Special collections librarian Deborah Meert-Williston said she couldn’t believe what she was seeing when she first noticed “little squiggle” markings above the text in pages of manuscript waste, obsolete documents repurposed as bindings or reinforcem …
Western Libraries’ Archives and Research Collections Centre is home to rare, and in some cases unique, resources that illuminate important insights into black history in Canada and beyond. Here, we highlight just a few of the collection’s primary and secondary...
The global community has enjoyed Scholarship@Western research papers to the tune of five million downloads – a remarkable achievement for the university’s institutional electronic repository. “Five million downloads is pretty significant, especially in a decade. Its...
As 2017 winds down, Western News brings you a list of book recommendations from members of our campus community. Included are the year’s favourite reads from students, staff, faculty and alumni.
At one point, it was a darkroom. Later, it turned into a room where librarians counted coins from photocopiers. It also served as a storage closet. And then, more than a decade ago, with few changes to the space, the small room on the ground level of The D.B. Weldon...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFFxXOm5zI Even in elementary school, Robert Luton loved Shakespeare. The storytelling, the drama, the beauty of the language – it all kept him in rapt attention during performances at the Stratford Festival Theatre. English teachers...
One of the world’s most significant corporate archival collections has now become...
When it comes to researching medieval manuscripts, Samantha Tyson says photocopies or digital versions cannot hold a candle to the real thing. “And don’t hold candles to them,” laughed the third-year Medieval Studies student. Today, Western students can touch a...
Canadian academic libraries are increasingly challenged to maintain strong collections while grappling with unfavourable currency exchange rates, yearly subscription increases and a ‘big deal’ that is not necessarily a good deal. Despite this publishing environment,...
As Jamelie Hassan sees it, libraries are a hub where research, conversation and culture intersect to inspire human connection. And it’s precisely why the London-based artist selected two library spaces – on opposite ends of the world – to display one of her most personal works.
I read with interest two recent Western News articles about Juan-Luis Suárez’s new role as Associate Vice-President (Research) for arts, humanities and social sciences (“Suárez tapped to lead non-STEM efforts,” May 2 and “Suárez: Time of retreat is over for...
As of this month, Western Libraries will partner with university libraries at Toronto, Ottawa, McMaster and Queen’s in the Keep@Downsview project, a shared print preservation initiative among the five institutions. The project aims to preserve the scholarly record in...
A lot has changed in the 50 years since Canada’s centennial – from fashion and sports to architecture and technology. In London, Ont. and the surrounding region, a collection of nearly 8,000 images from the centennial year, captured by London Free Press photographers,...