Welcome and opening remarks from Christine Smith, Chair of the Librarians’ Research Forum, Concordia University. Recording: https://youtu.be/uQGdEHd-NYo

LIS practitioners are recognized as having deep expertise in information; in its collection, description, preservation, safeguarding, and, up to a point, in making it accessible. Let’s note the milestones achieved in making digital information accessible, and determine the distance yet to travel in making it accessible for all. What makes digital information accessible for everyone? What is the social and legal importance of accessibility? What are the policies and practices, nationally an...

This session presents results from a qualitative study of Canadian academic librarians’ learning experiences related to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Our central research question is: “What makes EDI learning transformative and impactful for academic librarians?” In order to answer this question, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 20 academic librarians, using Appreciative Inquiry as a framework. Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based approach to personal a...

Finding published data on race, racialized populations, indigenous populations, and anti-racism in Canada is a challenge when conducting research. A major source of data is the Census of Canada which has been collecting socio-demographic data since 1871 and availability of data on racial, ethno-cultural, and indigenous populations is not consistent from Census to Census, and nor is the terminology that is used by each Census. To help researchers and information professionals, this team of ...

This talk presents the Canadian Census Data Discovery Partnership, a research project that brings together librarians and researchers from several Canadian Universities and institutions such as Statistics Canada and Library and Archives Canada. As the research project is still underway, this presentation aims to discuss the main steps that have been achieved so far and to present some early findings from the consultation process with census data users.The Census of Canada is probabl...

La durée de protection du droit d’auteur au Canada a été prolongée de 20 ans par le biais de la loi C-19 mise en application le 30 décembre 2022. Jusqu’à ce jour, le Canada relevait de la catégorie des pays dits « vie + 50 ans » où la durée de la protection du droit d’auteur s’étendait tout au long de la vie des créateurs et créatrices plus 50 ans après leur mort. Après cette date, les oeuvres originales venaient accroître le domaine public où elles devenaient accessibles sans contrainte. ...

There are numerous benefits for a researcher to involve a librarian in their knowledge synthesis project. Previously published studies have shown that librarians perform more precise searches when compared to expert searching clinicians, and that there is a correlation between librarian co-authors on systematic reviews and higher quality search strategies and methodological reporting. However, does librarian involvement make a difference when it comes to publication venue? With this projec...

This paper looks at solicitor-client privilege from the perspective of the harm done to legal history and Canada’s documentary heritage by the claim that privilege never ends. Solicitor-client privilege provides that communications between lawyer and client in pursuit of legal advice cannot be disclosed without the consent of the client. Absent that consent, privilege lasts forever. The supposedly permanent duration of privilege has resulted in a gap in the sources for legal history, parti...

As a form of writing, travelogues are first-person accounts that present a given place as seen through the eyes of a specific interpreter. With the advent of steam-powered locomotion in the nineteenth century, this genre experienced a marked shift. No longer limited to an aristocratic elite, long-distance travel was now in reach of a greater swath of society whose desire to show themselves as cultured made them eager to share their impressions of far-off lands.Focussing primarily on...

Closing remarks from Pat Riva, Interim University Librarian, Concordia University. Recording: https://youtu.be/bf6pVtVa0mI