Western Libraries Events

Democratizing Access to Knowledge: Find Out What Open Educational Resources (OER) Have to Offer

Michael B. McNally — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:03:17 PDT

This presentation provides an overview of Open Educational Resources (OER). It begins by describing what OER are and why they are important. It then examines where OER can be found and provides some screenshots of the OER Commons, MIT`s Open Courseware Initiative and Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT). The presentation also covers copyright and licensing issues, including a description of the Creative Commons licensing system. It concludes with a brief discussion of how to create OER and provides additional references and resources.

Digital Scholarship @ Western 2011

Joyce Garnett et al. — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:16:49 PST

Open Data in London: What Is It and How Is It Used?

Vince Gray et al. — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:56:26 PST

The intent of the open data movement is to provide freely available online data for analysis and innovation by scholars and the public. It recently has made some notable achievements, such as last year's decision by the World Bank to provide all its data for free. Last fall, the City of London (Ontario) launched an open data beta web site, following in the tracks of other Canadian municipalities.

Walter Zimmerman's Last Lecture

Walter Zimmerman — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:20:15 PST

After devoting the better part of forty-years to his chosen profession and The University of Western Ontario, Walter Zimmerman retired from his career as an academic librarian in December 2009. His 'last lecture' was given December 11, where he shared his most memorable moments, lessons learned and thoughts on the ever-changing nature and role of academic libraries and librarianship.

Digital Locks, Real Freedoms: Technological Protection Measures in Bill C-32

Thomas P. Margoni — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:44:22 PST

Dr. Thomas Margoni analyzes modifications in Bill C-32 that would most directly affect digital media. Particular attention is given to the implementation of the so-called Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) and Rights Management Information (RMI), and how they will affect fair dealing provisions. He further analyzes whether, beyond the international requirements, Canada (as many other countries) really needs protection for digital locks, which in many cases turns out to be a "private system" of justice. Contract-based alternatives that favour Access to Knowledge (A2K) and wider dissemination of culture (such as Creative Commons and Free/Libre Open Source Software licences) are explored.

Digital Scholarship @ Western

Joyce Garnett et al. — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:48:15 PST

Dr. Alan MacEachern and Dr. Juan Luis Suárez discuss how they utilize technologies to open up communication and facilitate collaborations among scholars in different disciplines. They also talk about the impact of technologies on research practice and scholarship advancement. There is a discussion moderated by Joyce Garnett between the speakers and the audience after the two presentations. Dr. MacEachern is Director of NiCHE (Network in Canadian History & Environment, http://niche-canada.org/). Dr. Suárez is Director of the CulturePlex (http://www.cultureplex.ca/).

Another Look at Bill C-32 and the Access Copyright Tariff: Still Double Trouble for Higher Education

Samuel E. Trosow — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:33:13 PST

Earlier this year, the government tabled Bill C-32, proposed amendments to the Copyright Act. Following a consultation process, the Bill is widely recognized as more reasonable than its predecessor, Bill C-61. On the positive side, the bill would expand fair dealing to explicitly include "education". On the other hand, the digital locks provisions of the Bill are fundamentally flawed and override many existing and proposed users rights. Also this year, Access Copyright filed a proposed tariff for the post-secondary education sector with the Copyright Board. The proposal, which includes a drastic increase in costs as well as numerous new reporting and auditing requirements has met with stiff opposition from the educational sector. Following up on his July presentation (http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/fimspres/4/), Dr. Samuel Trosow discusses the interrelated provisions of these measures and reviews the various responses from the educational community.

Student Reviewer Training for Western Undergraduate Research Journal: Health and Natural Sciences

Tricia Gray et al. — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:49:28 PST

What Can Open Access Do for Academic Authors and Society?

Joyce Garnett et al. — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:33:59 PST

The Copyright Debate: Finding the Right Balance for Teaching, Research, and Cultural Expression

Samuel E. Trosow — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:47:38 PST