Update on CLA Activities Regarding Library and Archives Canada

At its meeting today, the Canadian Library Association (CLA) Executive Council discussed issues related to recent cuts to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and appropriate action to be taken by CLA.

Executive Council continues to encourage dialogue with LAC, and will work towards finding innovative solutions with LAC staff.

We continue to be dismayed by the government’s decision to reduce LAC’s funding.

We will engage relevant government officials and LAC management in conversations to gather more information about the anticipated implications of the cuts in order to prepare an informed and considered approach on behalf of the library community.

News Release: Copyright, Library Book Rate and Community Access Program among Top Priorities for National Library Association

CLA Hosts National Conference and Trade Show in Nation’s Capital

OTTAWA, May 30, 2012 /CNW/ – The Canadian Library Association (CLA) is proud to be hosting its 67^th National Conference and Trade Show in Ottawa this year at the brand new Convention Centre. The conference will provide a host of activities and special events for members of the library community. These include professional development sessions, networking opportunities, social media engagement, and delegate receptions, among others.

“We are very excited to host members of the library community from across the country in the nation’s capital,” said Karen Adams, CLA President. ”The conference will provide an opportunity to learn, share and drive the library and information community forward. Being in Ottawa this year means we can really put national advocacy into practice and meet with key parliamentarians to discuss issues that are critical for the Canadian library community.”

This afternoon, delegates will be meeting with Members of Parliament, Senators and key political staff to highlight the important role that libraries play in the lives of all Canadians. This evening CLA will also be hosting parliamentarians at its Opening Reception.

There are three critical issues that are currently impacting the library community. First, CLA continues to embrace copyright legislation as one of its key priorities, as Canadian libraries play a vital role in providing Canadians access to all forms of material. CLA continues to urge the federal government to implement a made-in-Canada copyright solution to ensure that the legislation ultimately succeeds in its objectives of being both balanced and technologically neutral.

Second, over one million Canadians are currently benefitting from the Library Book Rate, a Canada Post service that has, since 1939, provided a reduced rate for mailing library books between libraries and from libraries to their users. Members of the library community in all constituencies continue to be concerned about its sustainability, given that it is not currently financially supported by the federal government. CLA is urging the Government of Canada to support Bill C-321, a Private member’s Bill introduced by M.P. Merv Tweed (Brandon—Souris, Manitoba), which would protect the Library Book Rate.

Lastly, CLA believes that all Canadians, regardless of economic status or location, require the ability to access information and services through broadband connection to the Internet, along with access to the assistance they need to become digitally literate. For many Canadians, especially those in remote and rural locations, this access has been provided since 1994 by the Community Access Program (CAP) funded by Industry Canada. The entire library community is extremely concerned that funding for CAP has been cancelled, as announced on April 5^th, 2012. With only 79% of Canadian households having an Internet connection, and 54% of households in the lowest income quartile, it is clear that community-based Internet access is essential to supplement home access.

“We are very much looking forward to meeting with key decision makers today,” said Kelly Moore, CLA Executive Director. ”As Canada’s largest national library association, one of our key roles is to be an advocate for libraries and library issues with the federal government, and we hope to engage in some very meaningful discussions surrounding these critical issues.”

The CLA Conference runs from May 30^th to June 2^nd at the Ottawa Convention Centre.  The official kick-off begins this evening at the Opening Reception, taking place at 6:00 pm in the Canada Hall. For more information, please visit http://www.cla.ca/conference/2012/.

CLA Battle Decks 2012: Innovate …. Or else

Saturday, June 2, 2012, 8:30 am
Ottawa Convention Centre, Room 206

Battle Decks represent the ultimate challenge for a public speaker as they are challenged to give a coherent presentation based on hand-selected, seemingly unrelated slides that they see for the very first time live on stage.

This competition, often referred to as “PowerPoint Karaoke,” will see six brave and willing participants compete for the glory of becoming CLA’s first Battle Decks champion.

The theme will be “Innovate …. Or else” as participants face judgment from a panel of judges, with the winner to be determined based on a variety of criteria and general overall awesomeness.

Hilarity, along with some learning, is guaranteed for all!

The Challenge

• Each contestant will present on the topic of  “Innovate …. Or else”;

• Slide decks each have 12 slides and will be assigned at random;

• Each contestant has 7 minutes to complete their presentation;

• Judges will score each presentation on 5 criteria (scale of 1-5 ) and assign a final score out of 25;

• Scores will be combined to determine the winner – the competitor closest to 100 wins fame and glory; and

• In the event of a tie, we will use the audience applause-o-meter to determine winners.

Our Participants

• Claire Banton
  Reference Librarian, Government of Canada

• Megan Fitzgibbons
  Liaison Librarian, McGill University

• Beth Goslett
  Supervising Librarian, Ottawa Public Library

• Robyn Stockand
  Independent Practicer of Curiosity

• Christine Langlois
  Trustee, Ottawa Public Library Board

• Melanie Sellar
  Education Services & Reference Librarian, Marymount College; and
  Co-Executive Director, Librarians Without Borders

Our Judges

• Stephen Abram
  Vice-President, Gale Cengage

• Chantal de Medeiros
  MLIS Student, Dalhousie University

• Iona Henderson
  Web Coordinator, Finance Canada; and
  Moderator, CLA Ottawa Network

• Pam Ryan
  Director, Library Services, Edmonton Public Library

 

Queen Victoria’s Journals and other Material goes online

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

24 May 2012

The complete collection of Queen Victoria’s Journals is now available online. Launched on the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birthday by HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace, the new website is part of a digitisation programme to make historic documents from the Royal Archives widely available for the first time.

The digitisation of 141 volumes of Queen Victoria’s private diaries has been carried out as a partnership between the Royal Archives, Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University and the online publisher, ProQuest. They can be accessed at www.queenvictoriasjournals.org

In addition to the digitisation of Queen Victoria’s Journals, the Royal Archives has undertaken the following projects in Diamond Jubilee year:

• An online partnership project has been undertaken with www.findmypast.co.uk so that the public may trace their ancestors who have worked for the Royal Household. Free access to the records, which range from the seventeenth century to 1920, will also be available in the National Archives’ Reading Rooms in Kew.

• A selection of Queen Victoria’s school copy books will be available for viewing at the National Archives at Kew for the first time.

• “Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Scrapbook”, a website focused on Queen Victoria’s life and reign, including her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, was launched by Buckingham Palace in April 2012. It contains documents from the Royal Archives, paintings and photographs from the Royal Collection, as well as audio and film clips. See www.queen-victorias-scrapbook.org.

• Over the Diamond Jubilee period, the Twitter account @QueenVictoriaRI will tweet selected excerpts from Queen Victoria’s Journals, illustrated by links to photographs, paintings and original documents. This account will run from 24th May until 7th June.

The release of this material is part of a long term programme to digitise and open up important historical material contained in this private archive. It is expected that these documents and materials will be of general public interest, and of particular value to universities, schools, academics and authors both in the UK and the Commonwealth, and to those wanting to trace their family history.

Source: http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2012/QueenVictoriasJournalslaunchedonline24May2012.aspx

University of Alberta to Launch Online MLIS Program

Source: http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/en/SchoolOfLibraryAndInformationStudiesNews/2012/May/OnlineProgramAnnouncement.aspx

The University of Alberta’s fully online, ALA-accredited Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program will be launching soon. The program will offer the convenience and flexibility that you need to prepare for a career in the information studies profession. At SLIS, we provide you with the foundational knowledge and specialized skills necessary for leadership roles in libraries and other information organizations through your choice of elective streams – the MLIS in Small & Medium-Sized Public Libraries.

The anticipated start date for this program will be Fall 2013.

If you would like to be emailed when more information becomes available, you can subscribe to updates by emailing slisadmissions@ualberta.ca with your name and email address.

Highlights of the Program:

• No residential requirements
• 18 Credits in core courses – LIS 501, 502, 503, 504, & two technology courses.
• 30 Credits in elective stream
• Electronic Portfolio Capping Exercise
• Supportive, cohort-based online learning environment
• Opportunities to engage with professional communities
• Affordable tuition

2012 Canadian Library Association Annual General Meeting

The 2012 Annual General Meeting will take place on Friday 1 June 2012 from 4:30-6:00pm at the Ottawa Convention Centre.

• Agenda

Resolutions for CLA AGM

The CLA Executive Council, through the Resolutions Committee, is putting forward 4 resolutions for consideration by members at the 2012 CLA Annual General Meeting.

• Resolution 2012-1: election timing
• Resolution 2012-2: fee levy for IT
• Resolution 2012-3: member category bylaw changes
• Resolution 2012-4: membership fees
• Background to resolutions 2012-3 and 2012-4

Discussion of the proposed resolutions will take place at the Resolutions Hearing on Thursday 31 May, 5:30-6:15 pm in room 203 at the Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa ON.

Members may submit resolutions for consideration at the 2012 AGM.

Please review the Resolutions Process 2012.

Kelly Moore,
Executive Director
Canadian Library Association

Seeking Canadian contributions to the World Digital Library

The World Digital Library is an initiative supported by UNESCO, in cooperation with a number of major libraries from around the world. The mission of the WDL is to “make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world”. Significant primary materials include manuscripts, maps, rare books, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other types of primary sources. The site was launched to the public in April 2009. The project is closely aligned with UNESCO’s Memory of the World program, which is focused on archival collections.

To date, very little Canadian material is available through the WDL. There are currently 17 items identified with Canada in the collection, and none of them were submitted by Canadian institutions (most are from the Library of Congress).

Libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions interested in becoming partners should contact the WDL team. The WDL will work with prospective partners to identify important collections for possible inclusion, survey existing projects and capacities, and develop plans for participation.

Letter to Minister of Canadian Heritage Regarding Cuts to Federal Libraries and Library and Archives Canada

Source: http://www.cla.ca/AM/TemplateRedirect.cfm?template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12946

7 May 2012

The Honourable James Moore, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
15 Eddy Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M5

Dear Minister Moore:

The Canadian Library Association wishes to express its serious concerns about the negative impact of government budget cuts on libraries in federal departments and at Library and Archives Canada. As more departments issue notices to staff, indications are that libraries are being hit hard by budget reductions.

At Library and Archives Canada, 430 people have been given notices, with more than 200 jobs to be cut over the next three years, representing a reduction of 20% of their workforce. They have also had to cut their acquisitions budget, end their role in national inter‐library loan activities, and cut the National Archival Development Program, which has provided funding to Canadian archival organizations to increase their capacity to preserve archival materials and make them available to Canadians. These cuts will negatively impact Library and Archives Canada’s ability to provide front‐line services, resulting in reduced access to information for Canadians.

Our national library and archives has a broad mandate to acquire, preserve and make available the documentary heritage of Canada. It is also responsible for the management of the archival records of government. Even before the cuts, Library and Archives Canada was challenged to fulfill its mandate; with this reduction in their financial and staff resources, the job becomes even more difficult.

Canadians expect to have access to the vast wealth of materials managed by Library and Archives Canada, which includes books, journals, photographs, newspapers, personal and corporate archives, government records, paintings, film, and sound recordings. The Canadian library and archival communities expect leadership on professional issues from their national institution, including standards for activities and support for the provision of quality library and archival services to Canadians across the country. These expectations cannot adequately be met with the level of resources now available to Library and Archives Canada.

CLA has also received reports that many libraries in federal government departments will be losing staff; some will be shuttering their libraries altogether. Not only does this result in less support for departmental staff and researchers to access relevant information; but as many of these libraries also provide direct services to the public, Canadians will be prevented from having access to that information and to the expertise of the staff. Government librarians provide essential support to their departments.

Many of the staff have expertise in specialized subject areas, in addition to their library skills, which helps them to assess and interpret information sources. Good policy relies on good information. Government librarians and government libraries contribute directly to the quality of all public services. With these budget cuts, services to Canadians will be negatively impacted.

Library and Archives Canada and other federal libraries provide Canadians with access to unique documents chronicling our collective heritage. They support our students and researchers, historians and genealogists, writers and filmmakers.

They support our government.

For example, the federal government celebrates anniversaries of historic importance to Canada; the website of the Department of Canadian Heritage indicates its support for many of these events, including this year the Diamond Jubilee and the War of 1812. In a few years we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. And where does the government find the materials that provide the context for these commemorations – the photos, diaries, letters, sound clips, unpublished documents and published histories? In its libraries and archives.

When our documentary heritage institutions are denied resources, the collective memory of our country is at risk. If these institutions cannot acquire new material and preserve existing documentation, future generations will have nothing to tell them of their past. If these institutions cannot make their material accessible to Canadians, we lose the context for our place in history.

In the 2012 Federal Budget, Table A1.11 illustrates “Planned Savings – Heritage Portfolio”. The four national museums, the National Gallery of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts were all exempt from budget reductions. Yet Library and Archives Canada was subject to a reduction of $9.6 million over the next three years. Why is it that our documentary heritage is bearing the burden of cuts in this sector?

Libraries and archives, and particularly our national Library and Archives, must be adequately supported to collect, preserve and make available our unique history.

The Canadian Library Association calls on the Government of Canada to consider the impact of these cuts on the ability for all Canadians to access information, and to re‐evaluate spending priorities to ensure that adequate services will be maintained in all government libraries.

Karen Adams
CLA President

Cc: The Hon. Jim Flaherty, P.C., M.P. Minister of Finance

Time to take over Library and Archives Canada?

In response to the recent news from Library and Archives Canada, Mike Ridley offers a proposal:

My suggestion is not to save LAC but to repatriate it.
Not to try to fix it, but to take it over.

I want Canada to form a distributed, collaborative network of academic libraries and archives to take on the national responsibility of a memory institution. Maybe institutions like LAC are old school anyway. There are other ways to do this work in the 21^st century.

…

Remember, the collections beyond to Canadians, not the government. The services should support citizens, not the bureaucrats. The legacy is not ideological but social and cultural. LAC is ours. Let’s run it.

To do this we need to form a collaborative organization linking libraries, museums, and archives to operate this distributed collection and service. We need to take on the long term responsibility that this government is refusing to do. Yes I know we have no money or space or staff; we need to do it anyway.

Shouldn’t we partner with LAC on this? OK but let’s be careful. Not being harsh here. LAC has a history of not always playing nice with others. The wonderful and visionary Alouette Canada initiative (now part of Canadiana.org; a good model for at least part of this mission BTW) was launched with strong support from LAC; they enthusiastically offered to seek federal funding for this national, collaborative project. Money they did get and it went to LAC digital projects not those of the consortium. Lesson: Don’t get fooled again.

Read more at his blog.

Dalhousie SIM: Fiona Black promoted to Full Professor

The School of Information Management is very pleased to announce that Dr. Fiona Black has been promoted to the rank of Full Professor, effective July 1, 2012. Since her arrival at the School of Information Management in 2001, Dr. Black has worked tirelessly to move the School forward, both in her capacity as a “regular” faculty member, and as former School director. Dr. Black teaches in two of the programs offered within the School of Information Management (the Master of Library and Information Studies and the Master of Information Management).  The high quality of Dr. Black’s teaching is supported clearly by the glowing recommendations she has received from current and former students, as well by the consistently high SRI (student rating of instructor) scores that she has earned over the years. Dr. Black places a very high value on engaging students in the learning process, and is always innovative, flexible, and responsive to student needs.

Dr. Black’s scholarly activities are prodigious, timely, and innovative; more importantly, perhaps, is their positive impact on the discipline.  Of particular note is the continued high quality of Dr. Black’s research productivity even when she carried a significant administrative load.  Dr. Black typifies the Renaissance model of scholarly research in the true meaning of diversity and breadth of scope.

Dr. Black’s contributions to the School, the Faculty of Management, the University, and Information Management discipline and profession have been nothing short of exemplary. Dr. Black can always be counted on to work collaboratively and collegially in a large number of capacities, and to do so with good grace, humour, compassion, intelligence, and kindness.  We at the School are fortunate to work with such a gracious, giving, collaborative, and generous colleague.

Please feel free to leave Fiona a note of congratulations on the blog.

Louise Spiteri
Director, School of Information Management