Downtown in winter featuring Walford Drug's, Gordon Pass & Co. Furniture, and Moffats Coffee, 1951.
Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection. 51-2377_001.
TODAY’S RESEARCH LIBRARY
Downtown in winter featuring Walford Drug's, Gordon Pass & Co. Furniture, and Moffats Coffee, 1951. Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection. 51-2377_001.
TODAY’S RESEARCH LIBRARY
Serving a diverse campus community of students, researchers and instructors, today’s research library requires expertise and support in a variety of areas, way beyond simply finding books and journals for readers and researchers. Learn more about some of the specialists working behind the scenes to make the Library a valuable partner to all within the campus community.
KARINA ARRAMBIDE, USER EXPERIENCE SPECIALIST
With a diverse group of users – from first year undergraduates completing research essays to faculty researchers with multi-year grant projects – the Library offers a wide array of tools and expertise. But how do we know and anticipate what our users may need? The Library has User Experience (UX) experts, including Karina Arrambide, who advocate for our users by conducting research to better understand their needs. “Using an array of methodologies and tools like focus groups, surveys, and interviews, allows us to collect diverse perspectives from our users to help make the Library an inclusive space for all,” says Arrambide. In future, the Library hopes to have a dedicated space for user experience research and testing, and the latest tools, such as virtual reality and eye trackers, that all researchers on campus can benefit from.
LOGAN IMANS, COPYRIGHT AND PUBLISHING SPECIALIST
In our everyday lives, we’re confronted at some point with check boxes asking if we’ve read the terms and conditions – for email accounts, contest entries, newsletter signups and more. And the typical response is to check the box and move on as it’s often low stakes to do so without actually having read the agreement. However, in research, publishing and instruction it’s important to know what those agreements say as they can have legal and financial implications if not followed correctly. That’s where the Library’s copyright and publishing experts come in. Logan Imans responds to hundreds of queries annually, helping students and faculty navigate how to use someone else's work in their own; understanding licensing agreements for interlibrary loans and course reserves; and interpreting publishing options, particularly open access requirements. Beyond understanding and translating all the terms and conditions agreements, Imans also provides technical support for UWSpace, Waterloo’s institutional repository, supporting students and researchers all the way through to pushing “publish.”
JERMAL JONES, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND ACCESS (EDIA)
The Library continued to embed EDIA principles into all our services and processes this year, particularly through the hiring of a new associate director, Jermal Jones, who will provide direction to the Library’s EDIA working group. With Jones now in place, the Library is reviewing its human resources systems and procedures, from recruitment to ongoing staff training. Jones will also be taking the lead in overseeing Anti-Racism Reads (ARR), in partnership with Print & Retail Solutions, carrying on the University’s recently launched book club. Now with a permanent home on campus, Jones will continue to develop ARR as a place for conversation and community around complex EDIA topics. This work does not happen in isolation; Jones will also work closely with the Office of Indigenous Relations, the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism, and invested groups from all communities that the Library services, for a holistic campus approach.