October brings Canadian Library Month, an annual celebration of the critical role libraries and library workers play in our communities. Libraries are at the heart of knowledge, community engagement, and social awareness.

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations has designated the third Friday in October as Canadian Library Workers Day. This year, we recognize the valuable contributions made by all those who work in and for libraries in Canada on Friday, October 18. This year’s theme, “Libraries for Life | Biblios pour la Vie”, highlights the lasting impact libraries have in promoting education, cultural understanding, and fostering lifelong learning. This special day allows us to express our gratitude for the passion and dedication of the library staff who work tirelessly at both the NDC and EDC campuses of Red River College Polytechnic. Their efforts to support students, staff, and faculty make our libraries the dynamic and supportive spaces they are.

Of course, these essential services are only possible because of the dedicated individuals who work in libraries. Libraries have evolved into vibrant community hubs that offer much more than just books—they provide educational programs, research support, collaborative spaces, and so much more. Libraries also champion freedom of expression and inclusivity, playing a vital role in connecting people across all walks of life.

Whether you’re visiting the library or sending a note, please take a moment to thank our library workers for the hard work they put in every day to enhance the experience of our college community.

Celebrating Our Tutors

October is also the time to recognize our dedicated tutors, as Tutor Appreciation Week was celebrated earlier in the month. Tutors are essential to the academic success of our students, providing not only subject-specific guidance but also fostering confidence, resilience, and a passion for learning. Their patience and expertise help create an environment where students feel supported and empowered to overcome academic challenges.

Tutors often work behind the scenes, yet their impact is profound. They are mentors, motivators, and sometimes the key to a student realizing their full potential. Their ability to connect with students on a personal level and offer tailored support makes a lasting difference in both academic performance and personal growth.

We are deeply grateful for their unwavering commitment to helping students succeed. Tutors are not just academic guides—they are champions of student success, contributing to the overall strength and vibrancy of our learning community. As we continue to celebrate this month, we recognize that the positive ripple effect of their work extends far beyond the classroom, shaping the futures of our students and enriching the entire college experience.

At the heart of our Library & Academic Services department is the shared commitment to fostering growth, connection, and success within our community. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our library staff and tutors for the exceptional work they do every day in supporting and enriching the lives of our students, faculty, and staff.

For the upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission Engagement Week, Library and Academic Services and Career Services are holding two Living Library events. Living Libraries are experiences that allow people to listen and learn from a person in real time, mimicking the setup of libraires and physical books.

Participants will hear from Indigenous storytellers what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action mean to them and how they incorporate Indigenous teachings and principles into the workplace. The Living Library format is interactive by nature, involving small-group discussions between a storyteller and participants in a safe and supportive environment. Groups of 5-6 participants will spend 15 minutes with a speaker, rotating through different storytellers.

Event Details and Registration

Notre Dame Campus

Monday, September 23^rd at NDC 11:00-1:00 in CM27 in the Library. Register here.

Storytellers include Jamie Wilson, Michael Lachance, Jessica Bloomfield, Corey Whitford, and Rebecca LaRiviere.

Exchange District Campus

Tuesday, September 24^th 12:00-2:00 in the Library P214. Register here.

Storytellers include Jamie Wilson, Jessica Bloomfield, Zach Unrau, Brittany Ross, and Sharon Bear.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic in education, sparking debates about its impact on both teaching and learning. While many discussions focus on the risks associated with AI, especially in terms of academic integrity, there’s a growing need to explore its potential for enhancing educational practices. Troy Heaps, a communication instructor at Red River College Polytechnic, recently developed an open-education resource that aims to do just that. His resource, Generative Artificial Intelligence: Practical Uses in Education, offers practical insights into how AI can be used productively in academia.

In a recent interview with Campus Manitoba, Troy shared his journey in creating this resource, his insights on AI, and how educators can effectively integrate AI into their work.

AI: A Tool for Enhancing, Not Replacing, Educators

One of the key takeaways from Troy’s perspective is that AI is a tool that can enhance teaching but should not be viewed as a replacement for the human elements of education. He points out that AI can assist with tasks like generating lesson plans, offering activity suggestions, and helping with rubric creation. However, it’s crucial to always maintain a human touch in these processes.

Troy shared that AI helps him “get out of a rut” by offering fresh perspectives on lesson planning and activity creation. He emphasizes that while AI may not always get things exactly right, it’s a fantastic starting point for ideas and structure.

Why an Open Educational Resource?

Over 30 RRC Polytech staff members helped with the production of the Generative Artificial Intelligence: Practical Uses in Education, Open Educational Resource (OER) by sharing ideas in focus groups, reviewing, and helping to create examples. Staff and Faculty contributions added an incredible amount of depth and richness to the resource.

At RRC Polytech, faculty and staff have begun using existing OERs to support their teaching and instruction with students. Savings to RRC Polytech students in course material costs from the use of OER has exceeded $678 000 at the start of the 2024 year. These savings to students are made possible by instructors taking the initiative to use OER as part of their course materials as an alternative to course materials students are required to purchase.

Learn More

If you’re looking to explore the productive uses of AI in your work as an educator, Troy Heaps’ interview offers insights into practical applications and ethical considerations. His open textbook, Generative Artificial Intelligence: Practical Uses in Education, is a valuable resource for educators who want to stay ahead of the curve and integrate AI into their teaching in a responsible, informed way and is available freely online as an OER.

To read the full interview and gain a deeper understanding of how AI can transform your teaching practice, check out the full interview here. You’ll find specific examples, tips, and advice that can help you make the most of AI in your educational environment.

Library and Academic Services is excited to announce the release of an RRC Polytech-created Open Educational Resource (OER)  titled Generative Artificial Intelligence: Practical Uses in Education. Written by Communication Instructor Troy Heaps, this resource is focused on how AI tools can be used in polytechnic education and was produced for educators who wish to find positive and productive ways to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their work. This includes:

• using AI tools to develop courses, lesson plans, activities, assessments, and rubrics;
• leveraging AI tools to enhance existing in-class activities and assignments;
• teaching students how to engage with AI effectively, ethically, and responsibly;
• utilizing AI tools to efficiently complete administrative tasks.

We hope you will check out this very exciting open resource and also share it with colleagues at RRC Polytech and beyond.

Over 30 RRC Polytech staff members helped with the production of this OER by sharing ideas in focus groups, reviewing, and helping to create examples. Staff and Faculty contributions added an incredible amount of depth and richness to the resource.

At RRC Polytech, faculty and staff have begun using existing OERs to support their teaching and instruction with students. Savings to RRC Polytech students in course material costs from the use of OER has exceeded $678 000 at the start of the 2024 year. These savings to students are made possible by instructors taking the initiative to use OER as part of their course materials as an alternative to course materials students are required to purchase.

Now RRC Polytech faculty and staff are taking supported steps toward creating custom Open Educational Resources for students with funding from RRC Polytech’s Strategic Transformation and Applied Research Fund and the Campus Manitoba & Manitoba Open Education Initiative OER Grant for Manitoba OER adaptation/creation projects. Support for Copyright compliance and sourcing open content is provided for projects by Library and Academic Services (LAS) through the Copyright Officer. The LAS website also provides helpful resources for getting started with OER on the faculty support OER Page.

The release of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Practical Uses in Education follows the 2023 release of Rebecca Molly Hiebert and Emilie Jackson’s, adapted compilation of OE resources College Success for Newcomers. This OER takes the form of an e-book that is designed to provide newcomer students with the skills and strategies they will need to adapt successfully and fully integrate into the Canadian college system.

We hope you will consider using and promoting these resources for teaching and instruction at RRC Polytech and beyond. OERs can benefit multiple departments, schools, and educators as the resources are openly licensed, they can be easily shared without preventative restrictions to instructors who want to use and modify the resources. They can also be shared without cost to students which makes them valuable and effective resources for the college setting.

Introducing Atreya Madrone, Research Services Librarian

Library and Academic Services is excited to welcome the new Research Services Librarian, Atreya Madrone! Atreya joined Library and Academic Services at the beginning of October from the University of British Columbia, where they received their Master of Library and Information Studies.

Range of Supports Offered

As the Research Services Librarian, Atreya will be supporting student, faculty, and applied research across the College. Research Services encompasses a range of areas, including:

• Research data management (data management plans, adhering to funding policies, Indigenous Data Sovereignty)
• The scholarly communication lifecycle (publishing, author rights, Open Access)
• Understanding research ethics
• Learning about different research methodologies, such as Community-Based research, Anti-Oppressive research methods, and Indigenous Research methodologies
• Support in finding materials both in and outside of the Library collection
• Developing search strategies for researching

Learn about these topics by visiting the Research Services page on the Library and Academic Services website.

Book a Research Consultation

You can book a consultation with Atreya to discuss your research needs and questions. Consultations can be done in-person at NDC or EDC and online via Teams. To book a research consultation, please fill out the Research Services Consultation form.

Written by Atreya Madrone – Research Services Librarian (Library and Academic Services)

This post is an adaptation of a story that appeared on May 25, 2023: Red Forum Spotlight! Building and Using Open Educational Resources.

At RRC Polytech, faculty and staff have begun using existing Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support their work with students. This past year, Rebecca Hiebert and Emilie Jackson, while working in the Academic Success Centre (Library and Academic Services), adapted a compilation of OE resources to create College Success for Newcomers, an OER in the form of an e-book.

A Brief Introduction to Open Educational Resources

What are Open Educational Resources (OERs)?

OERs can come in many different formats. In general, OERs are educational materials such as textbooks, problem sets, assessments, slide decks, videos, lesson plans, study guides, handouts, infographics, and other educational content that can be used for free and without permission.  

OERs are resources published under an open license, such as Creative Commons allowing these resources to be freely adapted. Under an open license instructors and students can retain, revise, remix, reuse and redistribute these educational resources. 

OER Guidance and Information

Open Educational Resources are accessible online and free to share and use in any educational setting. There are already many existing OERs available. If you are looking for a resource to support students, Library staff can help you search for an OER to meet your needs.

If you have an idea for a resource that would benefit others, you may want to consider adapting it into an OER to make it available to everyone. Reach out to the Copyright Officer to learn more.

Additional information is available on the Library’s Faculty Support page.

How Rebecca and Emilie Began Building an OER

At the start of the pandemic, Rebecca struck on a brilliant idea to help students learn how to write outlines when taking notes in class or brainstorming to write reports. Rebecca hoped to create a video of herself using PowerPoint slides with a TED Talk clips to inform a step-by-step guide that demonstrated how to listen to content in a video, analyze the main ideas, and capture these in an outline. Being proactive and respectful of copyright concerns, she reached out to the TED Talks people to request permission to use their video in this way. After a long month of waiting, she received an answer, but not the one she was hoping for. 

This led to a conversation with RRC Polytech’s Copyright Officer, Ebony Novakowski, who introduced Rebecca to an online repository of open videos that she could use in the resource she wanted to create. With the new resource under her belt, Rebecca was intrigued by the possibility of creating additional OER. A few months later, with help from Emilie Jackson, and funding support for the Campus Manitoba PressbooksEDU Network grant they were on their way to creating a localized version of College Success for Newcomers: a guide to provide language and academic supports for new students in Manitoba.

Read more about Emilie and Rebecca’s story as featured on the Campus Manitoba Open Education blog: Representing Manitoba on the Open Education Global Stage.

About College Success for Newcomers

This OER resource supports newcomer students and can be used by anyone in North American (or anywhere really!) The goal is to reduce duplication where instructors and support staff are all trying to create and recreate similar resources to help international students adapt to the Canadian college setting. This resource is free to be used and adapted further by instructors and support staff worldwide. Additionally, the resource provides multiple perspectives so that international students can learn about Canadian culture and the diverse experiences of the people who live here.    

The OER is available online (worldwide) through the platform Pressbooks. The OER can be downloaded into a variety of formats including PDF which could be printed out or viewed offline as well as Pressbooks XML which can be used to adapt the content into future OERs. The OER can be used by anyone, anywhere without permission. It is entirely open and free to access.

Click on the button to view the OER:

How is this OER being used at RRC Polytech?  

One perk of Open Educational Resources is that they benefit multiple departments, schools, and educators. and by creating resources under open licenses, they can be easily shared without preventative restrictions to instructors who want to use and modify the resource. They can also be shared without cost to students.

College Success for Newcomers will be used in the following departments and programs: 

• The Academic Success Centre will use College Success for Newcomers OER when working with international students both in 1:1 tutoring and when leading workshops. 
  
• The Social Innovation and Community Development department will use the OER in courses that are blended with international students, Canadian-born students of diverse (European) ancestry, and Indigenous students.  

• Communications instructors will be implementing the OER into the fall version of COMM 1173, Communication Strategies, which will reach over 1,200 students at RRC Polytech.  

• Instructors will be using the OER in the Department of LINC English Language Learning and Newcomer Integration (previously the Language Training Centre) IRCC English Language Programming. 

Originally submitted by Ebony Novakowski and adapted by Linda Fox.

Indigenous Veterans’ Day was first observed in 1994 in Winnipeg and has since spread nationally.  It honours Indigenous contributions to service in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and all military service. It is observed on November 8 each year

Selected Resources

Learn about Indigenous Veterans through the following suggestions from the Library.

Forgotten Warriors

VIDEO – NATIONAL FILM BOARD

Although they could not be conscripted, when World War II was declared, thousands of Indigenous Canadian men and women enlisted and fought alongside their non-Indigenous countrymen.

With narrator Gordon Tootoosis providing a historical overview, Indigenous veterans poignantly share their unforgettable war memories and their healing process. We join them as they travel back to Europe to perform a sacred circle for friends left behind, but not forgotten, in foreign grave sites.

Bernie Francis reads “In Flanders Fields” in Mi’kmaq

VIDEO – CBC CURIO

For Remembrance Day, Mi’kmaw linguist Bernie Francis reads his translation of John McCrae’s war poem “In Flanders Fields.”

Indigenous soldiers, foreign battlefields

ONLINE PUBLICATION – VETERANS AFFAIRS CANADA

Generations of Canadians have served our country and the world during times of war, military conflict and peace. Through their courage and sacrifice, these men and women have helped to ensure that we live in freedom and peace, while also fostering freedom and peace around the world.

Pegahmagabow : life-long warrior

PRINT BOOK

Francis Pegahmagabow was a remarkable Indigenous leader who served his nation in time of war and his people in time of peace — fighting all the way. In wartime he volunteered to be a warrior. In peacetime he had no option. His life reveals how uncaring Canada was about those to whom this land had always been home.

Questions or Comments?

Connect with a Library staff member in person at the Notre Dame and Exchange District Campus Libraries or through Ask Us Chat at library.rrc.ca. We’d love to assist you!

By Linda Fox – Program Support and Promotion, Library and Academic Services

You have a lot to tend to! Class time, lab time, work, housework, homework, family commitments, to name a few.

This newsletter will focus on one of those items: study time.

Study time is often thought of as time we make in an already packed schedule to work on assignments and prepare for tests. However, what if class time could be used as study time?

All students have an established study time built into their schedule: class time. By making the most of class time, you may require less time outside of class to review and practice content.

Asking questions in class, silencing distractions, sitting as close to the front as possible and working through the material as the instructor demonstrates are all ways to engage in class. This is treating class time as study time.

Ryerson University instructor, Deena Kara Shaffer discusses class time in her book, Feel Good Learning with the following student tips.

Four Ways to Turn Class Time Into Study Time

1. Arrive early, and even if you arrive late, show-up

Like an athlete warming up prior to a practice, arrive early, and look at the course outline to anticipate the focus of class and learning objectives. If you have several minutes, review material from the previous class or do a practice question or two.

If you arrive late to class, consider new ways to improve on this, such as creating a pre-class routine or changing the mode of transportation if possible.

2. Arrive in the college community

Connections with others matter, and they help students learn. RRC Polytech wants you to feel welcome and safe. Forming relationships with peers in class creates opportunities for sharing notes, forming study groups, and accessing student supports.

3. Arrive with questions

Class time is your chance to ask questions about an assignment or for examples of course concepts. If you are uncomfortable asking questions aloud, consider writing them down and listening for the answer in class, asking your instructor during office hours, or discussing them with a tutor.

4. Arrive with attention; eye contact is a first step

When you look at the instructor, your focus is greatly improved.  If students are scrolling through their phone, they cannot fully listen to their instructor, and will inevitably miss important information.

Also, you should sit as close to the front as possible – this keeps you more involved and keeps distractions at bay. People tend to stay on task when we know that their actions are observable.

Invitation to Academic Coaching

In addition to showing up fully to each class, remember that you can make an appointment with an Academic Coach to work on implementing strategies like the ones above. Academic Coaches combine their knowledge in study strategies (such as taking good notes in class) with their listening skills. Academic Coaches listen to student goals, challenges and academic needs and assist in improving outcomes. To connect, complete the Academic Success Centre’s Tutoring and Coaching Request Form.

By being fully present, attentive and engaged in class, you can reduce the amount of time they have to make to review course content.

For further reading on Time Management, specifically on short-term planning strategies, visit our student blog iteration, How can I manage my time better?

Submitted by Dayna Graham on behalf of the Academic Success Centre

“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life.”

Sidney Sheldon

Friday, October 20, is Canadian Library Workers Day!

October brings Canadian Library Month, an annual celebration of libraries, library workers, and the services they provide to their communities. Libraries are the crux of knowledge, community engagement and social awareness. Of course, these important support systems can only be achieved through the work of the people within the library.

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations has designated the third Friday in October as Canadian Library Workers Day. This year, we recognize the valuable contributions made by all those who work in and for libraries in Canada on Friday, October 20.

This day allows us to recognize those who work in our Red River College Polytechnic Library (both NDC and EDC campuses) and celebrate their passion and dedication to serving our students, staff, and faculty.

If you see your friendly Library staff on Friday, or if you wish to come by the library or send an email, please give thanks and recognition for the hard work and dedication that they show each and every day!

Written by Kerry Macdonald — Director, Library and Academic Services

In time for Academic Integrity Week, a newly updated web page complemented an updated policy from Red River College Polytechnic. Policy A17 replaced the old framework in June to reflect a new way of approaching Academic Integrity from reactive to proactive.

Updated Policy, Updated Page

The updated Academic Integrity page features an introductory video on the front page, a new checklist, and information on a new LEARNing module. These changes, along with framing issues like plagiarism from “Academic Misconduct” to an “Academic Integrity Breach,” complement the work to ensure Red River College Polytechnic staff and students live the values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and Courage from the campus to the workplace.

The page also links to our Academic Writing and Citation guide, providing information, books, and tips to do schoolwork with integrity.

What About GenAI?

A GenAI addition to the page outlining Academic Integrity related to Generative Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT has also been added. Expect regular updates on this page as we learn more about its role in Academic Integrity. Keep watching for more additions as they emerge. For information about how GenAI relates to copyright and writing, the ChatGPT and Other GenAI page from the Library’s Academic Writing and Citation Guide can get you started.

Written by Fatima DeMelo – Reference Technician, Library and Academic Services