McMaster University Libraries Impact Report 2024-2025
2024-2025 Impact Report
McMaster University Libraries
Message from the Associate Vice-President and University Librarian
There are tremendous opportunities when we come together.
For decades, our libraries have worked together and in step with campus partners to support our students, faculty, and staff.
This past year, we continued to provide world-class services and resources as the Health Sciences Library came together with McMaster University Library.
The new entity, called the McMaster University Libraries, now encompasses Mills, Health Sciences, H.G. Thode, and Innis libraries, along with the Bertrand Russell Archives.
This year’s report highlights our coming together, both as an organization and with our campus and community partners.
We are proud to highlight the Community Scholars Program, as McMaster is the first university to offer this initiative outside of British Columbia. The program helps non-profit and charitable organizations by granting designated staff members free access to academic journals and research.
The Health Sciences Archives celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. Read more about the important work this team is doing to become the leading authority on the history of health sciences in Hamilton.
You will find a story about how members of the Teaching and Learning team and Health Sciences Library are supporting students with generative artificial intelligence (AI) literacy.
We are thrilled to also feature the new look of the home to Innis Library, an exciting rare book discovery, and the 90th birthday of world-renowned classical pianist Valerie Tryon, whose archives we proudly make publicly available.
Please find a donation card included with this report and consider giving if you are able. Every dollar helps support the work of our libraries. We are grateful for our donors.
I hope you enjoy this year’s report highlighting the impact of McMaster University Libraries.
Sincerely,
Vivian Lewis, Associate Vice-President and University Librarian
McMaster libraries spaces
Information Box Group
Health Sciences Library
The Health Sciences Library has played a central role in supporting health research and promoting student learning at McMaster for more than 50 years. The library’s commitment to lifelong learning has allowed it to build one of the most sought-after learning and collaboration spaces on campus.
H.G. Thode Library of Science and Engineering
H.G. Thode Library is home to the science and engineering collections and offers services, study spaces, and learning resources. Thode Makerspace, an interdisciplinary and hands-on experiential learning space on the lower level of Thode library, proudly serves the McMaster community.
Innis Library
Innis Library, home to the business collections and a range of research and instructional services, will reopen this academic year in its new home, the McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery of the DeGroote School of Business. The state-of-the-art and custom-built library space is located on the third floor of the newest building on campus.
Mills Memorial Library
Mills Memorial Library is home to the humanities and social sciences collections and offers a range of special services and resources. Among the numerous spaces within Mills are the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, Lewis and Ruth Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship, Lloyd Reeds Map Collection, and Lyons New Media Centre.
Bertrand Russell Archives
The Bertrand Russell Archives are home to the archives and personal library of famed British philosopher, peace activist, and Nobel Prize laureate, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) and is one of the most comprehensive research collections at the university libraries. The archives are open to the public at 88 Forsyth Avenue, located across the street from McMaster University.
New program brings big community impact to Ontario
McMaster University Libraries are looking to support communities across Ontario as a partner in an exciting program that is making a difference.
The Community Scholars Program assists non-profit and charitable organizations by granting their staff free access to 20,000 academic journals and ebooks. The initiative originated at Simon Fraser University in 2017 and successfully expanded to other institutions. McMaster is the first university outside of British Columbia to join the program.
Anna Flak, teaching and learning librarian with McMaster University Libraries, says these resources would typically be challenging for non-profit community partners to access.
“The Community Scholars Program is about stepping outside of that ivory tower, so to speak, and recognizing the difficulty of conducting research upon leaving or losing your connection to an academic institution,” said Flak. “We recognize the value of the work being done by our charitable and non-profit organizations that can’t be carried out otherwise.”
Participating community partners in Hamilton and the surrounding area can use their access to academic research to strengthen or develop programs, for advocacy and policymaking, to support funding applications or for a variety of other organizational needs.
Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, says his organization decided to get involved with the Community Scholars Program to further provide support to individuals who have experienced racism, discrimination, and hate in the community.
“When you’re developing action plans in response to hate incidents, having literature and research that documents and explains ways you can respond to hate is a valuable resource,” said George.
The Community Scholars Program includes partner libraries of Vancouver Island University, the University of Northern British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the University of British Columbia, the University of the Fraser Valley, and now, McMaster University Libraries.
Back “Innis” business
Innis Library will welcome students back this academic year to a state-of-the-art space in the new McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery. The library features bookable study rooms, quiet study space, computers, and resources for business students. Inset photo: Lynne Serviss, left, associate university librarian, User Services and Community Engagement, and Ann Pearce, manager of Innis Library.
Omni fostering collaboration across academic libraries
Patrons of McMaster University Libraries have access to an expansive catalogue of resources at 19 academic libraries thanks to the search tool, Omni.
Since the introduction of Omni at McMaster in 2022, the university libraries have seen a 56 per cent increase in print lending and borrowing with partner libraries. Crystal Mills, head of access services at McMaster University Libraries, says this stems from greatly expanded discoverability of print collections and ease of requesting.
“So many more resources are visible to users as they’re searching,” she said. “They’re finding stuff that they didn’t know they had access to, placing requests and getting items quickly in comparison to the old system.”
Omni is the outcome of the Ontario Council of University Libraries Collaborative Futures project, which aims to support collaboration across partner libraries and create a province-wide collection of content. These partners have access to 25.8 million resources through Omni.
Users can seamlessly request physical materials from any partner library and enjoy a loan period of 120 days with unlimited renewals, no recalls and no fines.
Wade Wyckoff, associate university librarian at McMaster University Libraries, says the search tool has given new life to resources held by the university libraries.
“Materials that have been unused, sometimes for many years, are being checked out for the first time through the fulfilment network,” he said.
“Since we launched Omni, more than 1,400 items that had never been checked out locally found a user at a partner institution.”
Patrons can request an item be sent to any of the partner libraries for pick up as well as return materials to any partner library. This proves helpful to users who may need to access or return resources while away from their own institution and contributes to the increased accessibility of materials.
Queer Study Buddies program making space for 2SLGBTQ+ students
The team at McMaster University Libraries is working to ensure everyone feels welcome with a new program.
Queer Study Buddies is a weekly event that creates a welcoming, recurring meeting space in the library for 2SLGBTQ+ students who can drop in for a group study environment and socialize with fellow members of the queer community. The program started in September 2024 and is back for another year this fall.
“Queer Study Buddies is an open program where any member of queer community can come by and have a space to study or connect alongside other members of their community,” said Katie Compton, digital learning librarian, Access Services. “It’s important to us that queer students have a space where they feel safer, more comfortable and less judged in the libraries and on the campus at large.”
The idea for the study hall was inspired by a similar program at Robarts Library at the University of Toronto. The idea resonated with the university libraries team as it works to ensure students see the campus libraries as safe spaces for everyone.
At its heart, the program is about building community. Creating this space highlights that, at the university libraries, students can find people who support them and they can build a community in a welcoming place.
“One of my goals is to help make the spaces at the libraries a place where all students can feel confident about who they are when they come to school because they can share their whole selves,” said Crystal Aisha Kerr, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility strategist. “I hope that queer students find it a welcoming and inclusive space.”
Campus Classroom Technologies team boosting accessibility on campus
McMaster students who need help hearing their lectures in classrooms now have more options thanks to the Campus Classroom Technologies team at McMaster University Libraries.
Assistive listening devices are available for loan at two McMaster libraries. Meanwhile, Campus Classroom Technologies staff are working methodically to increase the number of classrooms where the technology is available. It is currently in use in 85 registrar-controlled classrooms.
The goal of integrating the technology into classrooms on campus is to create a more accessible environment at McMaster.
“Every person deserves a meaningful experience in our classrooms and every decision that we make about what to put in the classrooms is to help solve that problem,” said Joey Ricottone, associate director of Campus Classroom Technologies and Library Computing.
An assistive listening device helps anyone who wants to focus their listening by removing background sound. The device can be particularly helpful for individuals who have cochlear implants or hearing aids because it can work with their personal assistive devices through a telecoil neck loop.
Angela Harrison, assistive technology consultant for Student Accessibility Services, says the new borrowing system is helpful to students looking for accommodations.
“When we design our systems and environments to be flexible and inclusive, we welcome users to come as they are and be active participants,” said Harrison.
Users can tune the device to a radio frequency channel compatible with the classroom they are in and listen to class content through personal headphones or any telecoil-compatible personal device. Signage in classrooms indicates which channel the device should be tuned to.
Kits can be borrowed from the services desks at Mills Memorial Library and H.G. Thode Library of Science and Engineering and kept for the semester, allowing students the opportunity to become familiar with the technology.
Rare book discovered in libraries’ special collections
McMaster University Libraries’ William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections is home to thousands of rare materials, and among them is a rare religious text that had been hiding in the department’s shelves since the 1960s.
Ruth-Ellen St. Onge, McMaster University Libraries’ distinctive collections cataloguing librarian, was checking books this spring for an exhibit when she came across a book titled Officium beatae Mariae virginis, which translates to The Book of Hours of the Virgin Mary.
Upon further investigation, she realized that it was listed as a lost book in resources including the Universal Short Title Catalogue.
“I started freaking out,” said St. Onge. “This is very significant. It means that no copies are known to exist anymore, and that McMaster has the only surviving copy.”
Printed in 1596 in Antwerp, Belgium, the book of hours was a Plantin Press bestseller. With its contents based on traditional prayer and ceremonies, the author is listed as the Catholic Church.
Of the nearly 75,000 copies printed between 1589 and 1610, only 81 surviving copies have been identified. McMaster’s is the only known surviving copy printed in this size and format with copper engraved illustrations.
Although it was listed as lost, the book was catalogued when it arrived at McMaster, but its significance was not emphasized in catalogue descriptions.
The rediscovery of the book fits well into the work St. Onge is doing for the hidden special collections project, which involves creating detailed descriptions of the materials housed in the university libraries’ archives and research collections.
“The hidden special collections project is proving tremendously valuable,” said Wade Wyckoff, associate university librarian at McMaster University Libraries.
“The rediscovery of Officium beatae Mariae virginis emphasizes the importance of preserving, describing, and returning to these rare and unique resources.”
Libraries Sustainability Committee nurturing a livable future
McMaster University Libraries are engaging in environmental action and the Libraries Sustainability Committee is helping to lead the way.
The committee is a volunteer group of employees at the libraries who have a shared commitment to climate action and organize climate action-based activities around the work and initiatives that the libraries are already doing.
“Environmental sustainability and the climate crisis impact everyone, so we really need to make changes in all avenues of our lives,” said Nicole Doro, teaching and learning librarian and founding member of the Libraries Sustainability Committee.
One of McMaster University Libraries’ strategic directions is Nurture Sustainability. The initiative reinforces the need to build a livable future by adopting and promoting sustainability as a guiding principle in all aspects of the libraries’ operations.
“Libraries are perceived as sustainable institutions because they reuse a lot, but there is still energy being used on things like computers and providing access to ebooks,” said Paige Roman, collection strategy librarian and chair of the Libraries Sustainability Committee. “It’s good to be mindful that small improvements can have a big impact.”
The committee’s recent initiatives include digital and physical collections and displays, speaker events, symposiums, art displays, a library guide to sustainability, and a newsletter that helps educate employees on ways that they can be more sustainable.
Community members are welcome to take part in any of the committee’s programs or events.
This year, McMaster University Libraries are inviting the community to take part in the Year of Environmental Action, bringing attention to the libraries’ ongoing priority of sustainability, and the Libraries Sustainability Committee has been a vital partner in helping bring this initiative to life.
This themed year is about encouraging everyone to support environmental sustainability however they can within their personal and professional scope of influence.
Libraries collections teams collaborate to support access to resources
The two collections teams at McMaster University Libraries have been working together for years, collaborating on projects related to acquiring and maintaining resources within the university libraries.
Content, Access and Open Licensing oversees the collections held in Mills Memorial Library, H.G. Thode Library of Science and Engineering, and Innis Library. Meanwhile, Collections and Technical Services oversee the campus health collection at the Health Sciences Library. Prior to the coming together of these libraries to form McMaster University Libraries, the two groups already had plenty of connectedness in their work.
Sarah Walker, technical services support specialist at Health Sciences Library, says working together has always provided benefits to both teams.
“The collaboration has expanded access to staff knowledge and expertise,” she said. “It’s improved efficiencies by allowing us to share the workload of some tasks such as troubleshooting e-resource access problems.”
The two collections departments work together in a variety of ways, including enhancements of the library catalogue, gathering statistics and evaluations of collections, developing policies, and supporting each other when navigating new systems.
A major point of collaboration is in cost-sharing of databases and large packages of electronic journals, books, and media. By collaborating on transformative agreements, which waive costs normally charged to researchers and authors to make articles open access, the collections departments have saved McMaster researchers more than $2.2 million to make their publications available at no charge to the public.
Casey Hoeve, associate university librarian at McMaster University Libraries, says the two teams share the same goal of supporting the McMaster community.
“Faculty are often cross-appointed in different departments, and students may be taking courses in multiple departments as a part of their requirements,” he said.
“By working together, we’re able to effectively serve the changing needs of faculty, staff, and students throughout their academic journey at McMaster.”
New toolkit helps community groups take leading role in data management
A new toolkit is empowering community organizations to manage the data they collect through research projects and partnerships with other researchers and data professionals.
The Community Research Data Toolkit, launching in fall 2025, lives online in open-access formats available and adaptable for use by everyone.
While data management practices are often associated with numbers-based research, the toolkit is for research data collected from community research participants, such as through surveys, oral histories, and interviews.
“We hope this toolkit can help groups that currently don’t have research data management capacity so they can use it to support their work, including advocating for funding,” said Subhanya Sivajothy, data analysis and visualization librarian.
The tools reframe data management for community research work, covering topics such as collaborative conversational data management plans, establishing roles and responsibilities, and ways for communities to be involved in controlling access to data once the project is complete.
Launching with a workshop last year with contributions from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, and Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, the toolkit was developed by the research data management team at the Lewis and Ruth Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship in collaboration with the Office of Community Engagement and research data management professionals from across Canada.
Danica Evering, research data management specialist, says the timing of the toolkit is important.
“When we look at this in the context of what is happening in the United States right now, I think at one point it might have felt safer for folks from a racialized background or folks who are queer or trans to share data openly,” said Evering.
“Where will data live? Who controls access to it long term? These are just two of the critically important questions we’re hoping to build capacity around so community organizations and researchers can continue their important work.”
Golden years: Health Sciences Archives celebrates 50th anniversary
The Health Sciences Archives marked its 50th anniversary in 2024 and there are big plans for its future.
What started as the McMaster Health Sciences Archives Project in 1974 has evolved over the decades into formal archives with employees and dedicated physical space in the Health Sciences Library.
Today, the team continues its work preserving and making available records documenting McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences, as well as the broader development of health and medicine in Hamilton.
“Our mission is to become the preeminent research centre for the history of health sciences in the Hamilton area,” said Melissa Caza, who joined as archivist in 2018.
The Health Sciences Archives contains a vast collection of materials, among which includes textual records, photographs, oral histories, architectural drawings, audio-visual materials, and more. The materials document the past two centuries of Hamilton’s health science history, with the bulk of the collection dating from the late 1800s to the present.
The topics covered by the archives are as vast as the decades it spans, with the history of public health and medicine in Canada, health care during wartime, the evolution of medical education and problem-based learning, the treatment of disease, and the development of midwifery and nursing education, among others.
The Health Sciences Archives recently announced the availability of the Hamilton Academy of Medicine fonds. The academy, a branch of the Ontario Medical Association, was founded in 1899 as a local voluntary professional association that fostered collaboration within the medical community while addressing the educational, social, and political needs of its members.
The archives span from 1899 to 2004. The Health Sciences Archives team spent more than a year processing the donation.
“These materials showcase the tremendous lives and work of individuals and groups who are the heart of health care and health education in Hamilton,” said Caza. “This collection enhances our understanding of how the past has shaped Hamilton’s current health-care landscape.”
The archives are completely reliant on in-kind donations of unpublished original material from McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Hamilton Health Sciences, as well as from individuals connected to these institutions.
One recent acquisition is the records of Murray Enkin, former chief of obstetrics and gynecology at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Another new addition is the bound Hamilton City Hospital (now Hamilton General Hospital) record book containing detailed descriptions of cases treated between 1894-1896. The book is a study in capturing medical cases of the city’s working class.
There’s also the Chudyk-Houghton Collection, which features photographs and textual records. Blanche Chudyk and Jeanette Joyce Houghton were graduates of the Hamilton General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1946B.
Also new is the Dr. Mary K. Tremblay fonds. Dr. Tremblay was an occupational therapist, educator, scholar of disability and rehabilitation, and an advocate for disabled people. Her fonds includes multiple media records documenting her research, teaching, and scholarly activities from 1990 to 2008.
“While honouring its past, the archives team is looking to the future,” says Jennifer McKinnell, director of Health Sciences Library.
Work is underway modernizing the archives, continuing reconciliation efforts, and migrating electronic finding aids to a new archival database.
“Over the past 50 years, the Health Sciences Archives has preserved and made available records documenting the history, life, and people of McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and affiliated hospitals,” said McKinnell. “I am excited about the opportunities ahead of us.”
Meet our new colleagues
McMaster University Libraries welcomed more than a half dozen full-time colleagues between May 2024 and April 2025. Here, four recent additions to the team write about their work and why it matters to the McMaster community and beyond.
Emily Boothe (she/her)
Library Assistant, Access Services
Joined June 2024
As a library assistant in Access Services at Mills, Thode, and (coming soon) Innis libraries, I provide the first point of access to our libraries and services. I am part of a team that creates a welcoming environment for students and other library users visiting our spaces. We support library visitors through the service desk, online chat, email, and phone calls. We help people find books and resources, answer reference questions, circulate loanable technology, and troubleshoot technology and printing issues. We work towards making the experience at McMaster University Libraries as user centered as possible. I am also part of behind-the-scenes teams like eReserves for courses, cultivating campus partnerships by supporting the Food for Fines program to ensure the non-perishable food items are donated to the McMaster Students Union Food Collective Centre, as well as helping to maintain our physical collection, supporting outreach programs, and events.
Our work on the access services team is essential to creating a welcoming and safe environment where no questions are too big or too small. From complex research questions to how to borrow a phone charger, we are here to help.
Jeff Mason (he/him)
Health Sciences Librarian: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Joined December 2024
As the innovation and entrepreneurship librarian at the Health Sciences Library, I work with members of McMaster’s growing community of faculty, staff, and students who are bringing new and exciting health care ideas to life and changing the ways we experience the health-care system.
Being an entrepreneur in health care involves more than just having a great idea. Taking a research innovation from the lab to the market means addressing a lot of questions along the way. My work here at McMaster helps ensure that new companies coming out of the university have access to the right information at the right time, whether they need to understand their competitors or customers or want to know how to sell their products in countries around the world. I also work closely with instructors teaching entrepreneurial skills to incorporate the library’s resources into their classes in meaningful and engaging ways.
As innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization become an increasingly important part of McMaster’s mission, I am eager to help grow and expand the library’s support for these initiatives.
Katie Merriman (she/her)
Teaching and Learning Librarian, STEM
Joined July 2024
I’m Katie Merriman, a teaching and learning librarian at McMaster University Libraries, specializing in supporting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students. My role involves providing comprehensive research support to STEM students. I deliver guest lectures in classes, offer individual research consultations, and work on various projects to enhance students’ learning experiences.
In both classroom settings and one-on-one consultations, I teach students how to conduct research using library resources. Given the complexity of modern research tools, students often need assistance with navigating systems, evaluating articles, and managing research-intensive projects.
Some of the initiatives I’ve undertaken include developing a Science Research Guide, a resource that complements the support I provide in classes and consultations. Additionally, I have coordinated outreach events to ensure equitable support for all students.
Supporting McMaster students has been a pleasure. I am continually impressed by their aptitude and eagerness to learn and engage in the classroom. I look forward to many more years of contributing to their academic success.
Madeleine Scott (she/her)
Digitization Metadata Specialist
Joined November 2024
As digitization metadata specialist, I work to make digitized materials available on our institutional repository, the Digital Archive. Together with my wonderful colleagues at the Mills Memorial Library Digitization Centre, I support McMaster departments and faculties by helping to preserve collections and make materials publicly available online.
An aspect of my role that I find endlessly engaging is considering how materials are described and organized on a repository. Questions I’ve been holding include: How might library standards be best reflected through an accessible user interface? How is bibliographic metadata being made visible through search and filtering tools? How might a repository’s web display represent, or oppositely, obscure something central to an object’s physical manifestation? How does the object relate to those within the same or other collections, and to those of the same or differing formats.
Highlights from collections I’ve worked with thus far include correspondence from the Bertrand Russell archives, a 17th century multi-volume set comprising Ulysses Aldrovandi’s Natural History, McMaster University’s campus photos, and a rare portolan chart of the Mediterranean Sea.
Bensen family’s mission to safeguard Canadian history
It was a sunny spring morning when three generations of the Bensen family arrived at Mills Memorial Library.
Hailing from Hamilton and the surrounding area, the group came to the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections to view materials in the collection made possible by Wynn Bensen and her late husband, Dr. William (Bill) Bensen.
Beloved by many, Dr. Bensen was a rheumatologist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and a McMaster faculty member who was renowned for his compassionate patient-centred care. He and Wynn were fervent collectors of Canadian art and history, as well as supporters of McMaster’s libraries.
“Sharing is a big part of being a collector, and something both Bill and I valued,” Wynn said. “The idea we always had is that we wanted to share our collection with young people, especially here in Hamilton where our families grew up.”
The histories of both McMaster and the Bensen family are intertwined. Dr. Bensen, his grandparents Roy Carlyle and Anita (Waters) Bensen, father Dr. Harold Bensen, and sons Rob and Ryan Bensen are McMaster alumni. Ryan’s wife, Justine, also graduated from McMaster.
In the late 2000s, Bill and Wynn Bensen gifted the artwork A View to Our Heritage by Canadian crystal artist Mark Raynes Roberts to the Health Sciences Library. The artwork, which celebrates the tapestry of Canada, features 12 glass panels with images and landscapes of 10 provinces and two territories. It remains on display in the library’s Jan and Mien Heersink Reading Pavilion.
After Dr. Bensen’s passing in 2017, Wynn completed the donation of the Dr. William G. Bensen Fur Trade Collection of Robert D. W. Band. The collection, among the best of its kind in the country, includes more than 100 items related to the fur trade in French and British Canada from the 17th to 19th centuries. Among the items are Hudson’s Bay Company money, legal documents, and commercial agreements.
In 2019, the Dr. William G. Bensen and Family Library Fund in Support of Canadian History was established. The fund offers travel grants for researchers in Canadian history to travel and access materials in the McMaster libraries’ William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections. It also supports the acquisition of rare materials linked to Canada’s past.
The Bensen family has also donated to McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences and gifted a stained-glass panel to the McMaster Divinity College.
Ryan Bensen says his family’s ongoing support for McMaster’s libraries aligns with his father’s values.
“When we think about the fur trade papers, these people were pioneers as they ventured out into the world,” he said. “My dad, in many ways was a pioneer, too, as he went out into the world to make a significant difference in the medical community. He wanted to share access to these documents, so people could get the same inspiration.”
After spending time with the materials, including seeing some of the fur trade papers being carefully restored by McMaster’s experts, family members concluded their May visit reminiscing about their loved one’s legacy and his indelible impact on their lives and those of so many others.
Rob Bensen said it was a special day for their family.
“I think dad would have expected we would come together to see these materials,” he said. “It was always less about him and more about the information and the people it would bring together to see it. He would have loved this day.”
Librarians helping students navigate generative artificial intelligence
McMaster librarians are offering students a helping hand when it comes to using generative artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly and effectively to bolster their research and studies.
Members of the Teaching and Learning team and the Health Sciences Library have responded to the need for AI literacy as the McMaster community seeks to understand and leverage the constantly evolving technology.
Whether presenting in classrooms, meeting students one-on-one, or developing online resources, libraries’ employees are supporting students in a myriad of ways.
“Generally speaking, students are curious about generative AI and want to understand if and how they are able to use it,” said Carly McLeod, graduate studies librarian. “We’re also seeing differences in approaches between faculties and levels of students, so we’re working to cater our information as much as possible to these different groups.”
Jo-Anne Petropoulos, postgraduate medicine liaison librarian and Hamilton Health Sciences McMaster site librarian with Health Sciences Library, says there is a healthy appetite for knowledge in generative AI, especially among Faculty of Health Sciences medical residents looking at its application to research.
“We’re seeing our students really work to embrace this technology, especially when you think about how it can assist with aspects like systematic reviews and meta-analysis,” said Petropoulos.
“We want to ensure students know how to use this technology appropriately as they graduate and enter the workforce.”
A major focus for the libraries is making students aware of the AI-enabled tools, such as Copilot, Scite, and Web of Science, available from the university. These offer access to high-quality information and reduce the privacy and security risks associated with free generative AI tools.
Students are encouraged to access a robust online resource created by the libraries in collaboration with the MacPherson Institute, as well as the libraries’ popular AI citation guide.
By the numbers
McMaster University Libraries continued to see an increase in visits, reference questions answered, and both library presentations and participants during the fiscal year of May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025. These numbers reflect the operations of Health Sciences, Mills, and Thode libraries, with Innis Library set to reopen this academic year.
Collections
Titles held (all formats):
4,038,682
E-books:
2,218,095
Expenditures
Total acquisition expenditures:
$17,028,678
Teaching and Learning
Library presentations to groups:
511
Total participants in group presentations:
20,366
Reference
Number of reference questions answered:
24,641
Circulation
Number of items borrowed:
22,842
Interlibrary loans
Number of filled requests provided to other libraries:
9,485
Gate count
1,828,426*
*Innis Library closed for construction
Digital experience
Visits to our library websites:
~2 million
Significant acquisitions: Archives
Ellen Seligman fonds 1st accrual
Ellen Seligman was a prominent editor of Canadian fiction who spent most of her professional career at McClelland and Stewart. Serving as editorial director of fiction from 1987 and vice-president from 2012 until her passing in 2016, Seligman shepherded many of the press’s most significant late-20th and early-21st century fiction publications, including works by Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Leonard Cohen, Rohinton Mistry, and Jane Urquhart. In recognition of her exceptional work, Seligman received the Canadian Booksellers Association’s Editor of the Year award and the Order of Ontario (2008).
The first accrual of Seligman’s archive is predominantly personal in nature. Records include selected correspondence between Seligman and writers she worked with, photographs, and records pertaining to her role as president of PEN Canada from 2009-2011.
Farley Mowat fonds 22nd accrual
Farley Mowat was a best-selling Canadian writer and environmentalist. He authored over 35 books for both adults and children, the first of which was published in 1952. Among his most recognized titles is Never Cry Wolf (1963), a volume credited with shifting negative perceptions of wolves. Mowat’s lively and stylish prose has drawn public attention to many worthy environmental causes.
The 22nd accrual to Mowat’s archive is significant for its inclusion of Mowat’s early, unpublished manuscripts, particularly poetry produced during his wartime service in Britain and Italy. The accrual also contains later unpublished manuscripts, including a manuscript for The Waterdog, a fictional book about the animals and dogs of the southwest coast of Newfoundland (ca. 1970), and Breakaway, a memoir about Mowat’s family history (ca. 2013).
Sylvia Fraser fonds 3rd and 4th accrual
Sylvia Fraser was a Hamilton-born novelist and journalist. Her journalism career began in the 1960s; she contributed numerous articles to Toronto Star Weekly, as well as Chatelaine, Toronto Life, Saturday Night, and others. In the 1970s, Fraser turned to fiction writing, releasing her first full-length novel, Pandora, to critical acclaim. Her memoir My Father’s House (1986), which addressed the childhood sexual abuse she experienced within her family of origin, won the Canadian Authors Association Award for literary non-fiction.
The third and fourth accruals to Fraser’s archive – likely the last significant accruals the Division will receive following Fraser’s death in 2022 – complete the narrative of Fraser’s professional life. Significant records include manuscripts for Fraser’s later publications, personal photographs, and some journalism notebooks and article drafts.
James “Jim” Lord fonds
James “Jim” Lord was an Irish-born Hamiltonian who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Lord worked as a radar technician in Wick, Scotland, where he monitored for incoming bombing runs.
The James Lord fonds predominantly comprises letters sent by Lord to his future wife, Elsie, and his family members from 1942-1945. Lord’s near-daily letters home offer a compelling and highly detailed first-hand account of wartime service. The archive also contains a selection of Lord’s service-related ephemera, including menus and receipts.
Significant acquisitions: Rare books
A la louenge de dieu…furent commencees ces presentes heures
(Paris, 1498)
This extensively illustrated book of hours dates to the first generation of European printing. Books from this period often retain recognizably medieval features, and this one retains more than most, having been printed in blackletter on vellum with subsequent ornamentation to the text completed by hand. Only four copies of this edition are presently attested worldwide.
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers
Diderot, Denis, with Jean le Rond d’Alembert
(Paris, 1751-1772)
A complete set of the landmark encyclopedia which sought “to assemble all the knowledge scattered on the surface of the earth.” This supreme achievement of Enlightenment printing comprises 17 volumes of text and a further 11 volumes of detailed technical illustrations depicting the inner workings of manufacturing and commerce at the turning point of the Industrial Revolution.
Naval Chronicle
Clarke, James Stanier, et al.
(London, 1799-1818)
A complete set, in contemporary covers and with all illustrations intact, of the British periodical which charted the fortunes of the Royal Navy during its most triumphal era. This eclectic and widely-read series combined gossip, history, journalism, technical writing, and art for a reading public whose keen interest in the Navy and its personnel became something of a national pastime. Purchased with support from the Dr. William G. Bensen and Family Library Fund.
Anthropometamorphosis
Bulwer, John
(London, 1653)
First illustrated edition of John Bulwer’s work on “the artificiall changeling” — the first cross-cultural history of intentional body modification. It covers tattooing, piercing, painting, branding, scarification, shaving, and hairstyling; daringly for its time, the author posits no real distinction between the changing whims of European fashion and the efforts of non-European peoples to decorate their bodies by other means.
Taqwim at-tawarikh
Katip Çelebi
(MS, 18th century)
A manuscript of the Calendar of Histories by the Ottoman polymath Mustafa ibn ‘Abd Allah, better known as Katip Çelebi (“noble scribe”). Çelebi wrote an encyclopedic Ottoman world-historical chronicle, the Kasf az-Zunun, to which this work served as an index. This copy, handwritten in a fine calligraphic hand on polished paper adorned with gold leaf and other embellishments, is a superb example of Ottoman manuscript culture.
Drs. Peter J. and Kathryn Hamer-Edwards Collection of Nineteenth Century French Literature
Peter J. Edwards (1941-2025) and Kathryn Hamer served lengthy careers as professors of French at Mount Allison University. Edwards was a celebrated authority on the French poet, writer, and critic Théodore de Banville (1823-1891). His collection includes first editions of Banville’s major works, as well as early editions of such authors as Théophile Gautier and Edmond and Jules de Goncourt.
Significant acquisitions: Maps
Hamilton punk history map: walking tour map
Research by Chris Houston and Tara Bursey
Text and drawings by Tara Bursey
Design by Dave Kuruc
(Toronto, 2021)
This walking tour map, created by local musician Chris Houston and artist Tara Bursey, highlights key sites in the evolution of the punk music genre in Hamilton, Ontario. The map celebrates the role of bands, such as Simply Saucer, Teenage Head, and the Forgotten Rebels, and venues like Star Records and New York New York that contributed to the city’s vibrant music and social scene.
Latest map of the situation in Europe: with an overview of the national strength and defenses of the major powers
Engraved by Mori Yoshio | Edited by Fuchida Tadayoshi
(Tokyo, 1936)
Included as a supplement to the New Year’s edition of prominent magazine King (Kingu), this map, along with the included infographics, describes the military and socioeconomic situation in Europe at the time. Published during a volatile period marked by Japan’s expansion in Asia and escalating global tensions, the map provides a Japanese perspective on European military power in the lead-up to the Second World War.
Portolan chart of the Mediterranean
Produced by Giovanni Battista Cavallini
(Livorno, 1642)
An essential navigation tool for sailors, this manuscript map on vellum represents the Mediterranean Sea and coastal locations across Europe, Asia, and Africa, showcasing the rich legacy of Mediterranean trade and exploration. Produced by Giovanni Battista Cavallini, a Livorno-based cartographer active between 1635–1656, it is one of only four portolan charts in Canada.
A noteworthy birthday
McMaster University Libraries, together with the Ancaster Music Society, hosted a 90th birthday concert for world-renowned classical pianist Valerie Tryon in October 2024. The Valerie Tryon archives are housed at the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections and are open to the public. The archives include photographs, programs, clippings, and more that document her remarkable career.
2024-2025 McMaster Libraries Leadership Group
Vivian Lewis
Associate Vice-President and University Librarian
Casey Hoeve
Associate University Librarian
Content, Access, and Open Licensing
Helen Kula
Associate University Librarian
Teaching and Learning
Lynne Serviss
Associate University Librarian
User Services and Community Engagement
Wade Wyckoff
Associate University Librarian
Distinctive, Legacy, and Digital Heritage Collections
Jason Brodeur
Director
Digital Research Infrastructure and Scholarship Services
Jennifer McKinnell
Director
Health Sciences Library
Joey Ricottone
Associate Director
Campus Classroom Technologies and Library Computing
Chris Nicol
Manager
Human Resources
Carly Welch
Manager
Finance and Administration
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