The Book Store, Google partner on eBooks
Through an affiliation with Campus eBookstore, The Book Store at Western has reached an agreement with Google eBooks to distribute public domain and commercial eBooks.
Google eBooks is a new form of cloud-based digital book allowing readers to access their libraries on almost any device from one single repository regardless of where the books were purchased.
“This aligns perfectly with our goal to provide more choice in the materials we deliver, and positions us to remain competitive in the changing marketplace,” says Steve Alb, Western Retail Services director.
Google offers hundreds of thousands of titles ranging from new releases and best sellers in every category to classics in the public domain frequently used on courses throughout North America.
For customers of The Book Store, the partnership brings eBooks to the same platform they are already using for academic texts. In the future, look for offerings from smaller and academic publishing houses to expand, even to the point of offering students the opportunity to buy textbooks multiple formats.
Integration of the platform to approximately 200 individual campus store websites is underway. Integration and affiliation for other campus stores will begin soon. Participating stores earn a percentage of every order placed through its link.
Canadian Campus Retail Associates Inc. and the Independent College Bookstores Association Inc. own and operate Campus eBookstore in Canada and the United States.
Fall Preview Day set
It will be one of the first opportunities for more than 10,000 visitors this weekend to check out what has been deemed Canada’s most beautiful campus.
This weekend, The University of Western Ontario’s annual Fall Preview Day will see thousands of prospective students, accompanied by families and friends, exploring campus, checking out faculties and talking with professors.
Along with the opportunity to meet with faculty and staff, students will also be on hand to discuss academic programs and extra-curricular opportunities, as well as offer a tour residences and university facilities. The faculties of Education, Law, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Richard Ivey School of Business as well as the university’s Indigenous Services will hold special presentations throughout the day.
Among the activities across campus are an open rehearsal of the UWO Chamber Orchestra in the Don Wright Faculty of Music; a mini-lecture in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies; a virtual lab in the biology department; and a demonstration of the 3-D anatorium laboratory in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
For a complete schedule or to register, visit welcome.uwo.ca/preview/visitus/fall.
Info session set for Rwanda course
All students are invited to an information session on the Rwanda: Culture, Society and Reconstruction course at 5:30 p.m. today in University Community Centre, Room 147A. Applications would be due Nov. 24. The session will feature first-hand accounts from organizers and former students about this unique community service learning experience.
The Department of French Studies course, which started three years ago, involves a four-week international community service learning experience in Rwanda. Professor Henri Boyi is the lead instructor.
For details, contact Boyi at hboyi@uwo.ca or Mirela Parau at mpara2@uwo.ca.
Testing of emergency app ‘impressive’
Emergency Management regularly checks the various technologies used for emergency communications at the university. A new iPhone app, recently developed by Information Technology Services, provides the ability to send an alert from the Campus Police Communications Centre to the iPhones of approximately 50 leaders on the Emergency Response Team and Emergency Operations Control Group.
One leader on university business in Germany received this week’s emergency test at 7:45:16 a.m. His reply was in the Communications Centre less than one minute later at 7:46:11 a.m.
“While it is recognized that he would not be of much help in an emergency,” says Elgin Austen, Campus Community Police Services director, “the speed with which the transmissions occurred was quite impressive.”
Put those skills into practice
The Student Success Centre invites Western’s graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to After the Defense, Put It Into Practice, a professional development summit to assist in the transition from academia to industry. The event is scheduled for 3:45-7 p.m. today in the Great Hall, Somerville House.
In the keynote address, From PhD to President, Bonnie Schmidt, Let’s Talk Science president and founder, shares career strategies and recalls her own transition. Participants can also attend concurrent workshops on one of the following: making the transition from academia to industry; turning your research into dollars; or communicating your research without confusing your audience.
A networking forum will follow.
Admission is free. Register at careercentral.uwo.ca.