UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 04 | Feb. 22, 2001

Events turn spotlight on Library's research role

Workshops showcase new information technologies

A selection of original sketches by artist Jack Shadbolt, author Malcolm Lowry's manuscripts, and on-the-scene reports from the 1885 Riel Rebellion are some of the primary source materials to be discovered at workshops and displays offered by the UBC Library as part of Research Awareness Week (RAW) March 3-9.

"The challenge of research in arts and humanities lies in the enormous diversity of disciplines," says Anne Martin-Matthews, associate dean, Research and Graduate Studies, in the Faculty of Arts. "Our researchers' needs range from lab space to studio space and primary source materials span everything from medieval illustrations to current economic policy."

In E-space located on the second floor of Koerner Library, librarians will run drop-in workshops for students and faculty on electronic sources such as the Canadian Census and Early Canadiana Online (ECO).

A recent Library acquisition, ECO offers access to items formerly available on microfiche only. English-Canadian literature, women's history, native studies and the history of French Canada are some of the site's key subject areas.

A learning and research facility, E-space is used to showcase new information technologies and digital resources. The schedule of workshops for the week is available at www.library.ubc.ca/home/research.

In addition, reference librarians will demonstrate health science research databases, including the Community of Science Web site, on March 7 at the Woodward Instructional Resources Centre. Demonstrations will also take place at St. Paul's Hospital on March 6 and Children's and Women's Health Centre of B.C. on March 5.

UBC Library has invested more than $1 million in the past year in electronic databases, according to Janice Kreider, assistant university librarian for Collections.

Also on view on the second floor of Koerner Library will be an exhibition called The Research Journey: from Primary Sources to Original Scholarship.

Designed to give people a sense of what research in the humanities is like, the week-long display includes items from UBC's Malcom Lowry collection of archival material -- the largest such collection in the world.

Students can trace the challenging research trail followed by Lowry expert and English Dept. head Prof. Sherrill Grace. Research tasks included transcribing and referencing near-illegible handwritten letters and illustrations.

Also on display will be some of the contents of 38 boxes of artist Jack Shadbolt's early sketchbooks, journals, letters and photos. The primary material was used by Scott Watson, curator of UBC's Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, for his 1990 book about the artist.

For a complete listing of RAW activities, e-mail celebrate.research@ubc.ca or check the Web site at www.research.ubc.ca/digest/celebrate.htm.

Research Awareness Week

March 3: Prof. Emeritus Tim Parsons, "Oceanography in the Services of Fisheries," Vancouver Institute Lecture, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre Lecture Hall 2

March 5: BC Research Institute for Children's and Women's Health Research Day, 985 West 28th Ave.

March 6: Four Corners of the World Research Café by residents, St. John's College Social Lounge from 2-5 p.m.; Providence Health Care Research Day, St. Paul's Hospital Conference Centre, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

March 7: GenderFlexing: New Media Technology and Young People's Thinking, Education Assoc. Prof. Ricki Goldman-Segall, St. John's College 1080 from 5-6 p.m.; UBC Health Sciences Research Day, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre concourse.

March 8: Celebrate Research Awards Gala, Chan Centre; Faculty of Graduate Studies Research Café: Sustainability, John Robinson, director, UBC's Sustainable Development Research Institute, St. John's College Social Lounge from 2-5 p.m.

March 9: UBC President Martha Piper, Commerce and Business Administration Dean Dan Muzyka and Assoc. Prof. Keith Head: Board of Trade breakfast symposium, Waterfront Hotel, 7:30 a.m.