The Archer Library is looking for innovative, proactive, flexible, collaborative and service-oriented candidates for the tenure-track position of Science, Engineering and Social Work Liaison Librarian.
View the full position description or visit the U of R Careers website for more information!
Tomorrow is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, when we commemorate the tragic history and legacy of residential schools, remember those who were lost, and honour survivors and their families. This year, many Library staff members are wearing orange shirts (with the white bird graphic) from Indspire.ca designed by Patrick Hunter, a two-spirit Ojibway artist from Red Lake, Ontario. Patrick specializes in fine digital artwork and designs from his Ojibway roots, with the intent to create a broader awareness of Indigenous culture and iconography: https://www.patrickhunter.ca/
Other staff members wear a 2020 shirt (with the black “mother embracing” graphic) by two-spirit Nakota artist Torrie Ironstar: https://www.instagram.com/t_ironstar_artist/
Note that the Archer Library will be open for reduced hours tomorrow: 12:00 pm until 4:45 pm.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and retirees from the University of Regina and the Federated Colleges regularly contribute to the academic and cultural life of our communities through their publications and creative works. The Dr. John Archer Library and Archives celebrates and honours these contributions with our University of Regina Author Recognition Event/Program. We invite you to submit works published during 2021-22 on behalf of yourself or for someone you know.
The Program celebrates the publication of new works in any format including print and electronic (e-books), edited proceedings, sound recordings, musical scores and film or video recordings. New works should be submitted through the web form by October 21, 2022: https://library.uregina.ca/authorrecognition.
After a two year hiatus we are excited to announce the return of an in-person reception. The date and location of this event are below.
Reception Date: November 24, 2022 from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Reception Location: RIC Atrium
Contact Christina Winter 306-585-4642 christina.winter@uregina.ca
The Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest for students begins Monday, October 3 and entries must be submitted online by Friday, October 14, 2022. Horror story submissions may be about any terrifying, eerie or gruesome subject, but must be original and two sentences (400 characters or less) in length. Check out the details here: https://uregina.libwizard.com/f/Horror
Congratulations to our Library Fall Festival prize winners! Ansh Patel’s completed passport was drawn as the winner of the grand prize of a new iPad. The two gift baskets filled with snacks and a Tim Hortons gift card were won by Sara Zahid and Ava Larose. Congratulation to our winners, thank you to everyone who attended the Fall Festival, and a shout out to the UR Ambassadors who helped! @URAmbassadorCentral
by Kaetlyn Phillips
After a summer hiatus, I’m back for more blogs on data in everyday life. This month we’ll cover Statistics Canada Surveys. If you were a reader of my previous blogs, think of this as part 3 of a series on survey data collection. If you are new to the blog, you don’t need to read the previous entries, but you’re always welcome to do so.
Statistics Canada collects data on a national level which are used to inform the public and the government. Within reason, most of this data become publicly available once they have been analyzed. Usually this is in the form of data news (The Daily), aggregated data tables, analytical reports, Public Use Microdata Files (PUMFs), and other data tools and resources. As their data are intended to be representative of the entire nation, they have much stricter sampling guidelines than national opinion polls (for more information click here!).
With a Statistics Canada survey, the target population the survey wants to measure will be well defined. Defined target populations can include nature of units; geographic locations; time periods; and socio-demographic characteristics such as age groups or industry. For example, we might define our target population as Canadian post-secondary students who were enrolled in a graduate level program from September 2021 to September 2022. Other steps needed to design the study and sample include choosing a survey time frame, defining survey units, determining sample size, and choosing an appropriate sampling method. Ideally, the survey will use probability sampling, meaning the sample is selected using random selection or chance. There are many forms of probability sampling and if you want to do a deeper dive, click here. Random sampling minimizes sampling error, but is more costly and time-consuming.
The release of data to the public depends on the survey. Most surveys run on a cycle which is usually annual, but not always. The detail of the data, or granularity, being released also affects when they are released. For example, brief statistical breakdowns like infographics found in The Daily can be released much quicker than PUMFs. The more granular the data get, the greater the need to protect anonymity of respondents. In some cases survey data that is collected are not available to the public.
While Statistics Canada is considered a trusted source of data, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t thoughtfully evaluate what they release. A quick way to evaluate data is to ask “Who was counted? How were they counted?”; meaning, we should look at the sample size and consider if it represents the target population and we should look at how the survey was conducted, which we’ll tackle next month!
We have a new schedule for Library Zoom sessions as well as a couple of in-person Library sessions for the Fall 2022 semester. Registration is required for the Zoom sessions, and encouraged for the in-person sessions. ALL students from ANY program or faculty are welcome. Staff, sessionals and faculty are also welcome.
U of R researchers! Learn more about ORCID numbers and take a few minutes to sign up at https://orcid.org/.
Contact Cara Bradley (Cara.Bradley@uregina.ca) or Christina Winter (Christina.Winter@uregina.ca) from the Archer Library if you have questions or would like assistance setting up your profile.
Archer employees are out roving the campus with free candy today to promote this week’s Library and Archives’ Fall Festival. Hope you can join us Wednesday (11:00 – 2:00) or Thursday (2:00 – 4:00) to learn more about our programs, services and partners.
https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3692374
https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3692375
For the past several years, the Archer Library’s acquisitions budget has been operating at a deficit. Our acquisitions budget today is below the level it was in 2009 ($2.97M compared to $3.13M), while annual vendor increases, inflation, and the fluctuating value of the Canadian dollar have decreased our relative buying power by over $1M in the same time period.
The Library is committed to strategically balancing its acquisitions budget while minimizing impact on teaching, research and curriculum development at the University of Regina.
The Library’s Collection Assessment Team (CAT) has identified subscriptions to Wiley and Taylor & Francis packages for non-renewal. Journals from all disciplines will be impacted by the non-renewal. Rather than subscribing to the entire packages, we will be individually subscribing to journals from these publishers: 21 from Wiley, and 13 from Taylor & Francis. More information about those titles is available at the link below.
The decision is data-driven and is based on the principles of stewardship, transparency, fairness, and equity across all disciplines. We have set up a webpage to provide more information to the campus community about our decision-making process. Please check back regularly for updates.
