Commons Knowledge

We are very pleased to announce that effective immediately Nick Cameron has joined the ranks of the Information Services and Systems team as the fulltime, permanent CSAS Systems Analyst. Not a complete stranger, Nick comes to us from his student position at the ITS Student Helpdesk. We know Nick will be a great asset to CSAS, ITS and UNBSJ with a broad range of experience, particularly in desktop support and linux / apache administration. Welcome Nick!

Well, we’ve waited for weeks for this year’s Sundance Festival to come knocking at our door. (Or at least return my e-mails) But come on, who really wants to go to the mountains of Utah (and rub elbows with the beautiful people) anyway?

Instead we’ve decided on a different venue for our Learning Commons video clip, with a much wider audience. . . That’s right, your Learning Commons now stars in its very own clip on YouTube. So if you missed it at the launch and in the previous blog piece, take a moment (Or 42 seconds) to see it now.

The ALA (American Library Association) in their recent e-newsletter (Jan 16, 2008) recognized AACR2: The Movie. This “zany” video clip chronicles “the exciting tale of Jim Stacks and Mark Wreckards, two intrepid cataloguers who must save the world from the evil Dr. Latefees” (played by David Ross). Now, if you’ve been left wondering about the title . . . AACR refers to “Anglo-American Cataloging Rules” (subtle library humor here).

David joined us just this past year as Academic Services Librarian and has been really busy with a number of projects, including a few more videos. Check out "Anna Prentice Goes To The Library” (more library humor), this 9 minute video introduces UNBSJ students to the services and resources available here at the library. Produced entirely in-house, you’re sure to recognize most of the “library characters”. Make sure to view the “outtakes” as well, they’re hilarious.

We’ll be featuring more of David’s work (this time in a more serious vein) shortly. . . so stay tuned.

Wayne arrived at UNBSJ from IBM Canada early in 1998. He has held various positions in the ITS department and currently manages the Student Technology Centre located in WCL 22. Which means that his days are spent leading a team of staff members dedicated to helping students resolve any hardware and software issues they may have.

In his down time Wayne makes winter bearable by hitting the ice and reliving his dream of being an NHL superstar, however this year winter will be a little easier since Wayne plans to travel to both Kenya and Dubai. I’m sure he’ll be happy to share photos of his trip when he gets back, so stop by and say hello to Wayne in the New Year.

Janet Fraser has worked as a librarian at UNBSJ for the past five and a half years. Before coming to Saint John she worked as the provincial co-ordinator for library services for the College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland and Labrador and as a database manager for the The Globe and Mail in Toronto.

On a typical day at the library, you’ll find Janet ordering books, teaching individuals and groups how to do research, tracking down hard-to-find information, and working on special projects. As head of Bibliographic & Collection Services, Janet also works closely with library staff in acquisitions, serials, and cataloguing to ensure that you have access to the resources you need.

Janet has long had a passion for writing--particularly fiction and poetry--and loves reading and taking in old movies. Her favourite book is Wuthering Heights, and she highly recommends the movies On the Waterfront (1954) and Picnic (1955). She also loves dancing, swimming, and skating but usually enjoys these activities when she’s not in the library.

Janet loves this campus and loves meeting and helping people, so when you see her around, introduce yourself. You’ll be glad you did!

Steve Gamblin has been with UNBSJ since 2005.

As Manager of Network & Communications he helps ensure that you have Internet access on campus and that your personal files held in Netstorage are safe and secure.

Before coming to UNBSJ, Steve worked as a systems consultant and instructor for CGS and as the Information Technology manager for school districts 6 and 8.

When he’s not at work, he enjoys spending time with family, watching horror movies (he recommends Donnie Darko [2001] and the films of Clive Barker), playing sports (you’ll often see him at the campus gym), and helping coach his son’s hockey team.

When he was young, Steve wanted to be an NHL star when he grew up. Thankfully for all of us, he changed his mind and decided to be a technology superstar instead.

In October of 2008 Angela became our newest full time ISS employee when she accepted the position of Cataloguing and Reference Library Assistant. After graduating from UNB with a BA in 2003, Angela spent her evenings and weekends working at the Circulation Desk of the Ward Chipman library, (you thought she looked familiar didn’t you?) as well as a day shift at the Saint John Free Public Library.

Now that she has her evenings and weekends free Angela enjoys going to movies with her friends, having dinner with her parents and brother, and curling up with a good book and her cat , Luna, on her lap. Angela also loves to travel; so far she has visited London and Paris, and she hopes her next trip will take her to Rome.

Angela’s spends her mornings in the Cataloguing department where she processes new books; and from 2:00-5:00 each day you can find her answering all of your research questions at the Reference Help Desk. If you are looking for research help, or maybe some travelling tips, stop by the desk and introduce yourself to Angela.

Andrew is one of the people working hard behind the scenes of ISS. As a child Andrew dreamed of being a professional table tennis player but life lead him to Dalhousie University where he earned his Master of Engineering degree in Internetworking. He arrived at UNB in June of 2005, and currently holds the title Data Communications Analyst; making him part of the team responsible for maintaining our network infrastructure, and troubleshooting network related problems. Basically he is the guy you want to know when the network goes down, something he works hard to prevent.

One of Andrew’s favorite pastimes is reading, but these days he, and his wife Ke (Renee), are more likely to be reading Dr. Seuss books to baby Emma, rather than a full length novel. When we asked Andrew to tell us something interesting about himself he mentioned that he didn’t get his driver’s License until he was 31 years old. After a few hours of on-road training his instructor commented that he had always wondered why driving was so hard for some people. So I would recommend giving him plenty of room if you see him driving around campus.

You would never know it to look at her but Cora has been working in the Ward Chipman Library since 1976. She has witnessed a lot of changes over the years, both here at UNBSJ and home in her personal life. When asked to describe UNBSJ in the 70’s Cora said “It was a time of protests, long hair, loud music, earnest conversations and of course study.” In her personal life her son Matthew has grown up and moved to Edmonton, while her daughter Kate has just recently moved to Oromocto, leaving Cora and her husband dealing with Empty Nest Syndrome.

Cora currently holds the position of Manager of Circulation; her days are spent working with the students and staff of the Circulation Department to make sure things go according to plan. When she is not at work Cora enjoys gardening, genealogy, photography, reading and in the winter months she enjoys travelling south for a couple of weeks of sun with her husband Allan.

Nick Cameron is one of the Systems Analysts in the Professional Client Services Division of the ISS department. He has been working full-time for us since September of 2007, before that Nick was a student here at UNBSJ working at the Help Desk and studying for his Bachelor of Arts degree. Nick is responsible for administering and supporting the computing facilities of the Computer Science and Applied Statistics department.

Nick can also be found in the offices of the CFMH, UNBSJ’s campus radio where he volunteers as the Technical Director, and working with his friend Arif, documents the local music scene using hi-def video. You can find clips of Nick and Arif’s work online at www.CultureHub.ca.

Next year Nick plans to complete his degree when he travels to Holland as an international student. In preparation for the trip preparation he is learning to speak Dutch. To date far he has learned "Ik spreek niet erg goed Nederlands". Which translates to 'I’m not very good at Dutch." If you happen to pass Nick in the halls I suggest you say "Hallo, hoe gaat het met jou? Met mij is alles goed", just to give him a little practice.

Meet Mary Astorino, our Instructional Technology Consultant, since Dec. 2000. Just what does the Instructional Technology Consultant do, you ask. Well she spends her work days supporting and assisting faculty with all the educational technology we have on campus. (So if you are impressed with how well your prof handles all the lights and videos in the Smart Classrooms you probably have Mary to thank.) Mary also spends a lot of her time assisting faculty members with our Blackboard learning system. As the Blackboard administrator and trainer she helps instructors create Blackboard courses that are interesting and effective; that give students access to online discussions, podcasts and course materials anywhere they find a computer and the internet.
Mary is also a part time instructor and may look familiar to some of the Education students out there. Her favorite course to teach is ED5976: Instructional Technology Across the Curriculum.

With two children studying here at UNBSJ, (her son Jordan in his second year of Science and her step-daughter Ashley in her third year of her Education degree) Mary needs to get out and relax every now and then. Her favourite ways to relax are reading, kayaking, curling and “high-heel” camping, which I guess means there is no sleeping on the ground for her.

When searching for an item in the Quest library catalogue, have you ever wondered who decides which information should be included in the record, how the record should be presented or what call number should be assigned? Just ask Corinne MacDonald, who has worked with library catalogues since her own student days at UNB and as a staff member of the library’s cataloguing department since 1993. Over the years, she believes library services have become more convenient and user-friendly. An example of this has been the transition from the card catalogue to the online catalogue.

When not at work, she has a passion for movies and theatre, and is even known to create a little ‘drama’ of her own. For those of like mind, she recommends the book, Silver Salts, written by Mark Blagrave. The novel is set in early twentieth century Saint John and portrays the glamour and glitz of the silent film industry.

What brings absolute joy to her life is spending time with her two charming granddaughters, Isabella and Brooke. She also enjoys golfing and traveling with her husband, Brian. One of their more memorable vacations has been their cross-country tour in 1992 in celebration of Canada’s 125th. It has given her a lasting impression of the vastness and beauty of this great country.

Paul is a familiar face on campus; he has been working as part of the circulation team in various positions since 1986. While working at the Circulation Desk he spends his day serving the campus community by helping people find what they want or need, laptops, books, directions, you name it he’ll try to get it for you. When he is working behind the scenes Paul chases down overdue books and handles the content of the Campus Information Display screens (those video screens mounted above the Tim Horton’s entrance and in front of the Cafeteria).

In his personal time Paul loves to be outside bicycling, hiking, cross country skiing, and honing his nature photography skills. If the weather is bad you’ll find him inside playing guitar and programming synthesizers. If you have a minute, stop by and ask him about the summer he spent hitchhiking across Canada in the 70’s. Paul has also revealed his hidden talent. He can recite the alphabet backwards in about 3 seconds. Don’t believe him--we didn’t either--click on his picture above and hear it for yourself.

We’d like you to meet the newest member of the Ward Chipman Library team. Lisa Marino is our new Evening and Weekend Supervisor. If she looks familiar it is because she has recently completed her BA/BEd here at UNBSJ and worked as a student assistant in the library last year. Not only has Lisa signed on to work evenings and weekends in the library, she is also working on a grade one internship at Centennial Elementary, so this will be a very busy year for her. When she does get a few minutes down time Lisa likes to spend it with her friends and family and even manages to squeeze in a walk or two with Buttons her Beagle/Jack Russell Terrier. With her student days just months behind her you can trust that Lisa knows how stressful being a student can be and will be happy to help with all your library needs.