The Ottawa Resource Room (ORR), located on the first floor of Carleton’s MacOdrum Library, had its official grand opening on Feb. 4.
Having been operational for approximately a year, the ORR was created with assistance from the library’s Archives and Research Collections (ARC) and is mandated “to identify existing local Ottawa area resources and to provide enhanced use of local area materials” for use in academic research.
“We have had resources from the City of Ottawa, and I know for a long time they’ve been thinking about putting them in that space,” said Carleton president Roseann Runte.
“Every university is located in a region or a city,” Runte added. “Every university should make those routes strong with the city and the region. The resource room is one way to do that . . . I think it’s good for the region, and it’s good for the university.”
With resources available both physically in the room and online, ORR co-ordinator Monica Ferguson said the initiative is “facilitating ease of access” to information.
“Rather than having to look throughout different spots in the building for something, hopefully it’s one-stop shopping,” Ferguson said. “I’m trying to bundle all things pertaining to the city that are in our collection so that people will have greater access. One of my great wishes is that people studying the city from many different perspectives will meet and realize that they have a common thread.”
With materials including maps and cartographic information, books on Ottawa transit and architectural history, and information from both municipal and federal levels of government, the room focuses on the history of six Ottawa regions: Glebe/Lansdowne, Carleton, Little Italy/Chinatown, Chaudiere/Victoria Island, Parliament Hill, and LeBreton.
“We have a really strong cartographic presence that other collections in the city may not,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been growing our collection since the ’70s.”
The ORR is also assisted by Joel Rivard, a cartographic specialist with the library’s Maps, Data and Government Information Centre (MADGIC).
Though the priority of the use of materials in the ORR goes first to students and local area researchers, the space is open to everyone.
“We have a diverse clientele already, of many different disciplines,” Ferguson said. “And there’s people who just enjoy being in the space, too . . . pretty maps, and it’s got a nice view into the tunnels.”
Aside from being accessed by individual researchers, many professors have been utilizing the resource room for their classes, including a Canadian urban history class taught by Bruce Elliott and a heritage conservation class taught by Susan Ross.
“This space is an invaluable teaching tool that allows for teaching subjects to be more relatable and exciting for the students,’’ Ross has said.
According to Ferguson, “the support has been there” to ensure the ORR remains a permanent fixture at Carleton.
“It’s a work in progress, and I think it’s clearly demonstrating its purpose already,” Ferguson said. “So I’m hopeful that it will continue.”
