OCAD U Library 2018 Summer: Reference

The Library and Learning Zone are pleased to announce the return of Research Wednesdays in the 2018/19 academic year. We are actively seeking presenters from the OCAD U community including faculty, students, graduate students, staff, or members of the public to participate. In the upcoming year, we are exploring specific questions:

• what is creative research?
• how do you conduct creative research?
• what tools do you use to conduct creative research?
• what successes or failures have you experienced with creative research?
• how does creative research interact with community and participatory art culture?
• can we de-colonize current creative research cultures?

Ultimately, we are interested in hearing from you, so that we can plan for the new Library of the 21st Century!

Contact us Today!

WHAT: a forum for anyone to present in a supportive, studio-based environment of peers. Any topic of interest to you can be of interest to us!

WHEN: every Wednesday from 1:00 – 2:00 pm between:

• October 3 to November 28, 2018 (excluding Reading Week, Wed. October 10)
• January 30 to March 27, 2019 (excluding Reading Week, Wed. February 20)

HOW: contact Daniel Payne (dpayne@ocadu.ca), and include:

1. a brief 100 word description of your talk,
2. which Wednesdays would be available for you,
3. list of technological needs,
4. ideal set up of the presentation seating arrangement,
5. description of any participatory activities that may be used. NOTE: any focus groups or survey-type activities may need Research Ethics Board approval, so be prepared to include this in your proposal.

WHERE:OCAD U Learning Zone 1st Level, MCC (Annex Blg., 113 McCaul St.)

Image credit: Photographer unknown. (1953). 'Lily Maley and class, Glendon Hall'. OCAD University Visual Resources & Special Collections.

After a successful series of talks offered during the 2017/18 academic year, the Library will begin capturing some of these presentations a providing access through a dedicated web portal:

• Research Wendesdays: http://ocad.libguides.com/ResearchWednesdays 

The collection will be growing through the Summer, so keep track of the site for more uploaded podcasts with visual presentation images.  

The first official posting is the captivating presentation by:

• visual artist Matt Janisse's Finding Mindspace; a presentation on the power of art as a process of creation and healing. After sustaining a brain injury, he has used his art practice to help navigate the recovery process. His creative exploration has developed into a body of work exploring the liminal spaces between performance, sculpture, mixed-media, science, and technology; all culminating in a public art project that is in the process of being fully realized.

Image credit: Matt Janisse. Question #3. (2016).

TRY + 2018

Since 2005., the TRY + Library Conference has been a dynamic gathering of librarians from GTA region universities, exploring topics in collections, services, and mandates for academic libraries in the new information environment. In 2016, OCAD U was invited to participate in the event was then subsequently offered official membership. 

Daniel Payne, Head of Reference and Instructional Services at the Dorothy H. Hoover Library, serves as the liaison for the planning committee and in this role has proposed the conference themes for both years of membership: Cultivating Connections (2017) and the most recent offering, Reflective Practice (2018).

OCAD University staff were well represented with a conference paper presented by Scholarly Communications Librarian Chris Landry and Daniel Payne:

•  Understanding the Theme: Librarians as Co-Teachers for First Year Design Students. As a component of GDES 1016, Design Process, Chris and Daniel were invited by Assistant Professor Saskia van Kampen  to participate in enacting the "Apple Project,"  a design process approach inspired by designer Ken Miki's book, Apple: Learning to Design, Designing to Learn.

Reference Intern Lauren Orav produced a poster,

• Improving Libguides with UX Principles : Lauren profiled the complete re-working of the Library's popular Artists as Writers Index based on an analysis of "user experience" design methodologies.

OCAD University is proud to be able to promote and celebrate our unique studio-based learning environment among the other GTA universities, contributing a new voice in the dialogue surrounding scholarship, creative research, and academic inquiry.