Reader, watcher, owner: Wholistic story-based library experiences
I spend a lot of my time reading books but also watching movies and, more often, watching other people play video games. Why? Because…
Play your cards right! Designing game-based information literacy
Game-based learning has been around since the beginning of time … don’t you think? As kids, we learn by playing and as adults we…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Canada 150: Library work as a profession for women
B. Mabel Dunham (1881-1957) was the president of the Ontario Library Association in 1920. In her presidential address, she spoke bluntly about the opportunities…
Hidden figures: Book or movie?
We love to compare books and their screen adaptations ... plot and people, pace and perspective. Which version is better, the movie or the…
IFLA/UNESCO manifesto & toolkit: Creating multicultural libraries
As the out-going chair of the IFLA Library Services for Multicultural Populations Section, I shared this manifesto with participants at the IFLA 2017 conference, held…
Makerspaces: Take two
Complete surprise and appreciation: this was my first reaction to reading a response to an article I had written for Open Shelf last spring.…
Makerspaces: Service or learning resource?
At the 2017 Computers in Libraries conference, a librarian asked “Do you use your 3D printer, as a service or resource?" This seemed like…
Canada 150: New paradigm for LAC-BAC
At their best, national institutions are not static entities but evolve in concert with the people and places that they are created to support.…
Connect, converse & unite: IFLA’s Global Vision
We can find it challenging to have a meaningful conversation with a colleague who sits in an adjacent cubicle—life is full of everyday responsibilities that take our time and attention. So the idea of talking with library folk from around the world about our collective future seems daunting.