Month: March 2022 (Page 2 of 3)

New Titles Tuesday, March 15

March 15, 2022 / scbrouwer

Here is a selection of titles added to the collection in the past week.

A road connects places /Crystal Sikkens. From roundabouts and speed bumps to the routes that roads take, readers will learn how engineers follow the engineering design process to design roads that suit different environments and people who will use them. Vibrant photographs, child-centered examples, and a model-building activity allow readers to step into the shoes of engineers.

A tower stands tall /Kylie Burns. This interesting book takes children through the engineering design process, giving them an inside look at how engineers design towers to suit specific purposes and hold steady in different environments. Reader-centered examples illustrate concepts for children, and a model-building activity allows them to design their own tower solution.

Boost your brain /written by Alice Harman ; illustrated by David Broadbent. What is a ‘brain hug’? Can making up silly songs help you with your homework? Could staring at an apple give your brain superpowers? Find out to boost your brain in fun ways that will help you take on big challenges and daily tasks with a healthier, happier mindset.

Brill’s encyclopedia of global Pentecostalism /executive editor, Michael Wilkinson ; associated editors, Keyin Ou, Jörg Haustein, Todd M. Johnson. TWU AUTHOR A comprehensive overview of worldwide Pentecostalism from a range of disciplinary perspectives. The BEGP is cross-cultural and transnational, including contributors from around the world to represent key insights on Pentecostalism from a range of countries and regions. Providing summaries of the key literature, the BEGP will be the standard reference for Pentecostal Studies.

Brought out to be brought in: deeper life messages /by Ian Thomas ; Edited by Phil Masters. Edited from recordings of messages given in 1956 and 1957 at Prairie Bible Institute

Cézanne: visions of a great painter /Henri Lallemand. Traces the life and work of the great French painter.

Gender and leadership /Gary N. Powell. Powell explores cutting-edge topics including; the appropriate role of masculinity in leadership, the ever-so-small numbers of female CEOs, and sexual harassment by men in power such as Harvey Weinstein and the resulting #MeToo movement. With suggestions of practical steps that would work toward achieving a workplace in which all employees can reach their leadership potential regardless of their gender, Gender and Leadership is an important read for students and faculty members alike across the social sciences and humanities.

God’s revelation of the lamb: king of the kingdom /H. Dave Derkson. God’s Revelation, given to John, shows how the Lamb brings truth into the reality of our world. Modern-day theologians argue that the seven horns of this symbolic Lamb presents him as the judge and prosecutor of sin and the sinners of the world. However, this is a distortion of the text. There is no scripture in the entire Bible where a secondary symbol transforms a primary symbol. The Lamb is shown as the primary symbol in Revelation, and that Lamb is repeatedly designated as humanity’s redeemer.

Johannes Vermeer / [curators, Frederik J. Duparc and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr.] Vermeer scholars examine the life and works of this 17th-century Dutch master. It analyzes his evolution from a painter of religious and mythological images to an artist who explored the psychological nuances of human endeavour.

Manet: a visionary impressionist /Henri Lallemand. Introduces the life of Edouard Manet and his works. This maverick Impressionist’s work is presented here in a glorious color portfolio.

Michelangelo /Trewin Copplestone. This book is intended to be a comprehensive survey of the greatest artist of the Renaissance, his life, his art and his times. Explore the different aspects of Michelangelo and his works in this comprehensive volume, which includes not only his artwork but also his architecture and poetry.

Our story: Baptist General Conference in Canada /Abe Funk. The story of the Baptist General Conference of Canada. Funk will take you through the history and legacy of the Conference. Witness and experience God’s work in BGCC from day one and how it is still blessed to this day.

Reckoning with slavery: gender, kinship, and capitalism in the early Black Atlantic /Jennifer L. Morgan. Morgan draws on the lived experiences of enslaved African women in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries to reveal the contours of early modern notions of trade, race, and commodification in the Black Atlantic..

Sir John A. Macdonald: the man and the politician /Donald Swainson. This book is a bestselling and authoritative biography of Canada’s first prime minister An ideal introduction to the man which has been adopted for introductory courses in Canadian Political History and Canadian Studies courses in the United States and Canada.

The Inklings and culture : a harvest of scholarship from the Inklings Institute of Canada /edited by Monika B. Hilder, Sara L. Pearson, and Laura N. Van Dyke. TWU AUTHORS The twenty-seven chapters in The Inklings and Culture explore the legacy of their diverse literary art–inspired by the Christian faith–art that continues to speak hope into a hurting and deeply divided world

The no-guilt guide to witnessing /George Sweeting. This book addresses witnessing in layman’s terms. Sweeting shares simple yet profound methods of sharing the gospel.

Unusual animal journeys /Natalie Hyde. Read about unusual animal journeys around the world, from wandering saltwater crocodiles to invasive insect species and outbreaks of Australian plague locust. Interesting facts, unexpected outcomes, and human impacts on the journeys are highlighted.

Your church has personality /Kent R. Hunter. Hunter contends that each congregation has its own distinctive personality and that its personality, not its geographic location, is the best beginning point for planning an expansion of ministry.

Expanded hours of service

March 14, 2022 / scbrouwer

With the end of the mask mandate and the phasing out of work from home, Alloway Library is very pleased to announce that our Borrower Services team is back to a nearly-fully contingent. This enables us to expand our core hours of service, just in time for the end of the spring term.

Starting this Wednesday, March 16 our hours will be:

Monday to Thursday — 7:45AM – 11:00PM
Friday — 7:45 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday — 10AM – 6PM
Sunday — 1:30 – 5PM

Holy Week and Easter Monday include the following changes

Good Friday, April 15 CLOSED
Easter Sunday, April 17 CLOSED
Easter Monday, April 18 10AM – 6PM

And, during finals, we add more hours to our weekends

Friday, April 22 7:45AM – 11:00PM
Saturday, April 23 9:00AM – 10:00PM

Alloway Library hours are always online at twu.ca/library

Standing with Ukrainian libraries

March 11, 2022 / scbrouwer

As the world is changing, here is a brief update about European libraries’ responses to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. (Click on the links below for more detail and up to date news.)

In an email dated March 10, on Ukrainian theological libraries, from Dr. Kelly Campbell at Columbia Theological Seminary in the USA:

We have been in contact with our Ukrainian colleagues who have attended Bibliotheques Europeennes de Theologie, (BETH) conferences in the past. They are all currently healthy and safe. We have most contacts in Lviv, where it is still relatively quiet. Our colleague, R–, had to leave Kiev and now stays in the west of the country. Please remember them and show your sympathy where possible.

The BETH board has posted a statement on their website and on social media in line with what other European library associations have done. Feel free to spread this statement further as well.

*We, European theological librarians look on in dismay at was is happening in Ukraine. We hope that the Russian Government will soon come to realise that war, and this war in particular, has only losers. Our sympathy goes to the Ukrainian people and to our colleagues. We hope that they will be able to continue their work. After all, is not the core task of a librarian – to provide complete and impartial information – more necessary than ever? Let us therefore not forget our colleagues but encourage them to persevere.*

Other European library associations are issuing similar statements. LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries) is the voice of Europe’s research library community.

LIBER is concerned and follows with sadness the development of the events taking place in Ukraine. We express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and colleagues of the Ukrainian scientific, academic and student communities.

As a research library community, LIBER emphasises the right to research and knowledge for all during this conflict and fully supports the international library and university community in mobilising accurate information about the situation in Ukraine, in order to preserve democracy and freedom of expression as well as to protect the lives and careers of Ukrainian citizens, academics, students, researchers and civil society actors.

This war will have serious consequences for research and education in Ukraine. We will monitor the situation closely and are determined to do all we can to help researchers and students in higher education institutions in this country.

The European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations is an independent umbrella association of library, information, documentation and archive associations and institutions in Europe has also made a statement:

Throughout Europe, public libraries have a proud tradition of welcoming everyone.

We …call upon this tradition of libraries to give a warm welcome, a safe place to Ukrainian refugees during this difficult time. Provide them with whatever support they can offer, books and other media as well as access to information and education.

Around the world, librarians are finding ways to become involved. If you can and would like to help in saving Ukrainian cultural heritage online, there is an alliance that has been recently formed called Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) which welcomes cultural heritage professionals – librarians, archivists, researchers, programmers – to join in saving Ukrainian cultural heritage online Details at https://www.sucho.org/

Search TWU Theatre Production Posters Online

March 9, 2022 / Krause

Project Overview

My name is Sydney Dvorak and in the fall semester, I had the privilege of completing my history practicum in Trinity Western University’s Archives and Special Collections. My primary project was digitizing and describing all of the Department of Theatre’s existing production posters. This collection includes 122 posters spanning from 1973 to 2021. Clearly, Trinity has a rich history of theatre. In light of the institution’s recent decision to close the Department of Theatre, I proceeded with this digitization project seeking to honour the legacy of a program that has entertained and challenged our community for over forty years.

Procedure

This project began with me spending time, lots of time, with the material. When I got to the archives, posters, programs, promotional postcards, audition sign-ups, and other random theatre-related material that once adorned the halls of the university were all mixed together. The first few weeks consisted of me circling the viewing table, taking it all apart and sorting out what was what. While my project was centred around the production posters, I actually started my project by setting the posters aside. Instead, I sorted the theatre production programs chronologically by decade. This did take some detective work. Not all of the programs had dates, so I went searching through old yearbooks and Mars’ Hill publications to find them. I had some luck, but six programs had to be placed in the “Production Programs [n.d.]” file. In the end, I removed staples from 115 programs and added them to folders based on decades.

As it is with any practicum, this was a learning experience. At the outset of this project, I had to learn the Rules of Archival Description (RAD). This is the standard for describing records to which Canadian archives adhere. Archivists use RAD to define records, their context, content, physical characteristics, and relationship to the rest of the archive. To most this may sound like a boring process, but I have discovered I am one of those nerds that enjoys records management. Learning RAD allowed me to move on to the next step in the process, which was entering the production programs and materials into the archival database. Some of my favourites in the series include: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown [1973], Fiddler on the Roof [1986], Hippolytus [1994], Pride and Prejudice [2008], and The Knowing [n.d.]. Check out the Production Program series here.

Once the programs were organised, I could move on to the posters. Much like I did with the programs, I sorted all the posters chronologically by decade. This involved a lot of pile-making and sticky notes to keep things organised. Once I got the hang of it, this part went pretty quick. Data entry took up the bulk of my time in the archives. I spent a lot of time in front of a massive spreadsheet, filling the necessary fields for RAD and describing each poster. By spending time with each poster and describing the physical condition as well as the design, I really got to know the collection. For example, I know that the first poster we have in the series is for a production of The Song of David, that at some point someone has written “drama” in the top right corner with a blue pen, and that there is an image from a twelfth century Bible redrawn by Gerald Baron in the middle of the poster.

The first issue I encountered was that of preserving and presenting potentially offensive material. In 2009, one of the productions performed was Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Woman of Setzuan. In light of the fact that this play contains offensive stereotypes, and that many universities have cancelled their productions of The Good Woman in recent years due to concerns about racism, I had to decide how best to proceed. The poster could not be shoved into a corner and forgotten about; doing that would mean being a poor steward of history. In order to avoid censorship the poster has to be added to the record. It was ultimately decided that the poster would be archived with a disclaimer, which would hopefully mitigate any further harm stemming from the material. Ultimately, I chose to add a general note to the description explaining “This performance of ‘The Good Woman of Setzuan’ included a predominantly white cast portraying Chinese characters. This play is known to include harmful stereotyping and racist connotations in ways that are no longer acceptable.”

After my descriptions had been entered and merged into the archives database and I began the process of digitising each poster. We used an Epson Expression 11000XL to scan the posters. The time it took to scan each poster depended on how large the poster was, and if it was black and white. Scanning took between five and twenty-three minutes per poster. The main challenges I faced during this project involved technology, the first barrier to pop up was to do with the scanning. The size of the scanning bed we have in the archives was too small to accommodate some of the posters. A total of twenty-one posters could not be scanned because the scanning bed was too small. Because of this, their images could not be uploaded to the database. Instead, I attached a general note to the description saying, “Due to the sizes of the scanning bed and the poster, this item could not be scanned.”

To view our complete collection of theatre production posters, click here.

Project Outcomes

On my final shift in the archives, I was reminded of why this project is especially important. I was given the poster and program for the most recent theatre production, Awake. This show was designed to honour the Department of Theatre and the ways in which it has shaped the lives of alumni and current students. With the closure of TWU’s theatre program, this digitization project preserves its history.

Beyond this practicum being an invaluable professional and academic experience for me, it was also a project imbued with the emotions of finality. By individually organizing, describing, and scanning each poster I was taken on a tour of TWU’s history. As Trinity grew and changed through the decades, the theatre productions reflected or pushed back on these changes. I hope through my project I have provided a home for the history of TWU’s theatre department, and a digital space to relive and remember for those whose lives have been impacted by the theatre closure. I also hope that the material I have gotten to know so well over the last few months can be used well by the community and potential researchers.