Skip to Main Content
"What I like about engineering is how it combines knowledge from so many different areas to solve problems," says Mindy Thuna, head of the newly renovated Engineering & Computer Science Library. (credit: Tyler Irving)

Mindy Thuna is the new head of the recently renovated Engineering & Computer Science Library. Located on the second floor of the Sandford Fleming Building, the library is a key research tool for students and faculty, with a print collection of 200,000 books and 1,200 current journal subscriptions.

Thuna joins U of T Engineering from the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) where she spent 11 years as a science librarian. She sat down with writer Tyler Irving to discuss her role and the new features of the library.


Why did you choose U of T Engineering?

At UTM I worked with researchers in eleven different disciplines. What I like about engineering is how it combines knowledge from so many different areas to solve problems. There is a nice mix of the theoretical and the practical, of so-called pure and applied research.

Can you talk about how libraries are evolving in the information age?

These days, so much information is available via the Internet, and people need to use libraries in different ways. Librarians are not gatekeepers of knowledge, but they are more like troubleshooters. If the route that you’ve learned to get the information you need doesn’t work, we can step in and show you other ways to find it.

For example, many students use Google to find the abstract of a paper and are then asked for money by the journal publisher. Our students should never pay for access because we have subscriptions to all the major journals. Students can access them from wherever they are by starting their search through the links in the library catalogue, which will prompt them to log in to receive the same access they would have on campus.

We also offer online access to a lot of the “grey literature” that engineers need, such as published industry standards, reports from industry associations, government regulations, etc. Most people don’t know about these things until they need to access them, and the library can help with that, whether we own the resource or can order from other libraries through interlibrary loan.

How else does the library serve students and faculty?

Part of it is just being a physical space for students to work in. We just completed a renovation that moved the reference collection to the perimeter walls, opening up space for more individual study carrels with electrical power and individual lighting, as well as some big comfy chairs. The lighting and ceilings were also replaced, which makes the main area of the library much brighter. Going forward, one of the goals for the library is to look at adding spaces where students can work in groups. Engineering students do a lot of multidisciplinary design projects, so they need spaces that are conducive to collaborative work.

We also work with faculty and students, both undergraduate and graduate, directly in their classes to improve their ability to find and assess the information resources they need. Within the University of Toronto Libraries system there are librarians who specialize in research data management, entrepreneurship, geographic information systems and copyright, as well as many other areas.

We are also looking at helping students and faculty members track the impact of their research. Many people have heard of impact factors for journals and h-indexes for specific researchers, but there are many alternate ways — from download counts to social media metrics — to track what audiences their publications are reaching. Librarians can help make researchers more aware of these and how they are used.

What are you most excited about in your new position?

I’m excited to meet the faculty members and students from engineering in all their diverse variety. It’s such a big Faculty, and it’s got a really great energy. I know that I will never be bored in this job.

Media Contact

Fahad Pinto
Communications & Media Relations Strategist
416.978.4498