Canadian Association Of Research Libraries Research Articles

CARL Library Impact Framework

In December 2021, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) released the CARL Library Impact Framework (CLIF). While library impact has been a topic of discussion for many years, CLIF offers a new contribution to the dialogue on the demonstration of impact of research libraries. The concept of impact pathways was borrowed from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences report entitled Approaches to Assessing Impacts in the Humanities and Social Sciences. To realize the impact pathways concept, CLIF has adapted a logic model framework. This approach provides users of CLIF with a way to represent a more complete arc of influence of research libraries systematically and visually. By design, CLIF encourages the use of assessment techniques and tools beyond the quantitative data collection and descriptive statistics often used by research libraries. This paper provides an overview of CLIF, its genesis, intent, structure, and possibilities for its application in research libraries.

Data Literacy Proficiency and Its Importance

In this poster, we report preliminary results from a survey of academic librarians in the U.S. and Canada on their perception of data literacy for their work practice. Our survey was distributed in August 2022 to librarians from member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries, Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Oberlin Group, as well as through various LIS listservs. We received 338 valid responses. Our focus is on the impact of library membership, librarians’ educational backgrounds, and percent of data work on librarians’ perception of the importance of various areas of data literacy. Significant library membership differences occurred both in the percentage of their job involving data-related tasks (H(3) = 9.146, p = .027), with ARL librarians having the highest mean rank, and in respondents’ importance rating on research data principles (H(3) = 10.534, p = .015), with CARL librarians having the highest mean rank. Librarians who had a non-MLS degree rated their data proficiency as significantly higher than respondents with MLS and another degree and people with only an MLS degree (H(2) = 8.815, p = .012). Percentage of data-related work was positively correlated with self-rated data proficiency (rho(n = 253) = .641, p = .000), the level of data literacy needed (rho(n = 262) = .352, p = .000), and various importance ratings of data literacy areas including programming skills (rho(n = 251) = .268, p = .000) and data processing & visualization (rho(n = 253) = .185, p = .003). Further analysis is currently in progress.

Patterns and trends of equity, diversity and inclusion programs in academic libraries

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) have been core values and top priorities for academic institutions in recent decades. This paper presents a review on EDI and their manifestations in strategic planning of academic libraries. Advocating and advancing EDI have been broadly recognized as initiatives that create partnership opportunities and have been supported by various library associations, such as the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the American Library Association (ALA), and the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) and Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The first section of this paper presents the initiatives and resources created by these library associations that provide example frameworks, roadmap, and planning for individual libraries to customize. The second section presents cases of EDI programs in the institutions that the author visited or studied for a professional development program in 2021–2022. The conclusion discusses recurring themes and initiatives. The findings outlined in this paper provide references, resources, and contexts for library leaders and the EDI team leaders to embark and sustain the critical journey of incorporating EDI values in their work and culture.

Investigating the Persistence of Federal Government Publications in Academic Former Full Depository Libraries in Canada

Objective – The Depository Services Program (DSP) provided printed Government of Canada publications to libraries until the termination of its distribution program in 2013. Full Depository Libraries (FDLs) received all eligible publications distributed by the DSP automatically. This study endeavours to determine whether academic library members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) that were formerly FDLs have maintained their print, federal government holdings since 2013; and what the results of the data collected in this study reveal about access to government information in Canada more broadly. Methods – The study identified a sample of 100 monographs distributed to FDLs via the DSP between 1979 and 2009. Each monograph was then searched for in the public catalogues of former FDL CARL member libraries to determine current holdings. Results – Most libraries included in the sample did not have records of all 100 publications, but every publication was located in at least 5 libraries and 12 publications were found in all libraries included in the study. Of the libraries in our sample, 1/3 had retained more than 90 of 100 publications, and 3/4 had retained at least 80. Conclusion – The redundancy that was a cornerstone of the DSP network still exists to a certain extent and should be leveraged to ensure retention and access to these essential materials for years to come. Existing collaborations and partnerships are well positioned to support a pan-Canadian discussion about preservation of and access to historical federal government information in Canadian libraries and library networks.

LGBTQ+ health research guides at North American health sciences libraries: a survey and content analysis

Objectives:Current literature recommends online research guides as an easy and effective tool to promote LGBTQ+ health information to both health care providers and the public. This cross-sectional study was designed to determine how extensive LGBTQ+ health guides are among hospital and academic libraries and which features are most prevalent.Methods:In order to locate LGBTQ+ health guides for content analysis, we searched for guides on the websites of libraries belonging to the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL). Additionally, we searched the Springshare interface for LibGuides with the word “health” and either “LGBT” or “transgender.” Content analysis was performed to identify major characteristics of the located guides, including target audience and the information type provided.Results:LGBTQ+ research guides were identified for 74 libraries. Of these, 5 were hospital libraries, and the rest were academic libraries. Of 158 AAHSL member libraries, 48 (30.4%) had LGBTQ+ guides on their websites. Nearly all guides (95.9%) provided general LGBTQ+ health information, and a large majority (87.8%) also had information resources for transgender health. Smaller percentages of guides contained information on HIV/AIDS (48.6%) and women's health (16.2%).Conclusions:Even though literature recommends creating LGBTQ+ health guides, most health sciences libraries are missing an opportunity by not developing and maintaining these guides. Further research may be needed to determine the usage and usefulness of existing guides and to better identify barriers preventing libraries from creating guides.

Walk-In Users and Their Access to Online Resources in Canadian Academic Libraries

In the past, a member of the public could access an academic library’s collection simply by visiting the library in person and browsing the shelves. However, now that online resources are prevalent and represent the majority of collections budgets and current collections, public access has become more complicated. In Canadian academic libraries, licences negotiated for online resources generally allow on-site access for walk-in users; however access is not granted uniformly across libraries. The goal of this study was to understand whether members of the public are indeed able to access online resources in major Canadian university libraries, whether access to supporting tools was offered, how access is provided, and whether access is monitored or promoted. The study used an online survey that targeted librarians responsible for user services at Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) member libraries. The survey results indicated that some level of free access to digital resources was provided to walk-in users at 90% of libraries for which a survey response was received. However, limitations in methods and modes of access and availability of supporting resources, such as software and printing, varied between the institutions. The study also found that most libraries did not actively promote or monitor non-affiliated user access.

The CARL Portage Partnership Story

Portage is the research data management initiative of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and its story has been very much about establishing partnerships in a complex environment to advance research data management services and infrastructure in Canada. Many jurisdictions make up the space in which research data management takes place. A variety of legal, political, cultural, economic, technological, and scientific factors are at play and how they fit together depends on the connections between a number of stakeholders. The levels at which these stakeholders operate and the transient nature of research data itself made the development of partnerships a complex undertaking for Portage. This article describes the building of partnerships in a multi-jurisdictional environment, discusses challenges in operating in Canada's digital research ecosystem, and highlights the importance of working with Canada's regional academic library associations in laying the foundations for digital research infrastructure to support data management.

The Fast and the FRDR: Improving Metadata for Data Discovery in Canada

The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR), developed through a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Portage initiative and the Compute Canada Federation, improves research data discovery in Canada by providing a single search portal for research data stored across Canadian governmental, institutional, and discipline-specific data repositories. While this national discovery layer helps to de-silo Canadian research data, challenges in data discovery remain due to a lack of standardized metadata practices across repositories. In recognition of this challenge, a Portage task group, drawn from a national network of experts, has engaged in a project to map subject keywords to the Online Computer Library Center’s (OCLC) Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) using the open source OpenRefine software. This paper will describe the task group’s project, discuss the various approaches undertaken by the group, and explore how this work improves data discovery and may be adopted by other repositories and metadata aggregators to support metadata standardization.

How assessment websites of academic libraries convey information and show value

PurposeAs libraries are required to become more accountable and demonstrate that they are meeting performance metrics, an assessment website can be a means for providing data for evidence-based decision making and an important indicator of how a library interacts with its constituents. The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a review of websites of academic libraries from four countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.Design/methodology/approachThe academic library websites included in the sample were selected from the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Research Libraries of the United Kingdom, Council of Australian University Libraries, Historically Black College & Universities Library Alliance, Association of Research Libraries and American Indian Higher Education Consortium. The websites were evaluated according to the absence or presence of nine predetermined characteristics related to assessment.FindingsIt was discovered that “one size does not fit all” and found several innovative ways institutions are listening to their constituents and making improvements to help users succeed in their academic studies, research and creative endeavors.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a sample of academic libraries from each of the four countries were analyzed. Additionally, some of the academic libraries were using password protected intranets unavailable for public access. The influences of institutional history and country-specific practices also became compelling factors during the analysis.Originality/valueThis paper seeks to broaden the factors for what is thought of as academic library assessment with the addition of qualitative and contextual considerations.

University Community Engagement and the Strategic Planning Process

Objectives- To understand how university libraries are engaging with the university community (students, faculty, campus partners, administration) when working through the strategic planning process. 
 
 Methods- Literature review and exploratory open-ended survey to members of CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians), CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries), CONZUL (Council of New Zealand University Librarians), and RLUK (Research Libraries UK) who are most directly involved in the strategic planning process at their library.
 
 Results- Out of a potential 113 participants from 4 countries, 31 people replied to the survey in total (27%). Libraries most often mentioned the use of regularly-scheduled surveys to inform their strategic planning which helps to truncate the process for some respondents, as opposed to conducting user feedback specifically for the strategic plan process. Other quantitative methods include customer intelligence and library-produced data. Qualitative methods include the use of focus groups, interviews, and user experience/design techniques to help inform the strategic plan. The focus of questions to users tended to fall towards user-focused (with or without library lens), library-focused, trends & vision, and feedback on plan.
 
 Conclusions- Combining both quantitative and qualitative methods can help give a fuller picture for librarians working on a strategic plan. Having the university community join the conversation in how the library moves forward is an important but difficult endeavour. Regardless, the university library needs to be adaptive to the rapidly changing environment around it. Having a sense of how other libraries engage with the university community benefits others who are tasked with strategic planning

Exploring the Canadian Federated Research Data Repository Service

Good data management requires support for researchers at all stages of the data lifecycle, from policy and planning development to infrastructure that ensures data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). While several excellent institutional, domain-specific, and general repositories currently exist both within Canada and abroad, Canada lacks nationally coordinated solutions for managing research data, and the question of where to deposit data for discovery, reuse, and preservation remains pervasive. Developed through a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Portage Network, and Compute Canada, the Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) seeks to address a longstanding gap in Canada’s research infrastructure by providing a single platform from which research data can be ingested, curated, preserved, discovered, cited, and shared. The platform’s federated search tool will provide a focal point to discover and access Canadian research data, while the range of services provided by FRDR will help researchers store and manage their data, preserve their research for future use, and comply with institutional and funding agency data management requirements. In this presentation, participants will learn about the development of the new system, current and planned functionality, the timeline for service launch, the proposed distributed service model to support institutions both locally and nationally, and a brief overview of research projects we will be supporting as the platform moves toward launch. Researchers will gain an understanding of how they can use FRDR to make their research data discoverable and accessible, as well as comply with increasing funder expectations for the management of research data.

Building Research Competencies in Canadian Academic Libraries: The CARL Librarians' Research Institute

ABSTRACTThis article overviews work by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to build the workforce competencies and capacity of academic librarians in respect of librarian research skills. CARL's Librarians' Research Institute (LRI) is reviewed and evaluated as a case study example of strategic and collaborative workforce capacity building. The CARL LRI offers a model for possible replication by others seeking to build workforce competencies and capacity through collaborative action.

Outside the Four Corners: Exploring Non­-Traditional Scholarly Communication

Traditional outputs of scholarly communication, such as monographs and journal articles are being supplemented by new forms of scholarship, particularly in fields such as digital humanities. Canadian university libraries have long played a role supporting the creation, distribution, and preservation of scholarly objects. That support must be extended to include new formats and modes of scholarly work, such as digital portfolios, non-linear narratives, social media, scholarly video journals, etc. As the means of production and forms of scholarly output diversify, libraries will need to understand the impact of these digital shifts and identify areas where library efforts can have the most influence. This article examines developing areas of non-traditional scholarly communication and discusses implications for members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL).

A Survey of Online Library Tutorials: Guiding Instructional Video Creation to Use in Flipped Classrooms

There has been a steady increase in library literature on “flipping the classroom.” This teaching strategy requires students to review course material outside the classroom beforehand, thereby allowing more time during workshops to apply newly gained knowledge and techniques. The proliferation of literature on classroom flipping provoked an interest to determine if other academic libraries were making explicit reference on their websites to the preliminary viewing of videos in a classroom context. To ascertain the extent of this practice, and inform the development of instructional videos at McGill, the authors surveyed all Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and Association of Research Libraries (ARL) websites to document the production of instructional videos, determine the various types of videos, and take note of explicit pre-viewing instructions prior to a workshop. Of the 140 libraries examined, 107 (76%) provide instructional videos on their website. However, of this group, only 2 (2%) clearly instruct users to watch instructional videos before attending a library research workshop. A literature review documents this emerging trend and contextualizes the results.

CARL Libraries – a Canadian resource-sharing experience

Purpose – This study aims to map the current resource-sharing environment in Canada through the lens of its research libraries in general and the University of Alberta in particular. The findings present an interesting view of changing resource sharing patterns and trends. Design/methodology/approach – Interlibrary loan (ILL) transaction data were compiled from annual data reported to the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and a case study of the University of Alberta is presented. Findings – The current trend shows declines in both borrowing and lending transactions. Research limitations/implications – Validity of the CARL ILL transactional data is subject to consistency in institutional reporting and accuracy of the data. The trends portrayed in the data are deemed realistic of the Canadian experience. Originality/value – This is an original study of CARL ILL transactional data, providing an aggregated view of 13 years of annual data, and an analysis of this data. It updates previous research and benchmarks current ILL patterns at CARL institutions.

A “Partnership” for the Professional Development of Librarian Researchers

In this article the authors introduce the Librarians’ Research Partnership (LRP), founded in 2013, at McGill and Concordia University Libraries. The Partnership was inspired by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Librarians’ Research Institute (CARL LRI) which was attended by three of the authors in 2012 and is described here from the point of view of the participants. The authors touch upon the research culture at McGill and Concordia Libraries and discuss barriers and supports for research as prominent themes in the literature on the research role of Canadian academic librarians. The formation of the LRP and the eight subsequent meetings are explained in detail, as well as the factors that made the LRP a successful initiative between the two universities: physical proximity, similarity of working environments, and common organizational culture. The article also includes a discussion of how the LRP’s philosophy might diverge from that of the LRI.

Academic Librarians and Research: A Study of Canadian Library Administrator Perspectives

Within the literature exploring the role of research in academic librarianship, very little attention has been paid to the perspectives of upper library administrators. This perspective is critical because library administrators play a key role in hiring, evaluating, supporting, promoting, and tenuring professional librarians. As a way of bringing the administrative perspective to these discussions, our study examines how library administrators within the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) view the role of research in their own libraries and within academic librarianship, as well as how they perceive the current and future climate for librarians’ research. Our study reveals key areas in need of further research and identifies several issues that librarians and upper administrators would benefit from exploring together to advance discussions about research.

What keeps CARL directors awake at night?

PurposeThis article aims to overview research undertaken through the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to identify themes and issues of interest to library leaders in Canadian research libraries.Design/methodology/approachThis paper discusses the context of the research, including moves by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to develop closer collaborative projects with Canadian Masters of Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) programs and to develop a National Research Agenda (NRA), inclusive of National Research Priorities (NRP). It overviews the specific research undertaken to develop the NRP, including the methodology and research outcomes.FindingsThe research resulted in the NRP, which identified key themes/issues of interest to directors in CARL member institutions. As such, it provides a snapshot of current issues and trends in research library management and leadership within Canada. CARL is now promoting its NRP and encouraging researchers (individuals and teams) to undertake applied research on the identified themes/issues, as part of its strategy to encourage research collaborations; increase research intensiveness within academic librarianship; and, use of evidence‐based decision making and applied research to solve management challenges.Originality/valueThe article identifies the context for the research, the research approach (including methodology) and research outcomes which point to issues of concern for library leaders in Canadian research libraries. It is a snapshot of current issues of concern to library managers.

정부출연연구기관의 연구기록물 관리를 위한 수집 개선방안에 관한 연구

본 연구는 정부출연연구기관의 연구기록물 관리의 첫 단계인 수집에서부터 효율적 관리 방안을 모색하는 것에 그 목적을 두었다. 이를 위해서 사례분석과 연구관리기관의 설문조사를 병행하여 수행하였다. 사례로서는 영국 정보시스템 합동위원회(JISC), 호주의 멜버른 대학교의 연구기록물 관리지침 그리고 캐나다 연구도서관협회(CARL)를 분석하였다. 설문조사는 과학기술연구회 연구기관, 기초기술연구회 소속 13개 기관, 산업기술연구회 소속 13개 기관, 경제 인문사회연구회 소속 23개 기관으로 총 49개 정부출연연구기관 사서가 응답한 설문지 43부를 토대로 분석하였다. 사례분석과 설문조사 내용을 바탕으로 정부출연연구기관 연구기록물의 효율적 관리를 위한 수집 개선 방안을 수집과 관리 부문으로 구분하여 제안하였다. 연구기관의 효율적인 연구기록물 수집을 위해서 우선 제도개선과 정책수립이 근본적으로 필요하며, 이를 기반으로 한 매뉴얼 작성과 이용이 현실적으로 요구된다. 이와 함께 전문인력으로써 연구기록물 담당자 배치가 시급하며, 담당자를 통한 연구기록물 수집의 적극적인 홍보와 노력이 중요하다. The purpose of this study is to propose an approach to acquire research records effectively in context of government-funded research institutes via case studies and a questionnaire survey. For the case studies, a report from Joint Information Systems Committee JISC in UK, the University of Melbourne policy on the management of research data and records, a report from Canadian Association of Research Libraries(CARL) are analyzed. In addition, a survey questionnaire is conducted for forty nine government-funded research institutes and forty three responses out of 49 institutes are collected and analyzed. Based on the analyses on case studies and responses of the survey, an approach for research records management with four aspects is proposed: regulatory policy, best practices and manuals, professionals for research records, and outreach programs of individual reseach institutes for acquiring appropriate research records.

Canada, Copyright, and the Common Good

Advocacy on public policy issues such as copyright is a common concern of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL). Duane Webster has been instrumental in facilitating a collaborative approach to such advocacy. Part of this involves concerted efforts to ensure that fair use (United States of America) and fair dealing (Canada) are not narrowed in a digital era. In Canada, a focus on the common good bolsters this work. Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada ( Théberge 2002 and CCH 2004) have laid the groundwork for the progressive exercise and exploration of fair dealing rights in Canada.