By Kevin Ho on Nov 15, 2012

Q: What is the GSS cIRcle Open Scholar Award?
A: The GSS (Graduate Student Society) cIRcle Open Scholar Award is a lottery based award for graduate students at UBC Vancouver. The award ‘aims are to feature UBC as a leader in the open dissemination of exemplary non-thesis graduate coursework; and to create an incentive for graduate students to populate cIRcle with material beyond theses and dissertations.’
Find out who created this award, when was it established and how you can submit your work by visiting the GSS cIRcle Open Scholar Award site at: https://circle.sites.olt.ubc.ca/gss-graduate-student-society-open-scholar-award/.
Note: UBC Vancouver graduate students upload their own work to cIRcle, subject to course instructor approval, to the following cIRcle collection at: https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/42591.
Did You Know?
Four GSS cIRcle Open Scholar Awards are to be made each year for the next 5 years, two in April and two in October. Recommendations are made by the UBC cIRcle office in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FoGS). The Graduate Student Society presents the Awards to the winners. Read about the first award winners at: https://circle.sites.olt.ubc.ca/blog/gss-circle-open-scholar-award-winners/.
Read More | No Comments
By Kevin Ho on Nov 14, 2012

Phew! You still have time to send in your applications for the UBC Library Innovative Dissemination Research Award. The application deadline is Monday, November 26, 2012 by 5pm.
The Innovative Dissemination Research Award winner will be formally recognized at the annual Celebrate Research Week gala held in March. The award includes a $2,000 cash prize and a framed certificate. For more information about the eligibility criteria, application forms and more, visit the Scholarly Communications website at: http://scholcomm.ubc.ca/award/.
If you have completed the application forms but don’t know where to send them, see directly below:
Send electronic forms via email to: innovative-dissemination-award@interchange.ubc.ca
Or send printed forms via campus mail to: Harry Young, Executive Coordinator, University Librarian’s Office, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
Or fax the form: Attention Harry Young, 604-822-3977
Did you know?
cIRcle is UBC’s digital repository for research and teaching materials created by the UBC community and its partners. Materials in cIRcle (circle.ubc.ca) are openly accessible to anyone on the web and will be preserved for future generations. All Innovative Dissemination of Research Award applicants/nominees are encouraged to deposit their materials in cIRcle, if possible.
Read More | No Comments
By Kevin Ho on Nov 08, 2012

It’s hard to believe that Open UBC 2012 is over! This year marked the first time Open UBC was celebrated in conjunction with UBC’s Celebrate Learning Week. In its tradition, Open UBC did not disappoint. Here are some memorable quotes from Open UBC 2012 and a few highlights of International Open Access Week 2012:
Open UBC 2012 at UBC:
– A “utopia” vision for open access (Dieter Stein – Open science theme)
– “I want my lectures to be set free – and really open!” (Jon Beasley Murray – Open education theme)
– ‘[P]rojected change in catch potential in 50 years – no whales, penguins, krill and other species will be gone’ (Daniel Pauly – Open science theme)
– “I am the perfect poster child for bugs mistakes things that don’t work out so open science!” (Rosie Redfield – Open science theme)
– ‘Band members can access and use materials for research with research permit & applications – allows control of what/how can be used’ (Jason Woolman – Open access and the arts theme)
– “The status quo isn’t the only way to disseminate research.” (Heather Piwowar – Open science theme)
Open UBC 2012 presentations and various webcasts are coming soon to cIRcle, UBC’s Digital Repository!
Open Access Week 2012 at large:
Did you know?
The 2011 issues of the annual Sea Around Us Project Newsletter are available in cIRcle at: https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/41119. It has been accessed from all over the globe, for example, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Columbia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Jamaica, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United States of America.
Above image is courtesy of UBC Library
Read More | No Comments
By Kevin Ho on Nov 07, 2012

Have you read the recent article by Lorraine Chan and Linda Ong, entitled “A university library for the 21st century”? The featured article was an interview with University Librarian Ingrid Parent and can be found in the November 1 issue of UBC Reports at: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2012/11/01/a-university-library-for-the-21st-century/.
“Academic libraries worldwide are facing rapid technological change and seismic shifts in how users access information and create knowledge in the digital age. Old models are no longer sustainable. Libraries must re-think the future.”
Read the rest of the article by visiting the UBC Public Affairs’ website at: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2012/11/01/a-university-library-for-the-21st-century/
Also, take a look at the “Leading an academic library in the digital age” video found on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvoE3Ia21ME&feature=plcp.
Did you know?
The Director of Digital Initiatives at UBC Library is Alan Bell. He was interviewed for the BCLA Browser: Linking the Library Landscape journal in 2011. You can read more about his profile in cIRcle at: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31139.
Above partial excerpt in italics is courtesy of the UBC Public Affairs’ website
Above image is courtesy of UBC Library
Read More | No Comments
By Kevin Ho on Oct 25, 2012

Open UBC is held in conjunction with the International Open Access Week, which encourages the academic community to come together to share and learn about open scholarship initiatives locally and worldwide. Two days of diverse events will highlight areas of open scholarship that UBC’s researchers, faculty, students and staff will participate in as well as guests from the global community.

Themes will include: open education, open research, open access in the arts, open science, open data, and altmetrics (alternative metrics). All of these events are FREE and open to the public, students, faculty, staff and schools. This year’s Open UBC events will be held October 31 to November 1, 2012, in conjunction with UBC’s Celebrate Learning Week. All sessions will be held in the Lillooet Room (301), of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at UBC unless otherwise stated.
Full schedule of Open UBC events at: http://scholcomm.ubc.ca/events/oaweek/schedule-at-a-glance-2012/.
Did you know?
Open UBC (formerly “Open Access Week” – OAW) events are archived in cIRcle at: https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/2689. Past event topics included “Canadian research libraries”, “Creative Commons licenses”, “Electronic archiving”, “Electronic publishing”, “[the] Public Knowledge Project”, “Research grant agencies”, “[Author] Rights retention”, “Scholarly communication”, “University-based research” and more.
Above images are courtesy of Jessica Woolman, Web Communications Coordinator, Communications & Marketing Office, UBC Library
Read More | No Comments