To leave or not to leave: The case of Ex-Libris, the Remainders and the Library Union
In 2016, mayhem was unleashed when the Ontario Library Association (OLA) departed from the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA). The assumption was that the OLA would depart from the CFLA in an orderly and a swift fashion. That assumption was wrong.
The mid-career malaise of a library cat
Questions like “Why am I here?” “What are my future goals?” and “What the fluff am I doing with my life?” are all perfectly normal during your mid-career moment. Here are the top five ways that library cats can battle the mid-career blahs with cat-itude!
Staffless libraries: Have they been hacked, or worse, are they alive?
You may have heard that some libraries have removed staff members from the equation so automatic doors and machines can greet patrons. Artificial intelligence allows libraries to provide this staffless branches option to patrons. However, they may be causing a larger problem. We've learned that the machines in one public library may have developed a mind of their own!
April fools & fake news
Although April Fools’ Day often comes with a few good laughs, in many ways I approached the first day of April 2017 with a sense…
Tales from the Shelf, vol. 1
Shaz Stevenson from the Open Shelf Public Library (OSPL) has shared with us a story of a request from a strange visitor for a…
Conservative leadership race and libraries
The Conservative Party leadership race is really starting to heat up now that libraries have become one of the key areas for discussion and…
Trump moves ahead with controversial book travel ban
President Trump took some time out of his busy tweeting schedule to speak to us, the Library Fake News Network (L.F.N.N.), about one of…
Library implements “ACE”: Artisanal Cuneiform Experience workshops
Last year we reported that University of Guelph students had staged a sit-in over the planned removal of the Library’s paper abstracts and indexes.…
SuperConference: Testing the waters
Gathering to talk about the benefits of an advanced research degree as preparation for an academic role.
New terminal degree: Yes or no?
If the role of academic librarians is changing and resembling more that of other faculty, should the PhD be the new terminal degree?
Research and the “value agenda”
A debate about the form, purpose, and quality of academic librarians’ research is taking place right now in the editorial pages of some of our flagship journals.
The PhD: New terminal degree?
Academic librarians are “scholar-practitioners.” We have a valued tradition of service (practitioner) but increasingly we also teach full-time and undertake extensive research (scholar).