OCULA Lightning Strikes Winner
by Jordan Pedersen What do artificial intelligence, library social media preservation, Indigenous knowledge bases, and embedded librarianship have in common? They were the topics…
Building Better Libraries Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: 2018 OCULA Spring Conference
by Catherine Fournier and Helen Tang Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values in librarianship … in theory, at least. But what are libraries…
InsideOCULA Newsletter: April 2018
By Thomas Guignard Is it spring yet? The copse of tiny crocuses next to my front steps seem willing to believe it. For me,…
Finding Your Path and Your People: OCULA President’s Message
By Melanie Parlette-Stewart Here are some thoughts I’ve had as a librarian: “My boss is going to realize hiring me was a mistake.” “They’re…
The Learning Portal: An Update
By Jennifer Peters and Anabella Arcaya The Learning Portal is a collaboration between the Ontario college libraries, several Ontario college learning centres, and the…
Exploring the possibilities: one college library’s digital media lab & makerspace experience
By Jaclyn Chambers-Page We had a room. We had an idea. We had a plan. This is the story of Niagara College Libraries’ Exploratory…
Catching some Zen at Cambrian College Library
By Marnie Seal Have you ever wanted to catch some “zen” throughout your day, but just found the environment around you a little too…
On the fringe? Librarians and academic program reviews
By Lynne Bowker In Ontario, quality assurance of academic programs has gained prominence recently. Programs at public universities must be reviewed every eight years,…
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI)
by Mike Ridley If AI are so smart, why can’t they explain themselves? Autonomous, intelligent systems are becoming ubiquitous. If you use Google, Facebook,…
Major expansion to U of T’s Robarts Library underway
By Jesse Carliner During the school year at the University of Toronto's Robarts Library, the University’s largest library, there are long lines at Starbucks…
Freedom and Fake News: The College Faculty Strike
By Eva McDonald During the height of the college faculty strike, the College Employer Council (CEC) stressed three key things to the press: that…
Instastacks: Promoting Collections and Community through Instagram
By Jillian Sparks In January 2016, we established our Instagram account, @jordan_library, for the W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections at Queen’s University.…
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.