Access Issues with AMS (American Mathematical Society) forcing users to login twice

Users trying to access AMS (American Mathematical Society) books or journals are currently being forced to login twice to access content.

After logging in via the library website and landing on the AMS page, AMS will send users to a ‘Access through your institution” page when trying to access full text. If you search for “UBC”  as your institution and login with your CWL you will gain access.

As a direct workaround to access or share an individual title, you can place this URL prefix in front of the AMS URL that you want to access: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ubc.ca?url=

eResources is working with AMS to get this issue fixed ASAP.

Here for a Good Time, and a Long Time: Ephemera in Open Collections

Ephemera, by its very definition, was never meant to stick around. Defined as items that have been preserved despite the fact that they were not intended to be at their time of production, the term is used to describe commonplace paper objects like flyers, menus, event tickets, postcards, and more.

Valentine’s card (1919) from the Tremaine Arkley Croquet Collection

While some ephemera may seem kitschy or frivolous on the surface, it can also be a form of historical documentation, providing a glimpse into its period of creation. Ephemera can act as a portal to a bygone era, demonstrating the aesthetic, linguistic, and cultural trends of its time.

Broadside (1988) from the R. Mathison Collection

History & Context 

“Ephemera” etymologically originates from the Greek word “ephēmeros”, meaning “lasting only a day”. Usage of the word can be traced as far back as Aristotle’s works, and by the mid-1800’s, “ephemeral” had been widely adopted to describe generic, printed items.

Cigar label (after 1888) from the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection

The categorization of materials as ephemera is not as simple as it may seem. Scholars agree that its scope is ever-shifting, and that as cultural trends change, so does our definition of the term.

Archivist and writer Rick Prelinger argues that ephemeral objects become less ephemeral the more historical significance they’re prescribed. Nevertheless, the categorization endures, and special collections libraries and archives continue to preserve these “minor transient documents of everyday life”.

Ephemera in Open Collections

As one can imagine, ephemera from many different regions, eras, and social contexts exists within UBC Open Collections, providing additional context to the historical photographs and documentation with which it resides.

Menu from the Cabin Cafe (1912) from the Uno Langmann Family Collection of BC Photographs

Below, we take you on a tour through some of the ephemeral wonders of Open Collections.

Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection

The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection contains ephemera related to the lives of Chinese Canadians in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including letters, business records and even election ballots.

These items provide insight into the social and cultural values of Chinese Canadians at this time and illuminate the history of local Chinese families, businesses, and organizations.

Card for Pan-Pacific Women’s Conference (1937)

Also represented in the Chung Collection are the early years of the Canadian Pacific Railway company. Ephemera from this period includes menus, pamphlets, baggage tags, and travel tickets.

Ticket envelope (around 1938)

These items are often eye-catching and colourful, revealing the aesthetic sensibilities of their time. They also reveal the era’s prevailing cultural desires—to travel, to be worldly, to explore.

However, some ephemeral items related to the Canadian Pacific Railroad illuminate the darker nature of Canadian travel at this time, with several pamphlets and posters employing colonial, orientalist, and otherwise harmful racist tropes to advertise domestic and international journeys. These materials depict Indigenous and non-Western people as exotic or “other”, while insisting that settler Canadians are more than welcome to travel to their homelands. Just as ephemera can shed light on the past’s more innocuous trends, it can elucidate its problematic cultural mores, too.

Note: As with all content in Open Collections, inclusion of these materials in the Chung Collection is not an endorsement of their messaging. They have been retained for transparency and to demonstrate the social conditions of their time. 

R. Mathison Printing Collection

Another treasure trove of ephemera is the R. Mathison Collection. Robert Mathison Jr.’s Vancouver print shop produced materials for local businesses from 1886-1890.

Wall calendar advertising printing services (1886)

The collection includes business cards, advertisements, and raffle tickets, and enables its viewer to imagine the Vancouver business landscape of the late 1800’s. It also provides a fascinating look at the marketing trends of the time.

H. Colin Slim Stravinsky Collection

The H. Colin Slim Stravinsky Collection documents the life of Russian composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky through letters, scores, and photographs. Ephemera in this collection includes concert programs and sheet music, as well as Stravinsky memorabilia like stamps and postcards.

Sheet of 100 postage stamps depicting Igor Stravinsky (1982)

These materials are evidence of Stravinsky’s cultural impact, and, more broadly, of the enduring cultural impact of classical music during the early to mid 20th century.

The everlasting allure of ephemera

Whether you’re a history buff or a kitsch collector, an ephemera-guided journey through time can be a source of great wonder and delight. The value of these materials lies in their ability to illuminate the seemingly mundane, but nonetheless meaningful quotidian events of eras past.

Bumper sticker (between 1968-1973) from the Berkeley Poster Collection

While it may seem fundamentally contradictory, it’s safe to say that ephemera is here to stay.

Chung | Lind Gallery Summer Hours

Due to staffing changes, the Chung | Lind Gallery will have reduced hours for summer 2025.

The planned summer opening hours are:

  • June 11-14, 2025: Open from 10 am-5 pm
  •  June 17-28, 2025: Closed
  •  July and August, the Gallery will be open Wednesdays to Saturdays from 10 am-5 pm

As opening hours are subject to change, please check the hours portal for the most up-to-date information.

During our reduced hours, we will have limited availability for guided tours and class visits.

We invite you to enjoy our audio highlights tour, our audio guide, or our 360-degree virtual tour. You can also browse digitized materials from the Chung and Lind Collections, and enjoy stories from the Chung | Lind Gallery Blog.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the RBSC contact form or by sending an email to rare.books@ubc.ca. Thank you again for your understanding and interest in the Chung | Lind Gallery!

It’s the Cream of the Crop!

Many thanks to guest blogger Gabriella J. Cigarroa for contributing the below post! Gabriella is a graduate student at the UBC School of Information and recently completed a Co-op work term with Rare Books and Special Collections Library.


It’s the Cream of the Crop!: The B.C. Dairy Historical Society Collection

As a Co-op Project Archivist in Fall 2024, I processed the B.C. Dairy Historical Society collection. Since 1998, the B.C. Dairy Historical Society (BCDHS) has collected a breadth of records documenting the history of the provincial dairy industry. Used to write books including Jane Watt’s Milk Stories: A History of the Dairy Industry in British Columbia, 1827-2000 and High Water: Living with the Fraser Floods, this collection includes a wealth of journals, photographs, and records from provincial dairy organizations and producers. Materials originated from the Fraser Valley Milk Producers’ Association (now known as Agrifoods, and owners of Dairyland until 2001), Palm Dairies (a dairy local to Vancouver that was bought by Dairyland in 1989), and assorted dairy industry professionals and enthusiasts. 

Some photos of my favorite finds in the collection are shared below: 

RBSC-ARC-1875-AR-04: St. Charles Evaporated Cream [cow-shaped clock]

RBSC-ARC-1875-AR-07: [Movie camera and attachments]

A movie camera owned by Neil Gray, who was a driving force in the B.C. dairy industry as a previous General Manager for the Fraser Valley Milk Producers’ Association, Director of the National Dairy Council of Canada, President of the B.C. Dairy Council, and member of the B.C .Dairy Historical Society.

 

RBSC-ARC-1875-SPLP-07 – Approaching Prospects. One of two LPs from the 1940s, records of salescasts presented by the Milk Industry Foundation that were used to evaluate and teach dairy salesmen. Each is a one-of-a-kind reference recording, used to test the master recording before making copies to distribute.

 

 

As of 2023, dairy was the top agricultural commodity in B.C. This collection documents the work of dairy co-operatives, producers, and other industry professionals to develop that market.  

If you think about us the next time you visit the dairy aisle at your local grocery store, please contact RBSC about making a research visit. 

New Books at Education Library: May & June 2025

Welcome to our May & June 2025 Booklist!
This special joint edition features over 50 newly arrived titles across a wide range of genres, including engaging picture books and young adult novels, as well as professional resources for educators, researchers, and those working in higher education.

  • Picture books and children’s literature highlighting themes of friendship, nature, culture, and community

  • Young adult novels exploring activism, identity, grief, and self-discovery

  • Professional and academic titles on teaching practice, qualitative research, higher education, and global learning

  • Memoirs and biographies that share personal journeys—from Holocaust survival to Indigenous activism and international experiences

  • Informative nonfiction covering climate change, ecosystems, water conservation, and more

Click on a book cover to preview the title on Google Books. Click on the title to check availability or place a hold through the UBC Library catalogue.

BF637.M56 M33 2021 Me and my sit spot / Lauren MacLean ; illustrated by Anna Panchuk.

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HV1431 .O35 2024 Road home / Rex Ogle.

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PZ7.G65435 Tr 2024 Trajectory / Cambria Gordon.

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PZ7.1.E274 Fl 2024 The Flicker / H.E. Edgmon.

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PZ7.1.C6334 Lo 2024 Looking for smoke / K.A. Cobell.

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PZ7.1.F5347 Ri 2024 Rise / Freya Finch.

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PZ7.1.K58384 Fr 2024 A friend for Eddy / Ann Kim Ha.

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PZ7.1.Y365 Pri 2022 Private label / Kelly Yang.

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PZ7.1.W3645 Su 2024 Summer at Squee / Andrea Wang.

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Congratulations, Grad Class of 2025!

Congratulations, Grad Class of 2025 Best wishes and good luck, From the Law Library Staff

Open Access Article Publishing at UBC: Annual Report

Open Access Article Publishing at UBC: Annual Report

2023/2024

The Scholarly Communications and Copyright Office has released the 2023/24 Open Access Article Publishing at UBC Report. This report provides an overview of yearly open access (OA) article publishing trends at UBC and seeks to increase transparency around financial conditions for OA article publishing, and to highlight the impact of publisher negotiations on OA at UBC. For more information, or to share feedback please contact scholarly.communications@ubc.ca.

Mental Health Awareness Display in the Law Library

Upcoming Chung | Lind Gallery Closure

“North Shore Pier Construction.” 4 Sept. 1937. University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. The Chung Collection. CC_PH_09370_017_007.

The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection and Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection Gallery will be closed from April 29 to May 17 inclusive due to a nearby construction project in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Normal Gallery hours will resume on Tuesday, May 20. We apologize for any inconvenience!

During the closure, we invite you to browse digitized materials from the Chung and Lind Collections, and enjoy stories from the Chung | Lind Gallery Blog.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the RBSC contact form or by sending an email to rare.books@ubc.ca.