Literacy B.C. - Newsletter - December 2003

Imprints - The Newsletter of Literacy BC
Volume 9, Number 2- November 2003

graphic - Reflections from Newfoundland Reflections from Newfoundland - Evelyn Battell

Newfoundland is magic for me. The land shapes the awareness, just like it does in most of BC. But there are big and small differences: the oh-so-differentrocks, the not so “pacific” ocean. The people, from taxi drivers to waitresses, tell us that life is better if it’s funny. Also, here is an entire province that understands unemployment.

The Institute also had a Newfoundland “air” about it. Nothing fancy - minimal even. Lightly, proudly gracious. An easy mix of different “status” – practitioners, academics and all shades in-between. I felt confident in having my “practitioner” opinions and for the first time I did not value my “practitioner” side over my “research” side. I had some of the richest conversations about my practice that I’ve had in some years. Is research in practice the new place to find the real explorers in the adult literacy field? I learned many things about research, about feminist approaches, about new and old colleagues. I was lucky to be there.

Evelyn Battell is an ABE instructor at Malaspina University-College in Duncan, BC.

Searching for Research Resources - May Chan, Literacy BC Librarian

www2.literacy.bc.ca/catalogue

In September 2003 the Provincial Literacy Resource Centre at Literacy BC went live on the web! A state of the art web-based catalogue now offers electronic access to BC’s largest lending collection of literacy resources. The catalogue was developed by Literacy BC in partnership with the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD). The searchable catalogue contains more than 3650 items.

Our collection of research resources includes all the research products of BC cost-shared projects, national and international research reports, and materials on research methods. Search for a specific title or author or use subject terms such as:

Broad subject term
- Research
Narrower subject terms:
- Academic research
- Action research
- Action research in education
- Educational research
- Evaluation research (Social action programs)
- Avaluative research'
- Field research
- Participatory research
- Qualitative research

The online catalogue offers a variety of search functions, including Quick Search, Basic Search (on a Title, Author or Subject), and Subject List. Tips and guidelines to searching the catalogue are at www2.literacy.bc.ca/resourcs/access.htm.

Contact library@literacy.bc.ca for more information.

A Fond Farewell to May

In October May Chan moved to a new job at the Vancouver Public Library. In her work as the Literacy BC librarian May spearheaded the increasing sophistication of our library services. Among her many accomplishments was the design and implementation of our web-based catalogue. We will miss May’s gentle presence and outstanding expertise. We wish her all the best in her new career as a public librarian.

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