What I do in the Information Commons
I am the manager of the Information Commons Digital Studio and the Licensed Software Office (LSO). We promote the services of the Information Commons and prepare hardcopy and Web documentation for various products we support. The Digital Studio offers a variety of high-end scanning equipment which includes an oversized (11 x 17) flatbed, an 8.5 x 14 flatbed with an automatic sheet feeder (for OCR scanning), and three slide scanners, which can handle positive or negative film in sizes from 35 mm to 4 x 5 inches. Each workstation is equipped with a CD burner, a Zip and floppy drive. Each workstation also has access to the colour and black and white laser printers located in the Cumputer Access Facility. next door For more information on the Digital Studio visit:
http://www.utoronto.ca/ic/digitalstudio
We use the Information Commons website to describe our services; announce courses; distribute software (via our UTORdist service) and, provide other information of interest to the University community.
You can visit the Information Commons Web site much of which is maintantained by my staff.
The LSO negotiates and administers software license agreements with many vendors in order to decrease overall software costs to the University. The software can be purchased by UofT students, faculty and staff. However, depending on our agreement with the vendor, not all software is available to everyone.
The software available covers a wide range of applications including: communications software; compilers and programing languages; database systems; geographical information systems; hardware packages; integrated desktop packages; LAN systems; mathematical, statistical and scientific packages; operating systems; parallel programming systems; plotting packages; text research; virus protection software; visualization packages; and page (print and web) layout packages.
A list of current products can be found here.
The LSO also offers a CD / DVD volume duplication service.
You can reach me at:
University of Toronto
Information Commons
Robarts Library, First Floor, Room 1017
130 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H1
Phone: 416.978.6875
Fax: 416.971.2896
E-mail: ihor.prociuk@utoronto.ca
The groups I manage are located on the 1st floor of the Robarts Library. If you'd like, you can come and visit my office.
Activities/Projects
The Robert Lansdale Photography Fonds
University of the Toronto Archives
2001 - 2002
The Photographer
Robert Lansdale (b 1931), a Toronto photographer, has had a long and active career as a commercial photographer and photojournalist, beginning with Federal Newsphotos (1953-1961), then with Jack Marshall Ltd (1961-1968) and finally, with his own business, Robert Lansdale Photography Ltd (1968-). Mr. Lansdale received his formal education in photography at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now University) from which he graduated in 1953. In 1967 he became an Accredited Photographer in commercial/industrial photography.
Beginning in the early 1960's, Mr. Lansdale was hired regularly by the University of Toronto to undertake a wide variety of photographic assignments. He worked primarily for the Department of Public Affairs, providing the photographic record required for official promotional and news purposes of the University. The frequency of these assignments resulted in him being recognized by the University community as the "U. of T. photographer".
Mr. Lansdale has won a number of awards: Globe and Mail Spot News trophy, 1956 and 1958, the Graflex of Canada Publicity trophy in 1962 and 1963, Toronto Telegram Sports Photography trophy, 1963 and Eaton's of Canada plaque for best black and white photo in Show, 1956.
About the Robert Lansdale Photography Fonds
This fonds of approximately 50,000 images was donated to the University of Toronto Archives in 1998. It provides a very complete historical record of the university from the mid-1960's to the mid-1980's. Among the portrait photographs are prominent local, regional and national figures such as Northrop Frye, Margaret Atwood, W.O. Mitchell, Margaret Lawrence, Marshall McLuhan, Pauline McGibbon, members of the Royal family, a young Bob Rae as student activist, and presidents of the University from Claude Bissell (1958-1971) to Robert Prichard (1990-2000).
The Digital Studio is scanning the 50,000 negatives at 4,000 dpi using a Polariod 4000 Plus 35mm slide scanner. The images are compressed and burned to CD. Lower resolution versions of the images will be loaded in a searchable database available to anyone at UofT.
Library Council
Incormation Commons Representative
2000--2005
The Library Council meets every month to discuss library related issues including: acquistion of materiel (both hard copy and electronic); preservation of brittle materials; circulation; etc.
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
Access to Student Information Team
Spring 1997
The University has embarked on a project to replace its Student Record System. Three BPR teams were commissioned:
- Access to Information
- Student Accounts Receivable
- Application Process
Each team had broad constituent representation. I was part of the Access to Information Team.
We were given full latitude and support from the University's senior management to design a system that would "enhance the ability to academic and administrative divisions to provide services of exceptional value to our students."
For me, the (BPR) process was as interesting as the final report generated by our Team. I learned valuable team-building and redesigning processes skills.
Working Group on Undergraduate Library Services
Fall 1996
The working Group was asked to develop:
- proposals for improving undergraduate services
- a plan for relocating the collection in the Sigmund Samuel Humanities and Social Sciences Library (now called the Gerstein Science Information Centre) and integrating a major portion of this collection into the Robarts Library.
The undergraduate collection comprises 190,000 items. In 1995/96, approximately 164,000 (from Sigmund Samuel) and 410,000 (from Robarts) loans were to undergraduates.
Other Organizational Activities
HRPAO -- Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario
External Director (1996-1998) (1998-2000) (2000-2001)
HRPAO is a not-for-profit professional association whose services are designed to provide leadership, assistance and education to people working and studying in the field of human resources. This is my third term. The Board has undergone an extensive restructuring process to clearly define the role of the Board and the CEO. During the fall and winter of 2000, the Board has been actively engaged in strategic planning.
I am also a member of their Finance and Audit Committee and the Appeals Committee. The HRPAO website at www.hrpao.org.
HRPAO has an annual operating budget of about $3.1M. There are 27 chapters across Ontario with a total membership just over 10,000. The head office is located in Toronto.
Hobbies and Other Things
Photography
Capturing images of "reality" on photographic film has always intrigued me. A static picture (as opposed to video) allows you to study the moment to seek its inner meaning. Video is much too fleeting. However, some claim that the frozen image gives us too much opportunity to contemplate a slice of time--reality is constantly rushing at us and we seldom have the luxury of freezing any instant and turning it every which way, trying to fit it into some context. Nevertheless, photographs have defined and characterized our history and no doubt will continue to do so for some time.
However, digital cameras have reached the resolution of photographic film and colour ink-jet and laser printers are matching photographic paper results. Various technologies including digital cameras, computers, and DVD are now merging.
Below is my favourite daughter (and as she keeps reminding me, she's my only daughter, duh!). The picture was taken in the fall of 1999 when she was 14.
Camping
Well, we finally managed to go camping this summer ('98). We had a great time!. I put together an album of the entire "expedition". In the summer of 1999 a smaller expedition (Nadya, Dawn, Graham and myself) went camping to Red Squirrel lake north of Temiskaming (about one hour north of North Bay). We found an excellent spot on the edge of a small shallow bay. The site was nice and the swimming was great.
Updated: 2005/12/07
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