed, these are challenging times! That’s why RRC Library has compiled a guide to help students succeed at working and studying from home. 

What’s Inside

This guide covers everything from health and well-being to study tips and information you will need while at RRC. Here’s a list of the sections:

>> Library 24/7 

>> Creating productive habits 

>> Group work from home 

>> IT troubleshooting

>> Your well-being 

>> COVID-19 information

>> Online tutoring and academic support

>> RRC COVID-19 information for students 

Related posts:

• Learning from Home – One RRC Student’s Experience
• Learning from Home – One RRC Student’s Tips on How to Stay Focused
• Adjusting Study Habits During COVID-19

Related guides:

• Working from home – for Staff and Faculty
• Library 101
• Student Success 

Have a question?

During the Library’s regular hours, a friendly staff member is available to chat with you online. Just click on the Ask Us bubble at library.rrc.ca.

Whether you’re at home or on campus, Library Services is here to support you and help you reach your goals.

A Mine of Demographic and Statistical Information

Developed in consultation with RRC Nursing instructors, the Nursing Community Assessment Guide is a valuable aid for nursing students completing the Community Health Assessment paper. As you gather information about communities to analyze health issues and health needs from a population perspective, it will give you a starting point to help focus your research.

While created specifically for Nursing students, this guide addresses a variety of community perspectives and is useful for anyone looking for demographic or statistical information about Winnipeg. This guide will help you identify and write about the following topics related to a community health assessment:

• Purpose, target group and location
• Community history and perception
• Population
• Physical environments
• Socioeconomic environments
• Education and healthy child development
• Culture and religion
• Health regions and social services
• Transportation
• Government and politics

We Are Here For You

While the Library’s physical doors are closed, the online service desk is still running and ready to serve you. Staff are online during the following hours (day-by-day Library hours are available at library.rrc.ca):

Monday – Thursday  7:30am – 8:00pm
Friday  7:30am – 4:30pm
Saturday  8:30am – 4:00pm

During this time, a staff member is available to chat or answer your email. Simply visit library.rrc.ca and click on the Ask Us bubble or send an email to library@rrc.ca.

Related guides >>

• UpToDate
• CINAHL
• Family Nursing
• Nursing
• Indigenous Health & Well-Being