Open Shelf: What’s new in OLA’s online magazine for February 2018

What’s new in Open Shelf: September 2021

The team at Open Shelf has returned after our end-of-summer break reinvigorated. We enjoyed our “time off,” but are just as excited to meet the challenges and joys of the autumnal season.

Guns, knives & other prohibited items: What happens when good 3D printers go bad?

When the St. Thomas Public Library started investigating 3D printers as a new service several years ago, one of the frequent responses I would hear was, “Aren’t you afraid people will 3D print guns at the library?” I can tell…

Net neutrality: Is the end in sight?

On December 14, 2017, the U.S. telecommunications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), voted to repeal the country’s net neutrality regulations. What are the implications of this decision—not just for American citizens, but also for Canadians? And what about libraries?…

Campaign literature: Political evidence we must collect

A political paper trail of sorts will start this spring. Candidates hoping to win a seat in the Ontario legislature will hit the campaign trail for the 2018 general election and with them will come what we at the Legislative…

Canada 151: Visions of Indigenous & non-Indigenous relations through time

Canada 150 is now officially over. However, the reconciliation work of libraries, archives, museums and other memory institutions continues in Canada 151. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) called upon Library and Archives Canada to: 1. Fully adopt…

InsideOCULA Newsletter: February 2018

February is upon us once more, and so another Super Conference has come and gone. I hope everyone who attended feels re-energized, because 2018 will undoubtedly bring its own challenges that will require us to work together. It is that theme—of connecting and collaborating in the face of change—that we tackle this issue, and we hope you will find some inspiration for the coming year.

Safe spaces: Library values in the cultural wars

Headlines today scream about highly charged debates in the sociological and cultural sphere: Whose voices need to be heard? How do we create equity? What are the appropriate limits to intellectual freedom? Where does acceptable speech start and end as…

Control sits on the table with the words,

Games: Community building blocks

I may have told you this story before but, even at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will tell it again. When I saw the job ad for “Liaison librarian, game design and development” and the requirement…

Decolonization

Decolonization is a powerful and contentious word. What does it mean exactly? Is it feasible? Is it desirable? And what does it mean for libraries? The Canadian Federation of Library Associations/Federation canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA/FCAB) has been very…

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