Carleton University’s MacOdrum Library

Carleton’s main library has significant holdings in the major subject areas related to the doctoral program in Cultural Mediations. These can can be consulted on-line. As a supplement to its own book and periodical holdings, the MacOdrum Library offers free interlibrary loan service to faculty and students.

The Library’s serials collection is complemented by free document delivery services of up to 100 articles each year for graduate students from suppliers which can provide access to 31,000 journals. There are also access agreements which extend borrowing privileges to other major institutions, like the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago, and site licences which facilitate on-line access to a variety of research databases.

Carleton University Film, Video, Music and Art History Collections

These collections are housed in the Audio-Visual Resource Centre on the 4th floor of the St. Patrick’s Building.

The Audio-Visual Resource Centre is a 4,880 square foot study and research space with ancillary viewing facilities which serves as a major resource for graduate and undergraduate students and other users.

The film, videotape, laser disc and DVD holdings of the Film Studies program are substantial. There are over 800 16mm films and more than 2,000 videotapes, laserdiscs and DVDs in the collections. These materials are available for classroom screenings, research and study.

The Music program’s collection includes more than 10,000 CDs, cassettes and vinyl recordings of world classical, traditional and popular musics. This material complements the MacOdrum’s Library’s collection of musical scores and recordings. The Canadian part of this collection is the largest outside the Canadian Music Centre.

The Art History slide collection contains more than 200,000 slides, with special strengths in European and North American art, architecture and photography, including works by Canadian and native Canadian artists. The University Art Gallery is a major Art History teaching and research facility that is especially strong in Canadian and Inuit art and houses upwards of 22,000 items.

All collections are particularly strong in areas of faculty research activity. Additions continue to be made to all collections with the support of an annual budget earmarked for acquisitions.

Projection, Playback and Recording Equipment

Regular classrooms in use by the Art History and Film Studies programs contain 16 mm, video, laser disc and slide projection capabilities. Fully modern playback equipment is available for music study and research.

There is also a computer music studio housed in the nearby Loeb Building with both MacIntosh and IBM applications and requisite software and processing modules. The Film Studies program also has state of the art portable viewing equipment for the study and projection of films on videotape, laser disc and DVD formats with NTSC, PAL and SECAM capability.

Two flatbed viewing tables are available for the close study and analysis of both 16 mm and 35 mm film. Carleton can lay claim to one of the best equipped facilities and one of the largest educational collections for the study of art, film and music in Canada.

Laboratory and Computer Facilities

Students in the Cultural Mediations program have individual workstations and access to common computers in the Institute’s facility. The Institute also has an in-house sound recording booth and sound and video editing capability. There is also a computer lab in the St. Patrick’s Building, which houses the participating programs in Art History, Film Studies and Music.

Off-Campus Library Holdings and Resources

The intellectual and cultural resources of the Ottawa area are remarkable.

Ottawa has become well-known for the presence of its high technology firms and its leadership role in the information economy sector. Many of these firms have working relationships or partnerships with Carleton University.

Because it is the nation’s capital, Ottawa is home to various public and private sector research institutes, media outlets and cultural agencies. For example, many Government departments and offices have significant, specialised collections, such as the Department of National Defence, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Library of Parliament, among others.

The National Gallery of Canada has extensive collections of European and Canadian art and photography, along with a collection of films by Canadian artists, many of whom are important figures in avant-garde cinema. The National Gallery and the Canada Council Art Bank also continue to showcase and acquire Canadian and international video art and both have significant libraries on the subject. The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum also house major collections of audio and visual materials available for research and study.

The film archive, library and documentation centre of the Audio-Visual Sector of the National Archives of Canada is another major resource. The Audio-Visual Sector is a full member of the International Federation of Film Archives , is recognized as a world-class film archive and has ties with other film archives around the world for the purposes of loan, exchange and acquisition of materials.

In addition to its vast print collections, the Public Library of Canada has extensive public and private documentation relating to the history of the production and reception of art, film and music in Canada.

Students have access to and borrowing privileges at the University of Ottawa’s Morisset Library, whose holdings complement those at Carleton’s MacOdrum Library, and at Saint Paul University, which houses a major collection in philosophy.

There is a lively film, music, art, theatre and club scene in Ottawa. Artist-run organisations like SAW Gallery or the Independent Filmmakers Coop are prominent in the community. Festivals, exhibitions, and performance groups include the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, an annual jazz festival, an annual blues festival, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, the Making Scenes Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, the One World Film Festival, the Ottawa Art Gallery.