![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Pulled by a pickup]](/images/2004/1013parade.gif)
Proud students
Laurie Hall and Bryan Peters, both of mechanical engineering,
show off UW's Mini-Baja car in Monday's
Oktoberfest parade through Waterloo and Kitchener. Ahead of them
is the Alternative Fuels Team truck, and right behind is the Midnight
Sun solar car. Photo courtesy of Duane Cronin of the Mini-Baja team.
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"The UW Library is widely known for its innovative use of technology," says a release from UW's media relations office celebrating the new resources. "The recent acquisition is another move to increase the breadth and scope of information resources at Waterloo. UW leads Canadian academic libraries in the changeover to electronic journals and was the first to spend more on e-journals than print."
University librarian Mark Haslett said earlier this year that UW had electronic subscriptions to about 7,600 journals, with the number going up all the time. In addition, there are back files of many journals, some of them going back even before UW existed.
The e-journals involved in the latest acquisition are published by Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of scientific, scholarly and medical information, a unit of Reed Elsevier Group. "These full-text electronic back issues will facilitate quick and easy access to a broader and deeper pool of resources for all UW students and researchers," says Haslett in the news release, calling the Elsevier deal "an enormous step forward".
He noted that Waterloo also works closely with another Elsevier company, Endeavor Information Systems Inc., whose product Voyager provides the Trellis electronic system for the UW library and its partners at Guelph and Laurier.
UW subscribes to more than 1,500 Elsevier journals in electronic form. Access to current issues of these journals is a major resource for students and researchers in a broad range of fields. Until now, however, the research and scholarship of past years was only available if Waterloo had a subscription at the time of publication. In many cases that required laborious consultation of print materials, as electronic versions typically go back no further than 1995. In other cases, Waterloo did not have access to the material in any form.
In 2001, Elsevier announced a program of digitizing its entire journal list "back to volume 1, issue 1, of each title". These journals include specialized recent publications in diverse fields, such as pharmacology and nanotechnology, as well as the famous Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals, dating back more than 100 years.
The materials that will be accessible range from social science and laboratory findings of the past decade -- a wealth of scientific knowledge, to say nothing of citation classics on which current and future research will be based -- to historical material including chemistry of the prewar period and medicine of a century ago. Says the news release: "Some of the early journals will be of particular value complementing Waterloo's unique collections in the history of mathematics and computer science."
| POSITIONS AVAILABLE |
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On this week's list from the human resources department:
Longer descriptions are available on the HR web site. |
The program "will establish us as leaders on a national scale," predicts UW health studies and gerontology professor John Hirdes, and is expected to attract top students from across the country.
Starting in the fall of 2006, the collaborative doctoral program in Aging, Health and Well-being will involve the departments of health studies and gerontology, kinesiology, and recreation and leisure studies -- all within the faculty of applied health sciences.
"Within this faculty," says a recent report to UW's senate, "expertise in health, aging and well-being is wide-ranging and includes, for example, cancer prevention and control, nutrition, mental health, addiction, and risk assessment, evaluation and health assessment, motor learning and motor control, biomechanics of movement, falls and falls prevention, palliative care, social psychology of physical activity, social psychology of leisure, leisure across the life-course, disability, dementia and dementia care, leisure and well-being."
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Job match results for accounting students (winter term co-op
employment) posted at 10 am. Meeting for students not matched, 4:30,
Arts Lecture Hall room 113.
Hewlett-Packard "Vendor Day" 10 to 3 at Campus TechShop, Student Life Centre. Professional and Post-Degree Day with information about graduate and professional schools (education, business, medicine, law, pharmacy, theology) at 64 institutions, 11:00 to 2:00, Student Life Centre. Individual appointments and mock interviews available -- book online. Nutrition drop-in sponsored by health services, 11:30 to 1:30, Student Life Centre -- information on healthy eating, weight management and clinical nutrition issues. Women's basketball, Warriors vs. alumni, 7 p.m., PAC main gym. 'Modern Architecture in Canada' second lecture in series by Brian Hunt, 7:30, Cambridge Galleries, 7 Melville Street, Cambridge, $10. Graduate Iranian Student Organization Hafiz (Persian poetry) night, every Wednesday 7:00, Humanities room 150. Coming Out Week continues with GLOW discussion group 7:15 (details online) and AfterGLOW Social 8:45 at the Graduate House. Jewish studies public lecture: Stephen Berk, Union College, "The Longest Hatred, Then and Now", on anti-Semitism, Thursday 7:30, Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's University. Reception follows. St. Jerome's Feast for Catholic University Education, Friday evening; chancellor John Sweeney Award to author Margaret Visser; information and tickets ($85) 885-8111 ext. 277. Stress management workshop: "Using Self-Hypnosis and Meditation to Promote Health". Sponsored by Employee Assistance Program, October 18 and 25, 12 noon, Rod Coutts Hall room 105. |
"This is the first step to broaden the reach to include people interested in aging across campus," he says. Having helped develop the program, Hirdes anticipates it will expand as faculty members holding cross-appointments in other fields are involved. As well, PhD students from other faculties could take courses in the program.
Statistics Canada estimates that by 2021, more than 17 per cent of Canadians will be over the age of 65 -- a bulge in the aging population that could severely stress the health care system. The new doctoral program will facilitate research aimed at minimizing the impact of that bulge by looking for ways to help people age well, maximizing their independence and well-being.
The concept of well-being, explains Hirdes, is "not just about having a pancreas that works." It includes physical, social, psychological and spiritual dimensions. "Happiness is very important, as is being economically comfortable enough to act on choices."
A similar collaborative graduate program in Behavioural Neuroscience was used as a model.
As a memo from the student services office explains, the President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism "were established in 1997 to recognize the significant contributions of students in volunteer work both within the University and the community at-large. The awards honour the extra-curricular contributions of students in a variety of service areas, some of which may not be highly visible but nonetheless important to the community.
"A Committee normally selects ten recipients each year to receive awards of $250 each."
The funding and prestige of the awards comes from the President's Circle, an association of more than 1,000 people who are high-level donors to UW. Nominations for the annual awards can come from other students, staff, or faculty of the university, or member of the community at-large. "As well, because volunteer work often has a low profile, students are very much encouraged to apply for the award."
According to online information about the awards, volunteer work "means work done on behalf of or for people, the community, service agencies, student organizations (in other than leadership roles) or any work done to assist other people and organizations in work that benefits society and the community. It does not normally mean leadership roles at UW such as Orientation, FOC or Society executive roles. . . . Activities will be considered volunteer if they are defined as such by the organization under which they are administered regardless of any nominal compensation."
Undergraduate and graduate students, full-time and part-time, are all eligible. They should have "three terms of volunteer service (roughly 12 months, not necessarily consecutive), or is currently in his/her third term of service either within the university community or with the surrounding community."
Nomination forms and the other necessary documentation are available at various offices (including the Federation of Students in the Student Life Centre) or online. This year's deadline for nominations and applications is October 29, with references and supporting information due a week later. More information is available from the office of Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services).
CAR