Recent library literature conveys an increasing interest in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) practices for improving library services. How does the literature explore DEIA education practices and training initiatives for library employees, including those who provide frontline reference services? What are examples of strategies for increasing awareness of DEIA topics among frontline reference workers, training reference staff to provide more inclusive or accessible se...

In the ongoing research study, we explore: How can libraries establish selection guidelines for the evaluation, acquisition, and provision of software and technologies, which foster digital scholarship research methods? Librarians typically develop selection policies for guiding their decisions on resources (for example books, journals, films, etc.) to acquire for patron access. The goal of these policies is to ensure the library can support community needs within its limited resourcing an...

Many librarians suspect a misalignment between what students actually need to facilitate curricular research, what librarians think students need, and the librarian-curated tools created to meet those perceived needs. Specifically, academic librarians often create online, asynchronously accessible, research guides in order to aggregate relevant sources and outline research strategies.  Unfortunately, two problems persist: 1) If created without a specific request, guides may not...

As the book trade expanded in the early nineteenth century, new technologies and materials began to be used in bookbinding, this included the invention of machine-made bookcloth in the 1820s. This early bookcloth was made from thin cotton or linen, and was coated with a mixture of starch, fillers, and colourants to impart a brilliant eye-catching hue to the covers. This new type of bookcloth was less expensive to use than traditional leather and quickly became the standard for mass-produce...

Since 2018 we have been investigating the 2017-2019 parliamentary review of the Copyright Act, focusing on the recommendations made to the review committee for changes to fair dealing and other topics relevant to libraries and higher education. A new review of the Copyright Act was expected to be announced in late 2022 so in the past year we have shifted our focus to think about how this research might support copyright advocacy in libraries and library organizations.This has us thinking a...

Instructional video tutorials have been a commonly adopted method for library instructors to extend their reach as teachers. The limitations of one-shot instruction sessions often require ingenuitive approaches to harness student attention and equip them with the skills and attitudinal awareness to successfully navigate academic library research. One way to extend instructional work is to implement video tutorials before or after a one-shot session. Practical research skills are often frui...

By reviewing SSHRC grant projects between 2015–2022, this research intends to determine which recipients have published their findings in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, whether funding was used to cover the cost of an APC, and, if so, was a transformative agreement applied. This research intends to gain insight into:Have the publishing practices of early-career Social Sciences and Humanities researchers have shifted,a. If so, has this occurred more within specific discip...

This session will present the findings of research into the types of questions posed by patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic on AskAway, the post-secondary consortial chat reference service in BC and the Yukon. The fourteen-member research team, representing eight post-secondary institutions in BC and the Yukon used an iterative process and multiple methods of analysis to examine over 70,000 chat transcripts from September 2019 through August 2021. Utilizing the tools R, Python Pandas, Voy...