Not to be confused with What’s That, UASC? Nobody reads these for the pithy and creative titles, I hope.

So, what is new with us?

Well. . . we’ve been moving around furniture trying to make our space look more welcoming.  Instead of these scary grey cabinets by the front door:

we now have a freebie table / display cabinet (right now showing some food-relevant items such as old cookbooks, handwritten recipes, and ration stamps courtesy of curator Amy Chillog). Two other new cases have also been installed and will hopefully be used for more permanent display of art and artifacts held within the University Archives and Special Collections.

Amy also represented UASC at:

We were given the opportunity to supplement the film showing with a small display of lesbian-related materials from the Neil Richards Collection of Gender and Sexual diversity.

For anyone interested in a similar film-related event, check out the Queer As Film Series at the Frances Morrison Central Library. A small sampling of Neil Richards’ queer film posters will also be available for viewing.

Another important development has been the completion of a linked resource through the Great War database which allows anyone searching the name of someone connected to the University of Saskatchewan who served during WWI to find everything we have within the archives on that person, as well as their records in provincial and federal memorial websites. Check it out at:  The Great War Database

Also over the past few weeks, Nancy from iPortal (and Truda also learning the ropes) have been scanning 5 volumes of the Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development (JAED) [http://www.edo.ca/edo-tools/jaed] to add to the iPortal. The merging of iPortal and UASC is an important step in the digitization for use on the iPortal of this and other resources of value in the study of indigenous history and current aboriginal affairs.

The Murray Library Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery unit at the University Library recently completed the American Library Association/Reference & User Services Association STARS Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative’s Star Checklist. With a total score of 167 points, the University Library achieved 3-Star Status, which recognizes that we are engaged with 80% or more of the initiatives on the association’s internationally-recognized best-practices checklist for interlibrary loan and resource sharing and affirms that our library is keeping up with best practices in interlibrary loan and resource sharing. Congratulations to the staff in the Murray Library ILL/Document Delivery unit!

For any interested for personal research or reference purposes,  I’ve posted the latest archival materials processed at UASC over on our blog. Topics include: Saskatchewan writing and journalism, history of public libraries in Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan heritage, personal residential school histories, Northern indigenous affairs and art, art in Saskatchewan, Diefenbaker, the University of Saskatchewan, music, and education. If any of this strikes a chord, send us an e-mail for the full finding aid at ua.sc@usask.ca