“You know you’ve just talked your way into an article for Open Shelf?” Anyone having a conversation with me may find themselves at the receiving end of this question. Or, in the case of regular Open Shelf columnists Jennifer Brown and John Pateman, I said, “You’ve just created the foundation for a special issue on…

“To govern: To conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of (a state, organization, or people).” As is so often the case, the dictionary definition of a noun makes “the thing” sound simple and straightforward … and then we humans put that thing into practice and make it infinitely more complex and nuanced than the initial…

The Safe spaces column is an attempt to explore today’s persistent socio-cultural debates in light of the alleged values of the librarian profession: intellectual freedom, equity, inclusiveness, diversity, evidence. The first topic Safe spaces attempts to parse is the current debate over cultural appropriation.  I am a fragile white person. I knew it at the 2017 iDiversity symposium, where…

With the arrival of summer, many of us will be looking forward to holidays, but summer months spent at work can also be a useful time to revisit projects or start new ones. In this month’s issue of InsideOCULA, we look back at past successes and highlight renewed projects from the OCULA community.

Continuum dives into the e-learning waters by addressing a spectrum of issues including the nature of e-learning, the role of technologically-informed teaching and learning in library work, and the resources that are needed to make e-learning happen.

Nothing lasts forever—especially when it comes to training. Consistently learning, growing and refreshing your skills is not just for new professionals, but a value-added ability for all library staff. Markham Public Library (MPL) has been working diligently to respond to staff requests for more training and working to reduce the barriers, such as a lack…