Toronto Reference Library Blog

Service Update - February 17, 2012

We are moving collections to serve you better!

As part of the revitalization program at the Toronto Reference Library, we are forming new subject departments by gathering all related subject material together (including periodicals) on a single floor in a way that reflects how they are used.  This will make it more convenient for you to access related materials.

As of February 13, 2012, you will see the following department arrangements:

Floor 2             Humanities & Social Sciences (including Urban Affairs and eventually, genealogy , maps                     and local history)

Floor 3             Business, Science & Technology

Floor 4             Languages & Literature

                       Special Collections (final home on the 5^th floor)

Floor 5             Arts

Some of the collections are still in a transition stage because of construction.  For example, Genealogy, Maps and Local History will remain on the 4^th floor until the 2^nd floor construction is completed in a couple of months.  It will also take a while for the catalogue to reflect all the changes.  If you have questions or could not find a book, please ask staff for assistance.

There continues to be some service disruption due to construction:

For the week of Feb. 20: 

The Languages collection has been moved from the 5th floor to the 4th floor.  However, most multilingual dictionaries and all language learning materials remain on the 5th floor for now.

The Toronto Star Newspaper Room is temporarily closed until further notice. Current newspapers are available on the 4th floor and newspapers on microfilm can be retrieved from this location.

Business, science and technology periodicals on microfilm are not accessible temporarily because they are being moved.  Please check with staff to see if there are alternate ways of accessing these.

Some computers on the main floor remain out of service to accommodate wiring work due to construction. There are computers on the main floor and also on floors 3, 4 & 5 and the basement.

The Arthur Conan Doyle Room on the 5^th floor is temporarily closed. However, the collection is still accessible in the Baldwin Room in Special Collections on the 4^th floor.

In the Centre for People with Disabilities, screen reading (JAWS) and Kurzweil software and the Braille printer are out of service. For assistance, call 416-393-7099.

Memory and Aging

If your memory isn't what it used to be, this should be of interest. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 2 - 3 pm, graduate students from Ryerson University's Cognitive Aging Lab, will demonstrate techniques to improve memory and mental abilities, in a presentation called: Memory & Aging: Strategies to Improve Mental Abilities .  The session will be held in the Beeton Auditorium on the main floor of Toronto Reference Library.        

The Cognitive Aging Lab conducts research to better understand age-related changes in cognition (e.g. attention, memory, and learning) and the associated brain functions.  All are welcome to this free and interactive demonstration.

Watch as well for Nutrition and Brain Function.  This is another Thought Exchange lecture about the brain, but this one looks at the relationship between diet and cognitive change.  Find out how food choices can play a role in the way your brain ages. 

Dr. Carol Greenwood, Baycrest senior scientist and Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, presents her research on the relationship between diet and brain function on Thursday, Feb. 23, 1 - 3 pm at the Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library.

Unbuilt Toronto 2 - More of the City That Might Have Been

Mark Osbaldeston's sequel, Unbuilt Toronto 2, provides an all-new, fascinating return to the "Toronto that might have been. What would Toronto look like today if...?" Enter through the Library's new Cube to find out what Moriyama's original plans were for the new Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library. Has a dream been fulfilled?

Discover some of Toronto's most fascinating planning, transit and architectural "what-ifs," as Mark presents an illustrated talk based on his new book.

Learn about Eaton's grand plans from 1912, a magnetically levitated light rail transit system that the provincial government actually started to build in the 1970s, and how Toronto would look today if it had hosted the Olympics in 1996.

His first book, Unbuilt Toronto: A History of the City That Might Have Been, was the basis for an exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Awards, and received a Heritage Toronto Award of Merit.

What the press has to say about Osbaldeston's new book:

Mark Osbaldeston Exorcizes Toronto’s Architectural Ghosts

Unbuilt Toronto gets a worthy sequel

What could the Toronto Reference Library have looked like?

 

Come down to the Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library

789 Yonge St.

Monday, January 30, 2012 from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Books available for sale and signing by the author.

 

 

MIT Media Lab

If you are interested in the process of technological innovation you'll enjoy The Sorcerers and their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab are Creating the Innovative Technologies that will Transform Our Lives, by Frank Moss, former Director of the MIT Media Lab. 

Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture + Planning, the Media Lab is a unique research space where faculty, staff and students from different disciplines collaborate to design and build problem-solving technologies. 

 

More than 70 corporations, including Google, Sony, GM and LEGO, sponsor the research and agree to an unusual "open IP policy" whereby they do not have exclusive rights to the inventions. Employees from these companies are welcome to collaborate in the research process. 

Some projects include:

CityCar:  a foldable, stackable electric car developed by the Smart Cities Research Group. It made its debut this week in Brussels and will be rolled out to other cities by 2013.

PowerFoot : a prosthetic ankle that enables amputees to walk naturally. The Biomechatronics Group at the Media Lab specializes in bio-hybrids, the merging of humans and machines, to create sophisticated prostheses. PowerFoot is being worn by Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans.

Other amazing projects:  Scratch, the site where children are programmers and Nexi, the companionable robot.

Frank Moss attributes much of the success of the Media Lab to its distinctive "anti-disciplinary approach." CityCar, for example, was developed by people without a background in transportation or automotive design. Researchers at the Media Lab are truly passionate about merging different fields in order to bring their ideas to life.  

Come into the Business, Science and Technology Department on the third floor of the Toronto Reference Library and immerse yourself in the technology of the future!

Book Ends South - New, Improved, Bigger and Better @ Toronto Reference Libary

Have you seen the amazing new space for Book Ends South at the Toronto Reference Library yet?

The Friends of the Library - South Chapter have just expanded their second-hand bookstore into the much awaited new location within the Toronto Reference Library - which itself is having an ongoing renovation. This is during a period when many smaller bookstores in Toronto have closed or are under duress (The Book Mark, Glad Day, Britnell's, This Ain't the Rosedale Library, La Librairie Champlain, Pages and Dragon Lady Comics). 

 

According to Frank Velikonja, Chair of the Friends of Toronto Public Library - South Chapter, the new space has been open since January 3rd and "business has increased beyond our expectations".  "Buyers like the new space - there's more room to move, more titles available and several new categories have been implemented."  The majority of the books, CDs, videos and audiobooks cost $1.00 with some items specially priced.  While the emphasis is on non-fiction there is also lots of fiction in hardcover and paperback.

 

In 2011 the Friends of Toronto Public Library - South Chapter donated $63,000 from sales at the bookstore and from special sales (including Treasures and clearance sales) to the Toronto Public Library Foundation.  These much needed funds help support Literacy Programs for Children at Toronto Public Library including "English Can Be Fun" and also the very popular "Dial a Story".  They also supported enhanced programs at the Toronto Reference Library like the On Stage Performing Arts Theatre Series and the On Stage Shakespeare Series done with the Stratford Festival. 

 

Book Ends South sells a variety of donations from the public and also withdrawn items from the Library. If you have a very large donation of boxes of books you can call 416.393.7139 to see about pickup or drop off or email: friendssouthchapter@torontopubliclibrary.ca.  You can also drop off donations at the Toronto Reference Library in the donation book bin pictured above.  Your local library branch can also take donations of good quality books and other materials. 

There is also a Book Ends at the North York Central Library - Concourse level that is associated with the Friends of Toronto Public Library - North Chapter who also support children's literacy at the Library through the Leading to Reading Program. In 2011 the North Chapter raised and donated $51,000 to the Toronto Public Library Foundation.  To contact the Friends of Toronto Public Library-North Chapter please call: 416.395.5678 or email: friendsnorthchapter@torontopubliclibrary.ca .

 

 

 

Service Update - January 19, 2012

Welcome to the Toronto Reference Library new cube entrance and the renovated Browsery on the main floor! 

The revitalization program at the Toronto Reference Library will be entering an exciting new stage with the completion of these two key elements.  There is still work to be done in the new TD Gallery (opening date to be confirmed).   The next phase, the construction of the new Special Collections Centre on the 5^th floor has just begun.  When completed, this will include a spectacular two-storey Rotunda to bring increased accessibility to the library’s vast Special Collections.

As part of the construction, there may be some service disruptions:

For the week of January 16:

The Toronto Star Newspaper Room is temporarily closed until further notice. Current newspapers are available on the 4th floor and newspapers on microfilm can be retrieved from this location.

Periodicals on microfilm are not accessible temporarily because they are being moved.  Please check with staff to see if there are alternate ways of accessing periodicals.

Three ranges of books on the 2nd floor in the 900's travel and history area have been temporarily moved toward the elevator due to the construction.  Ranges are a little out of sequence, please ask staff for assistance.

As part of the move of periodicals into the subject departments, periodicals on the humanities and social science subjects have been moved to the 2nd floor from the 4th floor and periodicals in the business and science & technology area have been moved to the 3rd floor.  There are lists of these titles at the service desks.  Please ask staff for assistance. 

Some computers (28)  on the main floor remain out of service to accommodate wiring work due to construction. There are computers on the terrace and also on floors 3, 4 & 5 and the basement.

The Arthur Conan Doyle Room on the 5^th floor is temporarily closed. However, the collection is still accessible in the Baldwin Room in Special Collections on the 4^th floor.

The Music Practice Room has been moved to the 4^th floor, in Room 401 beside the washrooms.

The move of the Urban Affairs Collection from Metro Hall to the Toronto Reference Library is  complete and the books in the public and stack areas are now available.  Periodicals published prior to 2009 are not currently accessible.  Many of these periodicals may be accessible in electronic format.  Please ask staff for assistance.

In the Centre for People with Disabilities, screen reading (JAWS) and Kurzweil software and the Braille printer are out of service. For assistance, call 416-393-7099.

 

The Best American Science and Nature Writing

 

Interested in dipping into some science writing but not sure where to start?

 

I recommend the series The Best American Science and Nature Writing. Read the year's most shocking, fascinating and entertaining science writing from magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Outside and Scientific American. Contributors include Jonathan Franzen, Jane Goodall and Oliver Sacks.  Here's a peek at some of my favourites from the 2010 and 2011 editions.

 

 

Dithering about Space (2010)

Tom Wolfe writes a humorous and withering essay about his disillusionment with NASA in "One Giant Leap to Nowhere." He suggests that after the moon landing, NASA floundered due to a lack of vision and  funding, and that a manned mission to Mars is NASA's true destiny. Steven Weinberg in "The Missions of Astronomy" argues against the "spectator sport of manned space flights" and feels that robots are far more effective and efficient.

Brain Tricks (2010)

These two articles about neurology are particularly fascinating. Kathleen McGowan in "Out of the Past" describes recent neurological research suggesting that memories are not permanent and can be altered. There is hope that through "editing their memories" patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder can find relief. In "Brain Games," John Colapinto profiles the eccentric behavioural neurologist Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran who is a neuroplasticity pioneer. His work in the 1990s with patients suffering from phantom limb syndrome showed how the brain can reorganize itself and how it can be manipulated following trauma. Dr. Ramachandran is a real character and his simple experiments are  fascinating.

Cheap Gas (2011)

Sandra Steingraber's "The Whole Fracking Enchilada" is a shocking description of the process of extracting natural gas from shale. Fracking takes place in Canada, across the US, but most intensely in Appalachia. A couple of million gallons of toxic fracking liquid is pumped into the ground for each well drilled. We all enjoy low gas prices but what are the implications for North America's water table?

 Deadly Chemistry  (2011)

Deborah Blum in "The Chemist's War" describes how during prohibition the American government, in an effort to curb illicit drinking, deliberately poisoned industrial alcohols that were routinely stolen by bootleggers. At least 10 000 people died in what Charles Norris, the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City in the 1920s described as "our national experiment in extermination."

If you enjoy this series, check out The Best American Science Writing, also available at the Toronto Reference Library, Business, Science and Technology Department, 3rd floor.

Happy Holidays to all from TRL

A classic from the Song Index files on the 5th floor

Best. Present. Ever.

We've been waiting for so long, we weren't sure it would ever happen, but the new Cube Entrance to TRL is finally open, as of this morning. Check out the pre-opening pictures and movies on the TRL Facebook Page from yesterday.

                Architect's drawing                                                    TRL today

 

The glass, the light, the high ceiling lift the spirit as you enter. We still have plenty more work to do on the main floor, but even the TD Gallery is nearing completetion. We're looking forward to our first exhibit "A Passion for History: The Legacy of James Bain."

 

Collection Update - Business magazines and journals

The magazines and journals are starting to head to their new homes in the Toronto Reference Library.

As of today, titles related to Business, Science and Technology are moving from their old home in the Periodicals Department on the 4th floor to the 3rd floor.

Just ask staff at the 3rd floor or 4th floor Information Desks, right next to the elevator if you have any questions. Staff will be happy to help.

And we still have plenty of great titles for you to choose from on the 4th floor: Art, Photography, Architecture, Cinema, Theater, Literature, Languages, and more. Our thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding during this period of re-organization and re-vitalization at the Toronto Reference Library.