2009/10 - SFU Library

Maps/Data/GISTogether with three other universities the Libraryestablished the Abacus data downloadingplatform this year. Hosted at UBC, it allowsstudents, researchers, and faculty membersfrom British Columbia’s four major universitiesto discover and download current and historicalnumeric data from Statistics Canada andother sources. We continue work on includingthe Nesstar data service for searching and accessingsurvey data at the variable level for onlinedata analysis.América Latina y El Caribe, España y Portugal(Redalyc).Work continued on the CFI funded Synergiesproject to develop a platform for Canada’sscholarly publications in the social sciencesand humanities. SFU Library and SFU’sCanadian Centre for Studies in Publishingcomprise one of five regional nodes responsiblefor the enhancement of OJS as well asOpen Monograph Press for use at all Synergiessites. An early test version of the softwarewas released in mid-2009. The project hasgarnered worldwide attention as an exemplarycollaborative initiative that supports disseminationand access to academic research.SFU Library’s reSearcher, an award-winningsuite of open source products for locating andmanaging electronic information resources bystudents and academics has garnered two notablenew users: NYlink (320 member libraryconsortium in New York) and PALs (a consortiumof Minnesota State colleges and universities).Both have installed our GODOT linkresolver and CUFTS ERM modules for use bytheir member libraries.Belzberg LibraryReference desk hours were changed to an “oncall” basis to match user needs. This allowslibrarians to focus on other activities such asbuilding collections, collaborating with facultyand colleagues, planning instruction, and providingin-depth guidance for increasingly complexreference questions.In an effort to find more space, 1,000 titleswere moved to the Bennett Library or discarded.Almost 12,000 items have similarly beenremoved during the past 12 years. The Belzbergspace shortage will become more challengingwith the School for the ContemporaryArts moving downtown in 2010. Funding foradditional shelving has been provided to partiallyalleviate the problem.Fraser Valley Real Estate BoardAcademic Library (Surrey)Surrey Librarians organized a self-guided librarytour for the annual open house as wellas a library–themed Wii “hole” for a mini-golfbursary fund-raiser. Staff also networked theSurrey sound effects collection making it accessiblefrom computers at SFU Surrey. Newtables and chairs purchased for the Librarybring total seating up to 350.10 SFU Library Annual Report 2009-10