Special Info & Musings for Ottawa Information Professionals

Introducing the CLA Ottawa Network

2011-07-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

At the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Library Association (CLA), members voted to revise the CLA Constitution and Bylaws and change the Association's organizational structure. Part of the changes to the structure was the dissolution of the Divisions, including the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services (CASLIS) as well as its chapters and section.

With the adoption of the revised CLA Constitution and Bylaws, Networks have replaced Divisions and Interest Groups as the key units through which members can lead and participate in the professional activities of the Association.

To meet the needs of the library community in Ottawa-Gatineau, a new CLA Ottawa Network has been established to build on the work of the former CLA-CASLIS Ottawa.

For more information, please visit our new website (http://claottawa.wordpress.com) or e-mail us at cla.ottawa.network@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events.

City announces 30-day opportunity to submit nominations to name the new Central Archives Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre

2011-06-01T17:43:00.000-04:00

Ottawa - Due to increased public interest, the City of Ottawa is encouraging residents to submit proposals to commemoratively name the new Central Archives Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre.

Nominees for commemoration should meet at least one (1) of the following criteria:

The nominated individual has demonstrated excellence, courage or exceptional service to the citizens of the City of Ottawa, the Province of Ontario and/or Canada.
The nominated individual has provided extensive community service and has an extraordinary community service record.
The nominated individual has worked to foster equality and reduce discrimination.
The nominated individual is a current City of Ottawa employee, and has made an outstanding contribution to the City of Ottawa unrelated and to outside of his/her job responsibilities, capacity and duties as a City employee.
The nominated individual is a former employee of the City of Ottawa and is to be recognized for exceptional service unrelated to and outside of his/her job responsibilities, capacity and duties as a former City employee.
The nominated individual has made a significant financial contribution to a park or facility, and the contribution significantly benefits the community that the park or facility serves (i.e. the park or facility may not have otherwise been possible without the financial assistance).
The nominated name has historical significance to the community, City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario or Canada.

The new Central Archives Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre.is located at 100 Tallwood Drive (corner of Woodroffe Avenue).

Commemorative naming proposals for this facility must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, 2011. All of the names submitted will be vetted in accordance with the Commemorative Naming Policy, then be listed for 60 days of public consultation, in accordance with Policy guidelines . Eligible submissions and the results of the public consultation will be reviewed by the Commemorative Naming Committee and a recommendation will be made to the Community and Protective Services Committee and City Council in September.

If you would like to submit a name for consideration or require any further information, send an e-mail to namingottawa@ottawa.caor call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401).

Annual General Meeting

2011-04-26T08:33:00.001-04:00

You are invited to the 2010-2011 CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Annual General Meeting at the Exchange Pub & Restaurant.

Following a brief business meeting, enjoy an assortment of appetizers and networking with fellow information professionals. If the CLA restructuring plan is approved, this will be our last AGM. We hope to see many of you that evening to thank you for all your support over our 37 years. Not to worry though, CLA will continue to provide professional development and social events in the National Capital Region in the upcoming year.

When: Wednesday, May 11, 5:30 pm

Where: The Exchange Pub & Restaurant, Rideau Centre, 50 Rideau St. (Lower Level)

Cost: Free for CLA members; $20 for non-members, $10 students

Please RSVP to rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca by May 9 with your name and membership/student status.

Event at Carelton University

2011-03-25T09:29:00.000-04:00

Publishing and sharing research data

Monday April 4, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
MacOdrum Library, Room 102

General public talk: “Data Connections: serendipitous discovery of useful data,” delivered by Monica Omodei, Senior Research Analyst with the Australian National Data Commons.

Abstract

To build a window onto the Australian Research Data Commons, the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) has established a national registry of data collections and a discovery portal called Research Data Australia. It is designed to allow researchers and research organisations to publish research data and to allow prospective users to discover the data and evaluate its applicability. Discovery may take place through keyword searching and shared concepts and entities. This paper describes some of the infrastructure projects that ANDS has funded in partnership with other national agencies and how we are facilitating the inclusion of these concepts and relationships in the data descriptions provided to us by universities, institutes and government agencies.

The talk will be a brown bag luncheon event with refreshments provided.

Please RSVP to rsvp_library@carleton.ca by April 1^st.

RDA for all of us!

2011-03-21T15:21:00.002-04:00

RDA, the cataloguing standard developed to replace AACR2, was published in June 2010.
How will these changes in cataloguing affect your work and your clients?
What does it mean for cataloguing and non-cataloguing staff?

Don’t panic; come to RDA for all of us!

This information session will give an overview of RDA, a very brief introduction to FRBR and FRAD (the conceptual models that underpin RDA), and plans for implementation.

Speaker, Laura May has been Information Standards Specialist at Library and Archives Canada since 2009, where she is actively engaged in the development of RDA. She also serves as secretary to the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing. Previously, she has held positions in cataloguing at Concordia University Libraries in Montreal, Ryerson University Library in Toronto, and the Library of Parliament.

Where: Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch Auditorium
When: April 5th 1pm

Price:
CLA Members - $20
CLA Student Members - $10
New Professionals (those working in the field for less than two years) - $15
Non-members - $30
Student Non-members - $15
Members of other professional associations (SLA, LANCR, OALT, etc.) - $25
Please RSVP by Friday April 1st
To register, please send an e-mail with your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

Event: There’s an App for That: or Going Mobile with your Library

2011-02-24T18:10:00.002-05:00

Join us for an overview about mobile applications for libraries. The talk will be lead by Chris Simmons, from the Ottawa Public Library. OPL is in the midst of implementing mobile applications and Chris will be able to share with you some things to consider if you want to go mobile with your library. The talk will cover items such as the difference between web sites and mobile applications, what is the benefit of having an app over a mobile web site, what are the technologies being used and what extra capabilities can phones offer to enhance a library’s online presence or physical space.

Speaker: Chris Simmons, Librarian, Digital Services (Ottawa Public Library)
When: Wednesday March 9, 2011, 1:00-3:00pm
Where: Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe, Auditorium

Price:

CLA Members - $20
CLA Student Members - $10
New Professionals (those working in the field for less than two years) - $15
Non-members - $30
Student Non-members - $15
Members of other professional associations (SLA, LANCR, OALT, etc.) - $25

To register, please send an e-mail with your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

If you require a receipt for this event please include a request with your RSVP before Friday March 4, 2011.

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Ottawa at info@caslisottawa.on.ca

Invitation to Complete the 2011 Salary Survey

2011-02-19T15:22:00.002-05:00

Dear colleagues,

The CLA-CASLIS Government Section is pleased to invite you to complete 2011 Salary Survey.

http://app.fluidsurveys.com/s/2011-salary-survey/

We encourage you to complete the survey by the due date April 4, 2011. The higher the response rate, the better the final product will be in accurately portraying the benefits and remuneration of the members of the Canadian library and information management community.

All information provided will be held in confidence and reported in such a way that no individual can be identified. The survey tool being used, FluidSurveys, is a Canadian company with all data servers hosted in Canada.

The results of the Survey will be available in May 2011.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Please feel free to forward this invitation to your colleagues in the Canadian library and information management community.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the Section by e-mail at caslis.govlib@gmail.com

Note: Although the 2011 Salary Survey is a CLA-CASLIS Government Section initiative, all members of the Canadian library and information management community are encouraged to contribute.

New issue of LAC's Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

2011-02-19T15:06:00.000-05:00

The latest issue (February 2011) of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World from Library and Archives Canada is out .

To check it out in French or Engish:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/government/news-events/007001-1000-e.html Home Page

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/007001/f2/007001-110200-e.pdf February Issue

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gouvernement/nouvelles-evenements/007001-1000-f.html Page d' accueil

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/007001/f2/007001-110200-f.pdf Bulletin d' février

New Ottawa Public Library Board Members

2011-02-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

At the January 26, 2011 meeting, Ottawa City Council approve the following appointments to the Ottawa Public Library Board:

André Bergeron
Jim Bennett
David Gourlay
Christine Langlois
Amelita Armit
Patrick Gauch
Danielle Lussier-Meek
Rose Zeidan
John Reid (reserve 1)
Andrew Moonsammy (reserve 2)
Wynn Quon (reserve 3)

They join the six city councillors who were appointed at the December 15, 2010 meeting of City Council:

Councillor Keith Egli
Councillor Jan Harder
Councillor Shad Qadri
Councillor Doug Thompson
Councillor Tim Tierney
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson

January Session: Open data, data flows and bottlenecks

2011-01-07T13:12:00.001-05:00

Join us for a discussion of the benefits and challenges of living in a world increasingly fuelled by easily available and often insightful data. Access to data of all kinds is fuelling new models of business, increasing political accountability and encouraging individuals to take on local and global problems from the comfort of their keyboard. It is also forcing Canadians to debate – for the first time – fundamental concepts like privacy, transparency and accountability.

Speaker: Colin McKay, Director of Research, Education and Outreach, Office of the Privacy Commissioner

As Director of Research, Education and Outreach at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Colin and his team work on simple solutions that encourage Canadians to really think about how their identify is shaped by their own actions, by the intervention of the state, and through everyday interaction with commercial organizations. They look to research in sociology, law, technology and economics to anticipate challenges to the privacy rights of Canadians.

When: Tuesday, January 18th, 2011, 1-4pm
Where: Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe, Auditorium
Cost:

CLA Members - $20
CLA Student Members - $10
New Professionals (those working in the field for less than two years) - $15
Non-members - $30
Student Non-members - $15
Members of other professional associations (SLA, LANCR, OALT, etc.) - $25

To register, please send an e-mail with your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

If you require a receipt for this event please include a request with your RSVP before Friday January 14, 2011.

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Ottawa at info@caslisottawa.on.ca

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa and LANCR Annual Holiday Event

2010-11-29T06:10:00.000-05:00

Monday, December 13, 2010, 6:00 pm
Savana Café, 431 Gilmour Street

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa and LANCR / ABRCN invite you to kick off the festive season in style!

It’s time once more for Ottawa’s information professionals to get together to celebrate the season! Catch up with old friends, meet new people, and network, network, network!

Come share a cocktail with us at Ottawa’s original “Fusion Restaurant”. Savana Café is known for offering tropical cuisine inspired by flavours and spices from the Caribbean and South-East Asia. Sit by the fireplace and enjoy.

A 50/50 draw will be held. 50% of funds raised go to the charity of the winner’s choice! Tickets are: 1 for $2, 3 for $5 and an arm’s length for $10.

Please note non-alcoholic drinks are also available.

When: Monday, 13 December 2010, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: Savana Café, 431 Gilmour Street

Cost:

CLA or LANCR Members - $20
Non-members - $30
CLA Student Members - $10
Student Non-members - $20

Note: drinks are not included in the price.

Please RSVP sending your name and membership/student status, by Wednesday, December 6, 2010 to rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca

Here are some snacks to tantalize you…

Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chili Lime Caramel
Crispy Eggplant Yakitori with Soy Ginger Glaze, Corriander, Crushed Cashew
Shitake and Ginger Spring Rolls
Golden Beets, Chevre, Shallot Raisin Jam, Chive and a pappadom chip
Tempura Avocado, soy gelee, truffle oil and lime
Vegetable nori maki rolls with cucumber, sweet potatoe, tempura flake, bokchoy and dynamite sauce (sauce contains tobiko-fish roe)
Bara bread dumpling with chickpea curry, tamarind, corriander, hot pepper sauce
Tostones (fried plantain chip) with fresh cheese, grape tomatoes, sweet basil, maldon salt
“Mini Cheese and Chutney” Grilled Sandwiches
Curried Prawn, Coconut and Cucumber on a spoon
Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Événement : Ose-t-on parler d’un « bibliothétiquetage » ? Vers une participation active des utilisateurs

2010-11-02T06:41:00.000-04:00

Vendredi, le 19 novembre 2010, de midi à 13 h
Bibliothéque publique d'Ottawa, Auditorium (120, rue Metcalfe)

Depuis des années, les bibliothécaires constatent l’utilité de permettre aux utilisateurs une participation à l’organisation de l’information proposée en ligne ; en 2007 déjà, le rapport sur les principes de pré-coordination dans les vedettes-matières de la Bibliothèquedu Congrès (LCSH) signalait à plusieurs reprises l’intérêt de l’application des étiquettes d’utilisateurs aux documents dans l’OPAC. Dans une optique de collaboration avec nos utilisateurs, il nous sera utile de considérer leurs attentes par rapport à l’organisation de l’information et à sa manipulation (capacité d’étiqueter, de commenter, de partager et/ou de sauvegarder) sur les sites Web des bibliothèques dans la nouvelle décennie.

Cette communication commencera par un survol de l’état actuel des systèmes d’étiquetage disponibles en ligne et auxquels nos utilisateurs auront eu affaire en tant qu’internautes. Dans un deuxième temps, cette communication recensera les systèmes d’étiquetage disponibles dans les portails de bibliothèques au Canada, aux États-Unis et en Europe. Que permettons-nous aux utilisateurs comparativement aux sites Web au sens plus large, et devrons-nous essayer d’aller encore plus loin en incitant nos utilisateurs à une participation active ?

******************************************************************

Professeure Heather Moulaison est professeure adjointe à l'École des sciences de l'information. Elle enseigne des cours dans le domaine de l'organisation de l'information. Ses principaux champs d'intérêt comprennent les réseaux sociaux et les étiquettes, la bibliothéconomie comparée et les bibliothèques numériques. Elle publie et présente des communications sur ses sujets d'intérêt à des colloques locaux, nationaux et internationaux.

Quand? Vendredi, le 19 novembre 2010, de midi à 13 h
Où? Bibliothéque publique d'Ottawa, Auditorium (120, rue Metcalfe)

Coût :

Membres de CLA/ACB : 15$
Membres de CLA/ACB (étudiants) : 5$
Membres de CLA/ACB (nouveaux diplômés) : 10$
Non-membres : 25$
Non-membres (étudiants) : 10$
Membres individuels d'autres associations (ASTED, CBPQ, SLA, ABRCN, ABO, etc) : 20$

Des rafraîchissements seront servis.

Pour vous inscrire, veuillez envoyer votre nom et votre statut de membre/étudiant à rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca

Si vous désirez un reçu, s'il vous plaît inclure une demande avec votre RSVP avant le 17 novembre.

Pour de plus amples informations, communiquez par courriel avec info@caslisottawa.on.ca

Event: Who asked what, when? Why and how to keep track of reference questions

2010-09-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 1:30 pm
Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe

Please join us for a panel presentation and discussion about keeping track of reference questions. Our presenters will talk about the software they use to track their questions, what works well and what is less effective. We will open up the floor at the end of the session for a general discussion about tracking reference questions and what libraries should think about before implementing their own system.

Speakers:

Pierre Beaudreau, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (using CallBase call centre software)
Debra Conner, Canadian Housing Information Centre, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (using Lotus Notes)
Giovanna Gossage and Peter Forrest, Service Canada & HRSDC (using Microsoft Access)

When: Wednesday, October 6, 2010, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Where: Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch Auditorium (120 Metcalfe)

Cost:

CLA Members - $20
CLA Student Members - $10
New Professionals (those working in the field for less than two years) - $15
Non-members - $30
Student Non-members - $15
Members of other professional associations (SLA, LANCR, OALT, etc.) - $25

To register, please send an e-mail with your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

If you require a receipt for this event please include a request with your RSVP before October 5, 2010.

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Ottawa at info@caslisottawa.on.ca

2009-10 Programming Season Launch

2010-09-14T19:37:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 23, 2010, 5:30 pm
Raw Sugar Café, 692 Somerset St W (near Bronson)

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa invites you to the launch of our new season of programs at the Raw Sugar Café! Join us for some conversation and snacks.

We have exciting learning and networking events planned for the next year and would love to share them with you.

Come get a sneak preview of our events for the year and enjoy an evening of socializing and networking with your colleagues.

And if you have ideas for future activities or would like to be involved, the CLA-CASLIS Ottawa executive wants to hear from you!

Networking over snacks – what could be finer?

When: Thursday, September 23, 2010, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Where: Raw Sugar Café, 692 Somerset St W (near Bronson)
Cost:

Free. Snacks will be provided. Additional Food and drinks available for purchase.

To register, please send an e-mail to rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Ottawa at info@caslisottawa.on.ca

Call for Submissions: The NCR Fall IM Days

2010-08-30T18:21:00.002-04:00

The ARMA NCR Fall conference creates an opportunity for all of the private and public IM functional community to gather, share and learn from each other. This conference will provide the NCR with a chance to discuss “Information Culture.”

Information Culture deals with methods, approaches, techniques and contemporary technologies that can be used to influence the way people work. Information Culture: Managing for Today, Preparing for tomorrow will be the place to meet and discuss new ways of ensuring that IM not only remains relevant to clients but that it is also a strong, vibrant domain within the work culture.

Submission deadline: Friday September 3^rd, 2010. For information on the submission process visit: Call for Submissions: The NCR Fall IM Days

For more information, please visit www.imdays.ca

*Please note the PDF indicates an incorrect submission deadline at the bottom; the correct deadline is the one stated at the beginning - September 3rd*

2010 Librarians Run for the Cure Team – Join Now!

2010-08-23T12:37:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the Librarians Run for the Cure Team! Over $120,000 raised over our 6 years of participation!

On Sunday, October 3rd, 2010, join us in our 7th year and run or walk as a member of the Librarians Run for the Cure Team. We have Team members in place in Edmonton, Ottawa/Gatineau, Thunder Bay, and Toronto. Be the first to start a group at your run site! Gather a group from your workplace!

Register here and select “Join an Existing Team” and search for “Librarians” during the registration process: http://tinyurl.com/2cz4n6j

You can register now and choose to pay the registration fee later. If you raise $150 in donations, the $40 registration fee is waived. All library staff and library supporters are welcome to join the Team.

Please contact me with any questions and join our Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2268208421

Looking forward to another successful year!

Pam

Pam Ryan
Librarians Run for the Cure Team Captain
pam.ryan@ualberta.ca

Terri Tomchyshyn named SIM Outstanding Alumna 2010

2010-08-18T22:10:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Past-President Terri Tomchyshyn on being named Dalhousie's School of Information Management Outstanding Alumna 2010.

Dalhousie University School of Information Management Announcement

The School of Information Management is delighted to announce that the Associated Alumni has awarded this year’s Outstanding Alumni Award to Terri Tomchyshyn (MLS 1981).

Terri is currently the Head of a Special Library within the Department of National Defence. Her professional experience has included positions with academic, public and government libraries, professional organizations and vendors. While residing in Nova Scotia, Terri worked as a librarian at the Killam Library and later as a reference librarian for the Nova Scotia Provincial Library, where she participated in the telephone legal enquiry service for the Nova Scotia Public Legal Education Association. She later served as Legal Services Librarian for the Saskatoon Public Library. Terri has held positions with Human Resources Development Canada, as Manager of the Canadian Clearinghouse on Disability Issues and later with the National Literacy Secretariat. Her career includes a period as account manager for a library vendor.

Terri has served in a variety of capacities with professional organizations such as the Canadian Library Association, where she currently holds a position on the Finance Committee. She was Chair of the Task Force on Interest Group Revitalization (2009-2010) and Treasurer and Executive Council Member (2006-2009). In 2005-2006, Terri was President of CASLIS (Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services), Ottawa Chapter. Terri has been a member of the Budget Analysis & Review Committee of the American Library Association as well as past Chair of their Literacy Assembly. She has been a frequent contributor to library association publications and a well-respected conference presenter.

As one of her nominators writes, Terri Tomchyshyn “exemplifies the values that make stellar librarians and leaders in the field. She is enthusiastic about the profession; willing to share what she has learned…” Comments about Terri’s commitment to mentoring students, staff and colleagues abound, from her shepherding new graduates through their first professional conference, to her role as Librarian Visitor-in-Residence for the Dalhousie School of Information Management in 2005. To quote a colleague, “Terri is an individual who will inspire the upcoming library students to spread their wings and experience the rich and fulfilling life of an information professional/librarian.”

Please join us to honour Terri Tomchyshyn on Thursday, September 23rd in the Executive Training Suite, Room 3089, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue, 7 p.m. At this event we will also be welcoming new students and saluting the Class of 1985.

Thank you to the 2010 Associated Alumni Outstanding Alumni Award Selection Committee members, Ingrid Langhammer, Christina Warren, Ilga Leja, Gillian Byrne and Chair Louise Hamel.

For more information:

Collette Saunders, Associated Alumni Chair 2010 – 11
collettesaunders@hotmail.com

Call for Proposals: Canadian Library Association 2011 Conference

2010-08-15T14:39:00.000-04:00

The 66th Canadian Library Association (CLA) National Conference and Trade Show will be held in Halifax from Wednesday, May 25 to Saturday, May 28, 2011.

CLA is pleased to invite librarians and other interested parties to propose program submissions for this national event.

Proposals are being solicited on any topic relevant to the Canadian library and information professional community. The conference has no set theme, and there are no defined subject streams – proposals on all topics of professional interest will be considered. The Program Committee would like to encourage proposals which express innovative and creative ways for presenting information to delegates.

Sessions may be presented in any format: panels of speakers, single speakers, round-table discussions, debates, “un-conference” session, interviews – let your imagination guide you! The only restriction is time: you may request either a 60 minute or 90 minute slot in the schedule.

Poster presentations are also being solicited. These presentations take the form of display boards, with presenters available for one-to-one discussion with delegates at a specified time. Again, any topic of broad interest to the library and information profession will be considered.

All proposals will be reviewed by the CLA Conference Program Committee. The submission deadline is October 1, 2010.

Please visit the conference website for more information.

CLA Submission to Federal Digital Economy Consultation

2010-07-13T16:58:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Library Association has made a submission to the federal government’s Digital Economy Consultation.

The consultation is being conducted jointly by Industry Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and Canadian Heritage.

All submissions and consultation documents can be found at: http://de-en.gc.ca/en/home/

Summary of Key Messages

Improving the digital literacy of all Canadians must be priority of governments, starting with school age children. School libraries and librarians are uniquely positioned to provide this training in schools.
Licensed electronic resources that students learn to use in school must be available to these same students as adults through libraries and through places of work.
The Government of Canada should ensure that it invests in the Canadian public as a key strategy in the development of a digital economy. Libraries and librarians can assist, using their expertise to ensure that, when they search the web, Canadians are more likely to discover Canadian services and content.
The Government of Canada should strengthen Canadian culture and heritage by making it easier for Canadians to find valuable heritage material on-line. This will give Canadians more reasons why they should become digitally literate, allowing them to use computers for other purposes.
Digital locks, as proposed in Bill-32, will act as a brake on the development of new applications and services. Allowing copyright holders the almost unlimited ability to determine how their products will be used creates a digital economy that cannot be monitored or regulated in the public interest.
The demand for greater broadband access is not a rural issue alone. Canadians who live in poverty, new Canadians, and people with special needs tend to congregate in Canada’s cities. While broadband may technically be available in those cities, it is not available to many urban or rural Canadians without public access computing. Canada’s Community Access Program needs to be strengthened and guaranteed on an on-going basis.
The explosion of social networking services and the anticipated explosion of the use of on-line productivity tools mean that today’s acceptable broadband access will soon become far too slow for many Canadians.
All levels of government in Canada are committed to ensure that Canadians, regardless of special or unique needs, have equitable access to information and services. ICT offers unprecedented potential to make information and services available. So far, government commitment to accessibility has not been matched by any commitment to fund the transition to equitable and accessible service. We encourage the Government of Canada to support the goals of accessible and equitable information services with realistic targets based on funding.
Agencies and departments of the Government of Canada commonly tell people that they can access government forms, documents and services through a website or through libraries. People who then come to libraries become angry at library staff for not instantly providing them with the forms they had been told were available. The Government of Canada needs to work with CLA to develop model service agreements for government services in libraries.
Improving Canada’s Digital Advantage frequently mentions the necessity of governments to act as model users of ICT. The Government of Canada has the opportunity to become a model by ensuring that the public sector data and information it collects is openly accessible, using open standards that can be migrated to any software platform.
Research that is supported, even in part, by public funding should be visible to all, with an embargo period of no more than six months.

Concluding Comments

The Canadian Library Association agrees in principle with the directions outlined in Improving Canada’s Digital Advantage. We believe that Canada’s libraries can and should play an important role in the development of a stronger digital economy. At the same time, we feel that Improving Canada’s Digital Advantage places too little emphasis on individual Canadians as consumers of digital services and on the value of content and roadmaps to assist Canadians.

The Canadian Library Association has long maintained that Canada needs to place as much emphasis on the content of the broadband highway it is creating as it does on the highway itself. If not, Canada runs the risk that the highway we build will direct Canadians to other countries and to other economies.

REMINDER: CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Annual General Meeting and Reception

2010-06-03T17:03:00.001-04:00

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Annual General Meeting and Reception

Please register by Friday June 4th @ rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca

When: Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: b/Side Wine and Small Plates, 323 Somerset St. West, Ottawa

You are invited to attend the CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Annual General Meeting (AGM) and reception.

Meet the current CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Executive members, hear a report about our activities in the past year, and join in the discussion about the future of CLA and how you can help shape that future.

The meeting will be followed by a reception. Enjoy the evening with friends old and new over hors d’oeuvres provided by CLA-CASLIS Ottawa.

Hors d’oeuvres provided; cash bar.

Cost: This is a FREE event to all current members of CLA-CASLIS Ottawa.
Non-members $20

Non-Member Students $10

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Ottawa at

info@caslisottawa.on.ca

2010-05-24T16:57:00.000-04:00

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Annual General Meeting and Reception

When: Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: b/Side Wine and Small Plates, 323 Somerset St. West, Ottawa

Cost: This is a FREE event to all current members of CLA-CASLIS Ottawa.
Non-members $20

Non-Member Students $10

When: Tuesday, June 8, 2010, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: b/Side Wine and Small Plates <http://www.bsidewine.com/>, 323 Somerset St. West

To register, please send an e-mail by June 4th to
rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Ottawa at
info@caslisottawa.on.ca

Ottawa Public Library Wins CLA/3M Canada Award for Achievement in Technical Services

2010-05-17T17:05:00.000-04:00

(Ottawa, May 17, 2010) The 2010 winner of the CLA/3M Canada Award for Achievement in Technical Services is the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) for the project “New Cataloguing Strategy for World Languages Material”.

In 2008 and 2009, the Technical Services department at the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) undertook several projects the objective of which was to improve our capacity to provide responsive services. One project that the department developed was a “New Cataloguing Strategy for World Languages Material”. Its aim was to address the problems encountered by newcomers when they search the catalogue for material in their native language, and how they find that material on the shelves. The new strategy involved the department taking advantage of the native language skills that the staff had for 4 of the 11, languages that were acquired during that year. These 4 languages happened to be the most in demand by newcomers which were Chinese, Persian, Arabic and Russia.

The department applied the “touch an item once” policy for world language cataloguing. Brief record templates were created for all original cataloguing. This significantly reduced the time it took for an item to reach the shelves. Cataloguers were instructed to work on 5to 10 titles every day, so that there would always be new titles showing up on the new titles list available from the website. Vernacular script was keyed in for every title, if it was not included in the copy record. A list of most popular subjects that were acquired by the library was created. Instead of a call number, every non-fiction title got a subject from that list for the call number. For other languages, and wherever possible, the technical services department requested bibliographic records with vernacular script from the vendors, which were uploaded into the database. The new titles catalogued were made available through the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) website, by linking to new arrivals by language. The titles are displayed in their original language, which made it easier to reserve an item. Cataloguers with native language skills also collaborated with the Collection Development department on the selection of materials, and communication with vendors to ensure better selections are sent to Ottawa Public Library (OPL).

The results of the new strategy for cataloguing world language materials were:

Circulation of Arabic material increased by 70% in 2009, circulation of Russian material increased by 33% over 2008 and circulation Persian material increased by 9% over the previous year. BiblioCommons the new interface for the Public Access Catalogue was launched in the fall of 2009, this new interface to the catalogue allows for searching by vernacular script, and patrons noticed this new feature and they wrote to Ottawa Public Library (OPL) to express how pleased they were with this new functionality.

The purpose of the award is to recognize achievement in technical services in order to:

Encourage innovation and excellence;
Share new ideas or innovative approaches to technical services problems with other libraries so that they can incorporate them or build on them, as appropriate;
Foster high morale in technical services units; and
Raise the profile of technical services within individual libraries and across the Canadian library community.

The selection committee felt that Ottawa Public Library (OPL) has achieved these aims, and we are pleased to present the award to this innovative team.

The Ottawa Public Library will receive the CLA/3M Canada Award for Achievement in Technical Services during the "Shaping Tomorrow's Metadata with RDA" pre-conference on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Congratulations to the Ottawa Public Library (OPL).

- 30 -

Media Contact: Marcia Salmon
Email: msalmon@yorku.ca

LWB-CLA Event: Putting Information in the Hands of the World

2010-05-12T19:30:00.000-04:00

Putting Information in the
Hands of the World

Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Ottawa Public Library Auditorium (120 Metcalfe)

Librarians Without Borders (LWB) is a non-profit organization that strives to improve access to information resources regardless of language, geography, or religion, by forming partnerships with community organizations in developing regions.

The LWB Student Committees are involved in local and international information access projects. LWB has undertaken these projects in order to improve access to information for the people in these communities. Over the past year the student chapters have been engaged in a number of projects to build libraries in Canada, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

Come find out about these amazing projects and how MLIS students are helping to put information in the hands of the world!

Speakers:

Representatives from the Student Committees at the University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto and McGill University.

**********************************

When: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Where: Ottawa Public Library Auditorium (120 Metcalfe)

Admission to this event is by donation. Suggested amount: $5 - $10. Donors will have the chance to win a copy of Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson.

All proceeds from this event will go to Librarians Without Borders.

Register at http://tinyurl.com/lwb-2010

For more information, please contact caslis.govlib@gmail.com

Disclaimer:
Librarians Without Borders is not in any way associated with Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders.

Federal Libraries Network Receives IM Award

2010-04-26T08:09:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the Canadian Federal Libraries Strategic Network on being named a winner of the 2010 Information Management (IM) Community Recognition Award in the “Community Building” Category.

The award will be presented on May 27, 2010 at a Gala Dinner during the DPI Professional Development Week (PDW).

About the Canadian Federal Libraries Strategic Network
The Canadian Federal Libraries Strategic Network grew out of a desire on the part of federal government librarians to have their own organization to allow for collaboration and the exchange of ideas as well as to give them a voice representing their community of practice. Out of an initial meeting in January 2009, the first tentative steps were taken, followed by the intensive process of creating the terms of reference and a structure for a broad-based organization. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of many of the members, the group was able to begin producing submissions for the DG Working Group of the ADM Task Force on the Future of Federal Libraries within less than a year of that first meeting.

About the Information Management (IM) Community Recognition Award
The annual IM Community Recognition Award was conceived to honour excellence in shared IM practices. It recognizes those individuals and groups who have helped build and reinforce a cohesive community, and who have created work that can be shared and re-used within government. It also recognizes those who have used innovative methods and demonstrated leadership in IM.

The Community building award recognize individuals or teams who, through their ongoing commitment, have worked with others to address critical IM community issues by exhibiting cooperative and collaborative approaches and/or by establishing strategic partnerships.

Thank you to our volunteers!

2010-04-20T21:34:00.000-04:00

It’s National Volunteer Week! The Canadian Library Association would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the achievements, dedication and hard work of the hundreds of volunteers who contribute their time and energy to make a difference in our association. CLA recognizes the efforts of our volunteers who serve in many different capacities, including in elected positions, on committees, task forces, award juries, as conference volunteers and representatives to partner organizations. These selfless individuals give countless hours of their time and share their wisdom and leadership skills – they truly are the backbone of CLA!

We would also like to recognize the contribution of the many institutions in all sectors which employ these volunteers, and which provide them with the support they need to take vital leadership roles in the activities of the association. Thank you for lending us your great staff!

Across Canada in the past year, 12.5 million volunteers dedicated 2.1 billion hours of their time to make a difference in our world. If your organizations relies on the efforts of volunteers, take time this week to say “Thanks – you make a difference!”

Thank you to all of the dedicated volunteers of the Canadian Library Association! You make a difference for all libraries and library users across the country!

John Teskey
President
Canadian Library Association (CLA)

Allison Kelley of CRKN named 2010 CACUL New Academic Librarian of the Year

2010-04-19T07:49:00.000-04:00

(Ottawa, April 19, 2010) The Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) is pleased to announce that the winner of the New Academic Librarian of the Year Award for 2010 is Allison Kelley.

As the Member Services Officer for the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), Ms. Kelley is instrumental in the delivery of innovative services on a national scale. CRKN’s mission is to expand digital content for the academic research enterprise in Canada through the coordinated leadership of librarians, researchers, and administrators at 73 member universities. The challenge of Ms. Kelley’s position lies not only in the large number of institutions and individuals, but also in the constantly changing nature of electronic publishing.

Undaunted, Ms. Kelley successfully led the development of an innovative web-based license information module that has received accolades from collections managers across the country. Further, she has fostered a network of strong working relationships that unite academic libraries of all sizes from all regions, all the while addressing their diverse needs as well as their common goals. As her nominator wrote, “Allison exemplifies the collaborative spirit and cutting-edge knowledge that are the foundation of Canadian academic library innovation.”

Ms. Kelley graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree in 2006.

Generously sponsored by Ebsco, the New Academic Librarian of the Year Award recognizes innovative ideas and initiatives brought to life by Canadian academic librarians who have completed their MLIS or equivalent within the last five years. The New Academic Librarian of the Year Award will be presented at the CACUL Annual General Meeting on Friday, June 4, during the CLA National Conference in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) is a division of the Canadian Library Association (CLA). CLA is a national association representing the interests of public, academic, school and special libraries, professional librarians, library workers, and all those concerned about enhancing the quality of life for Canadians through information and literacy. For details, visit www.cla.ca.

Kudos from the Canadian Library Association

2010-04-15T17:51:00.000-04:00

The 2010 Canadian Library Association National Conference and Tradeshow is less than 2 months away.

In the lead up to Canada’s premier event for the library and information community, CLA and its units have started announcing the winners of the various awards presented each year to recognize the contributions of members of the Canadian library and information community.

The awards announced so far:

CAPL/Brodart Outstanding Public Library Service Award – Beth Hovius

Book Awards

Book of the Year for Children Award – Watching Jimmy
Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award – Perfect Snow
Young Adult Canadian Book Award – Wondrous Strange

Register Now! Becoming Evidence Based: A Research in Practice Mini-Conference

2010-04-10T17:03:00.000-04:00

Registration is open for Becoming Evidence Based: A Research in Practice Mini-Conference, a half day pre-conference workshop brought to you by the Evidence Based Librarianship Interest Group (EBLIG) held in conjunction with the Canadian Library Association 2010 Conference and Trade Show in Edmonton, Alberta, June 2-5.

Program overview

This event focuses on evidence based practice and its incorporation into professional decision making and will introduce attendees to the current dialogue and research in EBP through contributed papers and discussions.

Keynote presentation

Using Qualitative Evidence in Library and Information Practice
by Lisa M. Given, Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta.

Where does qualitative research “fit” within evidence-based practice? This question forms the basis of many conversations about the nature of evidence in LIS – and in other disciplines that take an evidence-based approach to decision making, policy design and service implementation. As evidence-based practice grows and evolves, so too does our thinking about the nature of qualitative research and its place in shaping “best practices.” Across disciplines, scholars and practitioners have been developing new ways of assessing and using qualitative research. However, these assessment models have not been without controversy; while some call for the integration of qualitative research into existing hierarchies of evidence, others call for the removal of the qualitative paradigm from systems best suited to clinical/experimental modes of research. What can we learn from these debates? How, then, should LIS professionals integrate qualitative findings into their daily practice? This talk will address these questions and propose possible solutions given the current discourse of qualitative ‘evidence.’

Contributed paper presentations

Using a quick survey to inform library renovation decisions
by Marcus Vaska, Rachel Chan, and Susan Powelson, Health Sciences Library, Libraries and Cultural Resources, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
presented by Susan Powelson.

Making a Website Make Sense: Gathering Evidence through Usability Testing
by Virginia Wilson, SHIRP Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Developing librarians’ evidence-based practice (EBP) skills through the Putting Evidence into Practice (PEP) Workshops
by Trish Chatterley, John W. Scott Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta, and Lisa Tjosvold, John W. Scott Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta and ACHORD, Edmonton, Alberta.

General Information

Date and time: Wednesday, June 2nd, from 1-5 p.m.
Location: Stanley A. Milner Branch, Edmonton Public Library (7 Sir Winston Churchill Square)

Registration Fee:
(Includes refreshment break)

EBLIG Members: $35.00
CLA members: $45.00
Non-members: $70.00

For more information and to register, please visit http://www.cla.ca/conference/2010/.

EBLIG invites you to join us for appetizers and drinks following the workshop at the 100 Bar + Kitchen (10009-101A Ave). Please RSVP to Sue Fahey.

Career Opportunities

2010-04-10T17:02:00.002-04:00

Jobs posted on the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site this week:

Research Associate (Korn/Ferry International, Toronto ON)

Student Librarian (Summer position) (Nunavut Arctic College, Iqaluit NU)

Librarian, Digital Projects (The University of British Columbia Library, Vancouver BC)

Reference and Instruction Librarian (University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George BC)

Laurier/Nipissing Brantford Liaison Librarian (Wilfrid Laurier University and Nipissing University, Brantford ON)

Are you an employer looking to hire an information professional? Publish your career opportunity on the Canadian Library Association website!

Career advertising on CLA Job Search ranks as the highest viewed page (after the homepage) on the CLA website. With over 16,000 pageviews per month your career ad is sure to be seen!

NRC-CISTI Transformation Update

2010-04-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

(This message was posted to the Federal Libraries list.)

NRC-CISTI Transformation Update

The following is an update on the progress of NRC-CISTI’s transformation.

We are now well into the implementation phase of the following key elements:

Providing access to NRC-CISTI’s global scientific, technical and medical content

As mentioned in my November update, one of the key elements of the new organization is our partnership with Infotrieve Canada, Inc to provide access to NRC-CISTI’s global scientific, technical and medical (STM) content. Infotrieve is now handling all aspects of registration, delivery, billing and customer service for our Australia and New Zealand clients, as well as registration, delivery and billing for our NRC clients. Starting April 1, they will be responsible for our M-55 on site services and all new client registration. Infotrieve is also working to transfer our US clients over by April 16, 2010, while our Canadian clients will be gradually moved over with all clients transitioned by the end of June 2010. During this transition period, Canadian clients can continue to order from CISTI and will be billed by CISTI until they have been advised that their implementation with Infotrieve is completed. In late April, Infotrieve will be in touch with migration details for all of NRC-CISTI’s Canadian customers.

It is important to note that Infotrieve Canada, Inc provides its document delivery services from NRC-CISTI’s national library collection on our behalf, and as such, will be able to maintain CISTI’s copyright regime, including copyright exemptions for Canadians, as permitted by Canadian Copyright legislation, and reduced Access Copyright rates for commercial users.

For more information about the NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve collaboration, see the question and answer guide at http://cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/cisti/faq/document-delivery/cisti-infotrieve-collaboration.html.

Information discovery and access services to Canadian and NRC researchers

By March 30th, we will have implemented a federated search function on our website, allowing anyone outside of NRC to simultaneously search the CISTI Catalogue, Discover and the NRC Publications Archive (NPArC). NRC staff will have the added benefit of searching databases that we license for NRC. Search results display how to obtain the information and allow users to choose the delivery option that best suits their needs. Clients will be able to order from Infotrieve or CISTI, depending on their account, or download the article free of charge if it is available from NPArC or another free source.

Strategic Initiatives

As part of our national science library role, NRC-CISTI will leverage the services and infrastructure it develops for NRC to expand access to essential research information and data for Canada’s research, innovation and health communities, as well as to provide long-term access to the record of Canadian science and federally funded research outputs. Our focus will be in the following key areas:

Working with other federal science departments and the Canadian health community to provide equitable access to scientific, technical and health information
- Health Canada-CISTI partnership for shared library services (Starting April 1, 2010)
- Federal Science eLibrary
- Canadian Virtual Health Library

Building access vehicles that showcase Canada’s research
- NRC Publications Archive (NPArC)
- PubMed Central Canada (Launching April 2010)

Expanding access to research data
- DataCite
- Gateway to Scientific Data
- Research Data Strategy Working Group
- WorldWideScience.org
- CODATA Canada

Research Press

On January 13, 2010, Treasury Board of Canada approved a submission to allow NRC Research Press to incorporate as a not-for-profit company. Cameron Macdonald, Publisher of NRC Research Press, resigned from the NRC on February 5, 2010, to begin the incorporation process. Dr. Bruce Dancik, Professor Emeritus of The University of Alberta and Director of the Devonian Botanic Garden, and Dr. Ken Davey, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of York University, have joined Mr. Macdonald as first incorporators.

NRC is providing considerable support to the NRC Research Press in this transition process, including transition funding, transfer of intellectual property and licencing of the existing trade name “NRC Research Press”. The new entity and NRC will also enter into a lease arrangement for the current space.

On March 25, 2010, the new not-for-profit “Canadian Science Publishing” was incorporated. This step paves the way for the new company to prepare for the transfer of the NRC Research Press titles and publishing operations later in the year. Authors and subscribers can be assured that the new NRC Research Press and the National Research Council remain committed to delivering high-quality journals on time.

NRC-CISTI transformation process included extensive consultations with clients and stakeholders that took place in April, May and June 2009. In all, we consulted with more than 500 clients and stakeholders from NRC, Government, Academia, health and industry, as well many staff. Based on your feedback we developed a strategic framework and are in the process of completing a branding exercise. I invite you to consult our new website as we continue updating it to reflect our new services and strategic directions. Your feedback is always appreciated.

Pam Bjornson
Director General, Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information

UPDATED: Records Retention Policies and eDiscovery Readiness

2010-04-06T20:55:00.000-04:00

Records Retention Policies and eDiscovery Readiness

When? April 08, 2010 from 2 until 4 pm

Where? Capital Hill Suites Hotel

Who? Speaker: Dominic Jaar

Session Summary:

Records Retention Policies and eDiscovery Readiness

Information is the most valuable asset of most organizations. However, with the advent of electronic documents and technology, organizations lost most of the control they had over it. Unfortunately, they often realised how poorly managed this asset is when they are being sued or investigated, or when they see a reduction in productivity or increased risks and costs, i.e. once it is too late! This session will focus on providing you and your organization with practical tips to improve information management, increase productivity and efficiency, while reducing risks and expenses. This session will give you the necessary to convince your colleagues and employers that information management is not a cost center but rather a profit center that will enable your organization to be more competitive in today’s economy.

Speaker Biography: Dominic Jaar

E-discovery and legal technology expert, Dominic Jaar is the founder and president of Ledjit Consulting, a Canadian firm specializing in information management and e-discovery. He is also the CEO of the Canadian Centre on Court Technology. He speaks throughout North America and is a prolific writer on many legal and technology issues. He is frequently quoted in the press as an expert on electronic information.

Mr. Jaar is on the editorial board of Sedona Canada and was in charge of drafting the French version of The Sedona Canada Principles on E-discovery. He is also a member of The Sedona Conference’s working groups 1 (USA) and 6 (International). He is also involved in Sedona’s Cloud Computing and Privacy working groups. Mr. Jaar is the co-president of the Montreal Bar Association Technology Advisory Liaison Committee with the Quebec courts and the president of the IT security committee of the Quebec Bar. He is the president of the Law Practice Management and Technology section of the Canadian Bar Association. He is on the ABA Techshow planning board and is an executive member of the board of the Canadian IT Association. Furthermore, Mr Jaar is the founder and organizer of LegalIT, Canada’s premier conference on legal technologies.

Prior to founding Ledjit, Dominic Jaar worked as a commercial litigator at Bell Canada’s legal department. Besides pleading cases for Bell, he advised his clients on electronic discovery, electronic information management, compliance and retention policies. Prior to moving in-house, Mr. Jaar worked as a commercial litigator at Borden Ladner Gervais where he specialised in technology related matters. He is a member of the Quebec Bar. He graduated from Laval University after studying at Western University (Common Law) and Aix-Marseille III (International and European Law).

Cost:
CLA members: $40
Members of other professional organizations: $45
Non-Members: $50

CLA Student members: $20
Student non-members: $25

Register by sending your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca by April 7. If you require a receipt for this event please include a request with your RSVP.

Career Opportunities

2010-03-31T08:28:00.002-04:00

Jobs recently posted on the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site:

Director of Library Services (St. Albert Public Library, St. Albert AB)

Program Manager, Innovation and Continuous Improvement (Ottawa Public Library)

Program Manager, Public Services (Ottawa Public Library)

Liaison Librarians (McGill University, Montreal)

Web Services Librarian (McGill University, Montreal)

Youth Services Librarian (The Okanagan Regional Library, Kelowna BC)

Subject Librarian, Health Sciences Library (University of Ottawa)

Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian (York University, Toronto)

Systems Librarian (Concordia University, Montreal)

Management Librarian (University of Ottawa)

University Librarian (Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon)

Public Services Librarian (Colchester-East Hants Public Library, Truro NS)

Electronic Services Librarian (Colchester-East Hants Public Library, Truro NS)

Director, Public Library Services (Alberta Municipal Affairs, Edmonton)

Are you an employer looking to hire an information professional? Publish your career opportunity on the Canadian Library Association website!

Career advertising on CLA Job Search ranks as the highest viewed page (after the homepage) on the CLA website. With over 16,000 pageviews per month your career ad is sure to be seen!

Career Opportunities

2010-03-20T19:21:00.002-04:00

Jobs posted on the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site this week:

Coordinator of Technical Services (SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary)

Research Specialist (Canada Revenue Agency, Ottawa)

Systems/Network Engineer (Canadiana.org, Ottawa)

Web Application Programmer (Canadiana.org, Ottawa)

Branch Manager, Londonberry Branch (Edmonton Public Library, Edmonton)

Chief Executive Officer (New Tecumseth Public Library, Alliston ON)

Librarian (St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish NS)

Bibliothécaire – gestion des ressources (Ville de Gatineau, Gatineau QC)

Bibliothécaire, Services publics – Communication et marketing (Ville de Gatineau, Gatineau QC)

CLA Student Article Contest – Deadline is March 31

2010-03-19T08:38:00.003-04:00

The contest is open to all students registered in, or recently graduated from, a Canadian library school, a library technician program, an information science program, or faculty of education library program. Registered students may be full or part time; graduates should have completed their studies within one year of the competition’s closing date of March 31.

Articles submitted must be written while the student is enrolled in a program of study, or within one year of graduation.

First prize is registration, accommodation and transportation to the 2010 CLA National Conference in Edmonton (courtesy of new sponsor, OCLC, Coutts Information Services and Micromedia ProQuest ) and $150.

The winning article will be published in August 2010 issue of Feliciter, the magazine of the Canadian Library Association.

For more information go: http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Student_Article_Contest

Initiative for Equitable Library Access (IELA) Service Level Guidelines launched

2010-03-19T08:38:00.000-04:00

The CLA Executive Council has approved the IELA Service Level Guidelines prepared by the CLA IELA Task Force.
The document provides a model for service levels in Canadian public libraries for individuals with print disabilities.

State of the Association - Message from the CLA Executive Council to all CLA members

2010-03-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

We would like to share with you preliminary details of some exciting changes that are going to take place at the Canadian Library Association. We met on 27-28 February for a facilitated session on strategic budgeting. CLA is in a situation where our revenues are not sufficient to provide all of the activities and services which our members expect and deserve. We have determined that structural changes must be made to the association in order to allow us to re-direct our financial and human resources so that CLA can fulfill its mandate more effectively.

This message outlines the points of discussion arising from our meeting, as well as the texts of the motions that were passed. President John Teskey has been charged with forming a Task Force to develop proposals for members to consider for adoption at the upcoming Annual General Meeting at the CLA Conference in Edmonton in June.

Everyone associated with CLA will be aware that the association has been in a tenuous financial position for years. The following chart is a very graphic representation of our budget situation over the past decade. We have projected deficit budgets in each of the past 10 years. While we have always managed to finish each year with a better than predicted outcome, we only were able to realize actual profits in four of those years, most recently in 2006.

During our facilitated session, we engaged in a very positive discussion, and considered a variety of options for the structural changes required to address the chronic deficit budgets. We worked from the premise that the association’s finances should be spent on serving its members, specifically, on investing in the priorities and programs that fulfill the CLA mission to “build the Canadian library and information community and advance its information professionals.” It was agreed that, for this year and forward, we must create a budget that both serves the best interests of the members and indicates that CLA is re-defining itself.

It was further agreed that the main focus of CLA's activities should be to advocate for issues of cross-sectoral interest and national importance. In order to achieve this goal, we recognized that both the organizational structure and the budget need to be realigned to support the mission; maintaining the status quo is not an option. We need to build on our existing strengths, and concentrate our human and financial resources on those areas which CLA, as a national broad-based association, is uniquely positioned to advance.

At the meeting, Executive Council passed two motions:

Motion:

Whereas the current organizational structure of the Canadian Library Association is no longer financially viable, and

Whereas, Executive Council of the Canadian Library Association is responsible for the financial viability of the association, and

Whereas, national issues faced by the Canadian library community are of critical importance,

Therefore be it resolved that Executive Council commit itself to recreate CLA as an organization that can more effectively advance national issues critical to the Canadian library community, and

That President John Teskey form and chair a task force charged with developing a proposed structure responsive to the association’s financial and strategic challenges, and

That the task force present its findings and recommendations to the 2010 CLA AGM.

Moved by Ken Roberts; Seconded by André Gagnon; passed unanimously.

Motion:
To defer elections for CLA Executive positions and Division Executive positions until a decision is taken regarding the organization’s structure.

Moved by André Gagnon; Seconded by Pam Ryan; passed unanimously.

We are now taking steps on the actions stated in these motions. President Teskey is forming a Task Force; details of its composition will be made available as soon as all participants have confirmed. The elections for CLA Executive and Division Executive positions have been put on hold pending the presentation from the Task Force at the CLA AGM on 5 June.

Please note that CLA activities, including those of Divisions, Interest Groups, Committees, and other units, will be "business as usual" in as much as possible until June 30, 2010. The 2010 CLA National Conference in Edmonton will continue as planned, with a very strong professional program and some new innovations in the schedule of events.

We appreciate that members will have questions about the implications of these decisions; and we will address these as best we can. We ask for your patience while President Teskey's Task Force completes its work on a new budget and organizational structure, and thank you in advance for your support.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact any member of Executive Council. Further information will be posted to the CLA website in the coming weeks, so please keep checking the site for updates.

We look forward to your continued engagement in CLA, and in the process of developing these changes. We are very excited about the possibilities for a new direction.

We hope you will attend the AGM in Edmonton to vote on the future of your Canadian Library Association.

CLA Executive Council

John Teskey, President ~ jteskey@unb.ca
Keith Walker, Vice-President ~ kwalker@mhc.ab.ca
Ken Roberts, Past President ~ kroberts@hpl.ca
Ingrid Langhammer, Treasurer ~ ingridlanghammer@shaw.ca
Linda Shantz-Keresztes, CASL President ~ ljshantzkere@cbe.ab.ca
Pam Ryan, CACUL President ~ pam.ryan@ualberta.ca
André Gagnon, CAPL President ~ andre@reginalibrary.ca
Robyn Stockand, CASLIS President ~ robyn.stockand@nbfinancial.com
Jan Harder, CLTA President ~ jan.harder@ottawa.ca
Victoria Owen, Councillor-at-Large ~ owen@utsc.utoronto.ca
Cheryl Stenström, Councillor-at-Large ~ cheryl.stenstron@gmail.com
Catherine Steeves, Councillor-at-Large ~ csteeves@uoguelph.ca

Open Data Policy for Ottawa?

2010-03-02T05:57:00.000-05:00

The Information Technology Sub-Committee of City Council considered the benefits of an open data policy at its meeting yesterday.

Executive Summary of report prepared by city staff:

Open data is a philosophy and practice requiring that certain data are made freely available to the public, in machine readable format without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. Most commonly, Open Data focuses on non-textual material such as geographic information systems (GIS) data. The Open Data movement is gaining momentum worldwide with significant steps being taken by government agencies (at all levels) in Europe and North America.

In the public sphere, the goal of Open Data is to remove barriers to access to information created or managed by government institutions, while respecting privacy and sensitivity concerns. Facilitating access to this information allows entrepreneurs, academics, community groups and others to study communities and develop applications that leverage the data to improve community experience and stimulate economic growth.

The Mayor’s Task Force on eGovernment and City Council and Council have recognized the value and importance of Open Data, and have been key drivers for the City to adapt its policies and practices to embrace this movement.

The City is now taking concrete and measured steps to join the ranks of other Canadian municipalities who have instituted Open Data programs. Corporate Communications and ITS have partnered to create an infrastructure, raise awareness and connect with the public in the development of City of Ottawa’s Open Data initiative. Staff have worked closely with members of the public who have experience with Open Data initiatives and who have expressed an interest in Open Data at the City of Ottawa to inform and validate the City’s approach and vision.

The first major Open Data milestone is the creation of a beta website that will make available, in machine readable format, approximately 15-20 data sets. The initial release focuses on Parks and Recreation information, including (but not limited to) recreational facilities, skating rinks and parks data that is already available on ottawa.ca. Presenting this information in machine readable format effectively “unlocks” the data allowing it to more easily be repurposed for mapping or other applications.

New Ottawa Career Opportunities

2010-02-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

Recently posted Ottawa jobs in the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site:

Media Librarian
CBC/Radio-Canada
Closing Date: March 1, 2010

Librarian Cataloguer (contract)
University of Ottawa
Closing Date: March 15, 2010, 5pm

Junior Librarian
The Library of Parliament
Closing Date: March 22, 2010

CASLIS Award for Special Librarianship in Canada

2010-02-09T23:10:00.000-05:00

Dear Colleagues,

The deadline for nominations for the CASLIS Award for Special Librarianship in Canada is approaching quickly, on Sunday, February 28th. Please take the time to nominate someone you have seen make a significant contribution to our profession.

About the Award:
Awarded annually since 1979, the award is intended to recognize and reward those who have made an outstanding contribution to special librarianship in Canada through professional and/or Divisional activities.

Award Criteria:
Appropriate professional activities may include research, publishing, teaching, or significant participation in other related professional associations, while examples of Divisional activities include participation in activities benefiting CASLIS or CLA, leadership within CASLIS or CLA, or other noteworthy actions on behalf of CASLIS or CLA. Candidates must be members in good standing in CLA and have actively participated in the Association or Division.

Nominate a Colleague today:

Nominations for the CASLIS Award for Special Librarianship in Canada must be accompanied by a supporting statement that outlines his/her professional career and the specific achievement(s) that merit granting of this award.
Signatures of at least two CLA members must also support any nomination.
All nominations and deliberations related to this award shall be considered confidential.

The award will be presented at the CASLIS Annual General Meeting, held during the CLA conference.

The closing date for nominations is February 28, 2010.

Send nomination letters to:

Kimberly Silk, MLS
Data Librarian, Martin Prosperity Institute
101 College Street, Suite 420
Toronto ON M5G 1L7
Kimberly.Silk@martinprosperity.org
Office: 416-673-8586
Mobile: 416-721-8955

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Event: Customer Service Skills 101

2010-02-05T16:58:00.002-05:00

Please join us for a panel presentation about customer service and communicating the value of library service. Panelists will discuss what management needs to do to create an environment in which good customer service is the norm, the training, policies and performance appraisals that support customer service, customer service standards and communicating the value of library service using a Value Proposition approach.

Speakers:
Margaret Sampson, Manager, Library Services, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Yvonne Yvonne van Lith, Coordinator, Sunnyside Branch, Ottawa Public Library
Sonia Bebbington, Manager, Library Client Services, Department of Finance Canada

When: Wednesday February 17, 2010 from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Where:
Ottawa Public Library Main Branch, Meeting room, lower level
120 Metcalfe St. Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2

Register by sending your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca. If you require a receipt for this event please include a request with your RSVP before February 16, 2010.

Cost:

CLA members: $20
Non-members: $30
CLA student members: $10
Student non-members: $15
New Professionals (those working in the field for less than two years): $15
Members of other professional associations (SLA, OALT, etc.): $25

Happy Family Literacy Day!

2010-01-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

Family Literacy Day takes place every year on January 27. ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Honda Canada created the day in 1999 to encourage families to read and learn together. Thousands of Canadians take part in Family Literacy Day events and activities at schools, libraries and literacy organizations.

Ottawa Public Library acknowledged for digital inclusion programs

2010-01-25T16:42:00.000-05:00

When Ottawa made the short list for the 2010 intelligent communities of the year award at the annual conference of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) on January 20, the Ottawa Public Library’s (OPL) digital inclusion programs were singled out as actively using broadband and information technology to excel in today’s global economy.

“This international recognition confirms the important role that the Ottawa Public Library plays in the education of our future community leaders,” says Councillor Jan Harder, OPL Board Chair. Ottawa was commended for its commitment to using information technology for education that helps young people prepare for knowledge-based careers in the community.

OPL offers a dynamic array of digital products and services to its patrons. It has seen consistent, year-over-year increases in visits to its web site, which numbered more than five million in 2008. And in 2009, electronic database usage was up nearly 20 per cent over the previous year.

BiblioCommons, the new catalogue introduced in 2009, is an example of constant technical and usability enhancements to ensure that information is accessible in a way that keeps users engaged. The new catalogue is easier to use, has greater search relevancy and provides social networking tools so that people can share information and interests.

In 2009, circulation of digital media such as audio books, e-books, and music increased by 90 per cent over 2008. Patrons can download these items from the OPL web site and many of the holdings may be transferred to a personal listening device such as an iPod or iPhone so that users can learn on the go.

High-speed wireless Internet access was first piloted at the Ottawa Public Library in 2007. Since 2008, it has been available in all 33 branches of the OPL. Users enjoy online connectivity in OPL branches that allows them a place, other than school or home, to continue studying, working and living online. Laptop computers, smartphones, or any other electronic devices that support the technology are often seen on study tables in OPL branches, right next to a stack of reference books.

Free Internet access has been available to OPL cardholders at in-branch computer terminals since 1996, and high-speed Internet access since 2001 at every branch across the city. OPL also offers an array of software applications on close to 400 public access workstations. In 2008, public Internet access workstations at the OPL were used nearly one million times.

OPL has a wide variety of databases available for students to use online, 24 hours a day. Peer-reviewed, academic journals and trade magazines for subjects ranging from science to sociology are available all OPL cardholders. Even if the library is not open, these databases are never closed.

For patrons who need help using a personal computer, OPL offers formalized computer and Internet training courses. In 2008, the Ottawa Public Library held nearly 400 computer-training sessions aimed at teaching older adults and newcomers how to use a personal computer. More than 1,500 people attended these sessions.

OPL also provides assistive technology to eliminate or diminish barriers to information and maximize user independence such as

Assistive technology workstations with large character keyboard, trackball, mouse, scanner, height-adjustable desk, shared printer and a variety of assistive technology programs such as Kurzwell 1000 and 3000, JAWS, Dragon Naturally Speaking and J-Say.
Wheelchair accessible workstations at wheelchair accessible branches
ZoomText to magnify and read the text on a computer screen
StickyKeys – a computer feature for people who have difficulty holding down two or more keys at a time

OPL is using technology to help knowledge workers and leaders of tomorrow open up new horizons. The wide range of online opportunities and digital items available to students at OPL is one of the reasons Ottawa is known as a connected community. The way people learn has changed and OPL is changing with them by offering new ways to discover the world while providing trusted and professional assistance, as always.

ICF singled out Ottawa for its relentless focus on education and start-ups. One of the top seven will be announced as the Intelligent Community of the Year on May 21, 2010 at ICF’s Broadband Economy Summit. The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) proposed Ottawa for the competition, which this year focused on school-work connections in the “education last mile”.

For more information about the ICF, visit their website at http://www.intelligentcommunity.org/.

For more information on OCRI, visit their website at www.ocri.ca.

Source: http://www.biblioottawalibrary.ca/explore/about/mediaroom/media_e.cfm?id=227&sub=News%20Releases

2010-01-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

The Ryerson Review of Journalism has an article about the changing role of news librarians in Canada.

Google hasn’t made newspapers research librarians redundant. In fact, they’re as busy as ever, even if they rarely receive the recognition they deserve.

Some quotes:

News librarians provide the information that journalists sometimes can’t get due to tight schedules and less proficient research skills. Hammer says librarians can do research in half the time it takes her to do it. "They tend to know a few more tricks." With the advent of online content, librarians have had to become "Jacks-of-all-trades," taking on new jobs they never did years ago. With so much information now available to reporters, it’s up to researchers to train them to be more self-sufficient.

If used correctly, though, librarians can be more cost-effective, says Michael McCaffrey, a reference professor at the University of Toronto. More often than not, a highly trained and skilled researcher will find information more efficiently than a less research-savvy journalist, without racking up big bucks for unnecessary searches. Plus, it frees up more time for journalists to do what they do best.

Slides for We can count’em … but do they count? Challenges in assessing ROI from information services

2010-01-16T11:41:00.001-05:00

Some people have gotten in touch with CLA-CASLIS Ottawa wondering about the slides from the Oct 27th presentation on ROI. We've been given permission to post these decks here for your viewing.

The 4 C’s of “Kewl”
Proving Value, Building Relationships
We Can Count Them - But Do They Count?

RESCHEDULED: Bootstrapping your Library Web-site with Drupal, an Open Source Content Management System

2010-01-12T22:23:00.005-05:00

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the January 21st session Bootstrapping… has been rescheduled to March 11th. Our most sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. We will be sending out a new notice regarding the session towards the end of February.

Thank you for your understanding.

Join us for a panel presentation about using the open-source content management system Drupal as a back-end for your library website and library applications.

Panelists will provide an overview of Drupal: what it is; pros and cons; features and benefits. They will share their experiences throughout the development stages, including how to plan and design a Drupal site, out-of-the box vs. custom built applications, modules created for and used by libraries, and more.

Panel members are from academic and special libraries and will provide attendees with a realistic understanding of how people from diverse backgrounds with different requirements can approach Drupal.

The session incorporates interactive components for demonstrations and step-by-step instruction. Refreshments will be provided.

Speakers:

Dave Kisly, Web Developer
Ron Jerome, National Research Council of Canada
Anthony Petryk, Carleton University

When: March 11, more details to follow
Where: Ottawa Public Library Main Branch, 120 Metcalfe St. Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2

Register by sending your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

Cost:

CLA members: $20
Non-members: $30
CLA student members: $10
Student non-members: $15
New Professionals (those working in the field for less than two years): $15
Members of other professional associations (SLA, OALT, etc.): $25

Speaker Biographies:

Dave Kisly is currently working with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network on IT and web-related projects, serving as the technical lead in the migration of the organization's website to a more flexible platform, and in the concurrent development of two associated Drupal modules to manage and provide membership access to licensing information and contact information.

Dave has also contributed to a number of other Drupal library projects, including SFU's "Multicultural Canada" website; the AlouetteCanada project; several historical and research-oriented websites and applications hosted by UPEI Library; the "Manitobia" site (a historical site involving U. Manitoba, U. Winnipeg); as lead developer / application architect in the OpenILL project (U. Winnipeg and other partner libraries); and as a former Project Coordinator and as a "on-call" developer w/ the BC Electronic Library Network. More recent and ongoing projects involve web application development with the Canadian Human Rights Reporter, the National Aboriginal Health Organization, and Down Syndrome International, among others.

Dave holds an M.L.I.S., in addition to degrees in Anthropology (M.A.) and Psychology (B.A.).

Ron Jerome is a senior programmer/analyst with the National Research Council Canada. Since 1981, Ron has used his training in Mechanical Engineering to take on many different roles at the NRC, from the design and use of equipment and data acquisition systems related to ice research in the high arctic, to his present role as manager of a High Performance Computing (HPC) and Visualization facility used to model materials and processes that produce cleaner power such as fuel cells and the next generation of batteries.

Throughout his career, one of Ron’s central interests has been computer and networking technologies and has been a proponent of Open Source Software (OSS) and WWW related technologies since the early 90’s. Ron’s HPC facility runs almost completely on OSS, from the Operating System (CentOS), the Parallel Distributed File System (Lustre), the job queuing system (GridEngine) to the modeling code (OpenFOAM) and of course, uses the Drupal content management system for web access.

Ron is the author of the Biblio and OAI-PMH modules for Drupal which were originally created for internal use, but were contributed back to the OSS community almost 4 years ago and have continued to grow and thrive ever since. There are currently an estimated 1500 installations of the Biblio module world wide, some containing 10’s of thousands of records.

Anthony Petryk is the Web Initiatives Librarian at Carleton University Library, where he is currently managing the redesign of the Library website in Drupal. Previously he worked at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library as the Virtual Services Librarian. He earned both his B.Sc. and MLIS from McGill University.

News Release - Whistler Public Library to become Whistler Canada Olympic House

2009-12-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

Source: http://www.whistler2010.com/media-room/news-releases/Whistler_Public_Library_to_become_Whistler_Canada_Olympic_House.cfm

Whistler, BC The Whistler Public Library will be home to Whistler Canada Olympic House during the 2010 Winter Games and facility programming is in the process of being finalized.

The facility will be transformed into a friendly meeting place for Canadian Olympic athletes, their family, and friends. The facility will also play host to international dignitaries, tourism representatives, media, government partners and other special guests. Guests will have the opportunity to use the facility to watch events, celebrate, hold business meetings, while learning about Whistler and attending a variety of special events.

?One of our goals with the Games is to build our tourism economy and Whistler Canada Olympic House will be our base for showcasing the resort and hosting special guests,? said Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed. ?Many countries and organizations will have their ?houses? during the Games, this will be ours and we are very proud of what we have planned.?

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is working in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) with support from the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia and the library. The partners see the facility and its programming as a catalyst for incremental visits to Whistler during the Games and for years to come. It is also an example of working in partnership to achieve common goals and share resources.

The library will be closed from January 30 to March 7. Access to Whistler Canada Olympic House will be primarily by accreditation or invitation; however the Whistler community will be invited to several events. For example, every Saturday during the Games the public will have the chance to meet Olympic athletes, learn about sports and enjoy other family-friendly activities, entertainment and surprises. More community event information will be released in January.

The backyard of the library is set to become a family snow play zone, accessible to locals and visitors throughout the Games?with no snow piles in the village, the library backyard will provide the place for the ever popular activity of snow climbing and sliding in the village.

"There will be plenty of opportunities for the community take part in events at Whistler Canada Olympic House," said Lauren Stara, library director. "Our beautiful building will also be a showcase for athletes and their families, as well as dignitaries from around the world."

Library services will be unavailable for five weeks during Games time. Cardholders are encouraged to check out unlimited books and audio books from January 25 to 29. All of these items will have a loan period of six weeks, due during the week of March 8 to 12. All movies, CDs and magazines must be returned before January 29.

"People can take as many books as they want for six weeks," Stara said.

Changes to the library include the installation of large screens that will showcase venues, CTV and RDS sport coverage of the Games and a live feed from Whistler Medals Plaza and Whistler Live! programming.
Whistler video and imagery and other content will showcase the past, present and future of Whistler to facility guests. The outside of the building will have signage while transparent window graphics will feature bright sport and community imagery.

The library will reopen to the public at 11 a.m. on Monday March 8. During the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Whistler Canada Paralympic House will be operate as an accredited facility for friends and family of Canadian Paralympic athletes and will be jointly operated by the Canadian Paralympic Committee, the library and the RMOW. The library will be open during the Paralympic Games with revised operating hours.

The RMOW's investment in this program is being paid for out of the 2010 Winter Games budget, which is funded from hotel tax revenues.

Becoming Evidence Based: A Research in Practice Mini-Conference Call for Papers

2009-12-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

The CLA Evidence Based Librarianship Interest Group (EBLIG) is hosting a preconference during the Canadian Library Association Annual Conference, on June 2nd, 2010, in Edmonton, Alberta.

This half-day mini-conference focuses on evidence based practice and its incorporation into professional decision making. Featuring keynote speaker Lisa M. Given, Becoming Evidence Based will introduce attendees to current dialogue and research in evidence based library and information practice.

The CLA Evidence Based Librarianship Interest Group (EBLIG) invites submissions for contributed papers and posters including both original research and innovative applications of EBP in library and information practice. We welcome examples of evidence based practice from all library sectors.

Subject areas may include, but are not limited to:

Library and information service administration
Technical improvements
Service delivery
Marketing and communications
Collection development
EBP in other disciplines with application in EBL

Submissions should include:

Title of Presentation or Poster
Abstract of no more than 250 words
Primary Presenter’s name, affiliation, email address, phone number and brief biography.
If there is more than one presenter: The names, affiliations, email addresses, phone numbers and brief biographies, of all presenters.
AV equipment needs or other special needs for your presentation.

Presentations at the mini-conference will be limited to approximately 20-30 minutes. All proposals will be evaluated by a refereeing committee representing EBLIG.

Submissions must be submitted by February 15th, 2010, and can be e-mailed to:

Renee de Gannes-Marshall,
EBLIG Co-Convenor
renee.d.marshall@gmail.com

Successful candidates will be notified by March 15, 2010, by e-mail.

Please note: Expenses associated with attending the EBLIG mini-conference and the CLA Annual Conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers. The registration fee for this half day session will be waived for all speakers.

Announcement of RDA publication date

2009-12-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

From the RDA-L listserv:

RDA: Resource Description and Access will be published in June 2010. While we regret this delay in release of RDA, the transition from publication of AACR2 as a printed manual to release of RDA as a web based toolkit is a complex process with many interdependencies.

The updated text of RDA incorporates recommendations from constituencies and other stakeholders approved at the JSC meeting earlier this year. The revised text has been successfully loaded into the RDA database. The product is currently undergoing thorough quality review and testing in preparation for release.

We recognize that customers and prospective users of RDA need reliable and timely information for planning and budgeting. We are confident that this revised deadline is a realistic target for publication of RDA.

Pricing and purchasing information will be introduced at the time of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, 15-18 January 2010.

Mary Ghikas, Chair Committee of Principals
Alan Danskin, Chair Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA
Don Chatham, Chair Co-publishers

New Service for Public Libraries

2009-11-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

[Source: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs039/1102771164126/archive/1102837206954.html]

Hawk's Eye on Public Libraries is a new monthly summary of key news and data that impacts public libraries in Canada. Like the kestrel we're named for, Hawk's Eye scans the landscape every day, finds what's most important, focuses in, and retrieves it. We retrieve the news, and search for the data that make a strategic difference to your library. We summarize the central facts, and link to online items so you can get the full story when you need it. Go directly to this month's content.

In an era of unprecedented change, Hawk's Eye on Public Libraries is designed to make a fundamental contribution to your library's success. The economy, national and local demographics, technological advances, and new patterns of library use - these are just some of the issues demanding a response from every public library system in Canada. More than ever librarians need to be well informed.

We bring you a single source for keeping you and your staff on top of current issues. Hawk's Eye's main audience is public library leaders, decision-makers and strategists, but with one single, system-wide subscription to Hawk's Eye you can give every librarian easy access to a monthly shot of Canadian-based library awareness. Give your librarians the gift of current data, and see how much more they give back. As staff awareness of library and socio-economic trends increases, watch how contextual understanding deepens, ideas flourish, and staff readiness for change spreads.

Our top goal is to give Canadian libraries Canadian context. We check relevant sources regularly - and some we check daily. As well as Canadian sources, we scan information from around the English-speaking world and present a Canadian perspective on what's happening in your region, in Canada, and beyond.

Our second goal is to have every public library and librarian in Canada access Hawk's Eye. To this end, our subscription rates are tiered to make Hawk's Eye affordable to every public library. From January 2010, Hawk's Eye will be published monthly. Go to subscription data for 2010.

Please enjoy the November and December editions with our compliments. Join our mailing list to receive December's Hawk's Eye on Public Libraries free of obligation. Forward Hawk's Eye to a colleague, and tell us what you think about our publication.

Sincerely,
Frances Stocker, BA, MCLIP
Principal
Kestrel Info Services
francesstocker@kestrelinfo.com

LANCR / ABRCN and CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Annual Holiday Event

2009-11-17T18:05:00.001-05:00

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa and LANCR / ABRCN invite you to kick off the festive season in style!

It’s time once more for Ottawa’s information professionals to get together to celebrate the season! Catch up with old friends, meet new people, and network, network, network!

Come share a drink with us down “the Lane,” as William Street was once called. Must Wine Bar is known for offering a great selection higher-end wines by the glass by using an enomatic machine that keeps an open bottle of wine fresh for up to 35 days. Come just to see the machine… it’s pretty cool!

Please note non-alcoholic drinks are also available.

Please RSVP sending your name and membership/student status, by Monday, December 7, 2009 to lancrinfo@gmail.com

When? Thursday, December 10th, 6 pm – 9 pm
Where? Must Wine Bar, 41 William Street
Tickets:
* CLA and LANCR Members - $20
* Non-members - $25
* CLA Student Members - $10
* Student non-members - $15

CASLIS Special Issues - 19, no 3 (2009)

2009-11-13T18:36:00.001-05:00

The latest edition of Special Issues: Bulletin of the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services has been published.

***********************

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Features

SharePoint in the Special Library
By Melanie Sucha

Information and Knowledge Management Checklist
By Ulla de Stricker

Liste de véreification pour la gestion de l’information et du savoir
Par Ulla de Stricker

Departments

From the Desk of the President
Your World, Your Library
By Robyn Stockand

CASLIS News and Notes
CASLIS Mentoring Program; Food for Thought

CLA Student Chapters
Bridging the gap between the student and professional worlds
By Jeannine Sickle, Erica Sum, and Deborah Kendze

Alma Matters
A round-up of news and events at the MLIS and LIT programmes
By Jenn Cox, Michelle Mallette, Kathleen O’Brien, and Christina Neigel

CASLIS Almanac
Upcoming events

People in the News

CASLIS Directory

Major Survey About Quebec Libraries Released

2009-11-12T20:34:00.001-05:00

The Table de concertation des bibliothèques québécoises Announces the Results of a Major Survey

The people of Québec are surveyed about their libraries: a first for Québec

Montréal, November 11, 2009 –The Table de concertation des bibliothèques québécoises today announced today the results of the first survey on the perceptions and level of satisfaction of Quebecers with the entire Québec library network. Dr. Guy Berthiaume, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) and Chairman of the Table de concertation, presented key findings from the survey, along with a representative from Léger Marketing. The announcement took place as a part of the Premier Congrès des milieux documentaires du Québec, which is taking place in Montréal from November 11 to 14.

The survey, which was requested by the Table de concertation des bibliothèques québécoises and carried out by Léger Marketing in March 2009, is a first for Québec. In fact, never before has such a wide-ranging study, covering all communities and regions, been carried out.

The survey [in french only] has produced a number of interesting results:

it confirms the prime importance of libraries among the cultural resources used by Quebecers;
it suggests a number of paths to follow to improve service, especially an increase in opening hours;
it especially emphasizes the high expectations of users concerning digital libraries, both the accessibility of online resources (newspapers, magazine, digital books) and the development of remote services.

The results of the study will help establish priorities, direct decision making concerning the development of services offered by libraries and define new avenues for cooperation in response to user expectations.

A round table discussion followed the press briefing, bringing together various people involved in this field, who commented on the results of the survey. Hosted by Guylaine Beaudry from Concordia University, the discussion group included Louise Guillemette-Labory (City of Montréal), Daniel Marquis (Cégep de Granby–Haute-Yamaska), Marie-Christine Savoie (Commission scolaire des Chênes) and Isabelle Séguin (Université de Montréal).

The Table de concertation des bibliothèques québécoises was created by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications in December 2002 to promote cooperation among Québec’s public, school, college and university libraries. The group’s work has already led to important concrete accomplishments, such as the creation of the Catalogue des bibliothèques québécoises, the implementation of a computerized interlibrary loan network and the development of a proposal for centralized materials processing.

-- Highlights --

1. Fréquentation des bibliothèques québécoises

43% des Québécois sont actuellement abonnés ou fréquentent une bibliothèque. Parmi eux, 82% ont fréquenté une bibliothèque publique au cours des 12 derniers mois, 15% ont fréquenté la Grande Bibliothèque, 14% une bibliothèque universitaire, 12% une bibliothèque scolaire et 7% une bibliothèque collégiale.
La proportion de Québécois actuellement abonnés à une bibliothèque est significativement plus élevée parmi les résidents de la Ville de Québec (55%).
Plus de la moitié (54%) des répondants qui fréquentent les bibliothèques affirment y être allés au moins une fois par mois au cours de la dernière année.

2. Perceptions des bibliothèques québécoises

Selon les Québécois, les bibliothèques offrent un environnement très agréable (8,0/10) et sont trèsfacilement accessibles (8,0/10). Ils sont toutefois légèrement moins enthousiastes en ce qui a trait à lapossession de technologies modernes (7,3/10) et à l’adaptation au monde numérique (7,1/10).
Les trois principaux rôles des bibliothèques sont de fournir de l’aide à la recherche d’information (8,8/10); d’être un endroit où se procurer des livres, de la musique et des films (8,7/10); et de rendre la culture accessible à tous en offrant des services gratuits (8,7/10).

3. Satisfaction à l’égard des bibliothèques

La Grande Bibliothèque obtient la note globale de satisfaction la plus élevée (8,7/10), suivie de près par les bibliothèques collégiales (8,6/10), les bibliothèques de quartier (8,2/10), les bibliothèques universitaires (8,2/10). La satisfaction à l’égard des bibliothèques scolaires est significativement moins élevée (6,9/10). Notamment au niveau des activités et des animations, puisque 31% des répondants sont peu ou pas satisfaits des activités et des animations offertes par les bibliothèques scolaires, avec une moyenne de satisfaction de 4,9 sur 10, par rapport à une moyenne de 6,9 sur 10 pour l’ensemble des bibliothèques.
Les Québécois qui fréquentent les bibliothèques sont particulièrement satisfaits de l’emprunt de documents (8,4/10) et de la consultation sur place (8,4/10). Par contre, les bibliothèques sont moins bien évaluées au niveau des services à distance (7,7/10), des postes Internet et multimédia (7,5/10), des ressources électroniques (7,4/10), des collections de DVD, vidéos et CD (6,7/10).
Les bibliothèques collégiales, universitaires et la Grande Bibliothèque sont généralement mieux évaluées sur la moitié des critères notamment au niveau de l’emprunt de documents, de la consultation sur place, du service de référence, des services à distance, des collections de livres, du choix des journaux et des magazines, des postes Internet et des ressources électroniques comparativement aux bibliothèques publiques.
Au niveau des différents services en ligne offerts, les Québécois qui fréquentent les bibliothèques sont surtout satisfaits du renouvellement de prêts en ligne (8,8/10), du catalogue en ligne (8,4/10) et de la réservation de documents en ligne (8,4/10). Ils sont moins satisfaits de l’accessibilité des ressources électroniques (7,6/10), des livres audio (7,4/10), des journaux/magazines électroniques (7,6/10) et des livres électroniques (7,4/10).
Au niveau de différents aspects, les Québécois sont surtout satisfaits de la qualité de l’immeuble (8,4/10), de l’accessibilité par transport en commun et par le réseau routier (8,4/10). Ils sont moins satisfaits des heures d’ouverture (7,6/10), des facilités de stationnement et des équipements et de l’environnement technologique (7,8/10).
Au total, 89% des Québécois qui fréquentent les bibliothèques disent généralement trouver très ou assez facilement ce qu’ils cherchent à la bibliothèque.

4. Comportements futurs

Au total, 60% des Québécois prévoient utiliser les services de leur bibliothèque municipale au cours de la prochaine année. Cette proportion est significativement plus élevée parmi ceux qui fréquentent déjà une bibliothèque (84%).

5. Mesures incitant à fréquenter (plus souvent) les bibliothèques

L’augmentation des collections disponibles (26%) et l’amélioration des heures d’ouverture (18%) sont les mesures qui auraient le plus grand potentiel pour accroître la fréquentation des bibliothèques de façon générale.
Une augmentation des services en ligne (15%) et l’augmentation du nombre de livres et documents dans les bibliothèques (12%) sont les principaux éléments qui pourraient inciter les Québécois qui ne sont pas abonnés à une bibliothèque à le faire.
64% des Québécois qui fréquentent une bibliothèque seraient intéressés à recevoir par courriel de l’information sur les nouveautés de la bibliothèque.

6. Comportements et styles de vie

61% des Québécois qui fréquentent les bibliothèques publiques utilisent la voiture pour se rendre au travail. Cette proportion est significativement plus élevée parmi ceux qui ne fréquentent pas de bibliothèque (67%).
Les Québécois qui utilisent Internet naviguent sur le web en moyenne 16,3 heures par semaine (15,2 heures chez ceux qui fréquentent les bibliothèques publiques et 21,6 heures chez ceux qui fréquentent les bibliothèques universitaires).
Le Journal de Montréal (32%) et La Presse (25%) sont les deux journaux les plus lus par les Québécois. La proportion de Québécois qui lit La Presse est significativement plus élevée parmi ceux qui fréquentent une bibliothèque (29%).

Event: Good IM Uses the Evidence: Implementing Evidence-Based Practice

2009-11-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

Good IM Uses the Evidence: Implementing Evidence-Based Practice

Thursday, November 26, 2009, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Ottawa Public Library Auditorium (120 Metcalfe)

Are your daily decisions justifiable and based on real evidence?

Evidence-based practice (EBP) seeks to use the best available research evidence to inform everyday practices in information management.

This workshop introduces participants to:

the process of applying EBP in your organization;
the free and not-so-free resources available; and
the steps you can follow to determine what the best evidence is.

A hands-on component of the workshop will focus on skills needed for critical appraisal.

Speakers:
Virginia Wilson is Coordinator of the Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Partnership.
Laura Newton Miller is a Science and Engineering Librarian at Carleton University.

**********************************

When: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Where: Ottawa Public Library Auditorium (120 Metcalfe)

Cost:

CLA Members - $35
CLA Student Members - $10
Non-Members - $45
Student Non-Members - $15
Personal Members of Other IM Associations (ARMA, LANCR, OALT, SLA, etc) - $40

Light refreshments will be served.

Register at http://tinyurl.com/cla-eblig

Payment by cash or cheque will be taken at the door. We are unable to accept debit or credit cards. Invoices can be arranged in advance of the event by emailing caslis.govlib@gmail.com.

(This workshop is presented by the CLA-CASLIS Government Section in partnership with the CLA Evidence Based Librarianship Interest Group.)

For more information, please contact caslis.govlib@gmail.com

LANCR/ABRCN and OALT / ABO Event: Oh, brave new RDA world! What the new cataloguing standard will mean for all library workers

2009-11-06T17:25:00.000-05:00

LANCR/ABRCN and OALT / ABO are pleased to present:

Oh, brave new RDA world! What the new cataloguing standard will mean for all library workers
Resource Description and Access (RDA), the new cataloguing standard and successor to AACR2, is due for release in late 2009, signalling a new direction for cataloguing rules and catalogue records. This information session will:

Talk about the background and development of RDA
Give a brief introduction to FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) and FRAD (Functional Requirements for Authority Data), the conceptual models that underpin RDA
Offer an examination of the major differences between RDA and AACR2
Discuss planning for implementation

For more details including RSVP information see:

Oh Brave New RDA World

Oh le Brave Nouveau Monde de la DRA

The Hill Times Policy Briefing - Communications & Intellectual Property

2009-11-02T06:19:00.000-05:00

This week's The Hill Times includes a series of articles about copyright legislation:

Canada’s future depends on being a leader in global digital economy, says Clement
Q&A with Industry Minister Tony Clement

Copyright consultation provides blueprint for reform
by Michael Geist

Getting it right: Tories must move from regressive to progressive copyright
by NDP MP Charlie Angus

Introducing a copyright bill is kind of like swatting at a bee hive with a big stick
With all the pressure for federal action on copyright reform, the government would rather not touch it. There are too many players pushing in too many directions.
by Simon Doyle

Canada’s copyright regime is outdated and lags behind its major trading partners
by Harris MacLeod

‘There has never been a better time to live than right now’: Moore
Speech by Heritage Minister James Moore delivered on June 22 on copyright and digital media.

Canada can capitalize on digital reality, unparalleled opportunities
by Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore

Canadian Copyright collectives and Copyright Board after 20 years: does the system serve its purpose?
by Howard Knopf

Canadian copyright’s just three things
by Giuseppina D’Agostino

The Policy Briefing can be downloaded from The Hill Times website.

“Prepare to Defend Your (site): Website Performance Measurement”

2009-10-27T17:32:00.007-04:00

Given today’s environment of increasing accountability, organizations across Canada are seeking practical ways to show results to inquiring stakeholders. In particular, organizations are demanding to know why promotional and communications activities shouldn’t be pared back. Especially that pesky website.

During this entertaining workshop, Kelly Kubrick of Online Authority will use live examples of attendees’ own websites to illustrate how to measure your own website’s performance, report progress and show results.

First offered at the Manitoba Library Association’s (MLA) conference in May 2009, CASLIS National is now sending the session on the road. Join us this fall in Winnipeg, Edmonton Calgary and Ottawa and learn how to:

Prove you are using your website to offer better service to clients;
Ensure your website remains accountable; and
Secure resources to improve the website going forward.

It’s an Internet call to arms!

Who Should Attend:

This non-technical workshop will appeal to anyone involved with website content, design and strategy. Individuals who work directly with their organization’s website content will come away with tips and tricks to maximize their web presence. Managers will come away with a better idea of how to justify their website to upper management and stakeholders.

Participant Comments:

"The best workshop I've been to in a long time"

"I can really use Kelly's tips and tricks in my workplace"

"Kelly is such a dynamic speaker and her topic was so interesting - we just have to bring her back for another session"

"I'm so glad I attended this session and now I'm anxious to get back to work and fix up my website"

Length and Format:

This three hour workshop will be offered by the following CASLIS chapters:

Winnipeg, MB – November 3rd, 2009 – 2:00 pm
Edmonton, AB – November 4th, 2009 – noon
Calgary, AB – November 5th, 2009 – time tbd
Ottawa, ON – November 12th, 2009: 1:00 - 4:00 pm

Cost:
CLA members: $40
Members of other professional organizations: $45
Non-Members: $50

CLA Student members: $20
Student non-members: $25

Where:
Capital Hill Hotel & Suites, Tupper Room
88 Albert Street, Ottawa ON K2P 1E7

Speaker Biography:

Kelly Kubrick, owner of http://www.OnlineAuthority.com, is an experienced consultant who specializes in Internet performance measurement. Kelly’s expertise stems from her years with Time Inc, Time Warner’s publishing division in New York. As Director of eCommerce Development, she oversaw the planning and launch of websites for brands such as TIME, Sports Illustrated, People and Fortune and served on joint Time Inc.–America Online (AOL), marketing, online customer service and email corporate task forces. Kelly comes armed with academic credentials including an MBA from New York University, a diploma from the Radcliffe Publishing Course at Harvard University and a BA from Victoria College at the University of Toronto.

Full bio available at http://www.onlineauthority.com/about-online-authority/

Ottawa Job Postings

2009-10-22T19:02:00.000-04:00

Recently posted Ottawa jobs in the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site:

Librarian, Montfort Hospital Library
University of Ottawa Library
Closing Date: November 11, 2009

Librarian, Faculty of Education Resource Centre
University of Ottawa Library
Closing Date: November 18, 2009

2009-2010 CLA CASLIS Events

2009-10-17T12:52:00.002-04:00

Want to keep track of CLA-CASLIS Ottawa events? Add our Google Calendar to your Google account:

CLA-CASLIS Google Calendar

Or, if you prefer a more print friendly version of 2009-2010 events:

Save the Date: CLA-CASLIS Events for 2009-2010

We can count’em … but do they count?

2009-10-15T22:18:00.001-04:00

We can count’em … but do they count?
Challenges in assessing ROI from information services

"A panel of special librarians will share their real-world experiences."

Attributed to Einstein and Drucker, variations on “not everything we measure is significant, and what is significant may be impossible to measure” apply to assessing the return on investment of funds and time – in the latter case both on the part of information center staff and knowledge workers using the information center. The pressure to demonstrate ROI and ROTI has produced a sizeable body of literature, yet it seems library and information centre managers still struggle to measure the “right” activity indicators and assess the contribution those activities and associated investments are making to the organization’s strategic goals. Ulla de Stricker shares observations and caveats from her experience with strategic assessments and planning for knowledge centric entities and suggests basic guidelines for presenting ROI-type information to organization managers.

Where: Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch (Auditorium), 120 Metcalfe St. Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Time: 5:30-7:30PM
Cost:

CLA Members: $20
Personal Members of other professional associations: $25
Non-members $30
Students:
- CLA Student Members : $10
- Student non-members: $15

Register by sending your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca. If you require a receipt for this event please include a request with your RSVP before October 26.

Speaker's Biography:
Through a successful career holding senior positions in the information industry, Ulla developed extensive expertise in knowledge and information management. She established her consulting practice in 1992 and leverages her experience to assist a wide range of clients in strategic planning projects. An accomplished public speaker, Ulla is a frequent contributor to the professional literature and to conferences.

Born and raised in Copenhagen, Ulla studied in Jerusalem, New York, and Montreal, receiving Masters degrees in American Literature and Library and Information Science.

http://www.destricker.com/

More events related to Open Access

2009-10-13T21:22:00.001-04:00

Here is a link to a more comprehensive list of Ottawa events:

Open Access Week 2009: Schedule of Events

Get involved with Open Access Week October 19-23 , 2009

2009-10-13T21:09:00.003-04:00

La semaine internationale du libre accès @ uO

Joignez-vous à nous!

mardi le 20 octobre 2009

13 h 30

Salon, Nouvelle résidence, 90, rue Université

Un léger goûter sera servi

L’Université d’Ottawa, en collaboration avec le CRDI (Centre de recherches pour le développement international) et Carleton University, promeut la semaine internationale du libre accès du 19 au 23 octobre 2009.

L’Université d’Ottawa accorde une importance primordiale aux communications savantes. Le financement, la création, le partage et l’archivage de la recherche dépendent d’elles. Les communications savantes jouent, de plus, un rôle important pour ce qui est de rehausser le profil de l’Université auprès de sa propre communauté et auprès d’autres intervenants, comme les gouvernements, les organismes subventionnaires, les médias ainsi que les professeures et professeurs et les étudiantes et étudiants de demain.

L’Université d’Ottawa soulignera la semaine internationale du libre accès avec un événement le 20 octobre mettant en vedette deux conférenciers distingués:

STEPHEN CHOI

Co-rédacteur de ‘Open Medicine’ et Directeur associé du programme de résidence de médecine d’urgence

Open Access: How it Can Reform the Science of Health Care

MICHAEL GEIST

Chaire de recherche du Canada en droit d'Internet

Open Access 2.0: Why Canada's University Should Become

Canada's Open Access University

Les discours seront présentés en anglais.

Carleton University a créé un site web qui met en évidence des événements régionaux et des liens liés au libre accès : www.library.carleton.ca/about/projects/openaccess
Site web officiel de la semaine internationale du libre accès : www.openaccessweek.org/
Page web de la Bibliothèque de l’Université d’Ottawa au sujet du libre accès : http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/content-page.php?g=fr&s=biblio&c=abt-ptq-oacc

Quels sont les avantages du libre accès?

Une meilleure visibilité – Des preuves montrent que les chercheurs ont davantage tendance à citer des œuvres publiées en libre accès.
Une publication plus rapide – Le processus d’examen par les pairs est beaucoup moins compliqué dans le cas des revues à libre accès que dans celui des périodiques traditionnels, de sorte que les œuvres peuvent être approuvées, révisées et publiées en quelques semaines plutôt que sur une période de plusieurs mois.
La transformation des communications savantes – En cette ère d’innovation et de création de savoir, le recours à des technologies électroniques fondées sur le libre accès peut améliorer le travail et la collaboration des chercheurs.
Moins elles dépendent des éditeurs traditionnels et de leurs formules d’abonnement, plus les bibliothèques peuvent réduire leurs coûts d’acquisition.
La diffusion à grande échelle du savoir et de la recherche ne peut que bénéficier à l’ensemble de la société.

Pour plus de renseignements, veuillez communiquer avec:

Liz Hayden

Bibliothécaire responsable du développement, de l’évaluation et du marketing

613-562-5800, poste3008

ehayden@uottawa.ca

Patrick Labelle

Bibliothécaire responsable de la communication savante

613-562-5800, poste4563

plabelle@uOttawa.ca

International Open Access Week @ uO

Join Us!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

1:30 pm

New Residence Lounge, 90 University

Light refreshments will be served

The University of Ottawa is working together with IDRC (International Development Resource Centre) and Carleton University to promote International Open Access Week, October 19 to 23, 2009.

Scholarly communications is an issue of vital importance to the University of Ottawa. It affects the ways in which research is funded, created, shared, and archived. It plays a major role in raising the profile of the University to our own community, and to other stakeholders such as government, granting agencies, the media, and potential faculty and students.

The University of Ottawa will celebrate International Open Access Week with an event on October 20^thfeaturing two distinguished speakers:

STEPHEN CHOI

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Open Medicine and Associate Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency

Open Access: How it Can Reform the Science of Health Care

MICHAEL GEIST

Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law

Open Access 2.0: Why Canada's University Should Become

Canada's Open Access University

Carleton University has prepared a website to highlight local events and links to additional information about open access: www.library.carleton.ca/about/projects/openaccess/
The official International Open Access Week website is: www.openaccessweek.org/
The University of Ottawa Library Open Access page: http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/content-page.php?g=en&s=biblio&c=abt-ptq-oacc

What are the advantages of open access?

Increased visibility - there is evidence to suggest that open access leads to a higher number of cited references in the research literature.
Publishing research faster - the peer-review process for open access titles is much more streamlined than the traditional journal model, meaning that works can be approved, edited, and published in weeks rather than months.
Transforming scholarly communications - in the new era of innovation and knowledge creation, using Web technologies based on open access can enhance how researchers work and collaborate.
A lessening of reliance on traditional publishers and their subscription models - this can decrease the acquisitions costs of libraries.
Promoting the widest possible diffusion of knowledge and research - this is a societal good that benefits everyone.

For additional information, please contact:

Liz Hayden

Development, Assessment and Marketing Librarian

613-562-5800 ext.3008

ehayden@uottawa.ca

Patrick Labelle

Scholarly Communications Librarian

613-562-5800 ext.4563

plabelle@uOttawa.ca

Government librarians tap social media to stay relevant

2009-10-08T17:45:00.000-04:00

Librarians with the Ontario public service are breaking stereotypes and embracing social media to deliver information within their departments and beyond. Librarians at the Legislative Assembly and the Fire Marshall's Office are using RSS feeds and Twitter to stay relevant.

More at itbusiness.ca (article includes a video interview with Martha Murphy, librarian for the Office of the Fire Marshall)

News Release - NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve Collaboration

2009-10-07T19:12:00.000-04:00

News release from NRC-CISTI, the National Research Council Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information.

NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve Collaboration

Ottawa, ON, October 7, 2009 – NRC-CISTI, Canada's national science library is changing and we are energized by the possibilities as we move forward in the transformation process announced in February 2009.

We are pleased to announce that Infotrieve, Inc., a leader in information center technology development and document delivery for more than 20 years, will be collaborating with NRC-CISTI on providing document delivery services for our clients and business partners. Infotrieve will be acting on NRC-CISTI's behalf within Canada and will be providing exclusive services to our US and International clients. The transition will begin immediately and the process will be completed by March 31, 2010.

Over the next three to four months NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve will work closely together to transition all clients, starting with US clients, to Infotrieve's world-class document delivery services using award winning technology for sourcing and delivering document orders. You will be able to recognize these orders by the accompanying coversheet or e-mail, which will reference Infotrieve. It is important to note that during this transition you should continue to use the same ordering methods you have been using to find and order documents, and you will be billed for services according to the identical price list currently used by NRC-CISTI. There will not be any changes to your current workflow for finding, ordering, or receiving document.

More details on what to expect can be found in the NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve Collaboration Question & Answer Guide.

Infotrieve has the fastest document delivery turnaround time in the industry which is achieved by leveraging over 40 million citations available within their own database and Infotrieve's STM Library™ of managed print collections. Add to that the world renowned NRC-CISTI Canadian national science library collection with more than 50,000 serial titles, 800,000 books, conference proceedings, plus 2 million technical reports, and indexed journals in many languages and you've got an enormous collection of scientific, technical and medical (STM) content literally at your fingertips. This combination of content, expertise and technology will enable us to provide NRC-CISTI clients with improved services including faster turnaround times and higher document quality.

NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve will be providing you with regular updates as we progress through this transition. You can also contact us at 613-998-8544 or 1-800-668-1222 (toll-free) or info.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

Canadian Library Month / Mois des bibliothèques au Canada - Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean

2009-09-30T12:33:00.000-04:00

[Source: http://www.cla.ca/clm09/]

Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean

There is nothing quite as stimulating as a book to delve into the fascinating world of history, knowledge or fiction. As we celebrate Canadian Library Month, let us give ourselves over to this wonderful adventure.

Libraries open the door to new books and old favourites; they keep us informed with the most up-to-date resources. They are places of encounters and cultural exchange; places of learning that offer leading-edge technology to meet the needs of members and the demands of the time. Accessible to all citizens, these bastions of knowledge play an essential role in our society. Veritable treasure troves, libraries bring us happiness and the means with which to thrive.

I warmly applaud the staff and volunteers planning activities and special projects throughout the month of October and wish each and every one of you many long, enchanting hours spent with a good book.

Michaëlle Jean
October 2009

***************************************

Message de Son Excellence la très honorable Michaëlle Jean

Il n'y a rien de plus stimulant qu'un livre pour pénétrer dans le monde fascinant de l'histoire, du savoir ou de la fiction. En ce Mois des bibliothèques au Canada, lançons-nous avec enthousiasme dans cette belle aventure.

Les bibliothèques nous permettent de découvrir de nouveaux livres ou de relire nos livres préférés, et de nous tenir informés au moyen de ressources plus récentes. Lieux de rencontres et d'échanges culturels, elles sont aussi des lieux d'apprentissage offrant une technologie de pointe pour satisfaire aux besoins de leurs membres et aux exigences du temps. Accessibles à tous les citoyens, ces temples de la connaissance jouent un rôle essentiel dans notre société. Véritables trésors à chérir, les bibliothèques contribuent à notre bonheur et à notre épanouissement.

Je salue chaleureusement les employés et les bénévoles qui prévoient des activités et des projets spéciaux pendant tout le mois d'octobre et souhaite à toutes et à tous de longues heures de passionnantes lectures.

Michaëlle Jean
Octobre 2009

Canadian Library Month Dinner 2009: An Appetite for Information and Gourmet Cooking

2009-09-28T21:30:00.000-04:00

Join the Canadian Library Association in celebrating Canadian Library Month in style at the Santé Restaurant in Ottawa (45 Rideau Street, 2nd Floor) on Monday, October 19. The speaker at this sumptuous event is Jenna Hartel, who will share her appetite for Information in the Hobby of Gourmet Cooking. Jenna Hartel is an assistant professor at University of Toronto's Faculty of Information. She will be serving up asian inspired menu with something for everyone.

Canadian Library Month Dinner

~ Appetizers ~

Soup of the Day

Vietnamese Spring Rolls
(shrimp, cucumber, noodles, bean sprouts and fresh herbs in rice paper served with hot and sour sauce)

Artichoke Salad
(tomato, avocado and lemon garlic dressing)

~ Entrées ~

Thai Beef
(thin slices of beef stir-fried with green, red peppers and red onions in lemon grass and cherry brandy sauce)

Organic Tofu, Cashew and Vegetable Stir Fry
(vegetarian mushroom sauce, broccoli, rice)

Traditional Thai Curry
(free range chicken or fresh prawns, thai yellow curry, asian vegetables, rice)

Catch of the Day

~ Coffee/Tea & Dessert ~

Apple Cranberry Crumble

Chocolate Pecan Torte

******************************************************************

Date: Monday, October 19, 2009, 6pm
Location: Santé Restaurant (45 Rideau Street, 2nd Floor)
Speaker: Jenna Hartel
Topic: Appetite for Information in the Hobby of Gourmet Cooking
Price: $60 (a tax receipt will be issued for the amount of $20)

Ticket Order Form

Deadline Extension for the CLA 2010 Conference Proposals

2009-09-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Library Association is pleased to announce that the deadline for the submission of conference and pre-conference proposals has been extended to Sunday, October 4, 2009.

Submissions will continue to be accepted until midnight on October 4, 2009.

We look forward to receiving your submissions. Please direct questions to Wendy Walton, wwalton@cla.ca or 613.232.9625 extension 302.

New Professionals Stepping Up to the Leadership Plate - “Ten Things I Wish They Had Told Me”

2009-09-22T20:42:00.003-04:00

Wendy Newman will present a practical view to current approaches of leadership development in Canada. Specifically, the discussion will focus on the ten main facets of development that new professionals should undertake in the course of their early career to ensure future advancement into leadership roles.

Where: Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch (Auditorium), 120 Metcalfe St.
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Time: 5:30 - 7:30PM
Cost:

CLA Members: $5
Non-members: $10
CLA Student Members : Free
Student non-members: $5

Register by sending your name and membership/student status to: rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

Speaker's Biography:
Wendy Newman has an extensive background in library leadership and public policy advocacy in Canada. A graduate of Queen’s University (B.A.) and the University of Toronto (B.L.S., M.L.S.), she has worked in university, education, public and special libraries and as a library educator. A passionate advocate of libraries, she has served on such national bodies as the National Broadband Task Force, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Smart Communities, and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Media Awareness Network. She is a former President of the Canadian Library Association and the Canadian Association of Public Libraries, and was a three-time Mentor at the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute.

She retired at the end of 2003 as Chief Executive Officer of the Brantford Public Library, where she led the development of ground-breaking community partnerships, and was appointed Senior Fellow in 2006 at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. As a Lecturer, her primary roles are teaching and mentoring students in the library and information science stream and serving as a liaison between the Faculty and the professional and employer communities. With an extensive background in public, university, and educational librarianship as well as public policy advocacy, she has taught Advocacy and Library Issues for several years, additionally offering the course online jointly to other Canadian library and information faculties.

Wendy was awarded the Ontario Public Library Association Lifetime Achievement Award in January 2009, and in 2004 received both the CLA’s Outstanding Service to Leadership Award and the Faculty of Information Alumni Jubilee Award. She also holds a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2003) for community service.

CLA-CASLIS Ottawa Programming Season Launch

2009-09-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

The CLA-CASLIS Ottawa executive invites you to the launch of our new season of programs at the Raw Sugar café! Join us for some conversation and cake. We have eight exciting professional development events planned between now and June 2010 and would love to discuss them with you. Come get a sneak preview of our events for this year and enjoy an evening of socializing and networking with your colleagues. Also, if you have ideas for future events or are interested in volunteering the CLA-CASLIS Ottawa executive would to chat with you!
Networking over cake – what could be finer?

Where: Raw Sugar Café, 692 Somerset St W (near Bronson), Ottawa, ON
Date:Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 5-7PM
Cost: Free. Snacks will be provided. Additional Food and drinks available for purchase.
Please register your intent to attend by emailing rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

Announcing - Canadian Book Review Annual Online - free trial

2009-09-12T22:40:00.001-04:00

The Canadian Book Review Annual (http://www.cbraonline.com/) is being relaunched on Monday in electronic format. You may recall this well-respected title, used both for reference and new acquisitions, last published in paper format in 2006. There is a 30 day free trial offer available starting Monday: those in libraries with Canadian ILL codes already have passwords! Just go to the website http://www.cbraonline.com; your ILL code is both your username and your password. Or request a trial password from info@cbraonline.com. There is additional information in the press release below, and you may also contact me off-list if you have any questions. Please feel free to pass this message along to anyone else who may be interested.

Thank you,

Connie Crosby
Crosby Group Consulting
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
cell: 416-919-6719
conniecrosby@gmail.com
http://www.crosbygroup.ca | http://conniecrosby.blogspot.com | http://communitydivas.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CBRA Live, Online, & Free for 30 Days

TORONTO, September 10, 2009…Dundurn Press is pleased to announce that the Canadian Book Review Annual (CBRA) will roll out live, online on Monday, September 14, 2009.

CBRAonline — the most comprehensive, authoritative database for quality reviews of Canadian-authored titles — is being launched to fill the need for an easily searchable electronic version of the venerable hardcover, Canadian Book Review Annual. Now these important reference annuals with 40,000 past reviews of Canadian-authored titles and over 150 new titles each month are easily accessible online. More than 300 reviewers — all experts in their fields — provide thorough evaluations of Canadian authored books in many different genres including children’s books as well as adult fiction and nonfiction.

For the first time, these reviews will be available to a broad group of users, from professors and scholars to high school students and library patrons.

About CBRA:

"Recommended for all Canadian libraries and American academic libraries with Canadian collections."— Library Journal

"Of great value to the staff of Canadian school, public and academic libraries ... as well as anyone interested in Canadian Studies." — Booklist

As part of a special offer CBRAonline invites you to sign up for a 30 day free trial. Visit us at www.cbraonline.com and contact info@cbraonline.com for more information.

- 30 -

For comment, please contact Beth Bruder at (416) 214-5544, ext. 232 or bbruder@dundurn.com

Outsell Pricing Survey 2009

2009-09-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

Outsell, Inc. (www.outsellinc.com) is conducting a short survey to determine 2010 vendor pricing changes. If you are not familiar with content vendor pricing, please forward this survey to the appropriate person.

This survey asks nine questions and should only take about 10 minutes to complete. All participants will receive a summary of the research results to show our appreciation. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey – it will close at midnight Pacific Time on September 25, 2009.

Your answers will remain confidential and will be aggregated with others. We ask that, if possible, only one person from each organization answer the survey to avoid duplicate responses from the same organization.

Click the following link to enter the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ftca9BlBc3JelRPHK34UMg_3d_3d

Note: If you completed the IM Benchmark survey, we appreciate your participation – the summary of results will be sent out to participants in October.

If you have questions please contact Sheila King at sking@outsellinc.com.

Best regards,

Sheila

------------------------------------------------
Sheila W. King, PRC
Director, Primary Research
Outsell, Inc.
+1 479.474.3868
www.outsellinc.com

Outsell, Inc.
Advancing the business of information

Ottawa Job Posting

2009-09-10T22:54:00.000-04:00

Recently posted Ottawa jobs in the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site:

Head, Reference Services, Morisset Library
University of Ottawa Library
Closing Date: October 9, 2009

Modernisation at Library and Archives Canada and Good Bye, Portrait Gallery of Canada

2009-09-09T23:46:00.000-04:00

As part of Library and Archives Canada's "modernization exercise", the Portrait Gallery of Canada is no more. The Globe and Mail reports that the portrait program will be part of the Programs Branch of LAC. Also gone will be Dr. Lily Koltun, the Portrait Gallery's director general for the past eight years.

Daniel Caron, the deputy minister of Library and Archives Canada, posted a message about the modernization exercise:

Last April, I accepted with great pleasure my appointment as Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Now, after some months at the helm of the institution, I would like to take the time to share with you what path I think our institution should follow in order to play the crucial role that Canadians expect of it. The challenge is colossal. Today, digital technology has radically changed our practices and expectations and, to remain relevant, we will need to tackle the issues, communicate and collaborate more than ever before with others who share our goals. Creating strategic alliances will become increasingly essential for all stakeholders, particularly in light of the migration to digital, which, as we all know, does nothing to reduce the challenges we continue to face. We still have unanswered questions regarding the best way to preserve such things as documents on acid paper, nitrate photos and films, masses of audio-visual material, or simply to ensure access to all the records that are still on analogue media. We cannot switch from one world to the other – we are condemned to live in both worlds, analogue and digital, at the same time. That is our biggest challenge. It will require a lot of compromise, imagination, innovation, daring and dialogue all around. However, I believe that our path into the future is realistic. I also firmly believe that we will all be farther ahead if we walk together and that, in the end, Canadians will be all the better served.

The institution now known as Library and Archives Canada has a brilliant past. We have been leaders in several key areas of collective memory management and we have played a significant role in the development of better national and international practices in the fields of library science, archivistics and records management. Founded in 1953, the National Library of Canada has contributed significantly to the development of copyright and description practices and undertaken the herculean task of building a collection of publications better known as Canadiana. Since its foundation in 1872, the National Archives of Canada has made it possible to constitute an impressive fond comprising multiple collections that are used today by the government to support its daily business, genealogy experts across the country and historians and researchers, among others, as sources of solid and authentic information. This brilliant past shone bright again in 2004 when the institution became one of the first in the world to initiate a promising media convergence project by proposing to fuse the two institutions responsible for national records. Such a program was ambitious and it has not yet come to full fruition, to be sure. Among other things, we need to refine it and continue ongoing work, with a view to reconciling and harmonizing the paradigms that guided the two founding institutions up to their fusion.

The current environment is far from stable. Whether we are called library, archives or records centre and whether we are local or national, we are affected by all of the social transformations around us and the daily challenges they put in our way. The world of acquisition, preservation and access has been totally turned on its head. The foundations we have taken for granted for a long time are getting shakier by the day. Our relevance in the medium and long term is also called into question in this new environment. If we have so far been able to understand and control, at least up to a point, the acquisition of published material, it is a different story today when everyone is their own publisher. The notion that personal and government archives could, up to now, be potentially housed in a more or less limited and finite fond has been exploded by digitization, and archival fonds have less and less "territorial status." They are, day by day, becoming more virtual and elusive in a physical world. Publications on paper and publications on canvas have had the same fate - they no longer come in a hard-copy, physical format, necessarily.

At the same time, this new environment is very promising. Material has never been so accessible to and from every corner of the country, as demonstrated by our virtual portrait collection, the portal to the New France archives developed in cooperation with France and Quebec, and the online Irish census developed in cooperation with Ireland. We are less and less constrained by the need to travel to another physical location to access other elements of our collective memory. By the same token, we can now have access to what Canadians are saying and thinking by simply accessing their blogs and using other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Such a sampling will give us a better idea of what Canada is and who Canadians are.

These are unprecedented and dizzying opportunities because, when possibilities are multiplied, new issues and new challenges arise. Nobody can claim to be able to harness this environment successfully on their own. Everyone needs to get into the act because society and knowledge institutions in general, and information managers and professionals in particular, all have increasingly bigger stakes in common, above and beyond their more specialized, specific and immediate interests. The issues and the challenges we face are far too complex and too crucial for us to ignore the urgency of uniting our efforts to tackle them and deal with them. How do we remain relevant in an increasingly fragmented and to a certain extent uncontrollable environment? How do we make sure that we continue building a memory for tomorrow from what is today an amalgam of analogue and digital, with the digital increasing exponentially? How do we choose? What do we choose? How do we preserve the old and the new? Are our copyright policies adequate? Do they allow us to collect what is essential for building this part of the collective memory? How do we make what we collect accessible? Users and fields of interest have multiplied. Knowledge and access to it have become more democratic, and the passion for memory and its artefacts keeps growing day by day. How do we rationalize our choices in the face of this torrent of specialized demands? These questions merely scratch the surface of our challenges.

There is nothing really new in all this, but we do need to resolve these issues so we need to work at them until we can come up with practical and functional solutions. This is a challenge we have to face together. I myself hope to be able to work with all others who also seek to resolve these issues practically and constructively, through collaboration and mutual respect for each other's obligations and mandates. To this end, we will need to properly understand our missions, define and communicate our priorities and determine what we can do best with the means we have. And we should take this opportunity to rethink our approaches, where necessary.

Thus, we should aim to work together to come up with the best way to use the skills and the abilities we can muster, with a view to tackling the challenges presented by acquisition in an environment that combines our analogue past with our digital present in an increasingly complex society. We must not forget that the digital images created today are the Winkworths and the Karshes of tomorrow, and that the rare book of tomorrow is the last online version of Didier von Cauwelaert's serial story entitled Thomas Drimm. The significance we assign to our past must be weighed against the value we place on creation in the present, so that we can make sure that our acquisitions are an accurate reflection of what Canada is and who Canadians are. We do not want to discover, twenty years down the road, that there is a "blank in our memory."

Acquisition, preservation and accessibility, they all hang together: what will be accessible tomorrow is the acquisition that is properly preserved today. What is properly preserved today is the acquisition that was selected yesterday. We cannot keep everything. We cannot keep everything in one place. One institution cannot preserve everything. We face huge challenges involving technical and technological collaboration, as well as task-sharing. We belong to a huge network and we need to capitalize on this strength to make sure we know what is acquired, how it is preserved and where it is stored in order to make it accessible. The ultimate aim is, after all, to make accessible the records of our heritage in all its various forms: documents, books, maps and portraits. Even here, our relevance depends on our ability to implement the best work procedures and marshal the most effective and efficient combinations of available expertise. The place of knowledge in our lives and the places where knowledge is stored have been profoundly transformed and we have to recognize this. More and more, we have to go where the people are - to the extent possible. Virtual vaults and presentations by experts in classrooms, online, via podcast and webcast - these are the ways of tomorrow. More traditional research environments and exhibition rooms will undoubtedly remain an appropriate approach for several more years but, even here, we face a dual world of physical access and virtual access. Solutions will need to be balanced to suit this new order and they should not lose sight of the fact that the institution's fonds must, above all, be accessible to as many people as possible over a vast territory, and yet allow experts to access the more esoteric sections.

Lastly, we have to make sure that we do what we were set up to do: preserve the collective memory and make it accessible. This is our role. Our institutional and professional needs and identities notwithstanding, we have to work together to identify our common interests and form alliances to tackle the modern challenges we need to deal with to fulfil this role. We have access to extraordinary talent, both in our institution and in society at large, that we can call upon to design and construct the requisite new approaches.

Obituary: Ruth E. Dickinson

2009-09-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

The Ottawa Sun reports that Ottawa library pioneer Ruth E. Dickinson has died.

In 1955, Dickinson founded the Nepean Public Library, operating it out of her living room. When the City of Ottawa was formed 2001 and the library systems amalgamated, the Nepean system had grown to include four branches.

Barrhaven Councillor Jan Harder, chair of the Ottawa Library Board, called Ruth Dickinson a “cheery” lady and a community “champion” in Nepean.

The Ruth E. Dickinson Branch of the Ottawa Public Library was opened in 1980 and named in her honour.

Ottawa Job Posting

2009-09-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

Recently posted Ottawa jobs in the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Job Search site:

Librarian, Teen Services
Ottawa Public Library
Closing Date: September 17, 2009

SLAISmatters Newsletter Now Available

2009-08-23T21:24:00.002-04:00

The School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at The University of British Columbia has launched the inaugural edition of its SLAISmatters newsletter, available as PDF edition at http://www.slais.ubc.ca/NEWS/current-news.htm.

The newsletter will be published twice a year – both print and electronically every summer, and electronically only every winter. Each issue will provide news and updates about our faculty, students, alumni and programs.

This first issue features a farewell from outgoing director Professor Edie Rasmussen, and photos and articles about the outstanding new home for SLAIS which will also serve as a significant legacy of her leadership. There are profiles of three of our faculty members, and a short introduction to the faculty who are joining SLAIS this academic year.

"We’re quite proud of our newsletter, and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it," said SLAIS Interim Director Terry Eastwood.

Please feel free to share the electronic version, and if you would like a print version mailed to you, or to subscribe to either the print or electronic version, send a request to slais@interchange.ubc.ca.

Coming Soon from CLA Continuing Professional Development

2009-08-21T19:19:00.001-04:00

September 22, 2009 - Turbulent Times: What's in It for Libraries?
Teleconference with Jan Harder and Barbara Clubb

Across the country, we are all feeling the effects of the economic climate: from manufacturing job losses and falling stock values to depreciating housing prices and pension plans, everyone is faced with concerns about the future.

Libraries now have an opportunity to demonstrate, clearly and forcefully, the vital impact they have on their communities and users. This message is often subdued or lost in better times - now is the chance for libraries to emphasize their value to society and the return on investment they generate. Libraries of all sorts provide the opportunity for anyone, regardless of circumstances, to gain access to the information and resources they need to equip themselves to face future challenges.

This is also a time to lobby those who fund libraries. And we approach them not looking for bail-outs or hand-outs, but for investment into stable institutions with growing client lists and increasing demands for services. Investment in libraries addresses needs that have positive outcomes: research and study, job skills development, entertainment, community building. We will feature a panel of speakers who will provide expert advice, tips on advocacy, and insights into how to turn current challenges into opportunities for change.

October 26, 2009 - Connecting With Our Clients: Marketing and Communicating Information Services
London, Ontario

This one day seminar will explore how we can connect with our clients through marketing and communications.

Over the course the day participants will have an opportunity to learn:

how to successfully brand your information service;
how to get and keep the attention of stakeholders;
how to develop a communications strategy; and
how to build compelling business cases.

Speakers include Ulla de Stricker and Janine Schmidt.

Registration details for both events will be available from the CLA website on September 1, 2009.

Mindset list for the Class of 2013

2009-08-18T17:01:00.002-04:00

Beloit College has published the latest edition of its annual mindset list - Mindset list for the Class of 2013.

Some highlights:

Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991.
They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.
Text has always been hyper.
They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P.
They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
CDs have never been sold in cardboard packaging.

About the Mindset List

This is the 12th year that Beloit College has assembled these observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives—and formed the mindset—of students starting their post-secondary education this fall.

The Mindset List is not a chronological listing of things that happened in 1991, the year they were born. It is instead an effort to identify the worldview of 18 year-olds in the fall of 2009. Of course, our students come from many backgrounds and different traditions and these generalizations may not apply to all. The list identifies the experiences and event horizons of students and is not meant to reflect on their preparatory education.

It is also not deliberately designed to make readers feel really old!

Call for Papers - CLA National Conference, Edmonton 2010

2009-08-17T16:57:00.001-04:00

The 65th Canadian Library Association National Conference and Trade Show will be held in Edmonton from Wednesday, June 2 to Saturday, June 5, 2010

CLA is pleased to invite members of the library community and other interested parties to propose program submissions for this national event.

Proposals are being solicited on any topic relevant to the Canadian library and information professional community. The conference has no set theme, and there are no defined subject streams – proposals on all topics of professional interest will be considered. The Conference Program Committee would like to encourage proposals which express innovative and creative ways for presenting information to delegates.

Sessions may be presented in any format: panels of speakers, single speakers, round-table discussions, debates, “unconference” sessions, interviews – let your imagination guide you! The only restriction is time: you may request either a 60 minute or 90 minute slot in the schedule.

Poster presentations are also being solicited. These presentations take the form of display boards, with presenters available for one-to-one discussion with delegates at a specified time. Again, any topic of broad interest to the library and information profession will be considered.

All proposals will be reviewed by the CLA Conference Program Committee. The submission deadline is September 30, 2009.

Proposals must be submitted using CLA’s online submission form. For further information or to submit a proposal, please visit: http://www.cla.ca/conference/2010/

Thank you for your interest in the 2010 CLA National Conference.

Kelly Moore
Executive Director
Canadian Library Association

Seeking UWO MLIS grads from 2004-2008 to participate in online survey

2009-08-17T16:55:00.000-04:00

The Faculty of Information and Media Studies is seeking MLIS alumni who graduated from 2004-2008 to participate in an online survey that is part of a research study. Full details are provided in the letter below, which was e-mailed to recent grads of the MLIS program.

If you are willing to fill out the online survey, please send your name and e-mail address to fimsrsvp [at] uwo [dot] ca indicating your willingness to participate and granting your consent for us to send your name and e-mail address to the WILIS 2 research team at the University of North Carolina.

August 11, 2009

Dear FIMS MLIS Alumni,

Greetings from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies! The MLIS program at Western has been invited to take part in an important research study, and we are writing to request your participation.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Information and Library Science and the UNC Institute on Aging are currently engaged in a three-year project entitled Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science 2 (WILIS 2): Implementing a Model for Career Tracking of LIS Graduates. The study is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

LIS programs from across Canada and the United States are participating in WILIS 2, which involves an online survey of recent LIS graduates with the aim of learning whether programs meet students’ expectations, prepare them for the workplace or meet continuing learning needs. Your participation in this study by filling out the survey will help to support the recruitment, education and retention of the next generation of LIS professionals and will help us learn about the careers of Western MLIS graduates.

Participation is voluntary. Only de-identified data will be shared with the MLIS program at Western.

If you are willing to fill out the online survey, please reply to this e-mail indicating your willingness to participate and granting your consent for us to send your name and e-mail address to the WILIS 2 research team at the University of North Carolina. The UNC researchers will send you the survey via e-mail. A response to this letter is requested no later than this Friday, August 14, 2009 [note: this deadline has been extended]. It is anticipated the survey will be distributed in early October.

Thank you for your consideration and your willingness to help us learn more about how we can improve the MLIS program at Western.

Sincerely,

Dr. Thomas Carmichael
Dean

Dr. Nick Dyer-Witheford
Associate Dean

Dr. Gloria Leckie
LIS Program Coordinator

Reality Shows for Librarians and Like-Minded Fans

2009-08-11T21:53:00.002-04:00

On the eve of the new television season, the students in the MLIS programme at The University of Western Ontario have compiled a list of reality shows for librarians.

Samples include:

Dancing With The Saurus – students are paired up, given a thesaurus and try to diversify their sentences. Judged by a librarian, a writer and an English teacher, Heaven help them if they use 'like' improperly in front of the mean English teacher.

Jon and Kate Ask Eight – really tough reference questions in a bid to stump a panel of paparazzi reference librarians.

Sci Fi for the Sporty Guy – two nerds try to get jocks to read Asimov and Bradbury.

The Week the Internet Left Town – professional librarians answer questions without Wikipedia or Google Scholar.

More...

Careers in Information Management

2009-08-08T20:14:00.001-04:00

CLA-CASLIS Government Section
presents

Careers in Information Management

Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
365 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa (Guy Belisle Room)

Are you a student from a LIS or LIT program? A recent graduate?

Are you an information professional who might be staffing a position in the next couple of years?

CLA-CASLIS Government Section invites you to an afternoon of networking and learning, a chance to meet each other, make some contacts, find out who is hiring (and who is interested in working in Ottawa's information organizations) and hear first hand what is happening in each others' worlds.

***************************************

Agenda:

1:00 Welcome

1:10 There's nothing wrong with being a "Jill/Jack-of-all-trades" in the information world! (Speaker: Terri Tomchyshyn)

2:00 Refreshment Break

2:30 Speed Networking

***************************************

When:
Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Where:
365 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa (Guy Belisle Room)

Students and New Professionals: Register at http://tinyurl.com/cla-speednetworking

For more information, please contact CLA-CASLIS Government Section at caslis.govlib@gmail.com

Help choose public art for the new Central Archives and Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre

2009-07-29T22:32:00.001-04:00

Ottawa - You are invited to meet the five artists or artist teams that have been short-listed in the Central Archives and Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre public art competition. Meet the artists, view the proposals and record your comments on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Atrium of Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive.

In keeping with the Percent for Art Policy, the City of Ottawa's Public Art Program initiated a competition for site-specific public art to be integrated into various exterior sites of the new Central Archives and Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre, to be located at Woodroffe Avenue and Tallwood Drive.

Twenty-five local artists responded to this opportunity with their submissions for the May deadline. The selection criteria for submissions included artistic excellence, experience, site integration, reflection of the profile and character of the facility, and durability.

The five finalists will present preliminary sketches, scale models or maquettes, and detailed work plans including budgets of the proposed artworks. The finalists are:

Marie J. Coulombe
Adrian Göllner and Joanna Swim
Marcus Kucey Jones
Don Maynard
Mark Thompson

The Art Selection Committee will take the public's comments into consideration when they meet again to choose the winning proposal.

The City of Ottawa commissions local artists' works for display in public spaces. A percent of funds for municipal development projects is set aside for public art to beautify spaces and make art accessible to everyone.

For more information, please call 613-244-4261 or e-mail publicartprogram@ottawa.ca.

Business Cases

2009-07-28T17:26:00.001-04:00

The Treasury Board Secretariat has published two new documents to help in the preparing of business cases:

Business Case Guide
The purpose of this document is to support the development of a strong business case that links investments with program results and, ultimately, with the strategic outcomes of the organization.

Business Case Template
This document is your template for producing a business case. A business case is typically a presentation or a proposal to an authority by an organization seeking funding, approval, or both for an activity, initiative, or project.

How To Read A Privacy Policy

2009-07-27T06:45:00.002-04:00

The Common Data Project has published a report titled "How to Read a Privacy Policy."

As part of its mission to educate the public on online privacy issues, CDP surveyed the online privacy policies of the largest Internet companies, like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, to established online communities and social networks such as Facebook, Craigslist and Wikipedia, as well as a few start‐ups that seek to compete on the basis of privacy, like Cuil and Ixquick.

The report walks through seven questions meant to pinpoint the issues CDP believes are most crucial for a user’s privacy, from questions on how “personal information” is defined to the kind of choices offered to users regarding how their information is shared.

Economic Impact: How Information Professionals Are Coping with Change

2009-07-22T06:24:00.001-04:00

J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., a provider of regulatory compliance information on HR, safety, and transportation issues, have announced the availability of a new, white paper, "Economic Impact: How Information Professionals Are Coping With Change" (visit J.J. Keller's new webpage for information professionals). The paper details the results of a survey in which information professionals revealed their recession survival strategies.

Most of the 308 respondents reported that they work in professional services, in organisations with more than 5,000 employees; a significant portion of respondents work in academic libraries and non-profit organisations. The survey revealed the following:

Making do with free resources is the most important tactic for coping with reduced content budgets.
Using technology and/or automation is most relevant for coping with staffing changes.
Doing more with less is the information professional's new mantra.
Helping library users become more self-sufficient is key.
Promoting their information center's vital contributions to management is a must.

Source: aliaNATSPEC

Copyright Consultations

2009-07-21T06:04:00.002-04:00

Over the next few weeks, the federal government will be hosting a variety of consultations on updating Canada's copyright legislation.

From July 20 to August 27, a series of town halls and round tables will be held across Canada:

July 20: Vancouver - Round Table
July 21: Calgary - Round Table
July 29: Gatineau - Round Table
July 30: Montreal - Town Hall
August 5: Winnipeg - Round Table
August 27: Toronto - Town Hall

In addition to the in-person events, the Copyright Consultation website offers other ways to participate:

Online Submission Centre
Online Discussion Forum
Multimedia Centre

Job Posting: Web and IT Infrastructure Manager

2009-07-20T06:05:00.002-04:00

The Canadian Library Association has an opening for a Web and IT Infrastructure Manager.

Position:
The Web and IT Infrastructure Manager works in partnership with CLA staff and members to create and maintain a vibrant and interactive web presence and to manage the on-going development of the Association’s IT infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

maintaining and updating CLA’s web presence by posting new content and archiving older content, and teaching volunteers how to upload and manage content
developing and maintaining social networking and communication tools (blogs, wikis discussion forums, listservs, RSS feeds, e-communities)
managing the information technology (computers and network) infrastructure of the Association, and maintaining the safety and security of all electronic data
managing all systems applications related to the membership database and the website
providing advice on software and other tools to enhance office productivity
supporting CLA members and staff to use appropriate IT tools
maintaining awareness of emerging issues of significance to web and IT developments
working with CLA staff and volunteers on technical issues related to the development and delivery of online workshops, seminars, and other continuing professional development opporunities

Qualifications:

Undergraduate degree or diploma and 2 years related experience in designing/updating creative, user-friendly, database-driven, interactive websites at the web 2.0 level OR an equivalent combination of education, training and experience
1 - 2 years experience using content management tools; a detailed understanding of content management technologies
Experience with open source software (Drupal), social networking tools, web programming techniques (ASP, JavaScript, PHP)
Strong working knowledge of HTML, web design, web standards, current web design trends and user interface best practices
Knowledge of graphic design principles & design programs (Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator) would be considered an asset
Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office tools
Ruthless attention to detail
Excellent time management, organizational, interpersonal and communication skills
Self-motivated; an innovative team player with an ability to work independently
Exceptional documentation and presentation skills
Previous experience teaching or training others

Applications should be submitted to the CLA Office no later than 31 July 2009.

Canadian Library Association
Attn: Judy Green
328 Frank Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 0X8
jgreen@cla.ca

We thank all applicants, but advise that only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

The Canadian Library Association is a national non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to serving libraries and library and information professionals across the country. For more information, visit: www.cla.ca.

PubMed Central Canada

2009-07-06T22:40:00.001-04:00

PubMed Central repository will open new pathway to Canadian health research

July 06, 2009, Ottawa, Ontario

Accelerating the development of discoveries and innovations and facilitating their adoption through free and open access to research findings. This is the aim of an important new initiative that will provide researchers and knowledge users free access to a vast digital archive of published health research at their desktop and connect them to an emerging international network of digital archives anchored in the United States.

The National Research Council's Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) have announced a three-way partnership to establish PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada). PMC Canada will be a national digital repository of peer-reviewed health and life sciences literature, including research resulting from CIHR funding. This searchable Web-based repository will be permanent, stable and freely accessible.

"PMC Canada is a powerful tool that will help researchers build upon one another's work and speed up the discovery and innovation process to address important health challenges," says Dr. Ian Graham, Vice-President of Knowledge Translation at CIHR. "It will provide quick and easy access to a much broader audience, increasing the value and application of CIHR-funded research."

PMC Canada supports CIHR's recently announced Policy on Access to Research Outputs, under which grant recipients are required to ensure that their peer reviewed publications are freely accessible online within six months of publication. PMC Canada will include a manuscript submission system to enable CIHR-funded researchers to deposit articles that are accepted for publication by peer reviewed journals.

PMC Canada builds on the successful PubMed Central (PMC) archive developed by the US National Library of Medicine and will join UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) as a member of the broader PMC International network. This network enables national versions of PMC to share content, and will make much of PubMed Central and UKPMC content accessible through PMC Canada. The network uses software developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the division of NLM that created and administers PMC.

"We are pleased that Canada is joining the PMC International family, further strengthening this effort to share life sciences literature across the world," says NLM Director Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D. "International collaboration and data sharing has proven to be a strong driver of scientific advance, with projects such as the GenBank international DNA sequence database propelling new discoveries at a rapid pace. The addition of Canada as a PMCI member should similarly aid the progress of science, while also enhancing public access to the results of research that affects health and health care."

CIHR will supply the funds for PMC Canada and NRC-CISTI will contribute its technological expertise to build the infrastructure and manage the repository.

"NRC is proud to be a partner in an initiative that will create a permanent archive for Canadian health research and increase access for all Canadians," says Dr. Pierre Coulombe, President, NRC. "This initiative is an important step forward in NRC-CISTI's efforts to collaborate with others to provide Canadians with seamless and permanent access to scientific, technical and health information."

The initial release of PMC Canada, to be available in fall 2009, will include a basic bilingual interface, a manuscript submission system for CIHR researchers and a bilingual help desk. An advisory committee of Canadian health researchers and other stakeholders will guide PMC Canada's future development.

About NRC-CISTI
NRC's Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. As a key facility of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) is one of the world's leading sources for information in all areas of science, technology, health and engineering. NRC-CISTI is transforming its business and services to meet the evolving needs of the Canadian science and technology community.

About CIHR
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

About NLM
Located at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., the National Library of Medicine is the world's largest library of the health sciences. NLM collects, organizes, and makes available biomedical science information to scientists, health professionals, and the public. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov.

Competencies of the Federal Government Information Management Community

2009-06-24T16:59:00.001-04:00

The Canadian General Standards Board has just published CGSB-192.2-2009, Competencies of the Federal Government Information Management Community. This new CGSB standard has been developed for the Government of Canada’s IM Community, that comprises approximately 10,000 federal public servants across Canada, whose primary responsibilities involve information management (IM).

The standard defines the competencies that are essential to demonstrate proficiency in activities that are common to all, rather than specific to any, of the disciplines comprising the information management (IM) function within the Government of Canada.

This standard is being used to serve as the foundation for a Professional Development and Certification Program for IM functional specialists in the Government of Canada.

Source: Canadian General Standards Board

Workshop: Career Development Day for Students and New Professionals (Ottawa)

2009-06-22T06:24:00.002-04:00

CASLIS Government Section presents

Career Development Day for Students and New Professionals

Saturday, June 27, 2009, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Capital Hill Hotel & Suites, 88 Albert Street, Ottawa

CASLIS Government Section is pleased to offer a full-day workshop on career development for students and new professionals with Ulla de Stricker.

Whether you're looking for your first professional position or still finishing library studies, participants will come away from the event with tips, tricks, tools and techniques to advance your career.

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Agenda:

Positive Politics: Building a Healthy Workplace
When a workplace "works" it is no accident. It takes concerted effort - on the part of everyone - to create an atmosphere that has team members looking forward to Mondays! Ulla outlines straightforward ways new professionals can contribute to creating a supportive and productive environment.

Résumés: Let's tackle the monster
Come get the definitive word on what works, how to handle "tricky" information, ways to make the resume stand out visually, and the all-important advice on making an impact in the first 3 seconds a reader looks at the document.

Where do you "fit"? Understanding your "career type"
Some organizational environments are inherently more attractive to each of us than others are. Knowing the types of workplace cultures out there and knowing our preferences and strengths in working within them is ad advantage in focusing the job search as well as in presenting ourselves to potential employees. Ulla discusses the elements of culture and personality that figure in a good organizational "fit".

Self promotion, no cringe: Gaining visibility through giving
Professional visibility is invaluable when it comes to pitching ourselves to employers. How can we gain a reputation to precede us - without feeling awkward? Ulla describes how we can make ourselves known in the profession through activities focusing on delivering value to others.

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About the Speaker
Ulla de Stricker is a well-known figure in the Canadian information and library community, having been active in it for over 30 years. Through a successful career holding senior positions in the information industry, Ulla has developed extensive expertise in knowledge and information management. An accomplished and very popular public speaker, Ulla is a frequent contributor to the professional literature and to conferences.

When:
Saturday, June 27, 2009, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
(Registration starts at 9:00 am; program starts at 9:30 am)

Where:
Capital Hill Hotel & Suites, 88 Albert Street, Laurier and Pearson Rooms

Cost:
CLA Members - $20
Non-Members - $30

(Registration fee includes lunch)

To register, please visit: http://bit.ly/caslis-careerday

Payment by cash or cheque will be taken at the door.

For more information, please contact CASLIS at caslis.govlib@gmail.com

Ottawa Central Library Project: Press Coverage

2009-06-11T05:49:00.004-04:00

News stories about yesterday's announcement.

Editorial: It's more than books (The Ottawa Citizen, June 11, 2009)
Councillors laud proposed library site (The Ottawa Citizen, June 11, 2009)
New chapter opens in library move (The Ottawa Sun, June 11, 2009)
New downtown library in the works (Metro Ottawa, June 11, 2009)
Une nouvelle bibliothèque d'ici 2014 (Le Droit, 10 juin 2009)
Ottawa Public Library finds new home (CBC Ottawa, June 10, 2009)

Canadian Success in IFLA Elections!

2009-06-10T23:09:00.001-04:00

CLA is thrilled to announce that Ingrid Parent has been elected as IFLA President-Elect! Ingrid, the newly-appointed University Librarian at the University of British Columbia, is the first Canadian ever to be elected to this position.

CLA is also excited to announce that Paul Whitney, City Librarian of Vancouver Public Library, has been elected to the IFLA Governing Board. Paul successfully competed in a field of 15 candidates for one of 10 elected positions.

It is an honour and a great achievement for the Canadian library community to have this level of representation on the world stage. Ingrid and Paul will be outstanding in their roles, and will serve us and our international colleagues very well.

Congratulations Ingrid and Paul!

The full election results can be found on the IFLA website at:
http://www.ifla.org/en/news/results-of-the-election-of-president-elect-2009 and http://www.ifla.org/en/news/2009-ifla-governing-board-election-results

LAC Moratorium on Purchased Acquisitions

2009-06-10T23:03:00.002-04:00

John D. Reid of the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog has posted a copy of Library and Archives Canada's notice about their moratorium on all purchased acquisitions.

All LAC orders for monographs are cancelled. Please do not ship us any new material. LAC will accept all items in transit that were shipped to LAC prior to receipt of this message.

LAC is also reviewing whether it will pursue the acquisition of subscriptions, standing orders and memberships.

He also includes notes about his conversation with Chantal Marin-Comeau, Director of Acquisitions.

New Library and Archives Canada Org Chart

2009-06-10T23:00:00.004-04:00

Library and Archives Canada has published its current organizational chart, reflecting the changes and movements since Daniel Caron was appointed deputy minister of Library and Archives Canada.

Ottawa Citizen Editorial Board Meets with Ottawa Public Library Board

2009-06-10T11:23:00.001-04:00

The Ottawa Citizen has posted an audio file of the editorial board's meeting with Ottawa Public Library Board Chair Jan Harder, Vice-Chair Pamela Sweet, and City Librarian Barbara Clubb.

The article points out that the block selected for the new main branch is also the block on which Archibald Lampman lived.

New Home for OPL Main Branch Announced

2009-06-10T07:57:00.004-04:00

The Ottawa Public Library is taking another step towards a new main library branch today as it unveils plans to purchase a site in the western part of downtown.

The Ottawa Public Library Board is asking city council for $26 million to purchase the site (bounded by Bay, Albert, Lyon and Slater streets) and currently owned by the CS Co-op and several other small landowners.

More details about the Ottawa Public Library and the New Central Library Project can be found on the OPL Website.

CLA Conference 2009 Blog Postings

2009-06-06T17:58:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Megan F. from the Conference Local Arrangements Committee for compiling a list of blog postings about the 2009 Canadian Library Association National Conference and Trade Show:

Biblioblogaroni

Canadian Library Association Conference 2009 - Montreal - Itinerary (posted May 24, 2009)
Montreal - May 2009 (posted May 27, 2009)
From here to RDA (posted June 3, 2009)
Vieux-Montréal (posted June 3, 2009)
CLA 2009 Sessions (posted June 6, 2009)

The Cataloguing Librarian

Preparing for CLA (posted May 22, 2009)
CLA - Opening Day (posted May 30, 2009)
CLA 2009 - Highlights (posted May 31, 2009)
CLA - Final Thoughts (posted June 4, 2009)
CLA: Slides to the Social Catalogues Session (posted June 5, 2009)

CLA Conference 2009 Blog by Karen Lindsay

School Library Information Portal (posted May 30, 2009)
Palais des Congrès (posted May 30, 2009)
Exemplary School Librarians - a case study (posted May 31, 2009)
CASL Meeting (posted May 31, 2009)
CASL Awards (posted June 1, 2009)
Ross Todd (posted June 1, 2009)

CLA Montreal Chapter

CLA Conference Pub Crawl (posted May 31, 2009)

A Curious View of the World

CLA 2009: It was a dark and stormy night (posted May 28, 2009)
CLA 2009: Pre-Conference (posted May 29, 2009)
CLA 2009: Day One (posted May 30, 2009)
CLA 2009: Day Two (posted May 31, 2009)
CLA 2009: Day Three (posted June 1, 2009)

Head Tale (Yet Another Librarian's Blog)

Scroll Down for A Pic of Some Dork at the Emerging Technology Interest Group Pre-Conference (posted May 29, 2009)
O Noir Restaurant - Montreal (posted June 1, 2009)
My Geek Chart (and a link to my CLA Presentation) (posted June 4, 2009)

Library Boy

Net Neutrality for Libraries Presentation (posted June 3, 2009)

Library Bytes

CLA 2009 - The Experience of Play (posted June 1, 2009)

A Little Library Blog

Conference Anticipation (posted May 28, 2009)
A great start, and six? degrees of separation (posted May 29, 2009)
Life is what happens… (posted June 2, 2009)

Meghan Ecclestone, Rookie Librarian

CLA! Yay yay yay! Gooooo librarians! (posted June 3, 2009)

Michael Steelworthy

CLA 2009 (posted May 28, 2009)
talking tech (posted May 29, 2009)
CLA Musings - The Library Profession (posted May 29, 2009)
80/20 for Librarians (posted June 2, 2009)

Monique Polak

This Town is Full of Librarians! (posted May 31, 2009)

Only Connect

CLA Annual Conference Day 1: hockey, the unbroken chain of readers, and hospitality (posted May 30, 2009)
Pub crawl: where to get those t-shirts and the wicked pin the monkey was wearing (posted May 31, 2009)
Increase your readers’ advisory knowledge with book blogs! (posted May 31, 2009)
We're in the Gazette! (posted June 1, 2009)
CLA Annual Conference Day 2: core services, omnipresence, and two librarians move me to tears (posted June 2, 2009)
CLA Annual Conference Day 2 (evening): CLA Book Awards Reception (posted June 2, 2009)
CLA Annual Conference Day 3: farewell to Melvil, and hello to furious minute-taking (posted June 3, 2009)
CLA Annual Conference Day 4: lounge acts and the CLA Awards! (posted June 3, 2009)

Recreating Eden

The Librarian's Smile: An Invitation to Delight (posted June 9, 2009)

Red Deer Public Library - The Library and the Community Blog

Canadian Library Association Conference 2009 in Montréal (posted June 8, 2009)

The View from Ward Three

The Pros and Cons of Conferences (posted June 7, 2009)

Worldly Librarian

Worldly Librarian at CLA conference (posted May 28, 2009)
Libraries During Wartime (posted June 2, 2009)

Federal infrastructure funding to build and renovate Ottawa libraries

2009-06-05T19:23:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to the Ottawa Public Library on its success in securing funding from the Federal Infrastructure Stimulus program to support five library capital projects under the Cultural Infrastructure category including the building of a new library in Greely.

Of the $376 million dollars announced for projects in the City of Ottawa, $4.725 million is for library projects.

Ottawa Public Library News Release

Ottawa – The Ottawa Public Library has been successful in its request to the Federal Infrastructure Stimulus program to support five library capital projects under the Cultural Infrastructure category including the building of a new library in Greely.

Total funding announced today from all three levels of government is $4.725 million. Jan Harder, Chair of the Ottawa Public Library Board said, “I couldn’t be more excited. This important investment in Ottawa’s libraries is a wonderful surprise and will really strengthen our branch network in every sector of the city. It’s a real tri-level government partnership and I thank my fellow councillors and all our area-wide elected MPs and MPPs for being so supportive of our request.”

The projects include:

Greely Branch: building of a new public library facility for the village of Greely. Greely is not only the fastest growing rural village in the City of Ottawa but one of the fastest growing in Ontario. From 2003 to 2005, Greely’s population increased from just over 4,000 to just over 7,000 and growth is continuing. Library circulation has doubled since amalgamation. The new library of approximately 3,000 square feet will replace the current library space of 861 square feet.

Amount: $1,200,000

Alta Vista Branch: Retrofit to install self-serve technology, redesign entranceway and service desks, install accessible washrooms, plus re-carpeting and repainting of the whole facility.

Amount: $750,000

Cumberland Branch: a retrofit to include the reconfiguration of the entrance, circulation areas and service desks to permit the addition of self-check units; a new security system, expanded areas for heavy-use collections and displays and a more efficient flow of traffic through the facility.

Amount: $750,000

Vanier Branch: retrofit including the addition of an elevator to make the building fully accessibly to all users who are unable who are currently unable to use stairs to reach the collections and services housed on the second floor.

Amount: $750,000

Sunnyside Branch: renovation of the facility to increase functionality and accessibility to prolong the life and usability of the building including a retrofit of the washrooms, the addition of a multipurpose meeting room for both children and adults, the revitalization of the children’s area, improvement of the operational flow of materials. Community support has already been secured from community associations for new furniture.

Amount: $1,275,000

- 30 -

For more information:
Jan Harder, Chair Ottawa Public Library Board
Councillor, Ottawa City Council
Cell: 613-668-9600

Barbara Clubb, City Librarian
613-580-2424 x32180 / Cell: 613-299-7282

COMMENTARY: All hail the Wizard in the Emerald City

2009-05-28T22:47:00.003-04:00

Oh woe is us... what an appointment. Now the key is not to be frustrated and ticked off with the latest wizard. I mean really... WHAT could he do when the Clerk called? Say no? Of course not. Instead this wizard must be guided and handed some useful advice to make his stay in the Emerald City pleasant.

First of all - let's be VERY CLEAR on the title this particular new Wizard holds. He comes from the group of monkey petting, pretty suited boys rather than those who belong to what some consider a coven but is really the tribe of librarianship. He is neither a librarian nor an archivist and should not hold either title. The very clear and unmistakable bureaucratic title of DM will have to do for this wizard. Let's all start using it rather than granting him the title he has no business wearing.

Now secondly, before he makes any further missteps - yes, I am being diplomatic in these things, because missteps they are. Let's allow him a paltry few of these. Missteps are occuring because our Wizardly DM is taking bad advice from those who see security threats from music researchers and more appallingly, making atrocious decisions like putting a moratorium on acquisitions of all things. This is what comes from putting those who know nothing about why the City exists in charge. What is a national heritage collections organization like the NATIONAL Libary of Canada if not an organizaion that is intended to acquire and collect Canadian content? Are they to beg for everything? Legal deposit cannot work for every acquisition. How about we try this with the National Gallery and Museum of Civilization too.

Here's what this DM/Wizard needs to do to be successful in the Emerald City, or, if not successful, at least not screw it up any worse that he already has in under 50 days never mind 100. It happens all the time as we all know with many at the DM/Wizard level - they usually have short tenures, make a mess (sometimes known as "leaving a mark") until they're yanked out and sent elsewhere to do it all over again. It's the way in the Land of Oz.

Now given that his pretty boys in suits are not qualified at their levels either, the wizard needs an assistant - an "executive assistant." He needs someone who knows the lay of the land, knows all the players and at least a few of the issues. And I mean issues of the profession and its organizations, not the bureaucratic bafflegab that passes for issues by so many in the land of Oz. This person does't need to sit at the table with the other pretty boys in suits, and in fact that would be detrimental to her role. She should not be someone who is interested in feeding the flying monkeys the way the rest of them do or wearing pretty suits to impress each other and be part of the Management Board of the City. She should be outside of this little cabal. She would have the knowledge that the rest of them do not have. An MLIS degree, knowledge and a rich work experience outside OZ, with a solid network the Wizard could call upon if he was nice to those who run the Coven/Tribe.

The Assistant would not be afraid to speak truth to the DM/Wizard in power, because a confident DM/Wizard is never afraid of the truth and would be comfortable enough in his appointment to want to learn and understand the community he has inherited. (Go check - that's right out of the Canada School of Public Service Executive Training Programme) This is not something we've seen from any of the pretty boys, or even those who do the bidding of the pretty boys.

The newly appointed DM/Wizard does not realize that his Emerald City is not typical of the rest of OZ. The City was the diamond in the crown of OZ. Unfortunately with the change in wizards over the years to process and preoccupation with RM as IM, the City has become mere cubic zirconia. And there aren't many IM professionals of the libary, records or archival muchkin population who are thrilled with directions of the Emerald City. If the DM/Wizard cares about credibility he will need this "assistant" to help him keep track of his wands and tell him who can approach the curtain he hides behind and give him the words he needs to continue to appear powerful.

The DM/Wizard needs to understand and learn that the Emerald City isn't his little lab to tinker and do things as academic exercises. In the days of Glinda and even before, the Emerald City was a leader on real issues - preservation, collections, service and sharing wrapped around Canada's cultural heritage, made accessible to all beyond Oz. It was the leader that all the other cities looked to. Those days appear to be done. A mere shell of an institution remains. The ones who care about the profession and its goals have pretty much left this sinking ship. Even the little mice search through publiservice jobs on an hourly basis.

The sad part is, unless the DM/Wizard gets serious and settles in to think about programmes rather than process the rest of the land beyond Oz won't even realize what they had until after it's lost. And won't that be a legacy to leave behind by the monkey loving pretty suit turned DM/Wizard who took the appointment because he could.

Find the assistant.

(The comments above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CASLIS Ottawa or the Canadian Library Association.)

CASLIS Ottawa AGM and Reception - June 16, 2009

2009-05-25T00:43:00.002-04:00

All members are invited to attend the CASLIS Ottawa Annual General Meeting (AGM) and reception. As a member of CASLIS Ottawa, the AGM is your opportunity to have a say in how CASLIS Ottawa operates and how it can best serve your needs.

Meet the current and continuing CASLIS Ottawa Executive members, vote for new Executive members, and hear a report about our activities in the past year.

The meeting will be followed by a reception. While away the evening with friends old and new over hors d’oeuvres provided by CASLIS Ottawa. And take the time to chat with members of the Executive about what you would like to see from CASLIS Ottawa in the coming year.

Date: Tuedsay, June 16, 2009

Time: 5:30-7:30 pm

Where: upstairs at Johnny Farina, 216 Elgin St.(between Lisgar and Cooper - map: http://www.johnnyfarina.com/site/contact.asp)

(Please note that because this event is upstairs, it is not wheelchair accessible.)

This is a free event. Hors d'oeuvres provided; cash bar.

Please register by emailing rsvp@caslisottawa.on.ca.

We look forward to seeing you there!