Author: Sturgeon, Kendall

by Sara Jessica Clarke

In “Outside and In: Services for People Impacted by Incarceration,” Chelsea Jordan-Makely and Jeanie Austin point out that although “access to reading materials is a lifeline for people who are incarcerated,” the reality is that “the needs of people in jails, prisons, and other detention centers often go overlooked” (para. 2). While their article focuses on the various library services offered for people detained in American correctional facilities, the need it highlights for information professionals to support the information needs of people within these facilities is equally relevant in the Canadian context.  

Although the challenges encountered by institutional libraries to provide information access to inmates often goes under the radar, this is an issue that many LIS professionals and LIS students are aware of and often feel passionately about. This became evident to me while I was working on my MLIS at FIMS when discussions arose about ethics and information rights in various classes and when some of my peers undertook projects related to institutional librarianship. For example, in the most recent volume of Emerging Library and Information Perspectives (ELIP), Erica McKenzie wrote about a books-to-prison initiative that she undertook independently, and which was inspired by her desire to engage in a hands-on project that would support literacy within correctional facilities.  

A recent workshop in the FIMS Graduate Library: Bookbinding for Inmates, with Regional Librarian Kelli Jerome 

In October, we had a great student turnout to a workshop that was led by Regional Institutional Librarian, Kelli Jerome. In this workshop, Kelli, a recent graduate of FIMS’ MLIS program and a past Student Library Assistant at the FIMS Graduate Library, spoke about her work and the unique considerations that arise when developing collections for institutional libraries. 

Institutional library collections are subject to regulations related to both the content and physical form of their materials. In terms of the physical materials, there is a requirement for hardcover books to be rebound with soft covers in order to eliminate pockets or gaps where contraband could be placed. Unfortunately, rebinding books takes time and resources that are frequently in low supply for institutional librarians. Due to the need for help rebinding in-demand books and the high-interest amongst LIS students in assisting with this work, a mutually beneficial partnership has come to fruition between Kelli and the FIMS Graduate Library. 

During the workshop, Kelli instructed participants on how to properly remove the hard covers from donated books and rebind them with soft covers so that they can be added to institutional collections. By the end of the workshop, all in attendance were fully trained in the bookbinding process and had successfully rebound an entire cart of books! In addition to supporting institutional libraries, the workshop was a wonderful opportunity for FIMS LIS students to gain some hands-on volunteer experience and to work collaboratively in the library. It was lovely to be able to meet a number of new students for the first time and we truly appreciated everyone’s enthusiasm for helping with this project!  

Upcoming Opportunities to Get Involved and “Bookbind to Unwind” at the FIMS Graduate Library 

We received excellent feedback from students after the workshop and we plan to host regular bookbinding meet-ups in the library. Our next session will take place on Friday, November 12. All members of the FIMS Graduate community are welcome to attend. If you are interested in attending, please email us at fimslib@uwo.ca so that we will know how many participants to expect. All bookbinding materials will be supplied. 

We have also prepared a Bookbind to Unwind Cart with all of the needed bookbinding supplies for students to use during library hours. If you need a break from course work and want to log some volunteer hours, just contact staff at the library’s service desk about using these materials. The cart is equipped with bookbinding instructions and library staff are also happy to answer any questions about this work. 

Works Cited  

Austin, C. J.-M. and D. J. (2021, September 8). Outside and In: Services for People Impacted By Incarceration. Library Journal. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.libraryjournal.com?detailStory=Outside-and-In-Services-for-People-Impacted-By-Incarceration 

To request a physical item from Western Libraries: 

1. Sign in to My Library Account in the top navigation bar on the far right or select My Library Account from the yellow ribbon.

2. Find the item you are interested in and select the title to open the full record display. 

3. Select Request from the Get It area of the record. 

4. Select a Pickup Location.

5. Select Send Request. 

To request a physical item from another Omni Library:

1. Sign in to My Library Account in the top navigation bar on the far right or select My Library Account from the yellow ribbon.

2. Find an item marked Not available locally, click for more options and select the title to open the full record display. 

3. Select Get it from another library.

4. Select your Preferred Local Pickup Location. The other fields will usually be pre-populated, but if not, fill out as many fields as possible.

5. Select Send Request.

Digitization – Article and Chapter Requests 

All Western University and Affiliated University College faculty, students, and staff can request portions of eligible physical library materials to be scanned and delivered to their inbox, subject to certain limits defined by copyright. 

Digital delivery is limited to one chapter per book, one article per journal volume, or an excerpt of 10% of a total work. 

To request digitization:

1. Sign in to My Library Account in the top navigation bar on the far right or select My Library Account from the yellow ribbon.

2. Select the location of the item you would like to request an article or chapter, etc. from.

3. If you do not see the volume or year you require, you can select the funnel icon and then select “Description” to filter to the year you require.

4. Once you have found the year/volume you require, select “Digitization” beside the volume and year or book chapter you require: 

5. Check the box next to “Select for additional request fields” and complete the form with the citation information for the specific journal article or book section: 

6. Accept the Copyright Agreement by checking the box.

7. Click “Send Digitization Request” 

Things to note

1. The FIMS Graduate Library is a non-circulating library. Books and other items are for in-library use only unless permission is obtained.
2. FIMS is not a pickup location for physical requests. Please select your next nearest library location.
3. Requesting materials from other omni libraries is currently limited to physical items only. If Western Libraries does not have an electronic resource, such as a journal article, please request it from another institution using Interlibrary Loan (RACER).
4. There is no guaranteed turnaround time for physical or digitization requests. Staffing issues, high volumes of requests, and items missing are some of the reasons fulfilment of your request might be delayed.

If you have any questions about requesting materials from Western Libraries or about a specific request you’ve made, feel free to email fimslib@uwo.ca.

FIMS students at Western have access to some of the best academic resources in the world. Through Western Libraries’ website they have access to top books, databases, news outlets and more. But there is another website where MLIS students, in particular, can find library-specific databases, websites and tools. These tools could make a big difference in their course work, so we want to make sure every incoming student knows about them.

This short video has instructions on how to get to the FIMS Resources page and a summary of the websites, databases and subscription-based tools you’ll find there. Then check out the page yourself to see what you can use for your next assignment. Access it from this link or from the FIMS Graduate Library Website under Resources.

If you’ve searched for items in Omni lately, you might have noticed a small but powerful new feature. As of yesterday, the Load More Results button is gone and in its place is the more classic style of page navigation. At the bottom of your search results, you can now choose the number of results to display per page, up to 50, as well as navigate between pages of results. 

Users will now have much more control over how their search results are displayed and how they navigate between results in the set. No more scrolling through results 10 at a time, which is especially beneficial when you’re trying to get to the middle of a large set. In other words, if you know you want to get to page 5, you can do that in one click, instead of 4.  

We hope you enjoy this small improvement to Omni. It’s one of many to come. Feel free to let us know what you think about this and other features. And if you need any help searching, email us at fimslib@uwo.ca. 

by Sara Clarke

Keeping track of citations for projects, articles, or teaching can be frustrating and having to shift between different citation styles for different classes or publications can be even worse. For these reasons, we recommend the content management tool, Zotero, to members of the FIMS community. Zotero is a versatile tool that is great for organizing research, collaborative work, and quickly formatting in-text citations and reference lists. As you browse webpages or databases, it allows you to easily save materials for later. There are other content management tools on the market, but we like Zotero because it’s a free, easy-to-use, open-source tool.

Installing and Using Zotero

To get started, go to Zotero.org and download the Zotero software and browser extension. It’s possible to build a citation library without the extension, but this will require you to add items manually which is a lot more work.  Once you install the browser extension it will appear in the top right corner of your screen and the icon will change depending on what type of material you’re looking at. To add items to your library, click on this icon and choose the relevant folder for the material.

We recommend that you register for a free Zotero account so that you’re able to sync your account to other devices and access your library anywhere. Having an account will also allow you to use Zotero collaboratively and to share your libraries with others. 

Creating and Sharing Your Library

Zotero libraries are easy to create and to customize to your own interests and research areas. You can create folders and sub-folders to collect materials for courses, projects, professional development, or general areas of interest. Everyone’s library looks different and it’s easy to change and update as you go.

To start building your library in Zotero, right click on the collection or library icon in the top right corner of the screen. From here you can also add sub-collections, colour-code your library, or attach tags to different materials in your library. Searching your library is also simple, so you don’t need to worry if you can’t remember where you filed an item. 

Zotero is a wonderful tool for collaborative work. To create a new group right click on the “New Library” icon that appears in the top left corner of the standalone version of Zotero, and then click on “New Group.” This will take you to the web version of Zotero, where you can choose the settings for the group and generate invitations to send to group members.

Creating In-Text Citations and References

Using Zotero to create in-text citations and reference lists saves you the time and frustration of having to create these on your own, and it allows you to easily adapt your work to different citation formats. This function in Zotero works with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or LibreOffice. 

If you’re using Microsoft Word, the Zotero word processor plugin should be automatically installed when you download the Zotero software and will appear in the main navigation bar. To add in-text citations, first choose a citation format for your document by clicking on “Document Preferences.” Next, put your cursor where you’d like the citation to appear and click on “Add/Edit Citation” and search for the appropriate citation. Once you’ve added a citation, you can add the corresponding reference entry by clicking on “Add/Edit Bibliography.”

* Important note: It is ALWAYS important to check citation and reference entries for errors, as there are often errors in the information that Zotero receives about materials. This is especially true of websites. When you discover an error, you can change the information for the item in your Zotero library permanently so that it will be correct whenever you cite this item in the future.

Want to learn more? Watch our Zotero Video

If you would like an in-depth demo of how to use this tool, watch our Introduction to Zotero video. In this video, we walk you through installing Zotero, creating and organizing your citation library, generating in-text citations and reference lists, and more. 

If you have any questions about Zotero please email us at fimslib@uwo.ca. Zotero also has a great documentation section on its website that allows you to easily find information about using the tool.

“Margaret Lyons always said she had three strikes against her: she was a woman, she was under five feet tall, and she was Japanese.” As a reporter, producer and manager, she brought a new standard of journalism to radio in Canada and is credited with saving CBC radio from oblivion. She directed the creation of programs such as As it Happens, Quirks & Quarks, and Sunday Morning. She was instrumental in realizing CBC’s Radio Revolution in the late sixties, seventies and eighties. Margaret died in late 2019.

When she died, a small group of people who worked for and with Margaret as young aspiring public broadcasters, decided they should create a moment to reflect on Margaret’s contributions. 

They had hoped to stage an event at the Glenn Gould Studio in the Broadcast Centre in Toronto last Spring, but the pandemic rendered that impossible.  So, they pivoted and created a one-hour documentary Tribute to Margaret.  

From the beginning they thought the hour would be important for journalism/media and communication schools across the country. It is too easy to ignore our national history and Margaret Lyons personified a major chapter in the development of broadcast journalism in Canada. Any student of journalism or the media would not only benefit but enjoy hearing Margaret’s incredible journey from an interned Canadian of Japanese descent during World War II to the Head of CBC Radio. Her contribution to both public broadcasting and Canadian Culture is enormous and as a racialized woman her story is all the more remarkable. She is also a first-class example of the power of original thinking and what a little corporate defiance and bravery can accomplish. If her journey inspires young women and men seeking a future in the media world and engagement in an evolving Canada, then creating this documentary about an extraordinary person has served its purpose. 

Please watch and enjoy this documentary and share it with others.