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The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected those who face historical and ongoing marginalization. In centering pandemic experience of recent immigrant women in the accommodation and food services sector in Canada, we examine how their precarious work translated to experiences of work precarity and wellbeing. This paper illuminates how pre-existing and ongoing marginalization are reproduced during a health crisis for those at the intersection of gender, race, migration, and labour inequities. Using semi-structured interviews and systematic analysis using the Work Precarity Framework, we found that the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing socio-economic marginalization and resulted in unique experiences of work precarity. The latter was experienced as precarity of work (unpredictable work hours and job or employment insecurity), precarity from work (inadequate incomes), and precarity at work (physical, psychological, and relational unsafety). Work precarity stood out as a social determinant of health in relation to its outcome of degraded mental health and wellbeing. Recognizing the role of policies in producing, reproducing, and distributing precarity, we recommend policy directions to reduce social inequities in pandemic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gifts and donations form an integral part of an academic library's existence, whether monetary or physical items. While monetary gifts are greatly valued, gift-in-kind donations of physical items can also contribute rare or unique items to collections. However, gift-in-kind donations also bring many challenges, as processing and evaluating physical materials can be time-consuming and labour-intensive; moreover, these materials may occupy significant amounts of space and ultimately may or may not add value to the library collection. Providing clear, publicly available gift and donation information can mitigate some of these challenges and help to set expectations for donors by giving a clear overview of the evaluation process and letting them know which types of material are of interest. The author reviewed donation-related webpages of twenty-one Canadian academic libraries to determine commonalities regarding library donation webpages. This analysis can provide practical assistance to librarians who are creating or revising gift-in-kind policies and procedures in Canadian academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to understand the current state of the field of special collections library administration in the United States. Using a dataset gathered through publicly available information about special collections directors from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA), and the Oberlin Group institutional members, the authors explore the educational backgrounds of directors, the types of positions they held prior to taking on their current roles, and the effect of gender on leadership advancement. This article also discusses the similarities and differences between institution types as well as promotions within institutions and across types of institutions.

Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Libraries are increasingly using quantitative and qualitative research methods to assess the quality of their resources and services. This can include collecting survey data and conducting focus groups and patron interviews. While these forms of data collection are considered standard assessment tools, libraries already have a rich collection of data available to them through their suggestion boxes -- one of the most longstanding methods to determine how well your library is doing. A survey of Canadian academic libraries was conducted to gain some insight into the prevalence of the suggestion box, how libraries were managing them in their day to day operations, and whether the collected data was mined for any decision-making purposes. The authors provide recommendations on how libraries can analyze their suggestion box data to improve services and engage more effectively with their users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers his thoughts on audio-visual archiving. He said that The Virtual Gromophone project enabled his group to make some of the National Library of Canada's 78rpm disc collection available through the Web. He said that he brought out the project not for his own benefit but to emphasize the need for institutions to develop their own audio-visual archiving system.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Libraries offer a mix of options to serve the film studies curriculum: streaming video, DVDs on Reserve, and streaming DVDs through online classrooms. Some professors screen films and lend DVDs to students. But how do students obtain the films required for their courses? How would they prefer to do so? These are among the questions explored using data obtained by surveying students at one Canadian university as well as faculty and librarians at ten Canadian universities that offer film studies programs. The study finds that more students are engaging in digital piracy than using the Library Reserve desk and that faculty and librarians must contend with formats, licenses, and copyright to provide effective, legal access. The paper recommends that libraries increase streaming options, collect DVDs for preservation, digitize DVDs when legally possible, screen films in class, investigate social screening spaces, and lobby industry and government for changes to law and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with past attempts to promote competitive pricing for generic drugs in Canada. It relates the emergence of compulsory licensing that allow generic firms to produce versions of on-patent drugs. It discusses the implementation of regulated price caps following the elimination of compulsory licensing in 1992. It outlines lessons for seeking competitive process through competitive bidding.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Sociology is the property of Canadian Journal of Sociology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The last three decades have seen many developments in Canadian prison libraries. This article follows the history of the libraries in federal Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) from the 1980s to the present, concentrating on the libraries in the Pacific Region. A chronological overview of the major legislative changes, reports, and events of the last thirty years highlights the increased profile of prison libraries and their role in supporting Correctional Service of Canada's Mission and Goals. Some of these changes include the adoption in 1992 of the Corrections and Condition Release Act (CCRA) and Regulations, modifications to Commissioner's Directive 720 (2007a; under which libraries fall), and the adoption in the Pacific Region of Library Policy Guidelines. In addition to legislative and policy changes, Canadian society itself has also changed during this thirty-year period. As the face of Canada has become more diverse in age and ethnicity, as well as in social and technological expectations, so has the face of the prison population. These changes have, of course, also impacted on prison libraries. This article examines how prison libraries have met the challenges created by these societal and technological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of IFLA Journal is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Information literacy programs and the factors that influence their development and structure can vary significantly from institution to institution. Credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses are a rare and valuable component of an undergraduate educational experience and form the basis of Augustana's information literacy program. This article provides an overview of the development, implementation, successes, and drawbacks of the credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta (Camrose, Alberta, Canada). Additional program components, including Augustana's annual information literacy workshop, information literacy awards, information literacy DVD, and marketing/branding are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at issues surrounding cooperative partnerships between different types of libraries, and between libraries and other organizations. The Ontario School Curriculum Resource (OSCR) and developments in Ontario and Canada are the focus of the article; however, it also provides perspectives on the cooperative experiences that are fundamental to many partnerships. The important benefits as well as the challenges of partnerships are considered, as is the future of cooperative resource sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to describe the scope and depth of the historic corporate annual report collections in twelve academic/research libraries in North America. For many decades, a few major academic business libraries have been collecting and preserving corporate Annual Reports (ARS), the reports sent to shareholders documenting the financial status and future plans of the company. Today these historic collections provide more than a record of the companies' finances; they provide a glimpse into the social and cultural thoughts from the past and the corporate stories of individual companies. Digitization of these reports has only just begun; so, except for fewer than 900 companies (most of which have been on the Fortune 500 list), the companies included in these historic annual report collections are not available electronically. The combined collection of the twelve libraries includes reports from nearly 38,000 different companies. Stanford, Harvard, and Western Ontario have the largest collections. Harvard and Columbia have collections with significant historic depth, while Purdue has a collection with important late-twentieth-century holdings. The overlap of the collections is much smaller than was anticipated. The two largest collections, Stanford with over 18,000 companies and Harvard with over 11,000 companies, have only 3,668 companies in common. The overlap of companies between the largest five collections is only thirty-three companies. This research identifies these collections as unique and therefore valuable to the study of specific company histories and the industrial development in North America. Librarians need to preserve these collections and work toward digitizing them.