A library can be host to a freak out as easily as any location.

Rob Hardy

Silhouette Staff

 

This week, I came across a story online that I felt quite important to write about. Though I’m not much one for viral videos, it nevertheless did what it was intended for: to interrupt, make people take notice and then find themselves on either side of a highly charged and divisive debate. Nevertheless, I will proceed with what became a fascinating meme for a relatively minor Internet audience last December.

The incident happened at California State University in Northridge, where a girl apparently had a minor freak out in the library during finals week. Speaking in what seemed to be a relatively controlled manner, despite her extreme visible frustration, the girl becomes aggressive in demanding silence and respect from students who have made it impossible for her to effectively study in the library. That the girl is Asian (and the perpetrators are African-American) further fuels and in fact gives this talking point much of its staying power in the common arena, as many of the comments detract from what relevant conversation may be found here, reducing it to a discussion on racial proclivities. Now that you have enough information to become participatory voyeurs yourselves, what follows are my thoughts on what I will assume you have now been compelled to watch and weigh in on.

This video for me stood out on many levels. I will leave out any comments relating to the girl’s Asian ethnicity except to say that universities today definitely have a strong reliance on the funding that international students bring to the table, funding that winds up partially subsidizing the education that regular citizens in America and Canada get for a much lower cost. We have much to learn from a global classroom, and this video illustrates that though globalization has begun, we are far from accustomed to its presence.

At the centre of this debate is the issue at hand: the girls were clearly being disruptive in an academic environment, and when confronted about it during what was obviously the untelevised portion of the video preceding its start, they decided to deliberately aggravate her, with the intent of taping her provoked frustration to post online. As I have spent considerable time reading, there are many comments for this video, along with the noise level of libraries in general, which support the girl’s actions and sympathize with her anxiety. Though others may disagree, I also applaud her fearlessness in speaking out and confronting the problem directly, likely having spoken for at least a few others who were too timid and would otherwise have suffered through the noise and chatter.

In today’s society we have become far too politically correct in establishing blanket zero-tolerance policies for expressing anger and frustration. This has led to businesses and people in general taking advantage of the expectation that people must be willing to absorb whatever legitimate concerns are greatly bothering them. That is not to say that people should habitually, or even semi-regularly, go around “hitting the roof” or “blowing their stack.” Indeed, it should be avoided at all costs, for several reasons, one of which is that it is simply no longer socially acceptable, and the second being that you could find yourself on YouTube while having a really bad day.

On the other hand, the girls filming the frustrated student were clearly in the wrong by actually instigating the physical manifestations of the resultant book slamming. That they claim to be just sitting there minding their own business does not wash when it is clear they knew exactly what they were doing. One would suspect that had they the misfortune of appearing in front of Judge Judy, they would be in for a severe dressing down.

With all the talk of bullying going on, it is also extremely disappointing that two students who appear to be in university would get so much pleasure from participating in this tacky display, and be immature enough to want to actually broadcast this to the world. Perhaps it is a generation’s easy answer to surrounding themselves with the kind of drama that triples their online friends in a week and makes them feel important as they busy themselves responding to a considerable volume of email. Regardless, the result is that our already suggestible psyches become reconditioned by polarized debates that quickly whip up people into Facebook vigilantes, feeling quite impassioned to defend their point of view to the death.

I feel guilty of this to a degree for propagating the incident in this article, and further feel more likely to simply not watch that which was perhaps public, but only in the strict confines of what the girl felt was the actual extent of her public space. This assumption needs to be consciously broken, however, for our surroundings are now no longer limited to the physical.

To sum it up, I agree wholeheartedly with the girl suffering through finals in a noisy library, and who obviously had to be there for some reason, or she would have already moved without incident. She was clearly going through a lot in a challenging situation and was at least partially provoked.

The domain of public space, however, is less personal than ever. Libraries have become just as vulnerable to societal declines and must conform to newer standards, while silence and the benefits it brings has become another luxury that some who live in disruptive or precarious housing simply cannot afford to secure for themselves. Though it’s of little use at the time, especially when you are right, the old adage of counting to ten is one that is quite wisely remembered.

Farzeen Foda

Senior News Editor

 

Libraries are no longer storage depots for rows upon rows of books – in modern education, knowledge is increasingly outsourced to the World Wide Web. As the books that were once the essence of libraries become rare commodities, libraries must adapt to change rather than get buried beneath the dust of its bookshelves.

In this mission, Jeff Trzeciak,  University Librarian, has been instrumental in keeping pace with changes in education and how those changes are reflected in the use of library space at McMaster.

Trzeciak will, after 16 years at McMaster, be leaving his position to join Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri as chief librarian.

He came to McMaster in 1996. He has since undertaken numerous projects to revitalize the University’s libraries. He identifies four primary domains to which his efforts have extended: McMaster students, other universities, donors and University faculties.

In close collaboration with students and the McMaster Students Union (MSU), he has worked to maintain the focus on the student experience with every undertaking. “I am proud of the fact that we have been so student-focused,” he said of the recent developments to the libraries, explaining that much of those changes have been in response to student requests.

A strong student-body push for 24-hour library space during the exam period came as MSU president, Matthew Dillon-Leitch kept study space at the top of his agenda. Trzeciak explained that such an effort on behalf of students was the primary driving force behind the funding the McMaster Libraries received from the administration to proceed with the initiative. Thode library is now available 24/7 during the exam period.

Treziack explained that with the renovations to Mills and Thode libraries, the two libraries have become the new “hotspots” and are attracting a more diverse array of students.

Libraries are losing their subject focus and remain prime locations for group as well as individual work through the diverse study spaces available. In 2007, after the construction of the Mills Learning Commons, the McMaster libraries received the Rudy Heinzl Award of Excellence, which was a result of student nomination. The Mills Learning Commons remains a place for collaborative work, while within the same building quiet study space remains available.

McMaster Libraries have also been acknowledged by other universities for its user-focused approach and innovative technologies, which include the digitization of numerous library collections. In 2008, the University’s Libraries received the Excellence in Academic Libraries Award on behalf of the Association of College and Research Libraries. McMaster University was the first Canadian university recipient, noted Treziack.

Approximately 95 per cent of journals are currently online and there are over 400,000 e-books, said Treziack. He further emphasized the student transition to online sources, as evidenced by a dramatic decrease in circulation of books.

It is also not a rare occasion that McMaster is chosen as home to a collection of invaluable literary treasures. This year alone, the McMaster libraries received an extensive Holocaust Archive from the Shaoh Foundation Institute and the commercial archive from Pirate Toronto, the largest collection of its kind.

Monetary donations stand as a testament to the investment value of McMaster’s libraries. The libraries received a $2.5-million gift from the Sherman Foundation to establish the Lewis and Ruth Sherman Foundation Digitization and Preservation Centre. The facility will be located on the first floor of Mills Library.

“A library should be an extension of the classroom,” said Treziack. The McMaster libraries have also been a close partner with faculties in the development of new programs and the support of others, he explained. The libraries played a key role in the development of the Integrated Science program, and worked in partnership with the Department of Arts and Science to support some of their classroom projects.

The next step for McMaster University’s libraries is to build on the student-centered efforts, noted Treziack, explaining that student engagement is critical to maintaining past efforts.

For the first time, the University will be hosting an open review of the libraries on March 26 and 27 in Convocation Hall. Students and faculty are strongly encouraged to attend and voice their views.

“I owe Mac in a lot of ways,” said Treziack, crediting his time at McMaster with the expertise that made him an ideal candidate for his new position. Treziack will end his term with McMaster on June 30 to join Washington University, which ranks within the top 15 universities in the United States, just under many world renowned Ivy League schools. It is a research-oriented, private university with a 50-50 ratio of graduate to undergraduate students.

It is unknown at this time who will be taking over as University Librarian. A candidate search is likely to begin soon.

As a native of Dayton, Ohio, Treziack expressed, “I will be going home in a lot of ways.”


Farzeen Foda 

& Sam Cumerlato

Senior News Editor & Silhouette Intern

 

The past 20 to 25 years in advertising history have seen some of the most popular trademark slogans. Many such popular advertisements of the past few decades originated in Canada through the work of Pirate Toronto, who donated an archive of over 50,000 radio and television advertisements to McMaster University’s Libraries.

The donated collection is “the single largest archive that we’ve recieved yet,” said Wade Wyckoff, Associate University Librarian for Collections. The archive consists of over 700 boxes and includes material from iconic brands such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, as well as preperatory materials from commercials like Becel’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter,” series. It also features celebrities such as Leslie Nelson, Bob Newhart, Ellen DeGeneres, John Cleese and Jay-Z.

The collection contains some “behind the scenes work,” of famous advertisements, said Wyckoff.

“The biggest reason we wanted to donate it, was that we wanted it to be used as a teaching tool and be preserved,” said Pirate Toronto co-founder Terry O’Reilly, who explained that he and his colleagues wanted to put their work toward the betterment of the next advertising generation.

“I would have killed to have something like this available when I was in university,” said O’Reilly.

Pirate Toronto was founded in 1990 and has since, undertaken numerous “milestone projects,” said O’Reilly, such as the first cell phone commercials in the late 80s as well as election campaigns and some of the first commercials that began addressing the AIDS epidemic which was silenced for sometime before public awareness on this issue surfaced in the mainstream media, he explained.

The donation of the archive to McMaster was put in place in 2011, after which, the University’s libraries have been working on organizing the archive for use by students and faculty. The collection is now ready for use, and is located on the lower level of Mills Library in the Division of Archives and Research Collections, explained Wyckoff. The first installment of the donation consisted of 50,000 radio and television commercials, followed by an additional 25,000, noted O’Reilly.  The collection contains television and radio advertisements from 1990 to 2007, but also includes some of O’Reilly’s earlier work dating as early as 1982.

The archive has been received with enthusiasm from McMaster faculty looking to integrate the resource into course work.

“This is exactly the kind of thing we need to be doing in our department,” said Communication Studies and Multimedia professor,  Philip Savage. “It’s a lovely sort of communications crossover resource,” he said.

While housing the enormous database of advertising history, McMaster students now have access to final commercials from the pivotal time period, as well as all of the component parts that comprise a final television or radio advertisement, including but not limited to original and edited scripts, auditions as well as all files and correspondence between those involved in the development of each commercial.

Upon his decision to donate the company’s historical collection, O’Reilly contacted numerous universities across the country. He was met with immense enthusiasm, but had three criteria for the donation: the university would have to express a strong desire for the collection, provide an explanation of how the archive would be used and a large enough space to house the collection. McMaster was able to demonstrate fulfillment of all three criteria.

“McMaster had a deep desire for the archive,” said O’Reilly, explaining that the University was clear in their goals to put these archives toward studies in Business, Psychology, Communication Studies and Multimedia, as well as English, among others.

The collection will allow students in a range of faculties and disciplines to “follow the development of commercials… and study how media and advertising has evolved,” said Wyckoff.

A next step for the archive is the digitalizing of the donation through an online project on behalf of The Canadian Advertising Museum, to build a web-based archive of the Canadian advertising industry.

“We wanted to preserve the works, rather than allow it to be lost in the sands of time,” said O’Reilly.

A formal reception was held at McMaster’s Ron Joyce Centre on Feb. 15, to celebrate the inauguration of the collection, where O’Reilly and his fellow colleagues discussed their thrilling experience creating what would become one of the greatest masterpieces in Canadian media history.

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