Semi-colons, hexadecimal and a career in librarianship: Reminiscing about coding
By Dave Hook I don’t shy away from opportunities to geek out. Yes, I’ll happily discuss defunct search engines (say what you want about…
Asian Canadian identity: A reading list
I have the great privilege of being old, and as a Chinese Canadian librarian, I have assembled this reading list of sources that have helped me grapple with questions of my own identity as an Asian Canadian. I hope this reading list helps the next generation with their struggles to be seen.
Harvey Olnick Rare Book Room
The Harvey Olnick Rare Book Room at the University of Toronto Music Library contains over 2,600 volumes that exemplify the history of music, music editing, performing and printing—from liturgical manuscripts and early printed treatises to first editions of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Gershwin. Its namesake, Harvey Olnick was formative to its collection's development.
Supporting communities through successful engagement
The pandemic has challenged the way libraries connect and engage with their local communities. Here are some of the exciting findings shared by presenters as part of the OPLA Community-Led Think Tank's Community Conversation and what they might mean for the future of community librarianship.
Weeding as an anti-racist practice: A conversation with Dr. Monica Eileen Patterson
Collection management is an important component of library work in part because the materials on our shelves reflect our deepest cultural beliefs and experiences. I am learning from my colleague, Dr. Monica Eileen Patterson, withdrawing some of Dr. Seuss' books from publication is the right thing to do because children should not be exposed to racist imagery and stereotypes. And yet, there may be times when we might still need access to some of these texts in order to understand how racism operates in our communities.
If you build workshops, they still might not come: Notes on a not-so-successful community initiative
I first heard about The Second Chance Foundation from a segment on CBC Radio’s Sunday Edition in 2017. This interview prompted me to reach out to Bev because I knew that this was an organization I wanted to be involved in. We determined, based on her clients’ needs and my expertise, that I would offer introductory internet skills workshops focusing on information literacy.
What we talk about when we talk about algorithms*
Words create reality; what we say and write makes ideas concrete. The explosion of research about algorithms has resulted in specific descriptive phrases about their nature and characteristics. Let’s take a brief tour through some of them to see how they reflect our hopes and concerns.
Open to discovery: Refining metadata standards & creating a controlled vocabulary for Open Shelf
As library professionals, we are trained to understand the critical role that metadata plays in the discoverability of information in a wide range of contexts. With a shorter list of tags, the Open Shelf editorial team now has a controlled vocabulary that will enable improved discoverability of the magazine content.
What’s involved with being an editor for a multiauthor volume?
Sharing our professional knowledge and experience through writing is something we value collectively as a profession. We have found that being the editor (or editors) on a collaborative project is a meaningful way to contribute to the literature related to our work and research in addition to strengthening our professional skillset(s).
A sadder wiser boy: World War II letter sheds light on human resilience
While many of us couldn’t join others in a formal university ceremony on Remembrance Day, first-hand accounts of war-time events (e.g., archival letters) can help us all “apprehend the complexities of the human condition” that are central to our collective memory.
L’Université de l’Ontario français : repenser la bibliothèque universitaire?
Après une longue attente, la nouvelle Université de l’Ontario français (UOF) accueillera enfin sa première cohorte d’étudiant.es en septembre 2021. Malgré tout le travail accompli, il reste encore beaucoup à faire.
Back to blogging: Revitalizing blogs in the age of COVID
Staff at the University of Toronto Music Library have gone "back to blogging" and this form of outreach has proven to be a successful way to keep in touch with patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Good-bad, bad-good: The joy of celluloid failure in the Car Hole Cinema
After the first, frigid weeks (then months) of the quarantine had passed, Douglas Davey found himself missing his old world. It was in the midst of these doldrums that he exhumed a long-buried idea: converting his sketchy garage (or “car hole”) into a movie theatre.