Exam season is now upon us and it’s time to form a strategy to tackle December. The most important part of that strategy is finding a way to take care of yourself during this month of studying. Be sure to take some breaks between your study sessions. Take our quiz to get some suggestions on how to spend these precious breaks.
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By Alex Bak
McMaster University has been steadily increasing its ranking in the world for the last decade with the Shanghai Ranking. Placing 66th in the world last year behind only two other Canadian universities, McMaster is now a top institution for higher education.
However, the access that McMaster students have to study areas on campus is limited, specifically during high-traffic periods such as during midterms or exam season.
The libraries that are often found vacant become packed with space so scarce that some are forced to study in between bookshelves or trudge back home reluctantly or fight for chairs in Thode.
Compared to the University of British Columbia, ranked 31st in the Shanghai Ranking, McMaster’s four libraries pale in comparison to UBC’s 11.
At McMaster, though there are areas that one can study at in each building, it is important to consider that even in these location, it can still be a challenge to find study space.
Have you ever tried to study in the third floor of the student centre at common lunch hour? With an hour break in between classes for both lunch and study time, students shouldn’t have to worry about wasting time looking for a space to study as well.
The upcoming Student Activity Building could be the opportunity McMaster needs to join the other institutions of similar calibre in providing its students with the means to productively study on campus.
Having garnered 857 votes (0.04 per cent of the total student body) in the in-person survey for study space designs, although it was the most requested (26 per cent), it is hard to discern whether study space is something that a majority of students want.
Compared to the University of British Columbia, ranked 31st in the Shanghai Ranking, McMaster’s four libraries pale in comparison to UBC’s 11.
However, the 40,000 square feet of possibility could aid in alleviating the sparsity of space.
One other way that McMaster could respond the study space problem is through lengthening its hours of operations. A joint initiative between multiple student groups launched a pilot program for extended hours at the H.G. Thode Library this past year.
The 3 a.m. extended hours were pivotal, especially for the time-crunch periods before midterms as well as completing the assignments that were due at midnight.
If these extended hours became a part of the university policy instead of a brief student-led program, it could be stable and a solidified function for future students to enjoy and utilise.
Conjoining both extended hours and a large part of the Student Activity Building being allocated for study space could potentially bring about seemingly inconspicuous but monumental changes for the academic life of the McMaster student body.
With McMaster Students Union presidential elections wrapping up, this may be an opportune moment for this issue to be addressed and create dialogue.
A few of the MSU presidential candidates have already addressed this issue on their platforms and are creating conversation about this issue among students.
However, some of the suggestions on the candidates’ platforms don’t seem financially or time-feasible and should be readdressed accordingly.
It’s time now that we start implementing our options and solving the issue of limited study space on campus
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Year after year, the Student Representative Assembly and McMaster Students Union executives bring Library Hour Extension into their campaigns and year after year, nightowl students continue to see the library facilities closed for the evening.
This begs the serious question of why student demand is not being translated into longer schedules. Quite simply, it is because of finances.
More elaborately, the potential for library buildings to fully accommodate students 24/7 is stunted due to a lack of library staff, not to mention concerns for student safety.
“Lots of MSU campaigns over the last few years discussed extended hours and I think part of it is just that [students] do not understand how costly it can get if we just leave the library open for a long period of time and there is no one is there,” said Anne Pottier, Associate University Librarian.
“Currently, our hands are already tied with the financial commitment of night hours. We require one guard at Mills, one at Innis and two guards at Thode because of the building size. It gets up there… I feel that we are on the neighbourhood of spending $50,000 to $70,000 a year between all three places,” she said.
For security reasons, the library is required to have an invigilator at all hours. As a result, extending library hours is not as simple as changing the numbers on the schedule. “We have to hire third party security guards in order to keep the library open at night when there aren’t enough library staff,” Pottier added.
For the past six years, the libraries have run under staggered schedule during different parts of the semester. The libraries try to optimize their hours based on student need.
“I look at the peaks and valleys of the term, and when students need access to the library for a longer period of time. We try to keep the three libraries as consistent as possible,” explained Pottier.
For the first two weeks of the semester, the libraries have condensed hours and often close at 4:45 p.m. The closing times are gradually stretched to 10:45 p.m. and following the mid-term recess, the Mills Learning Commons is extended to 24 hours, and Innis hours are extended until 2:45 a.m. During exam season, Thode library becomes open 24/7.
“We try to justify when students will need the space and then how we man the space,” she said. “Security guards are asked to do head counts on an hourly basis. They tell me how many people are there every night so that I can sense how well the hours are working.”
Despite the efforts of the library to balance costs with student satisfaction, library closing times remain a struggle for some students.
“[Libraries] close way too early with the only option of going to a noisy Mills Commons at night. As a place of study, extended hours for all libraries will benefit all students without having them seek suboptimal areas around campus to study,” expressed Enoch Tin, a second-year health sciences student.
While a large-scale library hour extension is likely off the table at the moment, the library has accommodated student requests in the past. The Innis library quiet study hours are the result of past MSU president Ehima Osazuwa, and late night study at Thode was also a direct result collaboration with the MSU.
Mills Library
Mon. to Thurs. - 8a.m. - 10:45p.m.
Fri. - 8a.m - 5:45p.m.
Sat. - 10:30a.m. - 5:45p.m.
Sun. - 12p.m. - 10:45p.m.
Mills Commons
Mon. to Thurs. - 24hrs
Fri. - 8a.m. - 9:45p.m.
Sat. - 10:30a.m. - 9:45p.m.
Sun. - 12p.m. - 12a.m.
Innis Library
Mon. to Thurs. 8:30a.m. - 2:45a.m.
Fri. - 8:30a.m. - 6:45p.m.
Sat. - Closed
Sun. - 1:00p.m. - 7:45p.m.
Health Sciences Library
Mon. to Thurs. 8a.m. - 10:45p.m.
Fri. - 8a.m. - 9:45p.m.
Sat. - 10:30a.m. - 5:45p.m.
Thode Library
Mon. to Thurs. - 8a.m. - 10:45p.m.
Fri. - 8a.m. - 9:45p.m.
Sat. - 10:30a.m. - 5:45p.m.
Sun. - 12p.m. - 10:45p.m.
Open 24 hours during exams
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McMaster’s Academic Librarians have their contract up for re-negotiation this year. Collective bargaining, which began on July 22, started out smoothly but has since faced several roadblocks, according to a press release issued by the McMaster University Academic Librarians’ Association on Oct. 9.
MUALA filed for conciliation with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, which brings in a conciliation officer to help mediate the disagreements between the union and the university. The union represents 24 full-time Academic Librarians who work at McMaster’s libraries.
“One of our key roles is that librarians act to support teaching, learning and research needs of the campus community. Specifically, we are supporting [students’] learning and research needs and of faculty members and other research teams. How we do it varies by the individual role that the librarian has,” said Laura Banfield, MUALA’s President and chief negotiator.
Prior to the conciliation talks, which began on Oct. 14, at a MUALA meeting with 92 percent of their membership present, all attendees voted in favour of a strike mandate.
Andrea Farquhar, McMaster’s Assistant Vice President Public Relations, said that half of the contract had been agreed on prior to conciliation talks.
Although neither the university nor the union can speak to the details of the talks, the general points of contention were addressed in MUALA’s press release. These include compensation and academic rights of Academic Librarians.
MUALA states that the employer — the university — wants to “rollback compensation and limit salaries far below inflation.”
However, Farquhar said that there are no rollbacks to compensation being proposed.
“The university has tabled salary increases exceeding inflation. That includes a combination of across-the-board increases and a merit pool that members are eligible for based on their individual performance each year,” added Farquhar.
The disagreement in interpretation between the two parties is clear, much of it founded on the meaning of “inflation” and how they individually define fair and reasonable compensation.
As for MUALA’s claim that the university is trying to remove Academic Librarians’ right to participate in academic decision-making, Farquhar commented that the meaning of this was “unclear.”
Based on previous bargaining updates on MUALA’s website, the union has shown concern about the university’s proposal to “delete substantial portions of procedures and criteria” for promotions, evaluations and other decisions, which would leave these decision entirely up to the university’s discretion.
MUALA claimed that this would seriously degrade working conditions.
When asked if the vote would mean that in the case of unsatisfactory conciliation talks the Academic Librarians would go on strike, Banfield said that the vote simply gave MUALA’s executives the ability to call for job action if the situation requires it in the future.
“Our desire it to settle things through conciliation … even once a ‘no-board’ report has been filed then there is the situation in which both sides decide to go to mediation and still try to settle things before the lockout or strike mandate is acted upon,” said Banfield.
A “no-board” report by the third party would signify that an agreement was not reached through conciliation meetings.
“The issues that we’ve raised are the ones that resonate within our population,” said Banfield.
Both parties hope the conciliation meetings will address these disagreements and help them effectively move forward with negotiations.
By: Rachel Katz
Nov. 5 marked an important milestone for Innis Library and its namesake. As part of a number of ongoing events to celebrate the library’s 40th anniversary, staff served cake in honour of economist Harold Innis’ 120th birthday. McMaster Librarian Vivian Lewis said, “it’s an exciting time for the library. 40 years is a fairly significant amount of time.”
Innis Library isn’t nearly as spacious as the Thode or Mills libraries, but Lewis, who ran it for five years, said “it’s a very special place for students in the Commerce program, who really consider it to be home base, and it’s nice to do something to celebrate [it].”
One of the features that sets Innis apart from the other campus libraries is its atmosphere. Unlike Mills, there is a greater focus on group work.
“I think, because of the work that’s done in the Commerce program,” Lewis explains.
Combined with its small size, these two factors have created a close-knit community around the library.
Lewis was excited to talk about the anniversary, and mentioned that TwelvEighty even advertised a special drink to mark the occasion. She said the Innis staff was disappointed to learn Thode and Mills both had their own cocktails but Innis did not, so for Harold Innis’ birthday, the restaurant created the “Inniscapable.”
Unfortunately, the limited availability of the Innicapable is not the only disappointment the library’s staff has had to contend with. Last year the library staff announced an art contest as part of the build-up to the anniversary.
“It’s not very inspirational to have all these blank walls,” says Business Librarian Ines Perkovic.
Library Manager Ann Pearce says that the original plan was to unveil a piece of student-made artwork at the upcoming formal anniversary celebration in March.
“Unfortunately we only had three submissions, [none] of which were not made for Innis [specifically],” she said. “We were disappointed.”
Low submissions have not deterred Pearce and Perkovic though.
“It was something that we really wanted to do because we believe in working with faculty and students, because this is part of their space as well, but… now we are rethinking things, and we’re going with a word wall,” Pearce explained.
“We’ve got a preliminary list of words, and we’ll probably use a program like Wordle to kind of create it,” said Perkovic. The piece will likely go outside her office. She says they plan to “[use] words that reflect what you can do in a library,” but it will not be “business-specific."
The word wall is only in its preliminary stages. Pearce said she and Perkovic have yet to decide if the piece will be painted directly on the wall or if they will use sticker signs, but they still plan to reveal it at the formal anniversary event this March. While their initial idea was unsuccessful, Pearce said, “we’re certainly not ruling out having another competition for student art, because we have a lot of white space on our walls.”
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Located on the fifth floor of Mills Library, the McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning has just completed a renovation project for its offices.
Accessed by the rear-facing elevator doors and separated from the rest of the library, MIIETL feels tucked away, relatively undisturbed. But the renovations have really modernized the look and feel of the office space, and will allow MIIETL to better accommodate a potential increase in traffic from the McMaster population.
Formerly known as the Centre for Leadership in Learning, MIIETL is responsible for online initiatives at McMaster University, whether it's Avenue to Learn or a number of new blended online learning courses. But with a full-time staff of over 30 and numerous other part-time students and researchers, that's only a small part of what they do, explained Teaching and Learning Director Arshad Ahmad.
"In simple language, we help teachers to improve," he said. "We are partners with faculty, with staff, with students; whoever is in the business of teaching and learning and wants to improve, we're there to support them."
"Our business is helping people, to improve teaching, but also collecting evidence and doing research on teaching - in partnership," he emphasized.
With more of MIIETL's work being directed towards research on effective teaching and learning, the goal is for the redesign to allow more space for new students and researchers who will be working in collaboration with the institute. However, the renovations haven't expanded out of the occupied area; rather, it's given the offices a level of privacy that wasn't afforded by the cubicle-like walls before. In addition, sound that used to bleed from the inner classroom has now been minimized, and it can now accommodate up to 100 students.
Kris Knorr, the Research Coordinator at MIIETL, was principally involved with the summer renovations and commented that they looked at both open and closed designs, before ultimately deciding on a more private space.
Said Knorr, "it was part of [Ahmad's] vision to help alleviate [the noise and privacy issue] and help to create some new space for the growing capacity of MIIETL, and for the new work that we were going to be endeavoring with.
The growing collaboration with students is a sentiment that was echoed by both Knorr and Ahmad.
Knorr explained, "It's important for us to make sure that we have student partnership and a student voice in the work that we do."
With the renovation completed on time for its Sept. 1 deadline, MIIETL is planning on unveiling its new office space in time for November.
Since the inception of e-books and other online resources McMaster’s library has been working to keep up.
One of the most practical modernization techniques, said University Librarian Vivian Lewis, is simply adding more electrical outlets.
“Outlets are huge for us. It is one of our main demands in study spaces. It is very different from when I started here 20 years ago,” she said. “We have to come up with all kinds of ways to get power to different study areas. We run power strips across tables…more and more this is what students are looking for.”
With the Library—Mills, Thode and Innis (The Health Science Library is run separately)—as the largest Wi-Fi center on campus, spaces within the actual buildings are forced to adapt to demand. That means, in some cases, allocating square footage once given to book stacks to study space instead.
In recent years, Mills has transformed much of the sixth floor into quiet study space and added the Lyons New Media Centre, allowing student to use resources like video editing software and green screen. Thode has also added more open study spaces.
The most significant player in the modernization of academic libraries is the move from print to electronic resources.
“The journals that we get have gone almost completely electronic because that is where the users are…where they can get the article they want at 2 o’clock in the morning, even if they’re on the other side of the country,” said Wade Wycoff, Associate University Librarian, Collections.
In 2001, the Library had around 11,000 journal subscriptions that were available to students and faculty only print. Because of the move to electronic publication, e-journals can be purchased in bundles and are more affordable than a decade ago. McMaster students can now access 80,000 different journal titles.
“It levels the playing field in a lot of ways. Now suddenly we’re getting subscriptions of volumes and journals available to our users, that rival U of T and Western,” said Wycoff.
The rise in overall journals does come at a cost, especially for researchers who seek a true print copy.
Wycoff said, “We still have about 2,000 print subscriptions, and those are mostly smaller publishers who just haven’t moved on to electronic versions of their journal yet.”
The same transformation is happening with books. In 2001, the Library purchased more than 40,000 books in print. In 2012, only 6,610 print books were purchased, in addition to 22,000 e-book titles. The combined total of 28,810 still falls more than 10,000 titles short 2001’s book purchases.
Wycoff says that this reflects a focus on serials that many libraries are making.
“More academic libraries are spending more on their journal collection. We have had to shift some resources around,” he said. “We are also seeing things, like in the sciences, how they are using those electronic resources, they are using journals more. So their usage pattern is changing, so the money changes to support what they actually want.”
Wycoff believes that the trend will continue.
“Ten years from now, we’ll still have a physical collection, but its footprint will be much smaller,” he said. “The longer-term trend in academic libraries is toward a collection that is almost fully electronic. In the near term, we expect that the Library’s collection will continue to be a blend of print and electronic materials.”
University Librarian Vivian Lewis sees a general move to a more service-based library on the horizon.
“It is also changing how we’re providing services in general. It’s not really just the collections—the libraries are places for service and so it is changing the way that we answer questions,” she said. “If students aren’t physically coming to the library to use the library, we need to support them where they are.”
She continued, “We have to be all about serving students now, even if they aren’t in the physical library.”
“Sometimes we hear someone say ‘I never use the library.’ Reality is that they are using the library all the time, even when they are just accessing Google Scholar,” she said. “Our students and faculty researchers use the library constantly, probably way more than they did a decade ago, when they physically had to put their hat and coat on and walk over.”
Photo credit: Yoseif / Photo Editor
Not all of my Saturday nights are that exciting. I have to admit it. I have certainly spent many a weekend night bleary-eyed and hopped up on caffeine in order to write a paper that should have been done days earlier. We’ve all been there, I think.
So when MSU presidential hopeful David Campbell offered up a potential extension of library hours, I was excited. And I doubt I was the only one. With limited weekend hours (Mills stays open to 5:45 on Fridays and Saturdays, as do Thode and HealthSci), McMaster has not exactly been accommodating.
On July 12, after two months in office as president, Campbell and the MSU were able to reach a deal with the University Library for new hours. Such an announcement should come as welcome news—and yet, something isn’t quite right.
The announcement on the MSU website claims the hours will “dramatically increase.” Mills Learning Commons is to offer 24/5 access starting mid-semester (early October in the fall, mid-February for the winter), while Mills and Thode will extend their hours on Friday nights, remaining open to 9:45 rather than the standard 5:45 pm. Innis will follow suit during exam periods.
While it’s commendable for Campbell and his team to tackle a project such as this, as an avid user of the library I’m left disappointed.
Sure, time-wise the increase is dramatic. But such an increase is easily achieved by offering up Learning Commons til the wee hours of the morning on weekdays. It surely is easier to staff a single-room study area than it is to keep an entire 6-floor library up and running. Though while it makes sense from a library’s perspective, for the students this solution just isn’t good enough.
It’s all well and good to extend hours, but studying in the middle of the night is not a good solution for anyone. A stopgap measure like this appeals to a cramming culture that is definitely not a healthy part of an academic career. It suggests that what students need is a place to binge on information right before a midterm, not a consistent place to work all year long.
The exam hours that have been in place for years have encouraged this too. Maybe for some 24-hour access to Thode is helpful, but I’m left wondering why the focus is only during exams, why there’s not more done in the weeks leading up, when the workload is heavy and students are in the midst of final assignments and papers.
One noteworthy success of the new hours at least is the extension of Friday nights. Finally it’s acknowledged that Friday too is a night to work for many, and that midterms are scheduled on Saturday mornings.
But being a student truly is a full-time job, and Campbell and the University Library would be smart to recognize that and negotiate for longer hours on weekends, too.
It’s clear that we can’t magically create a solution to the need for study space and the proper services for students. After all, the people running the library are only human. But comparing Mac’s library hours to those of other schools, it seems an entirely reasonable feat to accomplish.
At a time when McMaster’s campus is bursting at the seams and students are forever in search of study space, I can only hope that such a feat does become a priority, and that this announcement is one of many steps in the right direction.
The McMaster Libraries Archives is more than just a museum for books. Their collection includes original works that once provoked mass outrage and book burnings.
Freedom to Read Week is an annual celebration sponsored by the Freedom of Expression Committee that runs this year from Feb. 24 to March 2. The week was initially founded as a result of attacks on Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women in 1978.
McMaster Archivist Renu Barrett took The Silhouette through three particular works that McMaster owns as part of an exploration of formerly banned books.
McMaster owns a first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, which is no. 332 of the first 1000 published. The work was considered so contentious that publishers refused to distribute the work, so it was originally sold by subscription. Ulysses was banned from being published in the UK.
Barrett speculated that Ulysses was considered so controversial because Joyce wrote it from his stream of consciousness and was very free with his language. The work is so full of obscenities and sexually explicit language that Joyce was warned during an early review that he would need to revise his work.
Joyce refused and in 1932 US Customs seized a copy and declared it “obscene.” Eventually, in a landmark censorship decision, the novel was declared not pornographic and was allowed to be published.
McMaster also owns a copy of Dialogo by Galileo. Dialogo is considered to be extremely rare given that most copies were seized and burned following it being banned by the Catholic Church in 1633.
The work was considered heretical for endorsing a heliocentric view of the universe, which ran counter to Church teachings. McMaster acquired this particular work in the 1960s.
Barrett gave Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners as an example of a more contemporary work that was highly contested for its language and exploration of sexuality, race, class and abortion.
In 1974 The Diviners won the Governor General’s Award, Canada’s top literary prize. But by 1976 the book was banned by local school boards. In the 1980s the book was again subject to criticism, this time from the Catholic Church. McMaster has part of the original manuscript in Laurence’s handwriting.
Barrett explained how freedom to read week continues to remain an important part of both retelling literary history and discussing current works, stating that “it highlights the value of access to information and allows ideas that may be unpopular or unorthodox to be voiced.”
Barrett reiterated how, as an academic library McMaster, has never banned works from its collections.
But she also noted that censorship in public libraries can still exist in more subtle an innocuous ways explaining that “a public library may take a book off of the must-read or top-read list if community groups rally against a certain book.”
In the past few years, works such as His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman or the Harry Potter series have attracted intense controversy. But Barrett notes that the internet provides a valuable tool for mediating knee-jerk reactions and calls for book banning.
“Book banning and censorship is a less prevalent issue because of the access available through the internet or book downloads. So in one way we have less control over publication, but on the other hand, the internet can provide a forum where different groups can engage in dialogue to reasonably discuss their objections.”
Edwin Mellen Press is formally suing a McMaster librarian, along with the University, for $3.5 million in damages over a libel claim stemming from a 2010 blog post.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice is now trying the case of Dale Askey and McMaster versus Edwin Mellen Press (EMP). Askey published a series of personal blog posts critiquing the publisher under the title, “The Curious Case of Edwin Mellen Press” three years ago.
In his blog posts, Askey stated that Edwin Mellen Press produced books of low quality and was a “junk publisher” that regularly published second-class works that were exorbitantly overpriced. He also claimed that the press treated its authors in an unprofessional manner and, as a librarian, had seen many poorly edited and poorly bound books published by EMP.
Askey was issued legal notice in June 2012 as a result of the alleged defamatory statements. The notice also identifies McMaster University as co-defendant.
The plaintiff, EMP, claims that by refusing to force Askey to remove his defamatory comments, McMaster has vicariously adopted his defamatory and libelous statements.
McMaster spokesperson Gord Arbeau said that the University stands in full support of Askey.
“The University is very supportive of Mr. Askey. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are foundational principles of this institution.”
McMaster issued a statement on Feb. 8 re-asserting its commitment to academic freedom. McMaster affirmed “the right of the academic community to engage in full and unrestricted consideration of any opinion ... the University supports the exercise of free speech as a critical social good.”
In his posts, Askey emphasized the importance of being critical of publishers and the quality of academic publications that universities purchase. He re-iterated that in his role as a librarian, and given limited university library budgets, it is important for universities to be selective in what they purchase.
Lingua Franca, a noted American magazine, was also taken to court by EMP in 1993 for libel and asked for $15 million in damages. EMP lost the case.
An online petition on Change.org, asking for the case to be dropped, has elicited over 1000 signatures in support of Askey and McMaster.
On Feb. 11, The McMaster Faculty Association also issued a statement urging McMaster to offer its member, Askey, all “necessary support, including financial assistance, in dealing with this threat to him, our institution and to the wider academic community.”
Arbeau noted that because Askey’s comments were made on a personal blog and while he was not an employee of McMaster, his case is a unique one. McMaster has chosen to act in support but “is responsible for its own defence and the costs borne from that as a co-defendant,” he said.
