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What's New in Open Shelf

Reviving the Pages: Open Shelf Magazine Returns!

The team at Open Shelf has returned after our end-of-summer break reinvigorated. We enjoyed our “time off,” but are just as excited to meet the challenges and joys of the autumnal season.

Features and Columns

Word of the month/Mots du mois: Slam poet

Starting this issue, Open Shelf will begin featuring content from Library Lexique. This is a hub of resources meant to encourage and support the use of French in library services. We will be featuring a word (or phrase) of the month in each issue. And, starting this autumn, we will also be featuring an exciting series of bilingual articles from them.

Introduction

In 1921, the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto (which was established in 1918) took over the operation of what was then the Toronto Conservatory of Music’s library.  This year marks our 100th anniversary, and we are grateful to the editors of Open Shelf for the opportunity to document our history, current state and special collections in a series of articles over the coming months. This month, we will introduce the Music Library as it stands today.

Nightmare Academy: horror at the Oscars

Despite hosting its share of horrors, horror films rarely make the cut at Hollywood’s big night. However, not every horror movie has gone so tragically overlooked. Here is a list of Oscar winners and notable nominees that span the high-brow to the bloodthirsty, and are sure to please your fans of the genre.

What we talk about when we talk about algorithms*

Words create reality; what we say and write makes ideas concrete. The explosion of research about algorithms has resulted in specific descriptive phrases about their nature and characteristics. Let’s take a brief tour through some of them to see how they reflect our hopes and concerns.

If you build workshops, they still might not come: Notes on a not-so-successful community initiative

I first heard about The Second Chance Foundation from a segment on CBC Radio’s Sunday Edition in 2017. This interview prompted me to reach out to Bev because I knew that this was an organization I wanted to be involved in. We determined, based on her clients’ needs and my expertise, that I would offer introductory internet skills workshops focusing on information literacy.

Cultural diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Cecilia Tellis is the Head of Design and Outreach at the University of Ottawa Library

“Sliding” into a new approach to storytime

In the time of the coronavirus, library workers are having to learn new technologies. A good example of this need to adapt is storytime. I often lead storytimes in my work as a library technician at the Milton Public Library (MPL) and I’ve found by learning to “slide” (i.e., use slides) as part of my storytimes. I’ve not only improved my interactions with children and parents, I’ve also become more comfortable with adapting to new ways of doing my work.

793.73: #OscarsSoBro

In 2020, no woman was nominated for Best Director at the Oscars, and only one Best Picture nominee focused on a female cast. Historically, a film nominated for Best Actor is 75 percent more likely to get a Best Picture nomination than one nominated for Best Actress. Here are some trivia questions designed to elevate female filmmakers and actors.

Miss the last issue of Open Shelf? Read it now!

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