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This article examines the use of non-English resources in academic libraries, with a focus on reference and instruction. Academic librarians from the United States and Canada were surveyed about their perceptions regarding the use of non-English resources during reference and instruction duties and the results are considered through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. The authors explore literature regarding the dominance of the English language in higher education, scholarly communication, and academic publishing. Library literature is also reviewed, emphasizing reference and instruction services viewed through a critical librarianship or "critlib" lens. These perspectives are applied to the survey results with a discussion of the implications for academic reference and instruction librarians. The article concludes with suggestions for areas of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supported by institutional commitments to community engagement, undergraduate students at universities across North America are participating in community-based research projects. These experiential learning activities allow students to collaborate with community partners to address issues in their communities, often resulting in co-creating research products that seek to have a real-world impact. This article reports on ways that academic librarians can support students engaged in these activities, informed by interview data gathered from university administrators and faculty members from across Canada with expertise in conducting and overseeing students' participation in research connected to university--community partnerships. This growing area of scholarly activity in higher education provides instruction librarians with unique opportunities to teach students valuable information literacy skills tied to knowledge equity, representing a threshold concept that recognizes students' abilities to create new knowledge that strives to be accessible, inclusive, and done in an ethical manner that serves community interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the data from the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada 2021 Redux Survey, this study examines experiences of racial microaggressions among visible minority librarians in Canada. This research fills the gap in the library and information science (LIS) literature regarding racial microaggressions in librarianship in the Canadian context. Of the 148 respondents, 69% (n=102) experienced at least one stated racial microaggression. The result of a Kruskal-Wallis H test revealed a significant association between years of experience as a librarian and a librarian's overall experiences with microaggressions. A post hoc test based on Bonferroni correction was run, which indicated that librarians with less than five years of work experience encountered microaggressions less frequently compared to those with 11-15 years of experience. For the ten stated types of racial microaggressions, the most frequently reported type was "I was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion," and the least frequently reported type was "A colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race." Fisher's exact tests were further performed to examine how the respondents differed in their experiences of each microaggression. The test results revealed that the librarians with different personal attributes (ethnicity, disability status, gender identity, language used) and employment attributes (librarian experience, management position, library type) had significantly different encounters with eight forms of microaggression. Professional library associations and libraries must strengthen education about racial microaggressions and offer support to visible minority librarians when they are confronted with microaggressive behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective -- This empirical study aims to contribute qualitative evidence on the perspectives of data-related librarians regarding the necessary skills, education, and training for these roles in the context of Canadian academic libraries. A second aim of this study is to understand the perspectives of data-related librarians regarding the specific role of the MLIS in providing relevant training and education. The definition of a data-related librarian in this study includes any librarian or professional who has a conventional title related to a field of data librarianship (i.e., research data management, data services, GIS, data visualization, data science) or any other librarian or professional whose duties include providing data-related services within an academic institution. Methods -- This study incorporates in-depth qualitative empirical evidence in the form of 12 semi-structured interviews of data-related librarians to investigate first-hand perspectives on the necessary skills required for such positions and the mechanisms for acquiring and maintaining such skills. Results -- The interviews identified four major themes related to the skills required for library-related data services positions, including the perceived importance of experience conducting original research, proficiency in computational coding and quantitative methods, MLIS-related skills such as understanding metadata, and the ability to learn new skills quickly on the job. Overall, the implication of this study regarding the training from MLIS programs concerning data-related librarianship is that although expertise in metadata, documentation, and information management are vital skills for data-related librarians, the MLIS is increasingly less competitive compared with degree programs that offer a greater emphasis on practical experience working with different types of data in a research context and implementing a variety of methodological approaches. Conclusion -- This study demonstrates that an in-depth qualitative portrait of data-related librarians within a national academic ecosystem provides valuable new insights regarding the perceived importance of conducting original empirical research to succeed in these roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians offer a unique perspective on e-books: on one hand they collect these resources and train users as part of their jobs, while on the other hand, they may be users of e-books themselves. With recent increases in research expectations for Canadian academic librarians, this study aimed to discover: when librarians do research, do they use e-books and how often are they using them? This study examines the results of a survey of 392 academic librarians from across Canada. The survey generated data on librarians' use of, and attitudes towards, e-books. While a number of studies examine the use and opinions of e-books among other user groups, this study examines how librarians search for or use e-books differently than other user groups. Results will help librarians to improve their liaison work and make more informed collection development decisions at their own institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March and April 2021, we conducted semi-structured interviews with academic librarians from across Canada about their experiences working through COVID-19 thus far. Topics included workload, collegiality, and overall satisfaction with their working conditions during a pandemic. Themes emerged around job security, meaningful work, workload shifts, working from home, relationships with colleagues and administrators, and hopes for the future. While individual experiences varied greatly, the biggest uniting factor was the care and deliberation that characterized both our participants' framing of work that was meaningful to them as well as their ideal relationships with colleagues and administrators. This research connects to previous literature on vocational awe and emotional labour in libraries. For librarians, this study connects isolated individual situations with the overall picture of what our work looked and felt like during the COVID-19 pandemic. For library administrators, we have identified some general trends, which can provide insight in the areas of communication, flexibility, and institutional support as we work toward a post-pandemic new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores legal considerations for how libraries in Canada can lend digital copies of books. It is an adaptation of A Whitepaper on Controlled Digital Lending of Library Books by David R. Hansen and Kyle K. Courtney, and draws heavily on this source in its content, with the permission of the authors. Our paper considers the legal and policy rationales for the process--"controlled digital lending"--in Canada, as well as a variety of risk factors and practical considerations that can guide libraries seeking to implement such lending, with the intention of helping Canadian libraries to explore controlled digital lending in our own Canadian legal and policy context. Our goal is to help libraries and their lawyers become better informed about controlled digital lending as an approach, offer the basis of the legal rationale for its use in Canada, and suggest situations in which this rationale might be strongest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To learn about the experiences of librarians working through COVID-19, we conducted semi-structured interviews with academic librarians from across Canada on issues such as workload, collegiality, and overall satisfaction with their working conditions during the pandemic. Themes emerged around job security, workload changes (both in terms of hours worked and the type of work being done), working from home, relationships with colleagues and administrators (including the perceived speed of the institution's pandemic response and the state of communication from or with administration), and hopes for the future. This article focuses on the semantic elements of librarian work during COVID-19 uncovered during thematic analysis, including an in-depth discussion of how academic librarians' workload changed; a second planned article will focus on latent themes on the caring nature of library work. This study connects isolated individual situations with the overall picture of what librarians' work looked and felt like during the COVID-19 pandemic. For library administrators, we identify the ways in which institutional support helped or hindered librarians in doing their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the professional learning around early literacy experienced by library paraprofessional students at a post-secondary institution in Canada. Students completed a survey to gauge their conceptions of early literacy at the beginning of a course on library services for children and young adults. These students then experienced hands-on, engaging course elements such as in-class discussions, guest speakers, and authentic assessments. At the conclusion of the course, students were again surveyed and were asked to identify course elements that contributed to their learning. Most students aligned with an emergent literacy approach to early literacy. While a comparison between the two surveys did not reveal a significant difference in terms of students' conceptions of early literacy, multiple students identified the hands-on elements of the course as beneficial. The researchers conclude that providing authentic professional learning opportunities that include knowledge application reinforces learners' conceptions about emergent literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five academic librarians from libraries that represent the Canadian Academic Research Libraries (CARL) were invited to share their experiences as racialized librarians. In 2021, CARL hosted an Inclusion Perspectives Webinar Series, organized by CARL's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group (EDIWG), and the contents of this paper are presentations by these librarians who were invited to speak on systems, structures, and policies needed to dismantle racism; practical strategies to attract and retain racialized library employees; accreditation issues; and advice for what Canadian library leaders can start doing immediately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study offers insight into open access (OA) culture at Canadian university libraries by detailing the degree to which librarians working at Canada's U15 (a collective of research-intensive institutions in Canada) make their research OA, as well as exploring the depth and reach of any OA mandates these institutions have. Method: This study uses a combination of bibliometric analysis and a review of institutional OA policies, beginning with an examination of a six-year span (2014-2019) of librarian-authored publications, searching four key library and information science databases, followed by a systematic search for a university-wide or library OA statement, policy, or mandate on each of the U15 websites. Results & Discussion: The data suggest that Canadian academic librarians are personally motivated to self-archive and make their research open. The high rate of publication in Gold OA journals, combined with the fact that several of the key library and information science journals for Canadian librarians are already OA, points to the importance of OA publishing for librarians as a community, as does the high number of expressions of commitment to OA publishing. Given the lack of variance comparatively between schools with an expression and without, the authors cannot comment on whether the expressions of support correlate to higher proportions of OA articles. Conclusion: This article provides a snapshot of a positive OA publishing culture at 15 Canadian university libraries by presenting data that show that most libraries have an expression of commitment to OA principles and most Canadian academic librarians working at U15 schools ensure that their research is OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Mindfulness Framework for implementing mindfulness into Information Literacy instruction. The Mindfulness Framework is informed by findings from an original survey of the most preferred Information Literacy teaching strategies deployed by nearly 600 academic librarians in the United States and Canada, and grounded in the relevant literature from library and information science and education. Survey responses show that library instructors use a broad variety of teaching strategies, and the authors attempt to demonstrate how these strategies can support the integration of mindfulness into IL instruction. Using mindfulness strategies in other pedagogical contexts has been shown to improve learning and retention. This is the first paper to explore and discuss how librarians can use familiar strategies to integrate mindfulness into information literacy instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship / Revue Canadienne De Bibliothéconomie Universitaire is the property of Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL) 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.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship / Revue Canadienne De Bibliothéconomie Universitaire is the property of Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL) 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.)

Using VUCAVU.com, an independent Canadian online streaming platform, as a case study, this project seeks to address the increasing need for digital solutions to access film and video art across classrooms and library databases in post-secondary institutions amidst the lack of scholarly attention and industry standards within the digital distribution landscape. Through survey and interview data collection, valuable insights from specialized perspectives in the sector, including instructors and librarians across Canada, outline specific prerequisites that must be implemented to offer a sustainable and desirable streaming option for post-secondary institutions. These research findings form a crucial underpinning for future technological developments across emerging, independent streaming platforms, alongside continued consultation and support from the academic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A content analysis of 62 job postings for East Asian studies librarians in the United States and Canada during 2008-2019 demonstrates that major job responsibilities have expanded to include collection development and management, reference and research assistance, instruction, liaison work, and outreach; relationship building and collaboration are emerging roles; skills and abilities have been progressively occupying a larger proportion than knowledge and experience in the required qualifications; top frequently required abilities and skills are generic and behavioral; and professional experiences are often preferred rather than required. The results of this research are of practical relevance to subject specialists in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the perspectives of instructional librarians, academic library administrators, and library school educators regarding the training and practice of instructional librarians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with n = 37 participants from the three populations within the US and Canada. Inter-group responses were compared to explore similarities and differences between the groups. Responses were also compared to those from a similar study conducted in 1993. Findings indicate that training and practice related to instructional librarianship have changed over time. Compared to observations from 1993, librarians, administrators, and educators today observe that the demand for instruction has increased in the academic library workplace, fewer librarians enter the workplace with previous teaching experience, and library schools do a better job at providing instructional training than before. However, all respondent groups today placed increased responsibility on library schools to provided instructional training. Participants from all three populations today believe that library schools should continue to train students in instructional skills, although alternative modes of training were also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION This study is the first to consider how academic librarians' understanding of and participation in the peer review process influences their information literacy pedagogy and practice. METHODS This mixedmethods study uses a modified sequential explanatory design, beginning with a survey of academic librarians in the United States and Canada, followed by interviews with interested study participants. RESULTS & DISCUSSION The researchers find that academic librarians frequently teach about peer review, but approaches vary widely, and though some have adapted the Framework to fit their instruction about peer review, there are no best practices. Instructor demands, the length of instructional sessions, and student level influence whether and how academic librarians contextualize the peer review process. While some academic librarians draw from their personal experience in the peer review process as authors, reviewers, and/or editors in their teaching, academic librarians do not consistently report their personal experience as an influence on their teaching of the peer review process to students. CONCLUSION This article argues that academic librarians should consider the place of peer review in information literacy instruction, including interrogating how scaffolding instruction about peer review may provide a disservice to students from an equity perspective. The authors urge academic librarians who have it to draw on personal experience to contextualize their instruction about peer review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing importance to libraries of supporting entrepreneurship and economic development, professional development opportunities on those topics have been rare. Also rare are opportunities for public, special, and academic librarians plus other types of professionals to collaborate on major professional development events like a multi-day conference. The authors and a diverse planning group worked to challenge that status quo by creating the Entrepreneurship & Libraries Conference (ELC) 2020. After making a COVID-19-mandated pivot to an online format, this conference featured speakers, networking hours, a discussion room hour, and a pitch competition with cash prizes for libraries proposing economic development projects. This article describes how a diverse group of librarians and economic development stakeholders from across the United States and Canada worked together to define, develop, and lead the ELC 2020. The article concludes with assessment and recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the library supports available to Indigenous university students in Canada and explores academic library responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's 94 calls to action through a national survey of academic librarians. We found that there is a wide range of library supports available to Indigenous university students across Canada. This article shares the many forms these supports and services take, as well as the barriers libraries face when providing services to Indigenous students. Additionally, we capture the ways academic libraries are beginning to support reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Academic librarians in the United States and Canada were surveyed to ascertain their capacity and readiness to offer a range of research data services and how their perceptions have changed since a 2011 survey of academic librarians. We address the following questions: RQ1: Do academic librarians feel they have the knowledge, background, and skills to provide library-based research data services (RDS)? RQ2: How do academic librarians rate the importance of RDS in the library? RQ3: What are the factors that contribute to or inhibit engagement of librarians in RDS? RQ4: Are there changes in the opinions of academic librarians on these issues since the 2011 study? Methods: Library directors who participated in a separate study of RDS practices in ACRL libraries were asked to distribute the current survey to their librarians. 168 librarians participated in this online survey yielding 146 valid responses for analysis in SPSS. Results: Academic librarians for whom RDS is an integral part of their job feel confident in the ability to provide such services. The group of librarians for whom RDS is occasional or not a part of their responsibilities are less confident, but also agree that RDS is important in academic libraries. Consultative-time RDS, which are consistent with traditional library reference services, are much more likely to be part of librarians’ job responsibilities. Conclusion: Many academic librarians believe that RDS are important services in academic libraries. Not all are confident in their abilities to offer all specific services, however, so there is a need for collaborative training in RDS, particularly for those librarians where RDS responsibilities are not a full-time part of their job responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the perceptions of librarians with regard to artificial intelligence in academic libraries. An online survey of 24 questions was distributed through library distribution lists in Canada and the United States at the end of the summer in 2019. Findings suggest that librarians do not agree on a definition of artificial intelligence which is in keeping with this emerging field. The survey responses highlight the fact that academic librarians require more training with regard to artificial intelligence and its potential applications in libraries. Other important implications include a recognition that library patrons are interested in AI and that little to no programming about it has been offered in academic libraries. Very few studies have focused on academic librarians' perceptions of AI. This article highlights some useful practical implications for AI technologies in libraries and how AI could help improve library services and workflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries have always been places where individuals feel free to explore new ideas and seek out information in the pursuit of creative and intellectual growth. Fear of exposure or surveillance could threaten an individual's inclination to search for and access information. Understandably then, privacy is understood to be a core professional responsibility of librarians. This study builds on a national report and a qualitative study, completed in the United States, which explored librarians' attitudes on privacy. Adding a Canadian voice to the literature, this study examines survey results from academic librarians in Canada on their perceptions and attitudes related to library practices and online privacy behaviors. Overall, Canadian academic librarians believe that protecting patron privacy and educating patrons about issues related to online privacy is important. However, many Canadian academic librarians doubt that libraries are doing all they can to protect patron privacy. Academic librarians stand to gain knowledge and understanding of peer attitudes toward online privacy, as well as how patron privacy is being advocated for and protected on university campuses across Canada. The results will guide future library policies and programming aimed at creating an environment where privacy rights are protected and patrons can make informed choices about their online actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to obtain a representative sample of the use of grey literature in LibGuides across Canadian post-secondary institutions, an environmental scan was undertaken, identifying 17 colleges or universities where grey literature resources were directly mentioned and included alongside academic databases. After viewing the LibGuides within each post-secondary institution, 52 library staff (librarians and information specialists) were identified. A brief online survey was sent to each of the 52 library staff members, to uncover how students and researchers use grey literature, and perhaps, most importantly, to verify from the participant responses whether or not sections of existing LibGuides have been devoted to including the grey literature in information-seeking pursuits. Nine of the 17 institutions polled participated in the survey, yielding a response rate of 52.9%. All respondents confirmed that grey literature was mentioned in the research guides/subject guides/LibGuides used within their institution. This data set is affiliated with GL 18, the 18th International Grey Literature Conference, which was held at the New York Academy of Medicine from November 28-29, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic librarians have always played an important role in providing research services and research-skills development to faculty in higher education. But that role is evolving to include the academic librarian as a unique and necessary research partner, practitioner, and participant in collaborative, grant-funded research projects. This article describes how a selected sample of Canadian academic librarians became embedded in faculty research projects and describes their experiences of participating in research teams. Conducted as a series of semistructured interviews, this qualitative study illustrates the emerging opportunities and challenges of the librarian-researcher role and how it is transforming the Canadian university library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This feature column, written by C. Jeffrey Belliston from Brigham Young University (BYU) in the United States of America (USA) takes up the challenge issued in the inaugural Library Workforce column. The article discusses the collegial process for tenure and/or promotion and highlights a critical process in the life cycle of the academic librarian. Using the lens of the BYU experiences, Belliston overviews and discusses tenure and promotion processes, which can be for the academic librarian with faculty status, both a familiar process and at the same time, an equally mysterious and stressful process. Beyond the library at the institutional level, the tenure and/or promotion process recognizes and establishes the academic librarian as part of The Academy. Imbedded in the process is shared responsibilities for the academic librarian, the library and the institution to work together to ensure career progression and success. For example, the University of Saskatchewan in Canada recognizes the status and importance of both processes in university-level standards, prefaced with following acknowledgement and commitment:The award of tenure represents a long-term commitment of the university to a faculty member. It is a status granted as a result of judgement, by one's peers, on both the performance of academic duties and the expectation of future accomplishments. Promotion of colleagues involves an assessment of their success in performing their academic duties and an evaluation of the likelihood of future accomplishments (University of Saskatchewan Standards for Promotion and Tenure, accessed at: http://library.usask.ca/info/libstandards2015.pdf). I invite further contributions on this or related lifecycle topics. Please submit articles for this column to the editor at vicki.williamson@usask.ca In her inaugural column, “The Library Workforce” editor Vicki Williamson wrote of various frameworks through which we can consider library workforce issues. One of these is the lifecycle framework. In academic institutions where professional librarians have faculty status with the possibility of tenure and promotion, the process of being granted tenure and being promoted to a higher rank is a significant, and often stressful, part of the librarian lifecycle. This column describes university and library efforts made to help newly hired faculty in the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University be successful in achieving tenure and being promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents the findings of a survey of unionized professors and professional librarians at a public university in Southern Ontario to examine their views on the prospect and desirability of "right-to-work" legislation and "paycheck protection" laws. The purpose of the study is twofold: first, to assess the level of opposition to such legislative initiatives among unionized faculty, and, second, to determine the extent to which the passage of such laws would undermine the dues base of the faculty union. Based on the findings of a mixed methods survey, we found that a strong majority of the university professors and professional librarians surveyed were opposed to "right-to-work" and "paycheck protection" laws and that their passage would not deter them from paying dues or authorizing expenditures for political action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This workforce column, guest written by Marianne Sorensen and Kathleen Delong, takes up the perennial question of the role of research in the professional practice of the academic librarian. The article also showcases recent Canadian human resources research and provides a strong evidence base from which an important strategic workforce issue, is identified. It goes on to provide some options to close the gap in the knowledge, skills, and competencies of the 21st century academic librarian. This article well and truly fulfills the intended purpose of this column, namely to provide an avenue through which to explore library human resource issues, showcase research, and share emerging new models of professional practice. I invite further contributions to our ongoing discussion! Please submit articles for this column to the editor atvicki.williamson@usask.ca Librarians in many academic research libraries are expected to possess the competencies necessary to conduct their own research. Using data from surveys of institutional representatives and librarians at the Canadian Association for Research Libraries,1the column explores the relationships between a wide scope of research-related topics including librarian participation and interest in conducting research, participation and interest in research training, and institutional and individual barriers to conducting research. The central conclusion is that librarians are in need of, and are interested in, research-related training. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) is a consortium of the twenty-one university libraries in Ontario, Canada. Since 1967, OCUL member institutions have worked together to share costs and workload through collective purchasing and licensing of information resources and more recently through the establishment of a shared digital infrastructure known as Scholars Portal. Under the auspices of OCUL, Ontario's university map librarians formed the OCUL Map Group in 1973 to seek opportunities to communicate and collaborate to improve the collections and services they offer their users. The opportunities provided by collaboration have ensured a greater capacity to manage evolving collections of geospatial data. The group has served as a community of practice, which has provided educational opportunities and facilitated collaborative problem solving through a listserv, conference calls, and face-to-face meetings. This collegial environment has also led to the completion of a number of projects, which have resulted in the creation of new technical infrastructures and strategies for sharing the workload of data management tasks. This paper discusses the role of collaboration in OCUL projects and offers some suggestions for others considering embarking on collaborations of their own. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines racial and ethnic diversity among Canadian academic librarians and discusses the findings of a nationwide survey. The survey posed questions related to equity plans and programs as well as recruitment practices for academic librarians from equity-seeking groups with a focus on Aboriginal and visible/racial minority librarians. It explored the needs and experiences of Aboriginal and visible/racial minority librarians employed in Canadian academic libraries by examining questions of organizational climate, mentoring, institutional support, advancement opportunities, and the roles of library associations. The findings reveal a need for more diversity awareness and training and leadership with respect to diversity on the part of academic libraries and the profession at large in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors introduce the Librarians' Research Partnership (LRP), founded in 2013, at McGill and Concordia University Libraries. The Partnership was inspired by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries' Librarians' Research Institute (CARL LRI) which was attended by three of the authors in 2012 and is described here from the point of view of the participants. The authors touch upon the research culture at McGill and Concordia Libraries and discuss barriers and supports for research as prominent themes in the literature on the research role of Canadian academic librarians. The formation of the LRP and the eight subsequent meetings are explained in detail, as well as the factors that made the LRP a successful initiative between the two universities: physical proximity, similarity of working environments, and common organizational culture. The article also includes a discussion of how the LRP's philosophy might diverge from that of the LRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION The landscape of librarianship in relation to the practice of scholarly communication is evolving. The objectives of this study were to investigate: the scope of scholarly communication activities within Canadian research libraries; the organizational structures in place to support them; and the roles of librarians who participate in them. Key challenges to its advancement and how librarians envision its future were also investigated. METHODS Twenty-nine academic librarians from Canadian Association of Research Libraries member institutions participated in semi-structured, open-ended interviews. Interviews were analyzed for recurring themes. RESULTS Participants outlined initiatives, services, and structures to support scholarly communication at their institutions. Solo scholarly communication librarians, specialized teams, and committees were identified as primary structures. Liaison librarians play an essential supporting role regardless of structure. Individually, librarians are seen to have an impact as leaders and advocates in promoting scholarly communication. The concept of "librarian as researcher" is also important. Participants shared a desire for better communication and collaboration in this area. Many participants saw the need for standardized assessment and evaluation methods. Participants enumerated their greatest challenges and provided suggestions for addressing them in the future. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that organizational structure can enhance scholarly communication activities in libraries. Leadership both at the personal and collective level is necessary to provide an impetus for scholarly communication activities. Librarians should be knowledgeable about the issues and be ready to deliver the "pitch." Strengthening collaboration and communication among Canadian librarians is essential for moving the scholarly communication agenda forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the literature exploring the role of research in academic librarianship, very little attention has been paid to the perspectives of upper library administrators. This perspective is critical because library administrators play a key role in hiring, evaluating, supporting, promoting, and tenuring professional librarians. As a way of bringing the administrative perspective to these discussions, our study examines how library administrators within the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) view the role of research in their own libraries and within academic librarianship, as well as how they perceive the current and future climate for librarians' research. Our study reveals key areas in need of further research and identifies several issues that librarians and upper administrators would benefit from exploring together to advance discussions about research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective - To determine the perceived impact of leadership development on the behaviours and competencies of employees and the organizational culture of the University Library, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Methods - Using grounded theory methodology, the study was conducted in an academic library serving a mid-sized medical-doctoral university in western Canada. Twenty-one librarians and support staff who had completed the University Library's Library Leadership Development Program (LLDP) participated in one-on-one interviews of 40-60 minutes duration. Interview transcripts were prepared by the researcher and reviewed by the participants. After editing, those source documents were analyzed to reveal patterns and common threads in the responses. The coding scheme that best fits the data includes the following four headings: skill development, learning opportunities, strategic change management, and shared understanding of organizational vision and values. Results - According to the responses in interviews given by graduates of the Library Leadership Development Program, the library's investment in learning has created a cohort of employees who are: self-aware and engaged, committed to learning and able to develop new skills, appreciative of change and accepting of challenges, or accountable and committed to achieving the organization's vision and values. Conclusion - Competencies and behaviours developed through exposure to leadership development learning opportunities are changing the nature of the organization's culture to be more collaborative, flexible, open and accepting of change and challenge, supportive of learning, able to create and use knowledge, and focussed on achieving the organization's vision and values. These are the characteristics commonly associated with a learning organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives -- This study examines the use of print and electronic collections both before and after implementation of Summon at the University of Manitoba Libraries. Summon is a web-scale discovery service which allows discovery of all of the materials the library owns or has access to from a simple search box on the library's web page. Methods -- COUNTER statistics were used to determine database, e-journal, and e-book statistics, including database search statistics (DR1) from the COUNTER Database Report 1, full-text article downloads from the COUNTER Journal Report 1 (JR1), and successful section search requests from the COUNTER Book Report 2 (BR2) for electronic resources. Sirsi, the University of Manitoba's integrated library system, provided statistics on checkouts for the libraries' circulating print monograph and serial collections. The percentage change from the pre-Summon implementation period to the post-Summon implementation period was calculated and these numbers were used to determine whether usage had increased or decreased for both print and electronic collections. Results -- As expected, searches in citation databases decreased because searches were no longer being carried out in the native database as the metadata from the database is included in Summon. E-journal usage increased dramatically and e-book usage also increased for four of six providers examined. Print usage decreased, but the results were inconclusive. Conclusions -- Summon implementation had a favourable impact on collection usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Academic Librarianship: A Crisis or an Opportunity?" was a one day symposium held at the University of Toronto on November 18, 2011. The symposium provided a forum for stakeholders to consider recent troubling events and developments in the academic library community. The hiring of postdoctoral fellows at McMaster University to replace librarians, the strike by professional librarians at University of Western Ontario in 2011 and threats to the academic freedom of librarians at McGill University have all served as bellwethers and have been rich topics for debate of late. The symposium was intended to provide an opportunity to bring more coherence to the discourse and to consider further initiatives, increased activism, and to begin a process for providing greater leadership around issues relating to academic librarians and academic librarianship. The day was organized around a series of panels. A number of key stakeholders spoke to specific themes: 1) the role of national and provincial labour organizations and local faculty associations; 2) trends and challenges in education and curriculum at library schools; 3) the role of library associations and professional accreditation; and 4) librarians on the front lines. The symposium emerged with a clear call to action: that it is time to become more pro-active in a collective manner, and to use the tremendous interest generated by this event as an opportunity to seek solutions to the challenges facing academic librarianship in Canada. There was overwhelming support for the creation of a virtual forum to continue the discourse and to bring in those who are interested and willing to become engaged but who were unable to participate in the symposium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective - What do students need and want from library subject guides? Options such as Web 2.0 enhancement are now available to librarians creating subject-specific web pages. Librarians may be eager to implement these new tools, but are such add-ons a priority for students? This paper aims to start a dialogue on this issue by presenting the findings of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Library's Subject Guides Working Group (SGWG), which was tasked with assessing current library subject guides in order to make recommendations for the update and future development of UBC Library subject guides. Methods - The working group solicited feedback through a questionnaire that was distributed to undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines at UBC. The questionnaire included an evaluation of UBC subject guides, as well as guides from other academic libraries that used various platforms such as LibGuides and SubjectsPlus. Results - Respondents to the student questionnaire indicated that a simple and clean layout was of primary importance. Students also desired succinct annotations to resources and limited page scrolling. Meanwhile, few students identified Web 2.0 features such as rating systems and discussion forums as being important for their needs. The working group used the questionnaire data to create a "Top Ten" list of student recommendations. Conclusions - The "Top Ten" list of student recommendations was combined with stakeholder feedback from faculty, liaison librarians and Library Systems and Information Technology representatives to create the SGWG's final recommendation for subject guide revision and enhancement. For the SGWG these findings called into question the necessity of Web 2.0 technologies within subject guide pages and highlighted the need for further research on the topic of subject guide usability and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide a reconnaissance of major academic libraries located in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and U.S.A. that have embraced Web 2.0 tools for enhancing library services. The research is based on a survey of websites of 277 university libraries. The checkpoints used for this evaluative study were given by for evaluating various Web 2.0 tools. Additional checkpoints were arrived at after visiting and browsing the various sites. The findings of the study acknowledge the strength of Web 2.0 tools in improving library services for users. Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Instant Messaging (IM) and blogs are popular in academic libraries. The paper concludes by offering best practices for implementing Web 2.0 tools in academic libraries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study on academic/research librarians with subject doctorates. Although recruitment of academic/research librarians with subject doctorates are progressing, there is a lack of research on the trends and backgrounds of these librarians. The article uses a survey on doctoral degree holders who are working in the U. S. and Canada. Results showed that there are more male degree holders than females while the average age of respondents was fifty years old. The study also makes the prediction that the librarians will be retiring in 2010.

The article discusses the findings of the study concerning the time allocation and management of research university librarians in Canada. It reveals that librarians devote 45-55 hours per week on professional and scholarship activities, however, year-round schedules of assigned duties is sustained. It shows that universities do not provide guidelines on appropriate time commitment to scholarship while librarians do not have fixed work hours. It also indicates that librarians want to spend more time on scholarship activities, which means a reduction of time allocated on professional responsibilities.

This paper reports the results of a national survey of Canadian research university librarians conducted by the author in 2006. The study deals with the motivation of librarians to engage in scholarly activities, the requirement for scholarship by librarians at Canadian research universities, the perceived importance of scholarship as a criterion for promotion and tenure, levels and forms of participation in scholarship, and librarians' assessment of various types of support for scholarship. The study concluded that 13% of the sample population could be considered active scholars, and suggests that there may be a correlation between level of scholarly intensity and gender. The paper concludes with questions for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spring 2000, the authors undertook a study to explore the interaction between academic librarians and faculty at the University of Manitoba, the impact of librarians' contributions, and the future roles of librarians. The following five areas were investigated: teaching/instruction, information services, information technology, research, and collections. The results clearly show that when faculty interact with librarians, librarians have a very positive and considerable impact on both faculty and students. In addition, the faculty responses indicate that they are receptive to collaborating with librarians at a higher level of interaction than currently experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author, appointed University Librarian in 1999, saw that the library was not fulfilling its potential from the perspectives of congenial environment and student awareness. She used student marketing projects to examine perceptions of the Patrick Power Library, and develop ways of raising its profile within the university community. The tired-looking building, a product of the 1970s, undermined the quality of staff and services. She used the information gathered through the projects to enhance services as well as make the library a more welcoming and vibrant space to attract students, without a major infusion of funds. This article charts the development of the library over a two-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the information literacy instruction in academic libraries in Canada. Information on trends in teaching objectives, methods and content; Overview of challenges faced by librarians; Details on management and evaluation of libraries; Comparison with the information literacy instruction surveys in the United States and New Zealand.

Objective -- To determine the extent to which formal and informal mentoring is present in Canadian academic libraries and how such activities meet expectations for new librarians, practising librarians, and library administrators. Design -- Online surveys. Setting -- Canadian college and university libraries. Subjects -- Three groups were defined and surveyed: graduates from one Canadian MLIS program; librarians practising in a Canadian academic library, and library administrators directing a Canadian academic library. Methods -- Participants were selected using stratified, purposeful sampling and were invited to participate in an online survey in December 2010. Three surveys were distributed in total; one for each of the three target groups defined. The surveys contained both closed- and open-ended questions. Students from one specific MLIS program graduating in December 2010 and Spring 2011 were directly invited to participate. An incentive was offered to the student group and the librarian group to encourage participation. Main Results -- Mentoring programs in Canadian colleges and universities are present but are largely informal. Mentoring activities are positively correlated with student population, how long a mentor has worked professionally, and whether or not librarians had been mentored early in their careers. 83% of new graduates expected to be mentored when hired by a Canadian academic library while less than one quarter of librarians and no administrators reported having similar expectations when starting their professional academic careers. Over 50% of the students who responded to the survey reported that they had experienced some form of mentoring while completing their MLIS, though that may be related to the cooperative placement component of their educational program. All respondents, with the exception of university administers, indicated that library colleagues are appropriate mentors, while academic librarians and administrators felt that the mentorship relationship would not benefit were the mentor also the supervisor. Respondents placed the greatest weight of importance on mentoring activities related to academic expertise, career guidance, psychosocial support and role models, while indicating that evaluation was not considered to have a significant place in the mentor- mentee relationship. Networking, cultural complexities, general encouragement, and career counseling were seen as important mentorship aspects for both new graduates and practising librarians. Administrators in both college and university libraries were less likely to support mentoring particularly in the areas of assisting with grant writing, evaluation, and career counseling. In general, administrators were reluctant to develop or support formal mentor programming even though a significant percentage agreed that it would benefit succession planning. Conclusion -- New graduates and practising librarians expect to participate in some form of mentoring activities yet there are very few Canadian academic libraries providing formal mentorship programming. The value of the mentor-mentee relationship with respect to organizational planning, recruitment and retention, as well as career planning, is perceived as high amongst new graduates, practising librarians, and administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of job loss on academic libraries from Ontario universities. Stages that individuals pass through in coping with job loss; Stresses; Recommendations on how sources of stress on individuals who are coping with job loss could be reduce; Impact of age and seniority.

The article provides information on the Committee of University Industrial Relations Librarians (CUIRL). CUIRL was launched in 1946 by a group of directors of university industrial relations centers who met to explore the possibilities of interuniversity cooperation on library facilities. The following year, representatives of a number of universities in the U.S., directors and librarians from centers met to consider proposals for cooperative endeavor. In 1951, a group of librarians from the U.S. and Canada involved in the cooperative project agreed to choose the title Committee of University Industrial Relations Librarians for the group. The librarian of the U.S. Department of Labor serves as an advisory member of CUIRL.

Objective - To provide comparative data from Canadian research universities regarding the time spent on scholarly activities by research librarians. Design - Qualitative study employing a bilingual survey consisting of thirty-nine questions. Setting - Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) located at the twenty-seven CARL universities during the spring and fall of 2006. Subjects - CARL university librarians for whom e-mail addresses could be retrieved. Methods - The survey was distributed to 1052 CARL librarians during the spring and fall of 2006 via e-mail. Problems with the clarity of two questions became evident during the receipt of responses. The questions were revised and resubmitted to the same population. Main Results - Five hundred and twenty responses (49.4%) were received, with 441 (84.8%) in English and 15.2% in French. A total of 53 surveys were unusable, leaving 467 (44.4%) cases as the basis for data analysis. Responses to the survey revealed that 51.4% of participants were required or encouraged to undertake scholarship. Of these, 35% were expected, in addition to sabbatical and study leaves, to make scholarship an integral and ongoing part of their professional responsibilities. Due to the individualized and subjective nature of the responses, no clear data emerged on the balance between scholarship and other professional activities. The majority of research librarians, on average, spent less than five hours per week on scholarship activities. For the 290 full-time librarians surveyed, the average time spent per week on all activities (professional and scholarly) was 47.4 hours. Almost one third of the full time librarians worked fifty hours or more per week - the equivalent to the time commitment of the average university professor. Participants indicated that in an ideal world they would like to spend 10% less time on assigned duties. Francophone respondents spent 5% more of their time on professional responsibilities and 5% less time on scholarship. Participation rates in scholarship related leaves are low, with less than 25% of those surveyed engaging in these opportunities. Conclusion - Based on the study's findings, research librarians are not participating in scholarship to any great degree due to the perceived lack of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]