BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Canadian Association of Research Libraries - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Canadian Association of Research Libraries X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Canadian Association of Research Libraries REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Toronto BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251215T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251216T235959 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251125T191944Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T201602Z UID:39038-1765756800-1765929599@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop DESCRIPTION:« All Events\n \n\n Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop\n\n December 15\, 2025\n –\n December 16\, 2025\n \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL)\, together with University of Ottawa\, Library and Archives Canada\, and Carleton University\, are pleased to offer ARL/CNI’s Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop. This is the first Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop to take place in Canada\, and the last of these workshops offered by ARL in 2025. The workshop is designed for senior library leaders and those leading strategic development in AI.  \n\n Library and Archives Canada\n\n395 Wellington Street\n \n Ottawa\,\n Ontario\n K1A 0J1\n Canada\n\n\n + Google Map \n\n \n (613) 996-5115 \n \n\n View Venue Website \n\n\n \n About the Workshop & Toolkit\n \n \n Registration\n \n \n Accommodation\n \n \n Program Schedule\n \nAbout the Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop\nThis workshop introduces participants to a toolkit featuring practical reusable activities and templates research libraries can use to plan for consequences\, challenges\, and opportunities vis-à-vis AI futures. Participants will learn tips and techniques for bringing AI future-planning back home to their own organizations for iterative reuse. They will collaborate and gain experience for using the toolkit to create actionable\, cross-cutting\, and scenario-specific plans\, projects\, and activities at their research libraries. \nThe ARL/CNI Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit is designed for leaders of research libraries who want to integrate the ARL/CNI AI Scenarios into ongoing planning activities—such as annual operating plans\, strategic reviews\, or cross-institutional conversations. \nOrganized into five flexible modules\, the toolkit offers structured activities to help leadership teams\, staff\, and occasionally external stakeholders: \n\nExplore future possibilities\nTest current strategies\nIdentify opportunities and vulnerabilities\nBuild readiness for long-term change\n\nThe toolkit was developed to explore scenario-specific strategies and activities that libraries can undertake to prepare for various AI-influenced futures. \nRegistration\nThe workshop is designed for senior library leaders and those leading strategic development in AI. Spaces are limited to a maximum of one or two attendees per institution. To confirm your place\, please complete the registration form below and submit the CAD $150 commitment fee using the PayPal payment link provided. \n \n  \n \n Register for the Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop\n \nAccommodation\nHilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown361 Queen St\, Ottawa\, ON K1R 0C7Tel: (613) 234-6363 \nA block of rooms has been reserved for December 15-16\, 2025 at Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown\, at a cost of $229 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until November 20th\, 2025 or until the group block is sold-out\, whichever comes first. We suggest that you reserve as soon as possible to ensure that you can get a room. \n \n \n Booking Link\n \nProgram Schedule\nMonday\, December 15: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.Tuesday\, December 16: 9:00 a.m. – 01:00 p.m. \n \n Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop Program Schedule (PDF)\n \n\nEdit\n\n\nStart Time\nTopic\nModule\n\n\n\n\nDay One – Monday\, December 15\, 2025\n\n\n8:30am\nBreakfast and Registration\n\n\n\n9:00am\nIntroductions\n\n\n\n\nScenario Planning and the ARL/CNI scenarios\n\n\n\n\nThinking about the Future\n1\n\n\n10:00am\nDrivers and Signals\n2.1\n\n\n10:30am\nEnvironmental scanning\n2.2\n\n\n11:00am\nThree questions\n2.3\n\n\n11:30am\nSynthesis\n2.4\n\n\n12:00pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n12:30pm\nScenario Immersion\n3.1\n\n\n1:30pm\nTesting Strategic Readiness\n3.3\n\n\n2:30pm\nScenario Action Planning Part 1\n3.4\n\n\n3:15pm\nSynthesis before Action\n3.6\n\n\n3:30pm\nScenario Action Planning Part 2\n3.4\n\n\nDay Two – Tuesday\, December 16\n\n\n8:30am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00am\nAI Opportunity Mapping\n4.2\n\n\n9:45am\nImpact vs Difficulty\n4.3\n\n\n10:30am\nPrioritizing Action\n4.4\n\n\n11:15am\nWild Cards\n4.5\n\n\n11:45am\nExtending Foresight\n5\n\n\n\nAbout the Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop\nThis workshop introduces participants to a toolkit featuring practical reusable activities and templates research libraries can use to plan for consequences\, challenges\, and opportunities vis-à-vis AI futures. Participants will learn tips and techniques for bringing AI future-planning back home to their own organizations for iterative reuse. They will collaborate and gain experience for using the toolkit to create actionable\, cross-cutting\, and scenario-specific plans\, projects\, and activities at their research libraries. \nThe ARL/CNI Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit is designed for leaders of research libraries who want to integrate the ARL/CNI AI Scenarios into ongoing planning activities—such as annual operating plans\, strategic reviews\, or cross-institutional conversations. \nOrganized into five flexible modules\, the toolkit offers structured activities to help leadership teams\, staff\, and occasionally external stakeholders: \n\nExplore future possibilities\nTest current strategies\nIdentify opportunities and vulnerabilities\nBuild readiness for long-term change\n\nThe toolkit was developed to explore scenario-specific strategies and activities that libraries can undertake to prepare for various AI-influenced futures. \nRegistration\nThe workshop is designed for senior library leaders and those leading strategic development in AI. Spaces are limited to a maximum of one or two attendees per institution. To confirm your place\, please complete the registration form below and submit the CAD $150 commitment fee using the PayPal payment link provided. \n \n  \n \n Register for the Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop\n \nAccommodation\nHilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown361 Queen St\, Ottawa\, ON K1R 0C7Tel: (613) 234-6363 \nA block of rooms has been reserved for December 15-16\, 2025 at Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown\, at a cost of $229 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until November 20th\, 2025 or until the group block is sold-out\, whichever comes first. We suggest that you reserve as soon as possible to ensure that you can get a room. \n \n \n Booking Link\n \nProgram Schedule\nMonday\, December 15: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.Tuesday\, December 16: 9:00 a.m. – 01:00 p.m. \n \n Futurescape Libraries AI Toolkit Workshop Program Schedule (PDF)\n \n\nEdit\n\n\nStart Time\nTopic\nModule\n\n\n\n\nDay One – Monday\, December 15\, 2025\n\n\n8:30am\nBreakfast and Registration\n\n\n\n9:00am\nIntroductions\n\n\n\n\nScenario Planning and the ARL/CNI scenarios\n\n\n\n\nThinking about the Future\n1\n\n\n10:00am\nDrivers and Signals\n2.1\n\n\n10:30am\nEnvironmental scanning\n2.2\n\n\n11:00am\nThree questions\n2.3\n\n\n11:30am\nSynthesis\n2.4\n\n\n12:00pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n12:30pm\nScenario Immersion\n3.1\n\n\n1:30pm\nTesting Strategic Readiness\n3.3\n\n\n2:30pm\nScenario Action Planning Part 1\n3.4\n\n\n3:15pm\nSynthesis before Action\n3.6\n\n\n3:30pm\nScenario Action Planning Part 2\n3.4\n\n\nDay Two – Tuesday\, December 16\n\n\n8:30am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00am\nAI Opportunity Mapping\n4.2\n\n\n9:45am\nImpact vs Difficulty\n4.3\n\n\n10:30am\nPrioritizing Action\n4.4\n\n\n11:15am\nWild Cards\n4.5\n\n\n11:45am\nExtending Foresight\n5 URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/futurescape-libraries-ai-toolkit-workshop/ LOCATION:Library and Archives Canada\, 395 Wellington Street\, Ottawa\, Ontario\, K1A 0J1\, Canada CATEGORIES:Artificial Intelligence,Workshops & Institutes ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/uRegina_proof-image-09-352-010.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251211T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251211T130000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251119T170203Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251209T143134Z UID:38951-1765454400-1765458000@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Canadian Repositories Community of Practice December Call: Current Challenges and Future Directions for Institutional Repositories: Snapshots from the Literature DESCRIPTION:Date: December 11\, 2025\nTime: 12:00pm-1:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThis session is part of the Article Release Party! series\, hosted by the Canadian Repositories Community of Practice. To get the most out of the discussion\, attendees are encouraged to read Current challenges and future directions for institutional repositories: A systematic literature review ahead of time. To suggest a future article\, contact Steering Committee Chair Priscilla Carmini at pcarmini@uwaterloo.ca. \nInstitutional repositories (IRs) are essential in advancing Open Access and facilitating the dissemination of scholarly work. Unfortunately\, numerous challenges are faced by IRs in areas such as strategic alignment\, content acquisition\, funding\, staffing\, quality assurance\, and technology. \nDuring this session\, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the current challenges facing institutional repositories worldwide. The discussion will encompass areas such as strategic planning\, staffing\, governance\, funding\, technology\, user engagement\, and additional relevant topics. The findings in this work underscore the importance of strategic integration with institutional goals and funders’ policies\, professionalization and technological readiness\, securing consistent funding\, and addressing challenges in content acquisition\, rights management\, and researcher participation. This study contributes to the broader discourse on strengthening IRs as critical components of scholarly communication within the Open Science ecosystem. \nLaura Rothfritz is a research associate and PhD candidate at the Berlin School of Library and Information Science’s department of Information Management. She studied at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and completed her MA in Information Sciences in 2019. Her doctoral research started in 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. Since 2023\, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF). Her main research interests are in the area of research data management\, infrastructure studies and open science with a special focus on socio-technological perspectives on the relationship between data infrastructures and societies\, and a strong relation to STS (Science and Technology Studies). The topic of her dissertation is trust and distrust in public data infrastructures with a focus on Data Rescue activities in the US. \nLisa Matthias is a research associate in the project “Professionalisierung der Open-Access Repositorien-Infrastruktur in Deutschland (Pro-OAR-DE).” Previously\, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki\, Finland. With a PhD in Political Science from Free University Berlin\, she brings extensive experience in mixed-methods research\, data analysis\, and project management. Her research on the topic of Open Access has been widely received and has garnered significant media attention in publications such as Nature News. Lisa has contributed to multiple international research projects\, including as a visiting scholar at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver\, Canada. Her research interests include open access (specifically the sustainability and costs of different access models)\, research evaluation\, and research policy. She is a member of the ScholCommLab. \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/canadian-repositories-community-of-practice-december-call-current-challenges-and-future-directions-for-institutional-repositories-snapshots-from-the-literature/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Repositories ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251210T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251210T130000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251125T165014Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251125T165014Z UID:39033-1765368000-1765371600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Open Education Community of Practice December Community Call - Keeping Accessibility in Mind: H5P and Other OER Creation Practices DESCRIPTION:Date: December 10\, 2025\nTime: 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to invite you to the December meeting of the Open Education Community of Practice. \nThis month\, we’re bringing the community together to explore practices for improving accessibility when creating H5P interactive content and in OER creation more generally. Our guest speakers are Shauna Roch and Jason Benoit from Fanshawe College’s OER Design Studio who will share their H5P Description Generator including the tool’s purpose\, design and how it supports accessibility. The H5P Generator is a part of a suite of apps developed to support the OER Design Studio. \nShauna Roch\, Project Lead\, OER Design Studio\, Fanshawe College\nJason Benoit\, Developer\, OER Design Studio\, Fanshawe College \nA discussion period will follow the presentation to share and learn from each other about practices around developing H5P with accessibility in mind\, along with other ways you bring accessibility into your work in Open Education. \nAll CARL members and non-members working in or interested in open education are welcome to join. \nIf you would like to be part of the Open Education Community of Practice and stay informed about upcoming events and activities\, subscribe to OE-COP-CARL-L\, the Open Education CoP discussion list. For more information\, visit the OE CoP webpage. \nThe session will not be recorded. It will be presented in English\, but we welcome questions and discussion in English or French. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/open-education-community-of-practice-december-community-call-keeping-accessibility-in-mind-h5p-and-other-oer-creation-practices/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Open Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251204T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251204T130000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251111T205553Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T142621Z UID:38653-1764849600-1764853200@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:[CANCELLED] National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project: Office Hours DESCRIPTION:UPDATE: Unfortunately\, this week’s office hours have been cancelled. We hope to reschedule at a later date. \nDate: December 4\, 2025\nTime: 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET \nAre you a CARL member planning to complete the DPC RAM this fall? Join us for group office hours and get started with support from your digital preservation peers! \nThese informal sessions are a friendly space to ask questions\, get some feedback\, or just have dedicated time to work on the assessment. While members of the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) will be present and help facilitate the conversation\, this is envisioned as a community network event where participants can collectively share knowledge and tackle tough questions together. \nNote that the French language office hours will be held on Wednesday\, December 3\, 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET. \nThese events will not be recorded. \nFor more information\, visit the project web page. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/national-dpc-ram-benchmarking-project-office-hours-december/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Digital Preservation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/concordia-1-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251203T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251203T150000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251112T141206Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T142627Z UID:38673-1764770400-1764774000@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:[CANCELLED] National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project: Office Hours [in French] DESCRIPTION:UPDATE: Unfortunately\, this week’s office hours have been cancelled. We hope to reschedule at a later date. \nDate: December 3\, 2025\nTime: 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET \nAre you a CARL member planning to complete the DPC RAM this fall? Join us for group office hours and get started with support from your digital preservation peers! \nThese informal sessions are a friendly space to ask questions\, get some feedback\, or just have dedicated time to work on the assessment. While members of the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) will be present and help facilitate the conversation\, this is envisioned as a community network event where participants can collectively share knowledge and tackle tough questions together. \nNote that the English language office hours will be held on Thursday\, December 4\, 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET. \nThese events will not be recorded. \nFor more information\, visit the project web page. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/national-dpc-ram-benchmarking-project-office-hours-in-french/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Digital Preservation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/20230920_SeancePhotoSBA_KC_3962_crop.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251202T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251202T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251105T173654Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251105T173654Z UID:38353-1764680400-1764684000@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice December Call: ORCID Adoption and Integration Panel: Maximizing Research Impact DESCRIPTION:Date: December 2\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm-2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThe Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice (BRI CoP) invites you to join a panel discussion on ORCID adoption and integration across Canadian research institutions. This session will explore strategies\, tools\, and challenges for maximizing ORCID’s potential to improve researcher visibility and data interoperability. \nToby Malone\, Research Impact Librarian\, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)\nWhile generally acknowledged as a vital academic tool across its campus\, an environmental scan of ORCID uptake at Toronto Metropolitan University showed only a fraction of all faculty were using the tool at all\, let alone maximizing its potential. Since the January 2025 adoption of the ORCID Affiliation Manager\, ORCID integration has grown exponentially at TMU\, led by Research Impact Librarian Toby Malone. In his short talk\, Toby Malone will introduce the adoption process of ORCID Affiliation Manager across a medium-sized faculty body\, along with the challenges and opportunities he discovered along the way. \nNikolas Lamarre\, Canadian Persistent Identifier Community Officer\, Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN)\nResearch outputs are often scattered across systems\, making it difficult to see the full picture of scholarly activity. Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) bridge these gaps\, linking data to make research information more interoperable\, discoverable and FAIR. Nikolas will highlight the ORCID Data Visualization Tool\, adapted by CRKN\, which integrates data from ORCID\, ROR\, Crossref\, and DataCite to visualize institutional collaboration networks. In alignment with Canada’s National PID Strategy\, upcoming enhancements aim to further deepen insights into researcher activity across the country. \nPierre Lasou\, Scholarly Communications Librarian\, Université Laval\nLaval went live with the DSpace ORCID module in September 2025. Pierre’s talk will focus on the reasons that made them use this advanced module in DSpace (as it requires the use of the entity model) and the challenges they encountered so far while configuring it\, using it and promoting it to their faculty. \nJack Young\, Research Impact & Bibliometrics Librarian\, McMaster University\nJack will explore ORCID integration within McMaster University’s research information management system (Symplectic Elements). He will explain how researchers can link and sync their ORCID with their McMaster-branded researcher profile to ensure accurate publication data and seamless updating. He will also describe how access to enhanced research impact services has been used as an incentive for faculty to keep ORCID up to date. \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/bibliometrics-and-research-impact-community-of-practice-december-call-orcid-adoption-and-integration-panel-maximizing-research-impact/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Bibliometrics & Research Impact ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251127T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251127T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251103T234105Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251103T234105Z UID:38329-1764248400-1764252000@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Communications Community of Practice November Call: Continuing the Conversation on Academic Libraries Website Design & Development DESCRIPTION:Date: November 27\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm-2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nFollowing the lively discussion sparked by the October CoP call\, There’s a Method to this Madness: Evidence-Based Website Redesign at UVic Libraries\, the conversation continues! \nJoin our November communi-tea event for an open exchange on all things web—beyond redesigns. Participants will share best practices\, lessons learned\, and creative approaches to making library websites more research-focused\, accessible\, and community-driven. \nWhether you are planning a revamp\, refining user experience\, or simply curious about how other libraries are evolving their digital spaces\, this session offers a supportive environment to learn\, share\, and connect with colleagues across the community. \nThis session will not be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/communications-community-of-practice-november-call-continuing-the-conversation-on-academic-libraries-website-design-development/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Communications ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251124T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251127T235959 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251021T143446Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251029T171712Z UID:38206-1763942400-1764287999@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Evidence Synthesis Institute 2025 (In French) DESCRIPTION:The 2025 edition of Evidence Synthesis Institute Canada is brought to you through a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Université Laval Library. The Institute will take place via videoconference from November 24 to 27\, 2025\, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. This will be the first time the institute is presented in French. \nESI Canada is based on the original Evidence Synthesis Institute (which is a US Institute of Museum and Library Services-supported program geared towards providing training on evidence synthesis). The Institute is aimed at library staff primarily supporting evidence syntheses in topics outside of the health sciences and will cover: \n\noverview of systematic reviews and similar methodologies\,\nguidelines and standards\,\nsearch strategy development\,\nsoftware/tools\,\nscreening\, and systematic review services\n\nWe can accept 50 participants. There will be no fee for accepted applicants. \nApplications will be screened and prioritized based on current employment in a library/research setting\, urgency of need\, existing knowledge gap\, disciplines supported by applicant\, potential impact of training\, and demographic diversity. Applicants primarily supporting non-health sciences disciplines will be prioritized but we will accept health sciences applicants if there are spots available. \nApplicants should anticipate addressing the following questions in their application (note that we rely solely on your responses to screen and prioritize applicants so please ensure that your responses are complete and sufficiently detailed to fully address all of the questions): \n\nWhy is this training relevant to your current work or career development?\nHow will you use specialized evidence synthesis skills in your job?\nHow will you share what you learn at this workshop to build capacity within your communities (institutional\, professional\, etc.)?\n\nTo submit an application to participate in the institute\, please complete this form. Deadline extended to September 25\, 2025. \nAny questions about the institute can be directed towards Julie Morin (julie.morin@carl-abrc.ca). URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/evidence-synthesis-institute-2025-in-french/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:ESI,Workshops & Institutes ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/uLaval_Photo_bul_Pub_57414.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251117T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251120T235959 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250829T213116Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251117T175750Z UID:37527-1763337600-1763683199@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:2025 Fall Member Meeting DESCRIPTION:« All Events\n \n\n 2025 Fall Member Meeting\n\n November 17\, 2025\n –\n November 20\, 2025\n \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries is pleased to invite member directors to the 2025 Fall Member Meeting. This annual gathering serves as a vital platform for the exchange of ideas\, strategic planning\, and collaborative discussions that shape the future of research libraries across Canada. \n \n \n 2025 Fall Member Meeting Program (PDF)\n \n\n Fairmont Le Château Montebello\n\n392 Notre-Dame\n \n Montebello\,\n Québec\n J0V 1L0\n Canada\n\n\n + Google Map \n\n \n (819) 423-6341 \n \n\n\n\n \n Accommodation\n \n \n Program Schedule\n \n \n Session Descriptions\n \n \n Guest Speakers\n \n \n Transportation\n \n \n Previous Meetings\n \nHotel Details\nFairmont Le Château Montebello392 Notre-Dame\, Montebello\, QC J0V 1L0Tel: (819) 423-6341 // Fax: (819) 423-5106Hotel Website \nA block of rooms has been reserved for November 17-20\, 2025 at a cost of $239 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until Wednesday\, October 16\, 2025 or until the group block is sold-out\, whichever comes first. We suggest that you reserve as soon as possible to ensure that you can get a room. \nSeveral restaurant options are also available around the hotel. \n \n \n Booking Link\n \n \n Monday November 17\n \n \n Tuesday November 18\n \n \n Wednesday November 19\n \n \n Thursday November 20\n \n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n8:30-9:00\nBoard Breakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n9:00-16:30\nBoard Meeting\nPrince Edward Island\n\n\n16:30\nBus Departs to Montebello\n\n\n18:30-20:30\nPresident’s Opening Reception\nCurling house\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n7:45-8:30\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n8:30-9:45\nImpact Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n9:45-10:00\nBreak\nMontebello\n\n\n10:00-11:00\nStrengthening Capacity Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n11:00-11:15\nBreak\nMontebello\n\n\n11:15-12:15\nAdvancing Teaching and Learning Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n12:15-13:45\nLunch\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n13:45-15:00\nAdvancing Research Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n15:00-15:15\nBreak\nGatineau\n\n\n15:15-16:30\nPolicy and Advocacy Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n18:00\nDine around with colleagues\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeakers\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n7:45-8:45\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n8:45-9:00\nOpening Remarks\nMary-Jo Romaniuk\nCanada\n\n\n9:00-9:30\nStudy Tour Report\nVivian Lewis\nStéphanie Gagnon\nCanada\n\n\n9:30-11:00\nPanel: Open Science in Canada: Needs and Outlooks\nDr. Vincent Larivière\nKathleen Shearer\nDavid Tweddell\nDr. Stefanie Haustein\nCanada\n\n\n11:00-11:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n11:30-12:30\nPlenary Discussion: Open Science Opportunities for CARL Institutions\nSusan Haigh\nMark Swartz\nCanada\n\n\n12:30-13:30\nLunch\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n13:00-14:30\nIntellectual Freedom Needs Civil Discourse Needs Intellectual Freedom: Making the Case for a Virtuous Cycle\nRandy Boyagoda\nCanada\n\n\n14:30-15:00\nIntellectual Freedom Plenary Discussion\nChair: Joseph Hafner\nCanada\n\n\n15:00-15:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n15:30-17:00\nExploring Three GenAI Questions\nSu Cleyle\nJanice Kung\nCanada\n\n\n18:30-21:00\nCARL Dinner and Awards Ceremony\nThe Nymark Restaurant (in Chateau Montebello)\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n8:00-9:00\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n9:00-10:15\nNavigating Uncertainty: The View from Harvard\nMartha Whitehead\nCanada\n\n\n10:15-10:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n10:30-12:00\nDirector’s Workshop – Adapting Organizational Structures to Changing Landscapes\nSu Cleyle\nCanada\n\n\n12:00-13:15\nLunch / Board Working Lunch\nAux Chantignoles / Prince Edward Island\n\n\n13:15-14:30\nBusiness Meeting\nMary-Jo Romaniuk\nCanada\n\n\n15:00\nBus Departs to Ottawa\n\n\n\n \n \n 2025 Fall Member Meeting Program (PDF)\n \n\n\n CARL Delegation to Europe 2025\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  9h00 ET – 9h30 ET \nChair:  Mary-Jo RomaniukSpeakers: Stéphanie Gagnon\, Université de Montréal and Vivian Lewis\, McMaster University  \nCARL organized a study tour of selected libraries\, archives and research centres in Belgium\, France\, and Switzerland between June 22 and July 2\, 2026.  The delegation included member directors (Deans of Libraries / University Librarians) from seventeen research libraries across Canada\, plus two members of the CARL staff.  12 members of the delegation continued on to Lausanne\, Switzerland to attend LIBER\, the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche’s conference.   \nThe overall objective of the tour was to create dialogue\, information exchange and potential partnerships between research libraries in Canada and Europe. \nPresenters will share with CARL members key takeaways from those meetings in the areas of open science\, the impacts of and responses to changing political and funding environments\, the work of European and national academic and research library associations\, research assessment reform\, and research libraries’ documentary heritage collections\, facilities\, and service innovations. \n\n\n\n Panel: Open Science in Canada: Needs and Outlooks\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\, 9:30 am ET – 11:00 pm ET \nChair: Mary Jo Romaniuk \nSpeakers: Dr. Vincent Larivière\, Professor\, Faculty of Library and Information Sciences (EBSI)\, Université de MontréalKathleen Shearer\, Executive Director\, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)David Tweddell\, Interim Vice President\, Strategy and Planning\, Digital Research Alliance of CanadaDr. Stefanie Haustein\, Associate Professor\, School of Information Studies\, University of Ottawa \nDescription:First\, each presenter will make short (5-7 minutes) opening remarks\, speaking to the area of open science that aligns with their work and expertise (diamond publishing\, repositories\, RDM & software\, and research assessment\, respectively)\, offering insights regarding to where we are currently\, what has been most instrumental driving progress\, and what is needed now for Canada to move forward. This will be followed by a guided discussion on common themes such as policy\, collaboration and common services\, open infrastructure\, and the role of AI. There will be time for questions from the floor. \n\n\n\n Plenary Discussion: Open Science Opportunities for CARL Institutions\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  11h30 ET – 12h30 ET \nPresenters: Susan Haigh and Mark Swartz\, VPO Open Science  \nFollowing the morning’s panel on Open Science\, CARL directors and guests will reconvene for a status report from CARL to outline\, amid current activity in this domain\, where the organization sits in relation to progress towards open science. How ready are CARL libraries for the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy? Where are we at when it comes to research data and the impending implementation of the data deposit pillar of the Tri-Agency Research Data Management policy? What progress has been made in terms of PIDs? The presentation will be followed by open discussion. \n\n\n\n Intellectual Freedom Needs Civil Discourse Needs Intellectual Freedom: Making the Case for a Virtuous Cycle\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  13h 30 – 14h 30 \nChair: Mary Jo RomaniukSpeaker: Randy Boyagoda\, Provostial Advisor on Civil Discourse\, University of Toronto \nIn this talk\, writer and professor Randy Boyagoda\, the University of Toronto’s Advisor on Civil Discourse\, reflects on the state and stakes of civil discourse these days\, on and off campus\, and across personal\, professional\, and public settings. In particular\, he will explore the importance of intellectual freedom in higher education to civil discourse\, and likewise the irreducible mission and work of research libraries as both convening spaces and distinct sources for models and resources that ensure robust and vibrant cultures of productive disagreement. These efforts\, which we might collectively describe as a commitment to thinking out loud together\, support of advancing knowledge\, serving the common good and the pursuit of truth. \n\n\n\n Intellectual Freedom Plenary and Table Discussions\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  14h30 ET – 15h00 ET \nChair: Mary-Jo Romaniuk \nCARL had a publically-available\, collections-focused Freedom of Expression statement for many years. While the statement was modernized in 2022\, recent campus conflicts through which the library must navigate\, as well as growing attention being paid to how the library navigates freedom of speech and assembly in light of hate speech and unpopular views\, occasioned a small working group of CARL members to re-examine our collective position.  \nA revised Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Inclusive Libraries with a slightly extended series of commitments is proposed. In this session\, members and guests will have the opportunity to review and openly discuss these commitments and the context in which their libraries operate.  \nThe intention is then to bring a final version of the document to the business meeting for adoption by the membership. \n\n\n\n Exploring Three GenAI Questions\n \nWednesday\, November 19\,  2025\, 15:00 pm – 16:30 pm ET \nFacilitators: \n\nSu Cleyle\, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives\nJanice Kung\, CARL VPO – AI and Library Services \n\nThe influence of generative AI is rapidly reshaping higher education and impacting academic libraries. From collections to policy\, library administrators are navigating uncharted territory\, seizing new opportunities and exerting influence.  \nThis workshop offers academic library leaders dedicated space and time to reflect\, share\, and strategize together three key topics: descriptive practices\,  institutional policy\, and team engagement. In facilitated small group discussions\, participants will explore these guiding questions: \n\n\nHow can directors participate and position libraries in the development of institutional policies on generative AI? Do our librarians support the institutional direction as much as we would like?  \n\n\nCan AI transform descriptive practices for unique collections? \n\n\nHow can library directors actively engage staff in open conversations about their fears of AI\, while encouraging meaningful exploration of the technology despite ongoing reluctance? \n\n\nThrough these conversations and a plenary debrief\, participants will identify pain points\, uncover gaps in current approaches\, and consider actionable next steps. The session emphasizes peer-to-peer dialogue\, enabling directors to learn from one another’s perspectives and experiences\, and to discover areas where collective attention and leadership are most needed. \n\n\n\n Navigating Uncertainty: The View from Harvard\n \nThursday\, November 20\, 2025\,  9h00 ET – 10h15 ET \nChair:  Mary-Jo Romaniuk \nSpeaker: Martha Whitehead\, Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian and Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences \nResearch libraries have navigated uncertainties for centuries\, guided by enduring values and a mission to advance and preserve knowledge. What can we learn from the pressures of the present moment as we chart our paths forward? Drawing on recent experiences at Harvard and decades in Canada\, Martha will reflect on several key themes – upholding free expression\, mutual respect\, and diversity\, equity\, and inclusion; opportunities and threats for cultures of collaboration; and what is a library? She’ll then ask us to consider some of the priorities these themes suggest and our own approaches to navigating uncertainty. \n\n\n\n Director’s Workshop – Adapting Organizational Structures to Changing Landscapes\n \nThursday\, November 20\, 2025\,  10h30 ET – 12h00 ET \nFacilitator: Susan Cleyle\, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives \nThe second in a two-part series on adapting organizational structures to changing landscapes. \nKeeping in mind the forces reshaping universities and libraries\, this session will provide an opportunity to reflect on legacy and emerging roles\, to hear how some colleagues have chosen to respond\, and to collaboratively identify critical approaches to successfully adjust organizational structures.  \nBuilding on the discussion at the Directors +1 session held on October 3rd\, this directors-only session will focus on how directors can rethink their individual organizational structures within union and budget constraints\, explore long-term strategies for structural change\, and consider if/how CARL can support and accelerate these transformations. Leave with a clearer understanding of the shifts underway and a list of emergent key areas requiring organizational shifting.  \n\n\n\n Randy Boyagoda\n \nRandy Boyagoda is a novelist and Professor of English at the University of Toronto\, where he also serves as the university’s advisor on civil discourse\, the first such position in Canada. He was named one of Toronto’s fifty most influential people by Toronto Life magazine because of his work in civil discourse. He is the author of seven books\, including four novels that have been nominated for the Giller Prize\, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize\, and named New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections and Globe and Mail Best Books of the year. A frequent contributor to CBC Radio\, including as a national columnist on civil discourse\, and former President of PEN Canada\, he writes opinions\, essays and reviews for publications including the Atlantic\, the New York Times\, the Financial Times of London\, the Globe and Mail\, and The Walrus. He also podcasts for the Toronto Public Library and lives in the east end of Toronto with his wife and their four daughters. \n\n\n\n Dr. Stefanie Haustein\n \nStefanie Haustein is an associate professor at the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa and co-director of the ScholCommLab. She is also an affiliated researcher with several interdisciplinary research centers\, including the Institute for Science\, Society and Policy (ISSP)\, the Centre for Journalology and the LIFE Research Institute at the University of Ottawa\, as well as the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie at Université du Québec à Montréal. Her research focuses on scholarly communication\, research evaluation\, and open science\, with an emphasis on open access and research data sharing and reuse. Using bibliometric and mixed methods—including large-scale surveys and interviews—her work critically examines academic publishing\, metrics\, and responsible research assessment practices. \n\n\n\n Dr. Vincent Larivière\n \nVincent Larivière is a professor of information science at the University of Montreal\, where he also holds the UNESCO Chair in Open Science and is associate vice-president (senior vice-rector) and co-holder of the Quebec Research Chair in the Discoverability of Scientific Content in French. He also serves as scientific director of the Érudit scholarly journal dissemination platform and is a regular member of the Interuniversity Research Center on Science and Technology (CIRST). \n\n\n\n Kathleen Shearer\n \nKathleen Shearer has been a prominent figure in open access\, open science\, scholarly communications\, and research data management for close to 20 years. Over the past 15 years\, she has worked through COAR to build a truly global coalition of repositories and repository networks\, ensuring that repositories are recognized as critical infrastructure for open science in national and continental policies; and that repositories innovate and adopt good practices. Based in Montreal\, Canada\, she actively contributes to numerous organizations working to advance open science at a global scale including the Research Data Alliance\, UNESCO Open Science Working Groups as well as numerous regional organizations such as the LIBSENSE Africa and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. \n\n\n\n David Tweddell\n \nDavid Tweddell is Interim Vice President\, Strategy and Planning at the Alliance. Previously\,  he was Executive Director\, Research Strategic Initiatives in the office of the Vice-President\, Research and International at the University of Waterloo. Prior to working at Waterloo\, he served in progressively senior roles in Western University’s Research Office\, ultimately as Western’s Director of Research Development. While at Western\, he was accountable for administering the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Scientific Initiative funding awarded for the operation of the Compute Canada Federation. \n\n\n\n Martha Whitehead\n \nMartha Whitehead is Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian and Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In this role\, Martha leads a library network of more than 25 libraries with more than 800 staff. Before joining Harvard in 2019\, Martha was Vice-Provost (Digital Planning) and University Librarian at Queen’s University and earlier had served there as Associate University Librarian. Martha’s career began at the University of British Columbia Library where she held roles in public services and systems and as Head of Information Services. Martha is currently a member of the CRL board\, the ARL Diversity\, Equity and Inclusion Committee\, and the advisory board of the Authors Alliance Public Interest Corpus project. She has recently served as chair of the boards of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada\, the Confederation of Open Access Repositories\, and the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation. While in Canada\, Martha served in various roles with CARL\, including President from 2015 to 2017\, Canada’s National Heritage Digitization Strategy Steering Committee\, the Ontario Council of University Libraries\, and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network. In 2019\, Martha was awarded the CARL Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship Award. \n\nTransportation\nA complimentary bus will be available to transport attendees between Ottawa and Montebello. \nOn Monday\, November 17\, the bus is scheduled to depart Ottawa Airport at 4:30 PM and will proceed directly to the Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown (361 Queen St\, Ottawa\, ON K1R 0C7)\, arriving at approximately 5:00 PM to pick up the remaining guests. From there\, the bus will continue directly to Fairmont Le Château Montebello (392 Rue Notre Dame\, Montebello\, QC J0V 1L0). \nGuests may board the bus at either the Ottawa Airport at 4:30 PM (main level outside arrivals\, pillars 15-16; convene inside near the baggage carousels) or the Hilton Garden Inn (convene in hotel lobby) at 5:00 PM. \nOn November 20th\, the bus will depart Fairmont Le Château Montebello at 3:00 PM\, after the conclusion of the meeting\, and will proceed directly to the Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown (361 Queen St\, Ottawa\, ON K1R 0C7).  \n\n\n2025 Spring Member Meeting\nMay 26 @ 09:00 – May 29 @ 16:00 EDT at Inn at the Forks\, Winnipeg\, Manitoba\n\n2024 Fall Member Meeting\nNovember 18\, 2024 – November 20\, 2024 at Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre\n\n2024 Spring Member Meeting\nApril 22\, 2024 – April 25\, 2024 at Montreal\, Quebec\n\n2023 Fall Member Meeting\nNovember 27\, 2023 – November 30\, 2023 at Fairmont Le Château Montebello\n\n2023 Spring Member Meeting\nMay 29\, 2023 – June 1\, 2023 at Calgary Marriott Downown Hotel\n\n\n \n See All Member Meetings\n \nHotel Details\nFairmont Le Château Montebello392 Notre-Dame\, Montebello\, QC J0V 1L0Tel: (819) 423-6341 // Fax: (819) 423-5106Hotel Website \nA block of rooms has been reserved for November 17-20\, 2025 at a cost of $239 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until Wednesday\, October 16\, 2025 or until the group block is sold-out\, whichever comes first. We suggest that you reserve as soon as possible to ensure that you can get a room. \nSeveral restaurant options are also available around the hotel. \n \n \n Booking Link\n \n \n Monday November 17\n \n \n Tuesday November 18\n \n \n Wednesday November 19\n \n \n Thursday November 20\n \n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n8:30-9:00\nBoard Breakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n9:00-16:30\nBoard Meeting\nPrince Edward Island\n\n\n16:30\nBus Departs to Montebello\n\n\n18:30-20:30\nPresident’s Opening Reception\nCurling house\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n7:45-8:30\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n8:30-9:45\nImpact Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n9:45-10:00\nBreak\nMontebello\n\n\n10:00-11:00\nStrengthening Capacity Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n11:00-11:15\nBreak\nMontebello\n\n\n11:15-12:15\nAdvancing Teaching and Learning Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n12:15-13:45\nLunch\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n13:45-15:00\nAdvancing Research Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n15:00-15:15\nBreak\nGatineau\n\n\n15:15-16:30\nPolicy and Advocacy Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n18:00\nDine around with colleagues\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeakers\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n7:45-8:45\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n8:45-9:00\nOpening Remarks\nMary-Jo Romaniuk\nCanada\n\n\n9:00-9:30\nStudy Tour Report\nVivian Lewis\nStéphanie Gagnon\nCanada\n\n\n9:30-11:00\nPanel: Open Science in Canada: Needs and Outlooks\nDr. Vincent Larivière\nKathleen Shearer\nDavid Tweddell\nDr. Stefanie Haustein\nCanada\n\n\n11:00-11:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n11:30-12:30\nPlenary Discussion: Open Science Opportunities for CARL Institutions\nSusan Haigh\nMark Swartz\nCanada\n\n\n12:30-13:30\nLunch\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n13:00-14:30\nIntellectual Freedom Needs Civil Discourse Needs Intellectual Freedom: Making the Case for a Virtuous Cycle\nRandy Boyagoda\nCanada\n\n\n14:30-15:00\nIntellectual Freedom Plenary Discussion\nChair: Joseph Hafner\nCanada\n\n\n15:00-15:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n15:30-17:00\nExploring Three GenAI Questions\nSu Cleyle\nJanice Kung\nCanada\n\n\n18:30-21:00\nCARL Dinner and Awards Ceremony\nThe Nymark Restaurant (in Chateau Montebello)\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n8:00-9:00\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n9:00-10:15\nNavigating Uncertainty: The View from Harvard\nMartha Whitehead\nCanada\n\n\n10:15-10:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n10:30-12:00\nDirector’s Workshop – Adapting Organizational Structures to Changing Landscapes\nSu Cleyle\nCanada\n\n\n12:00-13:15\nLunch / Board Working Lunch\nAux Chantignoles / Prince Edward Island\n\n\n13:15-14:30\nBusiness Meeting\nMary-Jo Romaniuk\nCanada\n\n\n15:00\nBus Departs to Ottawa\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n8:30-9:00\nBoard Breakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n9:00-16:30\nBoard Meeting\nPrince Edward Island\n\n\n16:30\nBus Departs to Montebello\n\n\n18:30-20:30\nPresident’s Opening Reception\nCurling house\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n7:45-8:30\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n8:30-9:45\nImpact Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n9:45-10:00\nBreak\nMontebello\n\n\n10:00-11:00\nStrengthening Capacity Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n11:00-11:15\nBreak\nMontebello\n\n\n11:15-12:15\nAdvancing Teaching and Learning Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n12:15-13:45\nLunch\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n13:45-15:00\nAdvancing Research Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n15:00-15:15\nBreak\nGatineau\n\n\n15:15-16:30\nPolicy and Advocacy Committee\nMontebello\n\n\n18:00\nDine around with colleagues\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeakers\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n7:45-8:45\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n8:45-9:00\nOpening Remarks\nMary-Jo Romaniuk\nCanada\n\n\n9:00-9:30\nStudy Tour Report\nVivian Lewis\nStéphanie Gagnon\nCanada\n\n\n9:30-11:00\nPanel: Open Science in Canada: Needs and Outlooks\nDr. Vincent Larivière\nKathleen Shearer\nDavid Tweddell\nDr. Stefanie Haustein\nCanada\n\n\n11:00-11:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n11:30-12:30\nPlenary Discussion: Open Science Opportunities for CARL Institutions\nSusan Haigh\nMark Swartz\nCanada\n\n\n12:30-13:30\nLunch\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n13:00-14:30\nIntellectual Freedom Needs Civil Discourse Needs Intellectual Freedom: Making the Case for a Virtuous Cycle\nRandy Boyagoda\nCanada\n\n\n14:30-15:00\nIntellectual Freedom Plenary Discussion\nChair: Joseph Hafner\nCanada\n\n\n15:00-15:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n15:30-17:00\nExploring Three GenAI Questions\nSu Cleyle\nJanice Kung\nCanada\n\n\n18:30-21:00\nCARL Dinner and Awards Ceremony\nThe Nymark Restaurant (in Chateau Montebello)\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker\nRoom\n\n\n\n\n8:00-9:00\nBreakfast\nAux Chantignoles\n\n\n9:00-10:15\nNavigating Uncertainty: The View from Harvard\nMartha Whitehead\nCanada\n\n\n10:15-10:30\nBreak\nMezzanine Canada\n\n\n10:30-12:00\nDirector’s Workshop – Adapting Organizational Structures to Changing Landscapes\nSu Cleyle\nCanada\n\n\n12:00-13:15\nLunch / Board Working Lunch\nAux Chantignoles / Prince Edward Island\n\n\n13:15-14:30\nBusiness Meeting\nMary-Jo Romaniuk\nCanada\n\n\n15:00\nBus Departs to Ottawa\n\n\n\n \n \n 2025 Fall Member Meeting Program (PDF)\n \n\n\n CARL Delegation to Europe 2025\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  9h00 ET – 9h30 ET \nChair:  Mary-Jo RomaniukSpeakers: Stéphanie Gagnon\, Université de Montréal and Vivian Lewis\, McMaster University  \nCARL organized a study tour of selected libraries\, archives and research centres in Belgium\, France\, and Switzerland between June 22 and July 2\, 2026.  The delegation included member directors (Deans of Libraries / University Librarians) from seventeen research libraries across Canada\, plus two members of the CARL staff.  12 members of the delegation continued on to Lausanne\, Switzerland to attend LIBER\, the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche’s conference.   \nThe overall objective of the tour was to create dialogue\, information exchange and potential partnerships between research libraries in Canada and Europe. \nPresenters will share with CARL members key takeaways from those meetings in the areas of open science\, the impacts of and responses to changing political and funding environments\, the work of European and national academic and research library associations\, research assessment reform\, and research libraries’ documentary heritage collections\, facilities\, and service innovations. \n\n\n\n Panel: Open Science in Canada: Needs and Outlooks\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\, 9:30 am ET – 11:00 pm ET \nChair: Mary Jo Romaniuk \nSpeakers: Dr. Vincent Larivière\, Professor\, Faculty of Library and Information Sciences (EBSI)\, Université de MontréalKathleen Shearer\, Executive Director\, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)David Tweddell\, Interim Vice President\, Strategy and Planning\, Digital Research Alliance of CanadaDr. Stefanie Haustein\, Associate Professor\, School of Information Studies\, University of Ottawa \nDescription:First\, each presenter will make short (5-7 minutes) opening remarks\, speaking to the area of open science that aligns with their work and expertise (diamond publishing\, repositories\, RDM & software\, and research assessment\, respectively)\, offering insights regarding to where we are currently\, what has been most instrumental driving progress\, and what is needed now for Canada to move forward. This will be followed by a guided discussion on common themes such as policy\, collaboration and common services\, open infrastructure\, and the role of AI. There will be time for questions from the floor. \n\n\n\n Plenary Discussion: Open Science Opportunities for CARL Institutions\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  11h30 ET – 12h30 ET \nPresenters: Susan Haigh and Mark Swartz\, VPO Open Science  \nFollowing the morning’s panel on Open Science\, CARL directors and guests will reconvene for a status report from CARL to outline\, amid current activity in this domain\, where the organization sits in relation to progress towards open science. How ready are CARL libraries for the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy? Where are we at when it comes to research data and the impending implementation of the data deposit pillar of the Tri-Agency Research Data Management policy? What progress has been made in terms of PIDs? The presentation will be followed by open discussion. \n\n\n\n Intellectual Freedom Needs Civil Discourse Needs Intellectual Freedom: Making the Case for a Virtuous Cycle\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  13h 30 – 14h 30 \nChair: Mary Jo RomaniukSpeaker: Randy Boyagoda\, Provostial Advisor on Civil Discourse\, University of Toronto \nIn this talk\, writer and professor Randy Boyagoda\, the University of Toronto’s Advisor on Civil Discourse\, reflects on the state and stakes of civil discourse these days\, on and off campus\, and across personal\, professional\, and public settings. In particular\, he will explore the importance of intellectual freedom in higher education to civil discourse\, and likewise the irreducible mission and work of research libraries as both convening spaces and distinct sources for models and resources that ensure robust and vibrant cultures of productive disagreement. These efforts\, which we might collectively describe as a commitment to thinking out loud together\, support of advancing knowledge\, serving the common good and the pursuit of truth. \n\n\n\n Intellectual Freedom Plenary and Table Discussions\n \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  14h30 ET – 15h00 ET \nChair: Mary-Jo Romaniuk \nCARL had a publically-available\, collections-focused Freedom of Expression statement for many years. While the statement was modernized in 2022\, recent campus conflicts through which the library must navigate\, as well as growing attention being paid to how the library navigates freedom of speech and assembly in light of hate speech and unpopular views\, occasioned a small working group of CARL members to re-examine our collective position.  \nA revised Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Inclusive Libraries with a slightly extended series of commitments is proposed. In this session\, members and guests will have the opportunity to review and openly discuss these commitments and the context in which their libraries operate.  \nThe intention is then to bring a final version of the document to the business meeting for adoption by the membership. \n\n\n\n Exploring Three GenAI Questions\n \nWednesday\, November 19\,  2025\, 15:00 pm – 16:30 pm ET \nFacilitators: \n\nSu Cleyle\, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives\nJanice Kung\, CARL VPO – AI and Library Services \n\nThe influence of generative AI is rapidly reshaping higher education and impacting academic libraries. From collections to policy\, library administrators are navigating uncharted territory\, seizing new opportunities and exerting influence.  \nThis workshop offers academic library leaders dedicated space and time to reflect\, share\, and strategize together three key topics: descriptive practices\,  institutional policy\, and team engagement. In facilitated small group discussions\, participants will explore these guiding questions: \n\n\nHow can directors participate and position libraries in the development of institutional policies on generative AI? Do our librarians support the institutional direction as much as we would like?  \n\n\nCan AI transform descriptive practices for unique collections? \n\n\nHow can library directors actively engage staff in open conversations about their fears of AI\, while encouraging meaningful exploration of the technology despite ongoing reluctance? \n\n\nThrough these conversations and a plenary debrief\, participants will identify pain points\, uncover gaps in current approaches\, and consider actionable next steps. The session emphasizes peer-to-peer dialogue\, enabling directors to learn from one another’s perspectives and experiences\, and to discover areas where collective attention and leadership are most needed. \n\n\n\n Navigating Uncertainty: The View from Harvard\n \nThursday\, November 20\, 2025\,  9h00 ET – 10h15 ET \nChair:  Mary-Jo Romaniuk \nSpeaker: Martha Whitehead\, Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian and Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences \nResearch libraries have navigated uncertainties for centuries\, guided by enduring values and a mission to advance and preserve knowledge. What can we learn from the pressures of the present moment as we chart our paths forward? Drawing on recent experiences at Harvard and decades in Canada\, Martha will reflect on several key themes – upholding free expression\, mutual respect\, and diversity\, equity\, and inclusion; opportunities and threats for cultures of collaboration; and what is a library? She’ll then ask us to consider some of the priorities these themes suggest and our own approaches to navigating uncertainty. \n\n\n\n Director’s Workshop – Adapting Organizational Structures to Changing Landscapes\n \nThursday\, November 20\, 2025\,  10h30 ET – 12h00 ET \nFacilitator: Susan Cleyle\, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives \nThe second in a two-part series on adapting organizational structures to changing landscapes. \nKeeping in mind the forces reshaping universities and libraries\, this session will provide an opportunity to reflect on legacy and emerging roles\, to hear how some colleagues have chosen to respond\, and to collaboratively identify critical approaches to successfully adjust organizational structures.  \nBuilding on the discussion at the Directors +1 session held on October 3rd\, this directors-only session will focus on how directors can rethink their individual organizational structures within union and budget constraints\, explore long-term strategies for structural change\, and consider if/how CARL can support and accelerate these transformations. Leave with a clearer understanding of the shifts underway and a list of emergent key areas requiring organizational shifting.  \n\nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  9h00 ET – 9h30 ET \nChair:  Mary-Jo RomaniukSpeakers: Stéphanie Gagnon\, Université de Montréal and Vivian Lewis\, McMaster University  \nCARL organized a study tour of selected libraries\, archives and research centres in Belgium\, France\, and Switzerland between June 22 and July 2\, 2026.  The delegation included member directors (Deans of Libraries / University Librarians) from seventeen research libraries across Canada\, plus two members of the CARL staff.  12 members of the delegation continued on to Lausanne\, Switzerland to attend LIBER\, the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche’s conference.   \nThe overall objective of the tour was to create dialogue\, information exchange and potential partnerships between research libraries in Canada and Europe. \nPresenters will share with CARL members key takeaways from those meetings in the areas of open science\, the impacts of and responses to changing political and funding environments\, the work of European and national academic and research library associations\, research assessment reform\, and research libraries’ documentary heritage collections\, facilities\, and service innovations. \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\, 9:30 am ET – 11:00 pm ET \nChair: Mary Jo Romaniuk \nSpeakers: Dr. Vincent Larivière\, Professor\, Faculty of Library and Information Sciences (EBSI)\, Université de MontréalKathleen Shearer\, Executive Director\, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)David Tweddell\, Interim Vice President\, Strategy and Planning\, Digital Research Alliance of CanadaDr. Stefanie Haustein\, Associate Professor\, School of Information Studies\, University of Ottawa \nDescription:First\, each presenter will make short (5-7 minutes) opening remarks\, speaking to the area of open science that aligns with their work and expertise (diamond publishing\, repositories\, RDM & software\, and research assessment\, respectively)\, offering insights regarding to where we are currently\, what has been most instrumental driving progress\, and what is needed now for Canada to move forward. This will be followed by a guided discussion on common themes such as policy\, collaboration and common services\, open infrastructure\, and the role of AI. There will be time for questions from the floor. \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  11h30 ET – 12h30 ET \nPresenters: Susan Haigh and Mark Swartz\, VPO Open Science  \nFollowing the morning’s panel on Open Science\, CARL directors and guests will reconvene for a status report from CARL to outline\, amid current activity in this domain\, where the organization sits in relation to progress towards open science. How ready are CARL libraries for the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy? Where are we at when it comes to research data and the impending implementation of the data deposit pillar of the Tri-Agency Research Data Management policy? What progress has been made in terms of PIDs? The presentation will be followed by open discussion. \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  13h 30 – 14h 30 \nChair: Mary Jo RomaniukSpeaker: Randy Boyagoda\, Provostial Advisor on Civil Discourse\, University of Toronto \nIn this talk\, writer and professor Randy Boyagoda\, the University of Toronto’s Advisor on Civil Discourse\, reflects on the state and stakes of civil discourse these days\, on and off campus\, and across personal\, professional\, and public settings. In particular\, he will explore the importance of intellectual freedom in higher education to civil discourse\, and likewise the irreducible mission and work of research libraries as both convening spaces and distinct sources for models and resources that ensure robust and vibrant cultures of productive disagreement. These efforts\, which we might collectively describe as a commitment to thinking out loud together\, support of advancing knowledge\, serving the common good and the pursuit of truth. \nWednesday\, November 19\, 2025\,  14h30 ET – 15h00 ET \nChair: Mary-Jo Romaniuk \nCARL had a publically-available\, collections-focused Freedom of Expression statement for many years. While the statement was modernized in 2022\, recent campus conflicts through which the library must navigate\, as well as growing attention being paid to how the library navigates freedom of speech and assembly in light of hate speech and unpopular views\, occasioned a small working group of CARL members to re-examine our collective position.  \nA revised Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Inclusive Libraries with a slightly extended series of commitments is proposed. In this session\, members and guests will have the opportunity to review and openly discuss these commitments and the context in which their libraries operate.  \nThe intention is then to bring a final version of the document to the business meeting for adoption by the membership. \nWednesday\, November 19\,  2025\, 15:00 pm – 16:30 pm ET \nFacilitators: \n\nSu Cleyle\, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives\nJanice Kung\, CARL VPO – AI and Library Services \n\nThe influence of generative AI is rapidly reshaping higher education and impacting academic libraries. From collections to policy\, library administrators are navigating uncharted territory\, seizing new opportunities and exerting influence.  \nThis workshop offers academic library leaders dedicated space and time to reflect\, share\, and strategize together three key topics: descriptive practices\,  institutional policy\, and team engagement. In facilitated small group discussions\, participants will explore these guiding questions: \n\n\nHow can directors participate and position libraries in the development of institutional policies on generative AI? Do our librarians support the institutional direction as much as we would like?  \n\n\nCan AI transform descriptive practices for unique collections? \n\n\nHow can library directors actively engage staff in open conversations about their fears of AI\, while encouraging meaningful exploration of the technology despite ongoing reluctance? \n\n\nThrough these conversations and a plenary debrief\, participants will identify pain points\, uncover gaps in current approaches\, and consider actionable next steps. The session emphasizes peer-to-peer dialogue\, enabling directors to learn from one another’s perspectives and experiences\, and to discover areas where collective attention and leadership are most needed. \nThursday\, November 20\, 2025\,  9h00 ET – 10h15 ET \nChair:  Mary-Jo Romaniuk \nSpeaker: Martha Whitehead\, Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian and Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences \nResearch libraries have navigated uncertainties for centuries\, guided by enduring values and a mission to advance and preserve knowledge. What can we learn from the pressures of the present moment as we chart our paths forward? Drawing on recent experiences at Harvard and decades in Canada\, Martha will reflect on several key themes – upholding free expression\, mutual respect\, and diversity\, equity\, and inclusion; opportunities and threats for cultures of collaboration; and what is a library? She’ll then ask us to consider some of the priorities these themes suggest and our own approaches to navigating uncertainty. \nThursday\, November 20\, 2025\,  10h30 ET – 12h00 ET \nFacilitator: Susan Cleyle\, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives \nThe second in a two-part series on adapting organizational structures to changing landscapes. \nKeeping in mind the forces reshaping universities and libraries\, this session will provide an opportunity to reflect on legacy and emerging roles\, to hear how some colleagues have chosen to respond\, and to collaboratively identify critical approaches to successfully adjust organizational structures.  \nBuilding on the discussion at the Directors +1 session held on October 3rd\, this directors-only session will focus on how directors can rethink their individual organizational structures within union and budget constraints\, explore long-term strategies for structural change\, and consider if/how CARL can support and accelerate these transformations. Leave with a clearer understanding of the shifts underway and a list of emergent key areas requiring organizational shifting.  \n\n\n Randy Boyagoda\n \nRandy Boyagoda is a novelist and Professor of English at the University of Toronto\, where he also serves as the university’s advisor on civil discourse\, the first such position in Canada. He was named one of Toronto’s fifty most influential people by Toronto Life magazine because of his work in civil discourse. He is the author of seven books\, including four novels that have been nominated for the Giller Prize\, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize\, and named New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections and Globe and Mail Best Books of the year. A frequent contributor to CBC Radio\, including as a national columnist on civil discourse\, and former President of PEN Canada\, he writes opinions\, essays and reviews for publications including the Atlantic\, the New York Times\, the Financial Times of London\, the Globe and Mail\, and The Walrus. He also podcasts for the Toronto Public Library and lives in the east end of Toronto with his wife and their four daughters. \n\n\n\n Dr. Stefanie Haustein\n \nStefanie Haustein is an associate professor at the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa and co-director of the ScholCommLab. She is also an affiliated researcher with several interdisciplinary research centers\, including the Institute for Science\, Society and Policy (ISSP)\, the Centre for Journalology and the LIFE Research Institute at the University of Ottawa\, as well as the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie at Université du Québec à Montréal. Her research focuses on scholarly communication\, research evaluation\, and open science\, with an emphasis on open access and research data sharing and reuse. Using bibliometric and mixed methods—including large-scale surveys and interviews—her work critically examines academic publishing\, metrics\, and responsible research assessment practices. \n\n\n\n Dr. Vincent Larivière\n \nVincent Larivière is a professor of information science at the University of Montreal\, where he also holds the UNESCO Chair in Open Science and is associate vice-president (senior vice-rector) and co-holder of the Quebec Research Chair in the Discoverability of Scientific Content in French. He also serves as scientific director of the Érudit scholarly journal dissemination platform and is a regular member of the Interuniversity Research Center on Science and Technology (CIRST). \n\n\n\n Kathleen Shearer\n \nKathleen Shearer has been a prominent figure in open access\, open science\, scholarly communications\, and research data management for close to 20 years. Over the past 15 years\, she has worked through COAR to build a truly global coalition of repositories and repository networks\, ensuring that repositories are recognized as critical infrastructure for open science in national and continental policies; and that repositories innovate and adopt good practices. Based in Montreal\, Canada\, she actively contributes to numerous organizations working to advance open science at a global scale including the Research Data Alliance\, UNESCO Open Science Working Groups as well as numerous regional organizations such as the LIBSENSE Africa and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. \n\n\n\n David Tweddell\n \nDavid Tweddell is Interim Vice President\, Strategy and Planning at the Alliance. Previously\,  he was Executive Director\, Research Strategic Initiatives in the office of the Vice-President\, Research and International at the University of Waterloo. Prior to working at Waterloo\, he served in progressively senior roles in Western University’s Research Office\, ultimately as Western’s Director of Research Development. While at Western\, he was accountable for administering the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Scientific Initiative funding awarded for the operation of the Compute Canada Federation. \n\n\n\n Martha Whitehead\n \nMartha Whitehead is Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian and Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In this role\, Martha leads a library network of more than 25 libraries with more than 800 staff. Before joining Harvard in 2019\, Martha was Vice-Provost (Digital Planning) and University Librarian at Queen’s University and earlier had served there as Associate University Librarian. Martha’s career began at the University of British Columbia Library where she held roles in public services and systems and as Head of Information Services. Martha is currently a member of the CRL board\, the ARL Diversity\, Equity and Inclusion Committee\, and the advisory board of the Authors Alliance Public Interest Corpus project. She has recently served as chair of the boards of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada\, the Confederation of Open Access Repositories\, and the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation. While in Canada\, Martha served in various roles with CARL\, including President from 2015 to 2017\, Canada’s National Heritage Digitization Strategy Steering Committee\, the Ontario Council of University Libraries\, and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network. In 2019\, Martha was awarded the CARL Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship Award. \n\nRandy Boyagoda is a novelist and Professor of English at the University of Toronto\, where he also serves as the university’s advisor on civil discourse\, the first such position in Canada. He was named one of Toronto’s fifty most influential people by Toronto Life magazine because of his work in civil discourse. He is the author of seven books\, including four novels that have been nominated for the Giller Prize\, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize\, and named New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections and Globe and Mail Best Books of the year. A frequent contributor to CBC Radio\, including as a national columnist on civil discourse\, and former President of PEN Canada\, he writes opinions\, essays and reviews for publications including the Atlantic\, the New York Times\, the Financial Times of London\, the Globe and Mail\, and The Walrus. He also podcasts for the Toronto Public Library and lives in the east end of Toronto with his wife and their four daughters. \nStefanie Haustein is an associate professor at the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa and co-director of the ScholCommLab. She is also an affiliated researcher with several interdisciplinary research centers\, including the Institute for Science\, Society and Policy (ISSP)\, the Centre for Journalology and the LIFE Research Institute at the University of Ottawa\, as well as the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie at Université du Québec à Montréal. Her research focuses on scholarly communication\, research evaluation\, and open science\, with an emphasis on open access and research data sharing and reuse. Using bibliometric and mixed methods—including large-scale surveys and interviews—her work critically examines academic publishing\, metrics\, and responsible research assessment practices. \nVincent Larivière is a professor of information science at the University of Montreal\, where he also holds the UNESCO Chair in Open Science and is associate vice-president (senior vice-rector) and co-holder of the Quebec Research Chair in the Discoverability of Scientific Content in French. He also serves as scientific director of the Érudit scholarly journal dissemination platform and is a regular member of the Interuniversity Research Center on Science and Technology (CIRST). \nKathleen Shearer has been a prominent figure in open access\, open science\, scholarly communications\, and research data management for close to 20 years. Over the past 15 years\, she has worked through COAR to build a truly global coalition of repositories and repository networks\, ensuring that repositories are recognized as critical infrastructure for open science in national and continental policies; and that repositories innovate and adopt good practices. Based in Montreal\, Canada\, she actively contributes to numerous organizations working to advance open science at a global scale including the Research Data Alliance\, UNESCO Open Science Working Groups as well as numerous regional organizations such as the LIBSENSE Africa and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. \nDavid Tweddell is Interim Vice President\, Strategy and Planning at the Alliance. Previously\,  he was Executive Director\, Research Strategic Initiatives in the office of the Vice-President\, Research and International at the University of Waterloo. Prior to working at Waterloo\, he served in progressively senior roles in Western University’s Research Office\, ultimately as Western’s Director of Research Development. While at Western\, he was accountable for administering the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Scientific Initiative funding awarded for the operation of the Compute Canada Federation. \nMartha Whitehead is Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian and Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In this role\, Martha leads a library network of more than 25 libraries with more than 800 staff. Before joining Harvard in 2019\, Martha was Vice-Provost (Digital Planning) and University Librarian at Queen’s University and earlier had served there as Associate University Librarian. Martha’s career began at the University of British Columbia Library where she held roles in public services and systems and as Head of Information Services. Martha is currently a member of the CRL board\, the ARL Diversity\, Equity and Inclusion Committee\, and the advisory board of the Authors Alliance Public Interest Corpus project. She has recently served as chair of the boards of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada\, the Confederation of Open Access Repositories\, and the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation. While in Canada\, Martha served in various roles with CARL\, including President from 2015 to 2017\, Canada’s National Heritage Digitization Strategy Steering Committee\, the Ontario Council of University Libraries\, and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network. In 2019\, Martha was awarded the CARL Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship Award. \nTransportation\nA complimentary bus will be available to transport attendees between Ottawa and Montebello. \nOn Monday\, November 17\, the bus is scheduled to depart Ottawa Airport at 4:30 PM and will proceed directly to the Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown (361 Queen St\, Ottawa\, ON K1R 0C7)\, arriving at approximately 5:00 PM to pick up the remaining guests. From there\, the bus will continue directly to Fairmont Le Château Montebello (392 Rue Notre Dame\, Montebello\, QC J0V 1L0). \nGuests may board the bus at either the Ottawa Airport at 4:30 PM (main level outside arrivals\, pillars 15-16; convene inside near the baggage carousels) or the Hilton Garden Inn (convene in hotel lobby) at 5:00 PM. \nOn November 20th\, the bus will depart Fairmont Le Château Montebello at 3:00 PM\, after the conclusion of the meeting\, and will proceed directly to the Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Downtown (361 Queen St\, Ottawa\, ON K1R 0C7).  \n\n\n2025 Spring Member Meeting\nMay 26 @ 09:00 – May 29 @ 16:00 EDT at Inn at the Forks\, Winnipeg\, Manitoba\n\n2024 Fall Member Meeting\nNovember 18\, 2024 – November 20\, 2024 at Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre\n\n2024 Spring Member Meeting\nApril 22\, 2024 – April 25\, 2024 at Montreal\, Quebec\n\n2023 Fall Member Meeting\nNovember 27\, 2023 – November 30\, 2023 at Fairmont Le Château Montebello\n\n2023 Spring Member Meeting\nMay 29\, 2023 – June 1\, 2023 at Calgary Marriott Downown Hotel\n\n\n \n See All Member Meetings URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/2025-fall-member-meeting/ LOCATION:Fairmont Le Château Montebello\, 392 Notre-Dame\, Montebello\, Québec\, J0V 1L0\, Canada CATEGORIES:Member Meetings ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/PXL_20250529_142023656-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251114T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251114T130000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251023T153517Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251023T153517Z UID:38227-1763121600-1763125200@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Assessment Community of Practice November Call: Library User Surveys & Consortium Participation in Canada DESCRIPTION:Date: November 14\, 2025\nTime: 12:00pm-1:00pm ET \nRegistration \nAre you weighing the pros and cons of running a user survey in your library and wondering about prepackaged options available? Canadian academic libraries have relied on tools like LibQUAL+\, Insync\, and Library Life Pulse to assess user needs and satisfaction\, but which tool will deliver the most useful insights for your institution? \nJoin the Assessment Community of Practice to share and listen to experiences with all three survey instruments (advantages and limitations)\, plus the option for a “made in Canada”\, homegrown survey. This is a discussion-based session—come prepared to share your experiences\, ask critical questions\, and learn from your colleagues’ successes and challenges. As this CoP session will mostly consist of participant discussion\, the session will not be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/assessment-community-of-practice-november-call-library-user-surveys-consortium-participation-in-canada/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Assessment ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251113T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251113T160000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251103T153004Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251103T153004Z UID:38323-1763046000-1763049600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Open Education Community of Practice November Community Call: Transformation of the OER Landscape: The Role of Artificial Intelligence DESCRIPTION:Date: November 13\, 2025\nTime: 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET \nRegistration \nJoin us for a community-driven discussion on how AI is transforming the OER landscape. We will explore practical AI use cases in OER adoption\, development\, and promotion\, while examining frameworks and tools for licensing and attribution. \nAll CARL members and non-members working in or interested in open education are welcome to join. \nIf you would like to be part of the Open Education Community of Practice and stay informed about upcoming events and activities\, subscribe to OE-COP-CARL-L\, the Open Education CoP discussion list. For more information\, visit the OE CoP webpage. \nThis session will not be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/open-education-community-of-practice-november-community-call-transformation-of-the-oer-landscape-the-role-of-artificial-intelligence/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Artificial Intelligence,Open Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251031T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251031T130000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251021T144210Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251021T144210Z UID:38210-1761912000-1761915600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:CARL Inclusive Collections Webinar Series – Beyond Borders: Reframing Acquisitions for Distinctive Collections DESCRIPTION:Date: October 31\, 2025\nTime: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET \nRegistration \nNote that the presentation will be recorded but the Q&A will not. \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Equity\, Diversity\, and Inclusion Working Group (CARL EDIWG) is pleased to announce the fourth in a series of planned webinars on inclusive collections. \nIn this 60-minute session\, the discussants will provide an overview of a recently published research project that explored how acquisition practices and infrastructure have shaped the development of distinctive collections within Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions. ARL includes both Canadian and U.S. libraries\, and the study sheds light on practices across borders\, while also highlighting shared challenges in decentering dominant narratives and Western-centric approaches. \nThe first half will present the research project overview along with reflections from discussants on how they have activated the acquisitions infrastructures (encompassing the business\, financial\, and legal aspects of collections stewardship) at their own institutions to support equity-driven and distinctive collections building. \nThe second half will be open for discussion. Attendees will be invited to share their experiences and approaches to building distinctive collections through inclusive acquisitions practices. Participants are encouraged to connect\, collaborate\, and contribute to a shared dialogue on reimagining collections work in libraries. \nIn addition to being subject to the CARL Code of Conduct\, CARL asks all participants\, panelists and organizers to be respectful of what is being shared and in how they ask questions. \nIn the interest of accessibility\, French and English captions will be available throughout the session. Additional accommodation requests can also be emailed to Julie Morin\, Program Officer at CARL (julie.morin@carl-abrc.ca). \nBiographies\nMoon Kim \nAs Head of Collections Services at UBC Library\, Moon provides leadership and operational oversight for the development\, acquisition\, management\, and preservation of library collections across all formats and subject areas on the Vancouver campus. She oversees the financial\, legal\, and systems infrastructure that supports resource procurement and management for general\, international\, and special collections\, and directs the team responsible for ensuring sustainable\, equitable\, and effective access to information resources. Her role bridges cross-functional collaboration with liaisons\, technical services\, and open scholarship initiatives\, aligning collections work with UBC Library’s Strategic Framework. Moon previously held acquisitions positions at the Ohio State University\, California State University Fullerton\, University of Washington\, and the Getty Research Institute. \nFlorence Nthiira Mugambi \nFlorence is a Librarian and specialist for Africa in the African Section at the Library of Congress. She is responsible for reference\, research support and collection development for Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on Eastern and Central Africa. Prior to the Library of Congress\, she was the Librarian for African Studies at the Melville J. Heskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University. \nBetsaida Reyes \nBetsaida M. Reyes is a Librarian and the Head of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State University. She is responsible for the management of services and performance of faculty and staff in the George and Sherry Middlemas Arts and Humanities Library\, Social Sciences Library\, Education Library\, the Walter and Doris Goldstein Music and Media Center\, the Microforms and Government Information\, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book\, and the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library at University Park. Before this position\, she spent eight years as the Spanish\, Portuguese\, Latin American\, and Caribbean Studies Librarian at the University of Kansas. She also works as an Adjunct Instructor for the iSchool at the University of Illinois\, Urbana-Champaign\, where she teaches Collection Development and Library and Information Resources to Spanish Speakers. \nMaha Kumaran (moderator) \nDr. Maha Kumaran currently serves as the liaison for the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan (USASK). She selects resources (print and electronic monograph collections) for Education and offers reference\, instruction\, and research support to all faculty and students\, especially graduate students in the College. She has extensive experience in selecting\, acquisitions\, and working with collections: She served as the acting assistant Dean for collections and discovery at USASK\, is part of the Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities Cluster for collections\, and is currently working with the University Archives and Special Collections Division. Outside of collections\, her research interests\, expertise\, and professional activities revolve around marginalized populations who work at and use academic libraries. She was the first Equity\, Diversity\, and Inclusion Visiting Program Officer for CARL and was recognized with the prestigious CARL Award of Merit for her contributions to Canadian librarianship. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-inclusive-collections-webinar-series-beyond-borders-reframing-acquisitions-for-distinctive-collections/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Equity Diversity Inclusion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251030T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251030T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251007T134310Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251007T134310Z UID:38078-1761829200-1761832800@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Canadian Repositories Community of Practice October Call – Repositories in the Age of AI: The Attack of the Bots DESCRIPTION:Date: October 30\, 2025\nTime: 1pm-2pm ET \nRegistration \nAI bots are aggressively harvesting content from the internet. Not so well known is the especially devastating effects this scraping has had on libraries\, archives\, and museums (LAMS). This sudden and overwhelming increase in bot traffic to these repositories has cultural heritage and academic institutions grappling with technical strain on their systems and the ethical questions regarding ownership concerns and how resources are used to train these language models. \nThese bots\, automated agents that collect data to train the large language models that power artificial intelligence\, interact with repositories by crawling interfaces\, parsing metadata\, and extracting digital assets\, often at scales and speeds that strain infrastructure and bypass curatorial intent. Aggressive harvesting can degrade system performance\, skew usage metrics\, violate usage terms\, and strip cultural materials of context. All of these behaviors pose risks to both availability of core library online services and the ability to manage public distribution of digital resources. \nThis session will examine the impact of unregulated AI scraping on the LAM ecosystem and as a result\, on library services. The presenters discuss emerging mitigation strategies\, including; rate limiting\, bot detection\, modifying architecture and functionality\, machine-readable licensing\, and community-driven best practices to regulate AI scraping. \nArran Griffith is the Program Manager for Fedora\, an open-source digital repository platform dedicated to long-term digital preservation. In this role\, she leads community engagement\, aligns global user priorities\, and serves as a strategic liaison between Fedora Governance and its stakeholders. She also facilitates cross-community working groups that foster collaboration and maintain alignment across open-source technologies. In addition\, Arran is a founding stakeholder of the AI Discussions Working Group\, which organizes the monthly Solutions Showcase Series. \nRosalyn Metz is Chief Technology Officer at Emory University Libraries and Museum\, where she leads a team of 24 professionals and manages a $4.5 million technology budget. She advances open infrastructure\, digital preservation\, and user-centered discovery\, drawing on experience in both higher education and industry. Nationally and internationally\, Rosalyn has held leadership roles in global open-source communities\, including Fedora\, Samvera\, and the Oxford Common File Layout Editorial Group. She is a frequent speaker on AI\, technology\, open infrastructure and is the author of The Digital Shift\, a widely read Substack. Recently she was invited to give a Keynote at iPres 2025\, held in New Zealand. \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/canadian-repositories-community-of-practice-october-call-repositories-in-the-age-of-ai-the-attack-of-the-bots/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Repositories ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251027T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251028T235959 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251015T144803Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251029T140815Z UID:38163-1761523200-1761695999@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:2025 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop DESCRIPTION:« All Events\n \n\n 2025 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\n\n October 27\, 2025\n –\n October 28\, 2025\n \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries and the University of Regina’s Dr. John Archer Library and Archives invite you to participate in the Canadian Library Assessment Workshop (CLAW) taking place October 27 and 28\, 2025 in Regina\, Saskatchewan. \nThe workshop is designed to interest a range of academic and research libraries engaged in assessment at various levels of experience. The program will consist of a series of case studies and practical workshops providing attendees with methods\, tools\, and techniques to bring into their everyday assessment practice. \nPresentations will be delivered in English; slides and supporting materials will be translated into French and made available in advance to support bilingualism. \n\n Regina\, Saskatchewan\n\n Regina\,\n Saskatchewan\n Canada\n\n\n + Google Map \n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n \n Program Committee\n \n \n Travel & Accommodation\n \n \n Cost & Registration\n \n \n Program Schedule\n \n \n Session Descriptions\n \n \n Previous Meetings\n \nCLAW Program Committee\n\nChristine Brown (Chair)\, Head\, Faculty Engagement (Social Sciences + Humanities)\, University of Alberta \nKatrina Fortner\, Administration and Communications Coordinator\, Ontario Council of University Libraries\nShahira Khair\, University of Victoria\nJuliene McLaughlin\, Assessment & UX Librarian\, University of Guelph\nConnie Winther\, Head\, Faculty Engagement (Health Sciences)\, University of Alberta\nKaren Wiome\, Library Administrator\, University of Regina\nJulie Morin\, Senior Program Officer\, CARL\n\nTravel and Accommodation\nA block of rooms with The Atlas Hotel has been arranged at a rate of $149.95 per night. Reservations can be made by calling 1-306-586-3443 or emailing guestambassador@atlashotel.com and using code: 102625CLA \nUniversity of Regina campus mapArcher Library is denoted as building code= LY \nFood and drink in ReginaNote that dine-arounds will be organized in advance of the workshop. \nCost and Registration\nRegister before September 26th by completing this form and see payment details below. \nFees: $430.00 CAD [Note that this fee is waived for speakers\, who are only required to complete the registration form linked above.] \nRegistration fees include breakfast\, snacks\, and lunch. An evening reception is also included and generously provided by the University of Regina’s Dr. John Archer Library and Archives on October 27. Please let us know of any dietary restrictions when you register. \nParticipants preferring to pay by e-transfer can direct their funds to finance@carl-abrc.ca. Participants preferring to pay via credit card or PayPal can do so using the link below. \n \n Monday October 27\n \n \n Tuesday October 28\n \n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker(s)\n\n\n\n\n8:00 AM – 8:45 AM\nBreakfast and Registration\n—\n\n\n8:45 AM – 9:00 AM\nWelcome\nDr. David Gregory\, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)\, University of Regina & CLAW Program Committee\n\n\n9:00 AM – 9:20 AM\nImpact Compass for Research Libraries: The University of Calgary Experience\nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary)\n\n\n9:25 AM – 9:45 AM\nCommunicating the Value of a Library Consortium to Non-Library Audiences\nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) & Katrina Fortner (OCUL)\n\n\n9:50 AM – 10:10 AM\nStrategic Planning with Impact: A Logic Model Case Study from the University of Ottawa Library\nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa)\n\n\n10:15 AM – 10:35 AM\nFrom Scattered to Strategic: Developing Real-Time Dashboards for Library Assessment\nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, & Sarah Mantz (Western University)\n\n\n10:35 AM – 11:00 AM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n11:00 AM – 11:20 AM\nGoing Beyond the Gate Counts: Library Census Day\nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University)\n\n\n11:25 AM – 11:45 AM\nAssessing Project Success in Academic Libraries\nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University)\n\n\n11:45 AM – 1:00 PM\nLunch\n—\n\n\n1:00 PM – 1:20 PM\nIt Ain’t Broke… Or Is It? Facing Ambiguity and Uncertainty in Assessment\nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph)\n\n\n1:25 PM – 1:45 PM\nEnhancing User Experience: Applying a Student-Focused Approach to Library Website Design\nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, & David Pearson (MacEwan University)\n\n\n1:45 PM – 2:10 PM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n2:10 PM – 4:10 PM\nDialogue in Library Assessment: Facilitation\, Approaches\, and Techniques\nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, & Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University)\n\n\n4:30 PM\nReception\n—\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker(s)\n\n\n\n\n8:00 AM – 8:50 AM\nBreakfast\n—\n\n\n8:50 AM – 9:00 AM\nWelcome / Announcements\n—\n\n\n9:00 AM – 10:30 AM\nTen Recent Assessment Projects that We Love\nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta)\n\n\n10:30 AM – 11:00 AM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n11:00 AM – 11:30 AM\nLightning Talks: Beyond Bugs; Testing for Usability and Accessibility; Asking Chat about Library Search\nCaitlin Bakker; Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina); Susan Bond (University of Toronto)\n\n\n11:30 AM – 1:00 PM\nLunch\n—\n\n\n1:00 PM – 1:20 PM\nEvaluating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of In-class Simulations in a Faculty Partnership\nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University)\n\n\n1:25 PM – 1:45 PM\nAre Three Shots Better Than One? Assessing the Impact and Design of a New Information Literacy Program\nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University)\n\n\n1:50 PM – 2:10 PM\nMeasuring What Matters: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Training Using Quantitative Methods and Analytics\nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor)\n\n\n2:10 PM – 2:30 PM\nAsk the Users What They Want: Assessing How Researchers Find and Use Digital Collections in Their Work\nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University)\n\n\n2:30 PM – 2:45 PM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n2:45 PM – 3:05 PM\nPeer-led IL Teaching Assessment: Cultivating a Culture of Reflective Assessment Practice Through Peer-Mentorship\nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University)\n\n\n3:10 PM – 3:40 PM\nFrom Chaos to Clarity: Preparing Open Access Publication Data for Collection Assessment\nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto)\n\n\n3:45 PM – 4:05 PM\n“Surprise Me!”: What a User Community Survey Revealed About an Open Stacks Collection\nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament)\n\n\n\n \n Monday October 27\n \n \n Tuesday October 28\n \n\n\n 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM – Impact Compass for Research Libraries: The University of Calgary Experience\n \nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary) \nThe presenters will describe the Libraries & Cultural Resources (LCR) Impact Study at the University of Calgary. This study focuses on the experience of two distinct user groups: faculty and students. It was conducted in close collaboration with Implement Consulting Group. \nThe purpose of this study is to better understand LCR’s role and impact in the academic lives of students and faculty through capturing and measuring what happens when these users engage with LCR. Additionally\, the study aims to inspire and inform future strategic decisions and plans for Libraries and Cultural Resources. \nThe study is based on an Impact Compass framework\, which is a mixed methods approach designed to explore how cultural experiences impact individuals. The Compass serves as a tool for quantitatively communicating how an individual experiences a particular cultural product or service\, while also using qualitative data analysis to gain deeper insight into the findings. \nWhile the Impact Compass framework has previously been used for public libraries\, the framework had never been used in a research library context. To ensure the Impact Compass resonated in LCR’s context staff\, students\, and faculty were consulted\, and significant adaptations to the Compass were made. \nSpecifically\, through this collaborative process four pillars of library experience were determined: space\, collections and digital resources\, teaching and learning support\, and research support. Each pillar was assigned an impact compass. Each compass was divided into four dimensions of impact: emotional\, intellectual\, social\, and creative. Each dimension consisted of three parameters that were tested and refined to reflect the needs and context of a research library. Qualitative data was then used to provide nuance and understanding to the compass. From this impact profiles were developed. \nThe presenters will discuss the results from the study\, including the impact profiles for both students and faculty. Finally\, the presenters will discuss how the findings of the study have been used and plans for future use. \nLearning Objectives: \n\nBasic understanding of the method used for this study.\nPotentially\, gain insight from the findings of the study that could be generalizable to their own setting\n\n\n\n\n 9:25 AM – 9:45 AM – Communicating the Value of a Library Consortium to Non-Library Audiences\n \nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) and Katrina Fortner (Ontario Council of University Libraries). \nIn late 2024\, the library directors that make up the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) asked for support in explaining the value of the services they receive from OCUL and its service arm Scholars Portal\, to senior university administrators outside of the library. With more than 20 institutions varying significantly in size\, research intensity\, and institutional priorities\, there was no consensus about what kinds of information would be helpful for communicating to senior administrators. Some institutions\, for example\, preferred hard numbers and specifically asked about return on investment or cost savings; others felt that statements about qualitative benefits would be more compelling arguments with their administrators. \nIn response to this request\, the OCUL-Scholars Portal communications group launched into action. We investigated various ways of calculating value and cost savings in different services or areas of operations\, until we identified a range of data points we felt confident calculating for every institution. We also wrote value statements articulating the benefits or outcomes of consortial services that we expected to resonate with non-library administrators. Once we had a strong set of statements\, we asked library directors to rank the statements they felt would be most helpful for their institution. With the help of a template designed by our web services team\, we then generated custom reports for every institution that responded. These reports were distributed along with supporting documentation that provided more context to allow library directors to confidently discuss these reports with administrators at their institution\, connecting the dots between library cost or resource savings and positive campus community impacts. \nThis session will discuss the challenges\, opportunities\, and lessons learned throughout the project. \nParticipants will learn how to: \n\nDiscuss methodologies for calculating cost savings in consortial services\nTake a communications lens to assessment and consider the role of audience when communicating value\nThink critically about statistics and calculated values and understand the importance of knowing where the numbers come from\n\n\n\n\n 9:50 AM – 10:10 AM – Strategic Planning with Impact: A Logic Model Case Study from the University of Ottawa Library\n \nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa) \nThis session will share how the University of Ottawa Library is using the CARL Library Impact Framework to bring greater clarity\, coherence\, and evaluability to the implementation of our new Strategic Plan. \nUsing one strategic direction as a case study\, I will walk participants through how our Library Management Group collaboratively developed a logic model to map key activities\, outputs\, audiences\, outcomes\, and underlying assumptions. This process helped us move beyond broad aspirations to define tangible actions\, test the plausibility of the impact pathway\, and lay the groundwork for meaningful evaluation. \nBy grounding our planning in the CARL Framework\, we built a shared understanding of how our work creates impact and established a clearer line of sight between strategy and implementation. \nThe session will highlight how the use of logic models: \n\nHelped us make our strategy more actionable;\nSurfaced assumptions and clarified intended results;\nCreated a stronger foundation for future assessment work.\n\nThis case study is particularly relevant for libraries seeking to bridge the gap between strategic planning and operational execution\, and for those aiming to integrate evaluative thinking without overwhelming staff or resources. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of the session\, participants will be able to: \n\nUnderstand how the CARL Library Impact Framework can support strategic plan implementation.\nIdentify key elements of a simple logic model that clarify intent and support future evaluation.\nReflect on how early evaluative thinking can enhance the coherence and feasibility of strategic planning efforts.\n\nThis session is designed to be practical and transferable\, especially for libraries navigating the messy middle between strategy design and execution. Our case study is intended to spark ideas for libraries seeking to embed evaluation into their planning practices and make strategic intent more actionable and visible. \n\n\n\n 10:15 AM – 10:35 AM – From Scattered to Strategic: Developing Real-Time Dashboards for Library Assessment\n \nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, and Sarah Mantz (Western University) \nAcademic libraries collect a wide array of data through various platforms\, tools\, and procedures. However\, staff and leadership often find it difficult to access or interpret that data. At Western Libraries\, we had a common challenge. The data was hard to find\, housed in different platforms\, inconsistently tracked amongst our teams\, and difficult to connect for evidence-based decision making at all levels.  \nTo help with this\, we are developing a real-time dashboard that would promote transparency and accessibility to our data. This dashboard’s aim is to support evidence-based decision making across the entire organization to help with strategic planning\, resource allocation\, and operations.  \nThe project began with consulting with leadership to determine the scope of the project and define key goals. This was followed by a series of internal data inventory meetings with key stakeholders from across our User Services and Senior Leadership teams to understand what data was being collected\, how\, and by whom. These meetings revealed gaps in data collection\, along with key differences in how all the teams view and use their data. In conjunction\, we also worked with members of our LITS (Library Information Technology Services) team to assess the technical requirements\, explore visualization options\, and identify what would be the most sustainable options\, long term.  \nIn this session\, we will share our planning process\, lessons learned\, and practical steps we have used to map and consolidate our data across a large library system. We will also discuss how we framed our process using ADKAR (Awareness\, Desire\, Knowledge\, Ability\, Reinforcement) to support sustained change and contribute towards a culture of assessment at Western Libraries.  \nLearning Objectives / Key Takeaways  \n\nParticipants will be able to identify and consolidate existing data and determine gaps and solutions in current data collection. \nParticipants will be able to understand the early process of designing a “platform” to increase access to institutional data. \nParticipants will gain ideas for applying change management strategies to promote adoption and sustain assessment initiatives. \n\n\n\n\n 11:00 AM – 11:20 AM – Going Beyond the Gate Counts: Library Census Day\n \nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University) \nWho spends time and how much time are they spending in our libraries? That is the question that drove us to conduct a Census Day at all of our library locations. We captured library traffic of 19\,232 entrance/exits across the day.  We selected seventeen data points to record\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes each.  \nLike Dillalogue & Koehn (2020)\, we wanted to delve deeper than gate counts alone so we created a tap-in/tap-out tool for users to voluntarily tap their campus ID when entering and leaving all six of our libraries on a single day in 2025. We modeled this assessment project after McGill Libraries who have run a similar type of event in the past.  Our goal was to capture 80% of the traffic in a single day during our opening hours.  We also used Census Day as a catalyst for our LibQUAL+ survey for which we received more completed surveys than in previous years.  \nTwo approaches were critical to the success of Census Day: involving the entire library staff and partnering with the Office of Institutional Planning & Analysis (OIPA).  Staff were involved in establishing the id card scanning system; the logistics of the day for each library; role assignment on Census Day; developing and disseminating communication assets; celebrating the success of the day; assisting in preliminary analysis of the results).  Partnering with OIPA allowed us to select from over 200 data points; maintain anonymity of the data; and provided us with language for describing the analysis within the constraints of protecting patron data.   \nWe selected seventeen data points\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes.   \nIn this session we will share details of what we learned about who is using the libraries and how long they’re staying\, including data that surprised us and follow up assessment ideas.  \nAttendees will learn about the variety of data points collected by academic institutions and how those can be useful to inform decisions about hours\, staffing\, space design\, traffic flow etc.  \nAttendees will learn about an open-source dashboard system (Metabase) that allows querying of the data for data visualization.  \nAttendees will also receive a link to a packet with guidance on running their own Census Day.   \nReference: Dillalogue\, E.\, & Koehn\, M. (2020). Assessment on a Dime: Low Cost User Data Collection for Assessment. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice\, 15(3)\, 2–20. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29582  \n\n\n\n 11:25 AM – 11:45 AM – Assessing Project Success in Academic Libraries\n \nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nAt the start of any project\, project stakeholders define what constitutes success. This definition is then used at the end of the project to evaluate if these aims were met and ultimately determine if the project was “successful” or not. Typical metrics used in project management such as key performance indicators (KPIs) and resource utilization\, though potentially useful\, speak to businesses or for-profit workplaces and may not be the most relevant nor transferable to academic environments where profit is not a relevant factor. \nAfter completing multiple projects in McGill Libraries’ technology unit and using typical metrics to evaluate projects\, it became clear that though these metrics answered the “what” of a project\, they did not answer the “how”. Projects could be completed on time and meet their objectives\, but may have encountered significant issues during its course\, such as poor planning\, staff conflict\, and rushed timelines. Defining success in such narrow terms left staff feeling dissatisfied\, particularly if the project met significant challenges. Doing a retrospective on the project is one model to capture qualitative feedback\, allowing team members to learn and grow from (sometimes) negative experiences. This can provide additional context outside of typical success measures. \nThis presentation’s learning objectives include: \n\nBriefly describe the basic tools of project management documentation (e.g.\, charter\, retrospective).\nState the common metrics used to evaluate project success.\nDiscuss a model\, including retrospectives\, which captures participants’ qualitative feedback on project success in an academic environment.\n\n\n\n\n 1:00 PM – 1:20 PM – It Ain’t Broke… Or Is It? Facing Ambiguity and Uncertainty in Assessment\n \nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph) \nAs the saying goes\, “if it ain’t broke\, don’t fix it.” But sometimes it’s not so clear when a library service is fine as it is and should be left alone\, or if it is starting to break\, or is already broken.  For many years our library maintained a public webpage listing databases\, and in 2016 we implemented Springshare’s A-Z database list. Over this time\, our UX team has conducted usability studies\, gathered web analytics\, and monitored the library literature. We’ve recommended incremental changes to ensure this page is as usable and useful as possible. However\, more recently we began to wonder if this page is still relevant and if it’s doing more harm than good. After a thorough UX investigation\, we were unable to reach any definitive conclusion\, but our intuition that there is a problem has not gone away.  What do you do when your gut tells you there’s a problem\, but the evidence is inconclusive? When should you abandon incremental improvements and make a radical change? Who decides?   \nLearning objectives:   \n\nDiscuss the role of professional intuition in user experience work\, including how to balance gut feelings with empirical evidence. \nRecognize the signs that a library service may no longer be meeting user needs\, even when traditional usability metrics are inconclusive. \nEvaluate the tension between incremental improvement and radical redesign and identify strategies to make informed decisions about when to shift approaches.\n\n\n\n\n 1:25 PM – 1:45 PM – Enhancing User Experience: Applying a Student-Focused Approach to Library Website Design\n \nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, and David Pearson (MacEwan University) \nThis brief presentation highlights the experiences and lessons learned from a comprehensive redesign of an undergraduate library website that focused on enhancing the user experience for undergraduate students. The project team consisted of four library staff members: a graphic designer\, an IT specialist\, and two librarians. The main challenge the team faced was developing a user experience (UX) protocol that prioritized the perspectives of students while also garnering support from library staff for the proposed changes to our existing assessment practices.  \nPrior to the project’s launch in Fall 2023\, previous website redesign efforts primarily considered the opinions of library staff and faculty. Consequently\, the website’s information architecture and tone of voice were flagged as potential areas of improvement during the redesign process. This concern was validated when the team collaborated with upper-year anthropology students conducting ethnographic studies of the library website. In both discussions with the students and in their formal reports\, it became clear that they found the website to be inaccessible\, confusing\, and unwelcoming to students. To that end\, the project team developed a UX protocol that sought to prioritize student perspectives as well as best practices in accessible and inclusive web design.   \nThis presentation will provide a brief overview of the project\, key examples of student-focused user experience tools we applied\, and our observations and lessons learned as we continue to assess and refine the library website.  \nLearning Outcomes – Participants will:  \n\nUnderstand how to implement student-focused user experience practices in a web design project\nConsider methods of encouraging library staff buy-in for student-focused website design \nIdentify ways to sustainably collect and implement student feedback on an ongoing basis \n\n\n\n\n 2:10 PM – 4:10 PM – Dialogue in Library Assessment: Facilitation\, Approaches\, and Techniques\n \nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, and Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University) \nLibrary assessment practitioners can integrate the tools and techniques of dialogue to facilitate meaningful and inclusive community-based assessments—with library users as well as library colleagues. This workshop will introduce theory\, knowledge\, and skills for facilitating dialogue in library assessment work.  \nDialogue can be defined in many ways. It is a method for articulating needs\, desires\, and underlying assumptions in groups that rejects hierarchical power dynamics and is transformation focused. It uses participatory practices to host generative conversations\, be more inclusive\, foster mutual learning\, centre lived expertise\, and harness collective wisdom. It “can support groups and communities to respectfully explore polarizing issues\, address conflict\, deliberate on potential for complex issues and much more” (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University\, n.d.). In his 1999 book\, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together\, William Issacs succinctly and rather beautifully defined dialogue as “a conversation with a center\, not sides” (p. 19). Williams went on to state\, “It is a way of taking the energy of our differences and channeling it toward something that has never been created before. It lifts us out of polarization and into a greater common sense\, and is thereby a means for accessing the intelligence and coordinated power of groups of people” (p. 19).   \nAttendees of this workshop will learn about how the Instruction Plan Sub-Group of SFU Library’s Working Group for Information Literacy & Instruction (WGILI) is using methods in dialogue to assess the needs of their library instructor colleagues and to integrate their colleagues’ lived expertise into the Library’s new Instruction Plan\, which the Sub-Group is currently creating. After an introduction to theory and the SFU context\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of participants in a structured dialogue created by the Sub-Group to assess the needs of library instructors at SFU Library. This dialogue will facilitate co-constructed knowledge\, distributed leadership\, the cross-pollination of ideas\, and shared and visible sense-making.   \nAfter experiencing the structured dialogue as participants\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of facilitators as we “pull back the curtain” and review and reflect on the components\, design\, and outcomes of the dialogue. We will share the theory behind decisions made and actions taken and discuss the transferability of the facilitation methods used\, with an emphasis on the practical application of theoretical concepts and principles in other library assessment contexts. Templates and facilitation resources that attendees can bring into their assessment practice will be shared. We’ll also discuss the benefits of bringing methods in dialogue and facilitation into library assessment work.   \nLearning objectives  \nAt the end of this workshop\, attendees will be able to:  \n\nUnderstand dialogue as a methodology. \nApply facilitation techniques that enable dialogue and foster meaningful conversations in a library assessment setting. \nDevelop assessment insights using methods in facilitation and dialogue. \n\nReferences  \nIsaacs\, W. (1999). Dialogue and the art of thinking together: A pioneering approach to communicating in business and in life (1st ed). Currency.   \nMorris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University. (n.d.). What is Dialogue? Retrieved June 1\, 2025\, from https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/learn/what-is-dialogue.html  \n\n\n\n 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM – Ten Recent Assessment Projects that We Love\n \nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta) \nThe assessment landscape is changing.  There is an ongoing shift to a focus on value and impact\, an increase in qualitative and mixed-method assessment\, and nascent explorations into the role of generative artificial intelligence in assessment. In our current environment\, it can be difficult to keep up with new initiatives and developments – especially with limited time\, resources\, and/or technology.  \nIn this fun and fast-paced session\, the presenters will share their recent assessment projects and practice\, as well as\, highlighting innovative practices at other libraries. While many of the projects discussed in the presentation will be from academic libraries\, all of the projects can be applied in academic\, public\, government\, and other library settings. Furthermore\, examples will range from projects and practices that can be done with limited resources (time\, money\, technology)\, to more resource-intensive examples. \nProjects and practices presented will vary in focus (collections\, space\, instruction etc.)\, methodology (point-of-use\, predictive collections\, photo voice etc.)\, time period (cross-sectional\, longitudinal)\, and scope of impact (individual\, institutional\, societal). \nLearning outcomes: \nThis session is aimed at librarians who want to discover fresh perspectives or methodologies in the field of library user experience\, assessment\, or impact practice. The goal of the session is for attendees to leave with a new approach to assessment that they can apply in their library.  \nTime will also be provided for audience members to share their own recent\, exciting assessment initiative. \n\n\n\n 11:00 AM – 11:30 PM – Lightening Talks\n \nBeyond Bugs: Using a ‘Report a Problem’ Feature to Understand User Expectations – Caitlin Bakker (University of Regina) \nIn February 2023\, the University of Regina implemented a report a problem feature in its discovery system. Since that time\, more than 600 reports have been submitted\, and this has become a critical feedback channel. Through these reports\, we’ve gained insight into aspects of the search and discovery experience that patrons find confusing\, counterintuitive\, or frustrating. These user-submitted problem reports frequently highlight mismatches between system functionality and user needs and assumptions. By analyzing these reports\, we’ve been able to better understand user behaviour and expectations of the library system\, and of the library generally. This lightning talk will outline how these reports were analyzed\, and the insights gained through this process. \nTesting for usability and accessibility: Using a think-aloud protocol as an assessment tool for Open Journal Systems – Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina) \nIn this lightning talk\, the presenters will share their experience with usability and accessibility testing as part of the University of Regina’s launch of Proceedings of the Canadian Nuclear Society in Open Journal Systems (OJS). This lightning talk will focus on best practices and takeaways from using a think-aloud protocol to assess the collection and its search functionality. The primary goal of this testing was to enable diverse user communities to engage in effective information seeking\, whether they are accessing the system via desktop computers or mobile devices. The session will cover practical aspects of the testing methodology\, such as working with a remote Library practicum. Attendees can expect to learn about specific usability testing techniques including prompts\, screen readers\, recording\, and other aspects of think aloud testing\, and how they can provide critical insight into improving system design and user satisfaction. \nAsking Chat about Library Search – Susan Bond (University of Toronto) \nAt the University of Toronto\, we have in recent years added our embedded chat help tool to our discovery layer – Ex Libris Primo VE\, which we have branded locally as LibrarySearch. Because LibrarySearch is a self-service tool\, every chat launched represents a potential paint point – it’s a way of users letting us know they’re not able to self-serve. In early 2025 we undertook an exploratory assessment looking at one month’s worth of chat transcripts\, seeing what we could discover about challenges in our interface\, gaps in our documentation\, and problems with our eresources. Our findings included evidence in favour of changes we were already working on\, some quick wins\, and some things we’ll need to think more about before we can address them. In this lightning talk we’ll look at our specific findings about our User Interface\, our support document ad the staffing of our chat support\, and touch on what we learned about our coding/assessment and how we will change it going forward. \n\n\n\n 1:00 PM – 1:20 PM – Evaluating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of In-class Simulations in a Faculty Partnership\n \nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University) \nIn 2017\, a librarian-faculty partnership led to the creation of an in-class simulation for a first-year undergraduate course on global human rights. Students took on roles representing global actors (e.g.\, nation states and NGOs) to respond to a simulated crisis in their own role’s best interest\, which led to developing research\, evaluation\, and critical thinking skills in an active learning environment. A mixed-methods research study assessed the impact of the simulation\, combining qualitative data from reflections and observations with rubric-based quantitative analysis. This session will outline the simulation design\, assessment strategies\, and key findings\, demonstrating how play-based learning can meaningfully enhance student engagement and skill development. Attendees will gain insights into applying these methods in other instructional settings and using data to advocate for deeper faculty-librarian collaboration. \n\n\n\n 1:25 PM – 1:45 PM – Are Three Shots Better Than One? Assessing the Impact and Design of a New Information Literacy Program\n \nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University) \nIn 2023-2024 Thompson Rivers University librarians developed a pilot program to transform an information literacy program from predominantly one-shots to a structured\, integrated program. The English 1100 Library Instruction Pilot (ELIP) project was developed as a collaboration between the Library and the English department in Spring 2023 with the goal of expanding library instruction to support student success and student belonging. Rather than participate in the usual one-shot session\, designated ELIP students will take part in a series of three weekly library tutorials. The ELIP project has ran throughout the 2023-24 academic year\, during which time we collected student assignment data\, student feedback\, faculty feedback\, and reflective journal entries of librarian participants to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of the program. \nThe shortcomings of one-shot information literacy sessions are widespread and well documented in our profession. Nicole Pagowsky states that “the one-shot—even if there is more than one—makes it difficult to reach deeper learning\, critical thinking\, and inclusive pedagogy” (2021\, 2). However\, our approach to the pilot—neither a one-shot nor a credit course—is unique within the established literature.  \n\nDid the ELIP program help students succeed in their associated English 1100 courses?\nDoes more integrated instruction aid in relationship-building between the library and the TRU community?\nHow can we improve our instruction practices to better meet student needs?\n\nBy each of these metrics\, the ELIP program improved outcomes over the usual one-shot. Faculty survey results were very positive\, and the librarian instructors all observed the depth of student engagement and positive relationship-building. This closer relationship with students also resulted in tangible improvements to our teaching practices and existing learning objects. My presentation will introduce the ELIP program\, including the rationale for its design; introduce the various assessment methods we used; and discuss our results and next steps. Course materials\, as well as assessment tools (such as surveys and consent forms) will be made available to interested attendees. \n\n\n\n 1:50 PM – 2:10 PM – Measuring What Matters: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Training Using Quantitative Methods and Analytics\n \nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor) \nAs information literacy (IL) instruction continues to evolve in academic libraries\, assessment practices must keep pace to ensure meaningful outcomes. This session explores the effectiveness of IL training by presenting a study conducted at the University of Windsor that assesses both perceived and demonstrated IL skills among graduate students in the Faculty of Arts\, Humanities\, and Social Sciences (FAHSS). Grounded in the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and using a modified version of the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED)\, the study highlights how analytics and structured assessment tools can inform\, improve\, and validate library instruction programs. \nIL training takes various forms\, from classroom-based sessions to orientation activities and one-on-one consultations\, but its effectiveness often goes unexamined. By comparing students who received formal IL instruction with those who did not\, this session reveals whether training correlates with stronger research skills and confidence in navigating academic resources. \nParticipants will learn about a flexible\, scalable assessment approach using B-TILED\, which combines demographic data\, self-assessment of research abilities\, and objective knowledge tests. The session also discusses practical considerations for survey design\, implementation\, and analysis using SPSS or similar platforms. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of this session\, participants will be able to: \n\nDescribe how information literacy assessment tools can be integrated into academic library instruction programs.\nIdentify key components of the B-TILED framework and understand how to adapt it for different library contexts.\nAnalyze and interpret the relationship between self-perceived research ability and objectively measured IL skills.\nApply basic quantitative analysis strategies to assess the impact of library training using analytics platforms.\nDevelop evidence-based strategies to improve and justify IL instruction efforts in response to student learning needs and institutional goals.\n\n\n\n\n 2:10 PM – 2:30 PM – Ask the Users What They Want: Assessing How Researchers Find and Use Digital Collections in Their Work\n \nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nFor over 20 years\, libraries have been digitizing and providing online access to their collections to better serve the research\, teaching\, and creative aims of academics and non-academics alike. The open\, online nature of most library-digitized collections has helped facilitate access for new audiences; however\, this openness also means that libraries know comparatively little about those using these resources\, making these resources difficult for libraries to assess. If you don’t know who your users are\, how can you learn about them? \nUser experience research has gained popularity and widespread acceptance in libraries as a standard set of techniques for assessing library services and interfaces\, and digital collections platforms are no exception here. However\, much of the user experience research conducted for the purposes of assessing digital collections programs and platforms is limited to institutional affiliates and is concerned only with the digital collections platform itself\, neglecting questions about how users find these collections in the first place as well as how they use them in their research. \nThis presentation reports on a mixed-methods study conducted with the aim of broadening our horizons about who digital collections users are and how they use library-digitized resources in their research. Our study used anonymous surveys and qualitative interviews to achieve a balance of breadth of participation and depth of answers. Recognizing the open nature of our digital collections\, we included academic researchers regardless of location or institutional affiliation\, as well as non-academic researchers like journalists\, artists\, bloggers\, and public historians. Our study asked three main research questions: Who is using library-digitized collections? How do they find them? And finally\, how do they use them in their research? \nIn this presentation we will focus on the methods we used for this study\, their outcomes\, and what we learned from this process. We will discuss the importance of using multiple types of research techniques for assessment in the context of user experience research\, and in particular what this type of mixed-methods research can contribute to the suite of user experience research tools. Participants will learn about the strengths of mixed-methods research\, how exploratory research techniques can be used to complement and enhance other evaluative data\, like usability studies and web analytics\, that may be gathering for library assessment\, and how to apply these techniques to answer big questions in user experience and library service assessment. \n\n\n\n 2:45 PM – 3:05 PM – Peer-led IL Teaching Assessment: Cultivating a Culture of Reflective Assessment Practice Through Peer-Mentorship\n \nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University) \nOur session will feature the peer-led information literacy [IL] teaching assessment program we facilitate for librarians at our undergraduate university\, including the impetus\, development\, theoretical foundation\, structure\, and impact. We will share observations about how the program is contributing to our understanding of reflective teaching practice as central to teaching assessment and the development of a more cohesive community of teaching practice among instructional librarians involved in the program.  \nOur Reflective Peer-Mentorship Teaching Triangles program fulfills the Library’s mandate for developing sustainable IL teaching assessment practices in alignment with our University’s Strategic Plan\, Teaching Greatness. Taking a student-centred approach to assessment and grounded in the critical assessment of library instruction framework developed by McCartin & Dineen (2018)\, our critical IL assessment program promotes the intentional\, continuous evaluation of teaching cultivated through reflective practice. By placing the work of assessment and improvement on us as teachers we shift the assessment burden  (i.e. filling out feedback forms or measurement instruments) off of students.  \nBuilding our library’s long-standing involvement with teaching observation triangles and IL teaching mentorship\, our program offers ongoing teaching assessment opportunities in combination with targeted peer mentorship. Program participants form peer-mentorship triangles that meet multiple times across an academic term. Individual participants identify the priority teaching elements (i.e.\, content\, accessibility\, interactions with students) about which they would like to receive constructive feedback; peer observers adopt a strengths-based approach\, sharing positive feedback alongside any useful suggestions for improvement in the pre-identified areas. As members of a co-mentorship triad\, participants aim to foster teaching excellence in one another while also learning from one another\, collecting ideas for enhancing student learning experiences as they observe one another teach. For early career librarians in particular\, the co-mentorship aspect creates a safe environment for developing teaching competence and confidence. This program not only allows for meaningful assessment of teaching but also affords participants the opportunity to foster individual reflective practice in a way that is continual\, sustained\, and relational (Lewitzky\, 2020). \nFollowing our session\, participants will leave with an understanding of:  \n\nThe value of relational\, peer-observation for teaching assessment\nThe role of reflective teaching practice for sustained\, continual improvement\nHow our program is run so that it can be adapted for participant institutions\n\nReferences:  \nLewitzky\, R. A. (2020). Educating\, learning\, and growing: A review of the teaching role in academic librarianship. College & Undergraduate Libraries\, 27(1)\, 32-40. \nMcCartin\, L. F.\, & Dineen\, R. (2018). Toward a Critical-Inclusive Assessment Practice for Library Instruction. Litwin Books. \n\n\n\n 3:10 PM – 3:40 PM – From Chaos to Clarity: Preparing Open Access Publication Data for Collection Assessment\n \nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto) \nDevelopments in open access publishing\, business models\, and funding policies have brought scholarly communications into the fold of collection development work. Increasingly\, library collection development funds are repurposed to cover publishing fees through transitional read and publish agreements. With this shift comes a pressing need for new assessment frameworks – ones that go beyond traditional e-resource usage statistics to measure publication output and financial investment. Libraries must develop capacities to gather and analyze institutional publication data to inform collection development decisions.  \nHowever\, assessing open access publishing is not straightforward. Open access publication data is often presented in inconsistent formats and scattered across bibliometric and publisher reports\, which hinders aggregated analysis. To address this challenge\, The University of Toronto Libraries launched a pilot project aimed at streamlining the collection\, cleaning\, and visualization of OA publication data.  \nThe short session will share insights from the pilot\, which includes gathering publication data reports from several open access agreements\, standardizing the data into a unified template\, and building and interactive dashboard to visualize the university’s publishing activity and financial contributions in open access publishing. The project initially explored programming-based solutions for data cleaning but ultimately adopted KNIME – a low code\, open-source platform – to manage complex data cleaning tasks in a scalable and accessible way. \nFrom this presentation\, participants will: \n\nGain insight on how to track and visualize open access publishing at their institution\nUnderstand challenges for collecting publication data and strategies for collecting large\, unstandardized data sets\nIdentify tools low-code tools and solutions\, such as Knime\, for working with large complex data sets\n\nThis presentation will be valuable for those interested in new assessment methods and data sources\, data analytics tools\, and those looking to begin working with open access publication data. \n\n\n\n 3:45 PM – 4:05 PM – “Surprise Me!”: What a User Community Survey Revealed About an Open Stacks Collection\n \nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament) \nThe Library of Parliament’s (Library) rich collections\, developed over many decades\, are central to its mission of contributing to Canadian parliamentary democracy by “managing and delivering authoritative\, reliable and relevant information and knowledge.” The collections are distributed among several branches in the parliamentary precinct as well as an offsite storage facility.  \nIn addition\, a self-serve branch intended primarily for Library researchers provides on-site access to a print collection. A recent comprehensive assessment of this collection resulted in ample shelf space becoming available for new acquisitions. In considering how to develop this collection and manage the space\, we reflected on the current role and value of on-site print for subject specialists in their work and research\, professional development\, and leisurely reading. This process led to creating the user survey covered in this presentation.  \nIn this session\, I will present the survey from conception to results.  \nThe presentation will include:  \n\nAn introduction to the Library of Parliament (CARL’s newest member!) including its collections and users \nSteps and iterations in survey design \nSurvey objectives\, results\, and planned outcomes \n\nLearning objectives  \nConference participants will learn about: \n\nConsiderations in creating a focused survey for a local user group \nInsights gleaned from survey results\, including respondents’ experience of the print collection and the space; and differences between more recent and more seasoned researchers in their awareness of\, and preferences for\, print on site \nChallenges and lessons learned \n\n\n\n\n2025 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 27 – October 28 at Regina\, Saskatchewan\n\n2023 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 23\, 2023 – October 25\, 2023 at London\, Ontario\n\n2019 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 22\, 2019 – October 24\, 2019 at Windsor\, Ontario\n\n2017 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 26\, 2017 – October 27\, 2017 at Victoria\, British Columbia\n\n2015 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 14\, 2015 – October 16\, 2015 at Toronto\, Ontario\n\n\n \n Learn More About CLAW\n \nCLAW Program Committee\n\nChristine Brown (Chair)\, Head\, Faculty Engagement (Social Sciences + Humanities)\, University of Alberta \nKatrina Fortner\, Administration and Communications Coordinator\, Ontario Council of University Libraries\nShahira Khair\, University of Victoria\nJuliene McLaughlin\, Assessment & UX Librarian\, University of Guelph\nConnie Winther\, Head\, Faculty Engagement (Health Sciences)\, University of Alberta\nKaren Wiome\, Library Administrator\, University of Regina\nJulie Morin\, Senior Program Officer\, CARL\n\nTravel and Accommodation\nA block of rooms with The Atlas Hotel has been arranged at a rate of $149.95 per night. Reservations can be made by calling 1-306-586-3443 or emailing guestambassador@atlashotel.com and using code: 102625CLA \nUniversity of Regina campus mapArcher Library is denoted as building code= LY \nFood and drink in ReginaNote that dine-arounds will be organized in advance of the workshop. \nCost and Registration\nRegister before September 26th by completing this form and see payment details below. \nFees: $430.00 CAD [Note that this fee is waived for speakers\, who are only required to complete the registration form linked above.] \nRegistration fees include breakfast\, snacks\, and lunch. An evening reception is also included and generously provided by the University of Regina’s Dr. John Archer Library and Archives on October 27. Please let us know of any dietary restrictions when you register. \nParticipants preferring to pay by e-transfer can direct their funds to finance@carl-abrc.ca. Participants preferring to pay via credit card or PayPal can do so using the link below. \n \n Monday October 27\n \n \n Tuesday October 28\n \n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker(s)\n\n\n\n\n8:00 AM – 8:45 AM\nBreakfast and Registration\n—\n\n\n8:45 AM – 9:00 AM\nWelcome\nDr. David Gregory\, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)\, University of Regina & CLAW Program Committee\n\n\n9:00 AM – 9:20 AM\nImpact Compass for Research Libraries: The University of Calgary Experience\nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary)\n\n\n9:25 AM – 9:45 AM\nCommunicating the Value of a Library Consortium to Non-Library Audiences\nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) & Katrina Fortner (OCUL)\n\n\n9:50 AM – 10:10 AM\nStrategic Planning with Impact: A Logic Model Case Study from the University of Ottawa Library\nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa)\n\n\n10:15 AM – 10:35 AM\nFrom Scattered to Strategic: Developing Real-Time Dashboards for Library Assessment\nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, & Sarah Mantz (Western University)\n\n\n10:35 AM – 11:00 AM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n11:00 AM – 11:20 AM\nGoing Beyond the Gate Counts: Library Census Day\nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University)\n\n\n11:25 AM – 11:45 AM\nAssessing Project Success in Academic Libraries\nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University)\n\n\n11:45 AM – 1:00 PM\nLunch\n—\n\n\n1:00 PM – 1:20 PM\nIt Ain’t Broke… Or Is It? Facing Ambiguity and Uncertainty in Assessment\nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph)\n\n\n1:25 PM – 1:45 PM\nEnhancing User Experience: Applying a Student-Focused Approach to Library Website Design\nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, & David Pearson (MacEwan University)\n\n\n1:45 PM – 2:10 PM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n2:10 PM – 4:10 PM\nDialogue in Library Assessment: Facilitation\, Approaches\, and Techniques\nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, & Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University)\n\n\n4:30 PM\nReception\n—\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker(s)\n\n\n\n\n8:00 AM – 8:50 AM\nBreakfast\n—\n\n\n8:50 AM – 9:00 AM\nWelcome / Announcements\n—\n\n\n9:00 AM – 10:30 AM\nTen Recent Assessment Projects that We Love\nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta)\n\n\n10:30 AM – 11:00 AM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n11:00 AM – 11:30 AM\nLightning Talks: Beyond Bugs; Testing for Usability and Accessibility; Asking Chat about Library Search\nCaitlin Bakker; Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina); Susan Bond (University of Toronto)\n\n\n11:30 AM – 1:00 PM\nLunch\n—\n\n\n1:00 PM – 1:20 PM\nEvaluating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of In-class Simulations in a Faculty Partnership\nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University)\n\n\n1:25 PM – 1:45 PM\nAre Three Shots Better Than One? Assessing the Impact and Design of a New Information Literacy Program\nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University)\n\n\n1:50 PM – 2:10 PM\nMeasuring What Matters: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Training Using Quantitative Methods and Analytics\nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor)\n\n\n2:10 PM – 2:30 PM\nAsk the Users What They Want: Assessing How Researchers Find and Use Digital Collections in Their Work\nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University)\n\n\n2:30 PM – 2:45 PM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n2:45 PM – 3:05 PM\nPeer-led IL Teaching Assessment: Cultivating a Culture of Reflective Assessment Practice Through Peer-Mentorship\nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University)\n\n\n3:10 PM – 3:40 PM\nFrom Chaos to Clarity: Preparing Open Access Publication Data for Collection Assessment\nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto)\n\n\n3:45 PM – 4:05 PM\n“Surprise Me!”: What a User Community Survey Revealed About an Open Stacks Collection\nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament)\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker(s)\n\n\n\n\n8:00 AM – 8:45 AM\nBreakfast and Registration\n—\n\n\n8:45 AM – 9:00 AM\nWelcome\nDr. David Gregory\, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)\, University of Regina & CLAW Program Committee\n\n\n9:00 AM – 9:20 AM\nImpact Compass for Research Libraries: The University of Calgary Experience\nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary)\n\n\n9:25 AM – 9:45 AM\nCommunicating the Value of a Library Consortium to Non-Library Audiences\nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) & Katrina Fortner (OCUL)\n\n\n9:50 AM – 10:10 AM\nStrategic Planning with Impact: A Logic Model Case Study from the University of Ottawa Library\nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa)\n\n\n10:15 AM – 10:35 AM\nFrom Scattered to Strategic: Developing Real-Time Dashboards for Library Assessment\nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, & Sarah Mantz (Western University)\n\n\n10:35 AM – 11:00 AM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n11:00 AM – 11:20 AM\nGoing Beyond the Gate Counts: Library Census Day\nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University)\n\n\n11:25 AM – 11:45 AM\nAssessing Project Success in Academic Libraries\nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University)\n\n\n11:45 AM – 1:00 PM\nLunch\n—\n\n\n1:00 PM – 1:20 PM\nIt Ain’t Broke… Or Is It? Facing Ambiguity and Uncertainty in Assessment\nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph)\n\n\n1:25 PM – 1:45 PM\nEnhancing User Experience: Applying a Student-Focused Approach to Library Website Design\nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, & David Pearson (MacEwan University)\n\n\n1:45 PM – 2:10 PM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n2:10 PM – 4:10 PM\nDialogue in Library Assessment: Facilitation\, Approaches\, and Techniques\nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, & Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University)\n\n\n4:30 PM\nReception\n—\n\n\n\n\nEdit\n\n\nTime\nSession\nSpeaker(s)\n\n\n\n\n8:00 AM – 8:50 AM\nBreakfast\n—\n\n\n8:50 AM – 9:00 AM\nWelcome / Announcements\n—\n\n\n9:00 AM – 10:30 AM\nTen Recent Assessment Projects that We Love\nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta)\n\n\n10:30 AM – 11:00 AM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n11:00 AM – 11:30 AM\nLightning Talks: Beyond Bugs; Testing for Usability and Accessibility; Asking Chat about Library Search\nCaitlin Bakker; Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina); Susan Bond (University of Toronto)\n\n\n11:30 AM – 1:00 PM\nLunch\n—\n\n\n1:00 PM – 1:20 PM\nEvaluating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of In-class Simulations in a Faculty Partnership\nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University)\n\n\n1:25 PM – 1:45 PM\nAre Three Shots Better Than One? Assessing the Impact and Design of a New Information Literacy Program\nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University)\n\n\n1:50 PM – 2:10 PM\nMeasuring What Matters: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Training Using Quantitative Methods and Analytics\nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor)\n\n\n2:10 PM – 2:30 PM\nAsk the Users What They Want: Assessing How Researchers Find and Use Digital Collections in Their Work\nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University)\n\n\n2:30 PM – 2:45 PM\nBreak\n—\n\n\n2:45 PM – 3:05 PM\nPeer-led IL Teaching Assessment: Cultivating a Culture of Reflective Assessment Practice Through Peer-Mentorship\nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University)\n\n\n3:10 PM – 3:40 PM\nFrom Chaos to Clarity: Preparing Open Access Publication Data for Collection Assessment\nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto)\n\n\n3:45 PM – 4:05 PM\n“Surprise Me!”: What a User Community Survey Revealed About an Open Stacks Collection\nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament)\n\n\n\n \n Monday October 27\n \n \n Tuesday October 28\n \n\n\n 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM – Impact Compass for Research Libraries: The University of Calgary Experience\n \nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary) \nThe presenters will describe the Libraries & Cultural Resources (LCR) Impact Study at the University of Calgary. This study focuses on the experience of two distinct user groups: faculty and students. It was conducted in close collaboration with Implement Consulting Group. \nThe purpose of this study is to better understand LCR’s role and impact in the academic lives of students and faculty through capturing and measuring what happens when these users engage with LCR. Additionally\, the study aims to inspire and inform future strategic decisions and plans for Libraries and Cultural Resources. \nThe study is based on an Impact Compass framework\, which is a mixed methods approach designed to explore how cultural experiences impact individuals. The Compass serves as a tool for quantitatively communicating how an individual experiences a particular cultural product or service\, while also using qualitative data analysis to gain deeper insight into the findings. \nWhile the Impact Compass framework has previously been used for public libraries\, the framework had never been used in a research library context. To ensure the Impact Compass resonated in LCR’s context staff\, students\, and faculty were consulted\, and significant adaptations to the Compass were made. \nSpecifically\, through this collaborative process four pillars of library experience were determined: space\, collections and digital resources\, teaching and learning support\, and research support. Each pillar was assigned an impact compass. Each compass was divided into four dimensions of impact: emotional\, intellectual\, social\, and creative. Each dimension consisted of three parameters that were tested and refined to reflect the needs and context of a research library. Qualitative data was then used to provide nuance and understanding to the compass. From this impact profiles were developed. \nThe presenters will discuss the results from the study\, including the impact profiles for both students and faculty. Finally\, the presenters will discuss how the findings of the study have been used and plans for future use. \nLearning Objectives: \n\nBasic understanding of the method used for this study.\nPotentially\, gain insight from the findings of the study that could be generalizable to their own setting\n\n\n\n\n 9:25 AM – 9:45 AM – Communicating the Value of a Library Consortium to Non-Library Audiences\n \nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) and Katrina Fortner (Ontario Council of University Libraries). \nIn late 2024\, the library directors that make up the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) asked for support in explaining the value of the services they receive from OCUL and its service arm Scholars Portal\, to senior university administrators outside of the library. With more than 20 institutions varying significantly in size\, research intensity\, and institutional priorities\, there was no consensus about what kinds of information would be helpful for communicating to senior administrators. Some institutions\, for example\, preferred hard numbers and specifically asked about return on investment or cost savings; others felt that statements about qualitative benefits would be more compelling arguments with their administrators. \nIn response to this request\, the OCUL-Scholars Portal communications group launched into action. We investigated various ways of calculating value and cost savings in different services or areas of operations\, until we identified a range of data points we felt confident calculating for every institution. We also wrote value statements articulating the benefits or outcomes of consortial services that we expected to resonate with non-library administrators. Once we had a strong set of statements\, we asked library directors to rank the statements they felt would be most helpful for their institution. With the help of a template designed by our web services team\, we then generated custom reports for every institution that responded. These reports were distributed along with supporting documentation that provided more context to allow library directors to confidently discuss these reports with administrators at their institution\, connecting the dots between library cost or resource savings and positive campus community impacts. \nThis session will discuss the challenges\, opportunities\, and lessons learned throughout the project. \nParticipants will learn how to: \n\nDiscuss methodologies for calculating cost savings in consortial services\nTake a communications lens to assessment and consider the role of audience when communicating value\nThink critically about statistics and calculated values and understand the importance of knowing where the numbers come from\n\n\n\n\n 9:50 AM – 10:10 AM – Strategic Planning with Impact: A Logic Model Case Study from the University of Ottawa Library\n \nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa) \nThis session will share how the University of Ottawa Library is using the CARL Library Impact Framework to bring greater clarity\, coherence\, and evaluability to the implementation of our new Strategic Plan. \nUsing one strategic direction as a case study\, I will walk participants through how our Library Management Group collaboratively developed a logic model to map key activities\, outputs\, audiences\, outcomes\, and underlying assumptions. This process helped us move beyond broad aspirations to define tangible actions\, test the plausibility of the impact pathway\, and lay the groundwork for meaningful evaluation. \nBy grounding our planning in the CARL Framework\, we built a shared understanding of how our work creates impact and established a clearer line of sight between strategy and implementation. \nThe session will highlight how the use of logic models: \n\nHelped us make our strategy more actionable;\nSurfaced assumptions and clarified intended results;\nCreated a stronger foundation for future assessment work.\n\nThis case study is particularly relevant for libraries seeking to bridge the gap between strategic planning and operational execution\, and for those aiming to integrate evaluative thinking without overwhelming staff or resources. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of the session\, participants will be able to: \n\nUnderstand how the CARL Library Impact Framework can support strategic plan implementation.\nIdentify key elements of a simple logic model that clarify intent and support future evaluation.\nReflect on how early evaluative thinking can enhance the coherence and feasibility of strategic planning efforts.\n\nThis session is designed to be practical and transferable\, especially for libraries navigating the messy middle between strategy design and execution. Our case study is intended to spark ideas for libraries seeking to embed evaluation into their planning practices and make strategic intent more actionable and visible. \n\n\n\n 10:15 AM – 10:35 AM – From Scattered to Strategic: Developing Real-Time Dashboards for Library Assessment\n \nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, and Sarah Mantz (Western University) \nAcademic libraries collect a wide array of data through various platforms\, tools\, and procedures. However\, staff and leadership often find it difficult to access or interpret that data. At Western Libraries\, we had a common challenge. The data was hard to find\, housed in different platforms\, inconsistently tracked amongst our teams\, and difficult to connect for evidence-based decision making at all levels.  \nTo help with this\, we are developing a real-time dashboard that would promote transparency and accessibility to our data. This dashboard’s aim is to support evidence-based decision making across the entire organization to help with strategic planning\, resource allocation\, and operations.  \nThe project began with consulting with leadership to determine the scope of the project and define key goals. This was followed by a series of internal data inventory meetings with key stakeholders from across our User Services and Senior Leadership teams to understand what data was being collected\, how\, and by whom. These meetings revealed gaps in data collection\, along with key differences in how all the teams view and use their data. In conjunction\, we also worked with members of our LITS (Library Information Technology Services) team to assess the technical requirements\, explore visualization options\, and identify what would be the most sustainable options\, long term.  \nIn this session\, we will share our planning process\, lessons learned\, and practical steps we have used to map and consolidate our data across a large library system. We will also discuss how we framed our process using ADKAR (Awareness\, Desire\, Knowledge\, Ability\, Reinforcement) to support sustained change and contribute towards a culture of assessment at Western Libraries.  \nLearning Objectives / Key Takeaways  \n\nParticipants will be able to identify and consolidate existing data and determine gaps and solutions in current data collection. \nParticipants will be able to understand the early process of designing a “platform” to increase access to institutional data. \nParticipants will gain ideas for applying change management strategies to promote adoption and sustain assessment initiatives. \n\n\n\n\n 11:00 AM – 11:20 AM – Going Beyond the Gate Counts: Library Census Day\n \nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University) \nWho spends time and how much time are they spending in our libraries? That is the question that drove us to conduct a Census Day at all of our library locations. We captured library traffic of 19\,232 entrance/exits across the day.  We selected seventeen data points to record\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes each.  \nLike Dillalogue & Koehn (2020)\, we wanted to delve deeper than gate counts alone so we created a tap-in/tap-out tool for users to voluntarily tap their campus ID when entering and leaving all six of our libraries on a single day in 2025. We modeled this assessment project after McGill Libraries who have run a similar type of event in the past.  Our goal was to capture 80% of the traffic in a single day during our opening hours.  We also used Census Day as a catalyst for our LibQUAL+ survey for which we received more completed surveys than in previous years.  \nTwo approaches were critical to the success of Census Day: involving the entire library staff and partnering with the Office of Institutional Planning & Analysis (OIPA).  Staff were involved in establishing the id card scanning system; the logistics of the day for each library; role assignment on Census Day; developing and disseminating communication assets; celebrating the success of the day; assisting in preliminary analysis of the results).  Partnering with OIPA allowed us to select from over 200 data points; maintain anonymity of the data; and provided us with language for describing the analysis within the constraints of protecting patron data.   \nWe selected seventeen data points\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes.   \nIn this session we will share details of what we learned about who is using the libraries and how long they’re staying\, including data that surprised us and follow up assessment ideas.  \nAttendees will learn about the variety of data points collected by academic institutions and how those can be useful to inform decisions about hours\, staffing\, space design\, traffic flow etc.  \nAttendees will learn about an open-source dashboard system (Metabase) that allows querying of the data for data visualization.  \nAttendees will also receive a link to a packet with guidance on running their own Census Day.   \nReference: Dillalogue\, E.\, & Koehn\, M. (2020). Assessment on a Dime: Low Cost User Data Collection for Assessment. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice\, 15(3)\, 2–20. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29582  \n\n\n\n 11:25 AM – 11:45 AM – Assessing Project Success in Academic Libraries\n \nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nAt the start of any project\, project stakeholders define what constitutes success. This definition is then used at the end of the project to evaluate if these aims were met and ultimately determine if the project was “successful” or not. Typical metrics used in project management such as key performance indicators (KPIs) and resource utilization\, though potentially useful\, speak to businesses or for-profit workplaces and may not be the most relevant nor transferable to academic environments where profit is not a relevant factor. \nAfter completing multiple projects in McGill Libraries’ technology unit and using typical metrics to evaluate projects\, it became clear that though these metrics answered the “what” of a project\, they did not answer the “how”. Projects could be completed on time and meet their objectives\, but may have encountered significant issues during its course\, such as poor planning\, staff conflict\, and rushed timelines. Defining success in such narrow terms left staff feeling dissatisfied\, particularly if the project met significant challenges. Doing a retrospective on the project is one model to capture qualitative feedback\, allowing team members to learn and grow from (sometimes) negative experiences. This can provide additional context outside of typical success measures. \nThis presentation’s learning objectives include: \n\nBriefly describe the basic tools of project management documentation (e.g.\, charter\, retrospective).\nState the common metrics used to evaluate project success.\nDiscuss a model\, including retrospectives\, which captures participants’ qualitative feedback on project success in an academic environment.\n\n\n\n\n 1:00 PM – 1:20 PM – It Ain’t Broke… Or Is It? Facing Ambiguity and Uncertainty in Assessment\n \nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph) \nAs the saying goes\, “if it ain’t broke\, don’t fix it.” But sometimes it’s not so clear when a library service is fine as it is and should be left alone\, or if it is starting to break\, or is already broken.  For many years our library maintained a public webpage listing databases\, and in 2016 we implemented Springshare’s A-Z database list. Over this time\, our UX team has conducted usability studies\, gathered web analytics\, and monitored the library literature. We’ve recommended incremental changes to ensure this page is as usable and useful as possible. However\, more recently we began to wonder if this page is still relevant and if it’s doing more harm than good. After a thorough UX investigation\, we were unable to reach any definitive conclusion\, but our intuition that there is a problem has not gone away.  What do you do when your gut tells you there’s a problem\, but the evidence is inconclusive? When should you abandon incremental improvements and make a radical change? Who decides?   \nLearning objectives:   \n\nDiscuss the role of professional intuition in user experience work\, including how to balance gut feelings with empirical evidence. \nRecognize the signs that a library service may no longer be meeting user needs\, even when traditional usability metrics are inconclusive. \nEvaluate the tension between incremental improvement and radical redesign and identify strategies to make informed decisions about when to shift approaches.\n\n\n\n\n 1:25 PM – 1:45 PM – Enhancing User Experience: Applying a Student-Focused Approach to Library Website Design\n \nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, and David Pearson (MacEwan University) \nThis brief presentation highlights the experiences and lessons learned from a comprehensive redesign of an undergraduate library website that focused on enhancing the user experience for undergraduate students. The project team consisted of four library staff members: a graphic designer\, an IT specialist\, and two librarians. The main challenge the team faced was developing a user experience (UX) protocol that prioritized the perspectives of students while also garnering support from library staff for the proposed changes to our existing assessment practices.  \nPrior to the project’s launch in Fall 2023\, previous website redesign efforts primarily considered the opinions of library staff and faculty. Consequently\, the website’s information architecture and tone of voice were flagged as potential areas of improvement during the redesign process. This concern was validated when the team collaborated with upper-year anthropology students conducting ethnographic studies of the library website. In both discussions with the students and in their formal reports\, it became clear that they found the website to be inaccessible\, confusing\, and unwelcoming to students. To that end\, the project team developed a UX protocol that sought to prioritize student perspectives as well as best practices in accessible and inclusive web design.   \nThis presentation will provide a brief overview of the project\, key examples of student-focused user experience tools we applied\, and our observations and lessons learned as we continue to assess and refine the library website.  \nLearning Outcomes – Participants will:  \n\nUnderstand how to implement student-focused user experience practices in a web design project\nConsider methods of encouraging library staff buy-in for student-focused website design \nIdentify ways to sustainably collect and implement student feedback on an ongoing basis \n\n\n\n\n 2:10 PM – 4:10 PM – Dialogue in Library Assessment: Facilitation\, Approaches\, and Techniques\n \nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, and Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University) \nLibrary assessment practitioners can integrate the tools and techniques of dialogue to facilitate meaningful and inclusive community-based assessments—with library users as well as library colleagues. This workshop will introduce theory\, knowledge\, and skills for facilitating dialogue in library assessment work.  \nDialogue can be defined in many ways. It is a method for articulating needs\, desires\, and underlying assumptions in groups that rejects hierarchical power dynamics and is transformation focused. It uses participatory practices to host generative conversations\, be more inclusive\, foster mutual learning\, centre lived expertise\, and harness collective wisdom. It “can support groups and communities to respectfully explore polarizing issues\, address conflict\, deliberate on potential for complex issues and much more” (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University\, n.d.). In his 1999 book\, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together\, William Issacs succinctly and rather beautifully defined dialogue as “a conversation with a center\, not sides” (p. 19). Williams went on to state\, “It is a way of taking the energy of our differences and channeling it toward something that has never been created before. It lifts us out of polarization and into a greater common sense\, and is thereby a means for accessing the intelligence and coordinated power of groups of people” (p. 19).   \nAttendees of this workshop will learn about how the Instruction Plan Sub-Group of SFU Library’s Working Group for Information Literacy & Instruction (WGILI) is using methods in dialogue to assess the needs of their library instructor colleagues and to integrate their colleagues’ lived expertise into the Library’s new Instruction Plan\, which the Sub-Group is currently creating. After an introduction to theory and the SFU context\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of participants in a structured dialogue created by the Sub-Group to assess the needs of library instructors at SFU Library. This dialogue will facilitate co-constructed knowledge\, distributed leadership\, the cross-pollination of ideas\, and shared and visible sense-making.   \nAfter experiencing the structured dialogue as participants\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of facilitators as we “pull back the curtain” and review and reflect on the components\, design\, and outcomes of the dialogue. We will share the theory behind decisions made and actions taken and discuss the transferability of the facilitation methods used\, with an emphasis on the practical application of theoretical concepts and principles in other library assessment contexts. Templates and facilitation resources that attendees can bring into their assessment practice will be shared. We’ll also discuss the benefits of bringing methods in dialogue and facilitation into library assessment work.   \nLearning objectives  \nAt the end of this workshop\, attendees will be able to:  \n\nUnderstand dialogue as a methodology. \nApply facilitation techniques that enable dialogue and foster meaningful conversations in a library assessment setting. \nDevelop assessment insights using methods in facilitation and dialogue. \n\nReferences  \nIsaacs\, W. (1999). Dialogue and the art of thinking together: A pioneering approach to communicating in business and in life (1st ed). Currency.   \nMorris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University. (n.d.). What is Dialogue? Retrieved June 1\, 2025\, from https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/learn/what-is-dialogue.html  \n\n\n\n 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM – Ten Recent Assessment Projects that We Love\n \nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta) \nThe assessment landscape is changing.  There is an ongoing shift to a focus on value and impact\, an increase in qualitative and mixed-method assessment\, and nascent explorations into the role of generative artificial intelligence in assessment. In our current environment\, it can be difficult to keep up with new initiatives and developments – especially with limited time\, resources\, and/or technology.  \nIn this fun and fast-paced session\, the presenters will share their recent assessment projects and practice\, as well as\, highlighting innovative practices at other libraries. While many of the projects discussed in the presentation will be from academic libraries\, all of the projects can be applied in academic\, public\, government\, and other library settings. Furthermore\, examples will range from projects and practices that can be done with limited resources (time\, money\, technology)\, to more resource-intensive examples. \nProjects and practices presented will vary in focus (collections\, space\, instruction etc.)\, methodology (point-of-use\, predictive collections\, photo voice etc.)\, time period (cross-sectional\, longitudinal)\, and scope of impact (individual\, institutional\, societal). \nLearning outcomes: \nThis session is aimed at librarians who want to discover fresh perspectives or methodologies in the field of library user experience\, assessment\, or impact practice. The goal of the session is for attendees to leave with a new approach to assessment that they can apply in their library.  \nTime will also be provided for audience members to share their own recent\, exciting assessment initiative. \n\n\n\n 11:00 AM – 11:30 PM – Lightening Talks\n \nBeyond Bugs: Using a ‘Report a Problem’ Feature to Understand User Expectations – Caitlin Bakker (University of Regina) \nIn February 2023\, the University of Regina implemented a report a problem feature in its discovery system. Since that time\, more than 600 reports have been submitted\, and this has become a critical feedback channel. Through these reports\, we’ve gained insight into aspects of the search and discovery experience that patrons find confusing\, counterintuitive\, or frustrating. These user-submitted problem reports frequently highlight mismatches between system functionality and user needs and assumptions. By analyzing these reports\, we’ve been able to better understand user behaviour and expectations of the library system\, and of the library generally. This lightning talk will outline how these reports were analyzed\, and the insights gained through this process. \nTesting for usability and accessibility: Using a think-aloud protocol as an assessment tool for Open Journal Systems – Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina) \nIn this lightning talk\, the presenters will share their experience with usability and accessibility testing as part of the University of Regina’s launch of Proceedings of the Canadian Nuclear Society in Open Journal Systems (OJS). This lightning talk will focus on best practices and takeaways from using a think-aloud protocol to assess the collection and its search functionality. The primary goal of this testing was to enable diverse user communities to engage in effective information seeking\, whether they are accessing the system via desktop computers or mobile devices. The session will cover practical aspects of the testing methodology\, such as working with a remote Library practicum. Attendees can expect to learn about specific usability testing techniques including prompts\, screen readers\, recording\, and other aspects of think aloud testing\, and how they can provide critical insight into improving system design and user satisfaction. \nAsking Chat about Library Search – Susan Bond (University of Toronto) \nAt the University of Toronto\, we have in recent years added our embedded chat help tool to our discovery layer – Ex Libris Primo VE\, which we have branded locally as LibrarySearch. Because LibrarySearch is a self-service tool\, every chat launched represents a potential paint point – it’s a way of users letting us know they’re not able to self-serve. In early 2025 we undertook an exploratory assessment looking at one month’s worth of chat transcripts\, seeing what we could discover about challenges in our interface\, gaps in our documentation\, and problems with our eresources. Our findings included evidence in favour of changes we were already working on\, some quick wins\, and some things we’ll need to think more about before we can address them. In this lightning talk we’ll look at our specific findings about our User Interface\, our support document ad the staffing of our chat support\, and touch on what we learned about our coding/assessment and how we will change it going forward. \n\n\n\n 1:00 PM – 1:20 PM – Evaluating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of In-class Simulations in a Faculty Partnership\n \nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University) \nIn 2017\, a librarian-faculty partnership led to the creation of an in-class simulation for a first-year undergraduate course on global human rights. Students took on roles representing global actors (e.g.\, nation states and NGOs) to respond to a simulated crisis in their own role’s best interest\, which led to developing research\, evaluation\, and critical thinking skills in an active learning environment. A mixed-methods research study assessed the impact of the simulation\, combining qualitative data from reflections and observations with rubric-based quantitative analysis. This session will outline the simulation design\, assessment strategies\, and key findings\, demonstrating how play-based learning can meaningfully enhance student engagement and skill development. Attendees will gain insights into applying these methods in other instructional settings and using data to advocate for deeper faculty-librarian collaboration. \n\n\n\n 1:25 PM – 1:45 PM – Are Three Shots Better Than One? Assessing the Impact and Design of a New Information Literacy Program\n \nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University) \nIn 2023-2024 Thompson Rivers University librarians developed a pilot program to transform an information literacy program from predominantly one-shots to a structured\, integrated program. The English 1100 Library Instruction Pilot (ELIP) project was developed as a collaboration between the Library and the English department in Spring 2023 with the goal of expanding library instruction to support student success and student belonging. Rather than participate in the usual one-shot session\, designated ELIP students will take part in a series of three weekly library tutorials. The ELIP project has ran throughout the 2023-24 academic year\, during which time we collected student assignment data\, student feedback\, faculty feedback\, and reflective journal entries of librarian participants to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of the program. \nThe shortcomings of one-shot information literacy sessions are widespread and well documented in our profession. Nicole Pagowsky states that “the one-shot—even if there is more than one—makes it difficult to reach deeper learning\, critical thinking\, and inclusive pedagogy” (2021\, 2). However\, our approach to the pilot—neither a one-shot nor a credit course—is unique within the established literature.  \n\nDid the ELIP program help students succeed in their associated English 1100 courses?\nDoes more integrated instruction aid in relationship-building between the library and the TRU community?\nHow can we improve our instruction practices to better meet student needs?\n\nBy each of these metrics\, the ELIP program improved outcomes over the usual one-shot. Faculty survey results were very positive\, and the librarian instructors all observed the depth of student engagement and positive relationship-building. This closer relationship with students also resulted in tangible improvements to our teaching practices and existing learning objects. My presentation will introduce the ELIP program\, including the rationale for its design; introduce the various assessment methods we used; and discuss our results and next steps. Course materials\, as well as assessment tools (such as surveys and consent forms) will be made available to interested attendees. \n\n\n\n 1:50 PM – 2:10 PM – Measuring What Matters: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Training Using Quantitative Methods and Analytics\n \nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor) \nAs information literacy (IL) instruction continues to evolve in academic libraries\, assessment practices must keep pace to ensure meaningful outcomes. This session explores the effectiveness of IL training by presenting a study conducted at the University of Windsor that assesses both perceived and demonstrated IL skills among graduate students in the Faculty of Arts\, Humanities\, and Social Sciences (FAHSS). Grounded in the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and using a modified version of the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED)\, the study highlights how analytics and structured assessment tools can inform\, improve\, and validate library instruction programs. \nIL training takes various forms\, from classroom-based sessions to orientation activities and one-on-one consultations\, but its effectiveness often goes unexamined. By comparing students who received formal IL instruction with those who did not\, this session reveals whether training correlates with stronger research skills and confidence in navigating academic resources. \nParticipants will learn about a flexible\, scalable assessment approach using B-TILED\, which combines demographic data\, self-assessment of research abilities\, and objective knowledge tests. The session also discusses practical considerations for survey design\, implementation\, and analysis using SPSS or similar platforms. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of this session\, participants will be able to: \n\nDescribe how information literacy assessment tools can be integrated into academic library instruction programs.\nIdentify key components of the B-TILED framework and understand how to adapt it for different library contexts.\nAnalyze and interpret the relationship between self-perceived research ability and objectively measured IL skills.\nApply basic quantitative analysis strategies to assess the impact of library training using analytics platforms.\nDevelop evidence-based strategies to improve and justify IL instruction efforts in response to student learning needs and institutional goals.\n\n\n\n\n 2:10 PM – 2:30 PM – Ask the Users What They Want: Assessing How Researchers Find and Use Digital Collections in Their Work\n \nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nFor over 20 years\, libraries have been digitizing and providing online access to their collections to better serve the research\, teaching\, and creative aims of academics and non-academics alike. The open\, online nature of most library-digitized collections has helped facilitate access for new audiences; however\, this openness also means that libraries know comparatively little about those using these resources\, making these resources difficult for libraries to assess. If you don’t know who your users are\, how can you learn about them? \nUser experience research has gained popularity and widespread acceptance in libraries as a standard set of techniques for assessing library services and interfaces\, and digital collections platforms are no exception here. However\, much of the user experience research conducted for the purposes of assessing digital collections programs and platforms is limited to institutional affiliates and is concerned only with the digital collections platform itself\, neglecting questions about how users find these collections in the first place as well as how they use them in their research. \nThis presentation reports on a mixed-methods study conducted with the aim of broadening our horizons about who digital collections users are and how they use library-digitized resources in their research. Our study used anonymous surveys and qualitative interviews to achieve a balance of breadth of participation and depth of answers. Recognizing the open nature of our digital collections\, we included academic researchers regardless of location or institutional affiliation\, as well as non-academic researchers like journalists\, artists\, bloggers\, and public historians. Our study asked three main research questions: Who is using library-digitized collections? How do they find them? And finally\, how do they use them in their research? \nIn this presentation we will focus on the methods we used for this study\, their outcomes\, and what we learned from this process. We will discuss the importance of using multiple types of research techniques for assessment in the context of user experience research\, and in particular what this type of mixed-methods research can contribute to the suite of user experience research tools. Participants will learn about the strengths of mixed-methods research\, how exploratory research techniques can be used to complement and enhance other evaluative data\, like usability studies and web analytics\, that may be gathering for library assessment\, and how to apply these techniques to answer big questions in user experience and library service assessment. \n\n\n\n 2:45 PM – 3:05 PM – Peer-led IL Teaching Assessment: Cultivating a Culture of Reflective Assessment Practice Through Peer-Mentorship\n \nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University) \nOur session will feature the peer-led information literacy [IL] teaching assessment program we facilitate for librarians at our undergraduate university\, including the impetus\, development\, theoretical foundation\, structure\, and impact. We will share observations about how the program is contributing to our understanding of reflective teaching practice as central to teaching assessment and the development of a more cohesive community of teaching practice among instructional librarians involved in the program.  \nOur Reflective Peer-Mentorship Teaching Triangles program fulfills the Library’s mandate for developing sustainable IL teaching assessment practices in alignment with our University’s Strategic Plan\, Teaching Greatness. Taking a student-centred approach to assessment and grounded in the critical assessment of library instruction framework developed by McCartin & Dineen (2018)\, our critical IL assessment program promotes the intentional\, continuous evaluation of teaching cultivated through reflective practice. By placing the work of assessment and improvement on us as teachers we shift the assessment burden  (i.e. filling out feedback forms or measurement instruments) off of students.  \nBuilding our library’s long-standing involvement with teaching observation triangles and IL teaching mentorship\, our program offers ongoing teaching assessment opportunities in combination with targeted peer mentorship. Program participants form peer-mentorship triangles that meet multiple times across an academic term. Individual participants identify the priority teaching elements (i.e.\, content\, accessibility\, interactions with students) about which they would like to receive constructive feedback; peer observers adopt a strengths-based approach\, sharing positive feedback alongside any useful suggestions for improvement in the pre-identified areas. As members of a co-mentorship triad\, participants aim to foster teaching excellence in one another while also learning from one another\, collecting ideas for enhancing student learning experiences as they observe one another teach. For early career librarians in particular\, the co-mentorship aspect creates a safe environment for developing teaching competence and confidence. This program not only allows for meaningful assessment of teaching but also affords participants the opportunity to foster individual reflective practice in a way that is continual\, sustained\, and relational (Lewitzky\, 2020). \nFollowing our session\, participants will leave with an understanding of:  \n\nThe value of relational\, peer-observation for teaching assessment\nThe role of reflective teaching practice for sustained\, continual improvement\nHow our program is run so that it can be adapted for participant institutions\n\nReferences:  \nLewitzky\, R. A. (2020). Educating\, learning\, and growing: A review of the teaching role in academic librarianship. College & Undergraduate Libraries\, 27(1)\, 32-40. \nMcCartin\, L. F.\, & Dineen\, R. (2018). Toward a Critical-Inclusive Assessment Practice for Library Instruction. Litwin Books. \n\n\n\n 3:10 PM – 3:40 PM – From Chaos to Clarity: Preparing Open Access Publication Data for Collection Assessment\n \nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto) \nDevelopments in open access publishing\, business models\, and funding policies have brought scholarly communications into the fold of collection development work. Increasingly\, library collection development funds are repurposed to cover publishing fees through transitional read and publish agreements. With this shift comes a pressing need for new assessment frameworks – ones that go beyond traditional e-resource usage statistics to measure publication output and financial investment. Libraries must develop capacities to gather and analyze institutional publication data to inform collection development decisions.  \nHowever\, assessing open access publishing is not straightforward. Open access publication data is often presented in inconsistent formats and scattered across bibliometric and publisher reports\, which hinders aggregated analysis. To address this challenge\, The University of Toronto Libraries launched a pilot project aimed at streamlining the collection\, cleaning\, and visualization of OA publication data.  \nThe short session will share insights from the pilot\, which includes gathering publication data reports from several open access agreements\, standardizing the data into a unified template\, and building and interactive dashboard to visualize the university’s publishing activity and financial contributions in open access publishing. The project initially explored programming-based solutions for data cleaning but ultimately adopted KNIME – a low code\, open-source platform – to manage complex data cleaning tasks in a scalable and accessible way. \nFrom this presentation\, participants will: \n\nGain insight on how to track and visualize open access publishing at their institution\nUnderstand challenges for collecting publication data and strategies for collecting large\, unstandardized data sets\nIdentify tools low-code tools and solutions\, such as Knime\, for working with large complex data sets\n\nThis presentation will be valuable for those interested in new assessment methods and data sources\, data analytics tools\, and those looking to begin working with open access publication data. \n\n\n\n 3:45 PM – 4:05 PM – “Surprise Me!”: What a User Community Survey Revealed About an Open Stacks Collection\n \nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament) \nThe Library of Parliament’s (Library) rich collections\, developed over many decades\, are central to its mission of contributing to Canadian parliamentary democracy by “managing and delivering authoritative\, reliable and relevant information and knowledge.” The collections are distributed among several branches in the parliamentary precinct as well as an offsite storage facility.  \nIn addition\, a self-serve branch intended primarily for Library researchers provides on-site access to a print collection. A recent comprehensive assessment of this collection resulted in ample shelf space becoming available for new acquisitions. In considering how to develop this collection and manage the space\, we reflected on the current role and value of on-site print for subject specialists in their work and research\, professional development\, and leisurely reading. This process led to creating the user survey covered in this presentation.  \nIn this session\, I will present the survey from conception to results.  \nThe presentation will include:  \n\nAn introduction to the Library of Parliament (CARL’s newest member!) including its collections and users \nSteps and iterations in survey design \nSurvey objectives\, results\, and planned outcomes \n\nLearning objectives  \nConference participants will learn about: \n\nConsiderations in creating a focused survey for a local user group \nInsights gleaned from survey results\, including respondents’ experience of the print collection and the space; and differences between more recent and more seasoned researchers in their awareness of\, and preferences for\, print on site \nChallenges and lessons learned \n\n\n\n\n 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM – Impact Compass for Research Libraries: The University of Calgary Experience\n \nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary) \nThe presenters will describe the Libraries & Cultural Resources (LCR) Impact Study at the University of Calgary. This study focuses on the experience of two distinct user groups: faculty and students. It was conducted in close collaboration with Implement Consulting Group. \nThe purpose of this study is to better understand LCR’s role and impact in the academic lives of students and faculty through capturing and measuring what happens when these users engage with LCR. Additionally\, the study aims to inspire and inform future strategic decisions and plans for Libraries and Cultural Resources. \nThe study is based on an Impact Compass framework\, which is a mixed methods approach designed to explore how cultural experiences impact individuals. The Compass serves as a tool for quantitatively communicating how an individual experiences a particular cultural product or service\, while also using qualitative data analysis to gain deeper insight into the findings. \nWhile the Impact Compass framework has previously been used for public libraries\, the framework had never been used in a research library context. To ensure the Impact Compass resonated in LCR’s context staff\, students\, and faculty were consulted\, and significant adaptations to the Compass were made. \nSpecifically\, through this collaborative process four pillars of library experience were determined: space\, collections and digital resources\, teaching and learning support\, and research support. Each pillar was assigned an impact compass. Each compass was divided into four dimensions of impact: emotional\, intellectual\, social\, and creative. Each dimension consisted of three parameters that were tested and refined to reflect the needs and context of a research library. Qualitative data was then used to provide nuance and understanding to the compass. From this impact profiles were developed. \nThe presenters will discuss the results from the study\, including the impact profiles for both students and faculty. Finally\, the presenters will discuss how the findings of the study have been used and plans for future use. \nLearning Objectives: \n\nBasic understanding of the method used for this study.\nPotentially\, gain insight from the findings of the study that could be generalizable to their own setting\n\n\n\n\n 9:25 AM – 9:45 AM – Communicating the Value of a Library Consortium to Non-Library Audiences\n \nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) and Katrina Fortner (Ontario Council of University Libraries). \nIn late 2024\, the library directors that make up the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) asked for support in explaining the value of the services they receive from OCUL and its service arm Scholars Portal\, to senior university administrators outside of the library. With more than 20 institutions varying significantly in size\, research intensity\, and institutional priorities\, there was no consensus about what kinds of information would be helpful for communicating to senior administrators. Some institutions\, for example\, preferred hard numbers and specifically asked about return on investment or cost savings; others felt that statements about qualitative benefits would be more compelling arguments with their administrators. \nIn response to this request\, the OCUL-Scholars Portal communications group launched into action. We investigated various ways of calculating value and cost savings in different services or areas of operations\, until we identified a range of data points we felt confident calculating for every institution. We also wrote value statements articulating the benefits or outcomes of consortial services that we expected to resonate with non-library administrators. Once we had a strong set of statements\, we asked library directors to rank the statements they felt would be most helpful for their institution. With the help of a template designed by our web services team\, we then generated custom reports for every institution that responded. These reports were distributed along with supporting documentation that provided more context to allow library directors to confidently discuss these reports with administrators at their institution\, connecting the dots between library cost or resource savings and positive campus community impacts. \nThis session will discuss the challenges\, opportunities\, and lessons learned throughout the project. \nParticipants will learn how to: \n\nDiscuss methodologies for calculating cost savings in consortial services\nTake a communications lens to assessment and consider the role of audience when communicating value\nThink critically about statistics and calculated values and understand the importance of knowing where the numbers come from\n\n\n\n\n 9:50 AM – 10:10 AM – Strategic Planning with Impact: A Logic Model Case Study from the University of Ottawa Library\n \nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa) \nThis session will share how the University of Ottawa Library is using the CARL Library Impact Framework to bring greater clarity\, coherence\, and evaluability to the implementation of our new Strategic Plan. \nUsing one strategic direction as a case study\, I will walk participants through how our Library Management Group collaboratively developed a logic model to map key activities\, outputs\, audiences\, outcomes\, and underlying assumptions. This process helped us move beyond broad aspirations to define tangible actions\, test the plausibility of the impact pathway\, and lay the groundwork for meaningful evaluation. \nBy grounding our planning in the CARL Framework\, we built a shared understanding of how our work creates impact and established a clearer line of sight between strategy and implementation. \nThe session will highlight how the use of logic models: \n\nHelped us make our strategy more actionable;\nSurfaced assumptions and clarified intended results;\nCreated a stronger foundation for future assessment work.\n\nThis case study is particularly relevant for libraries seeking to bridge the gap between strategic planning and operational execution\, and for those aiming to integrate evaluative thinking without overwhelming staff or resources. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of the session\, participants will be able to: \n\nUnderstand how the CARL Library Impact Framework can support strategic plan implementation.\nIdentify key elements of a simple logic model that clarify intent and support future evaluation.\nReflect on how early evaluative thinking can enhance the coherence and feasibility of strategic planning efforts.\n\nThis session is designed to be practical and transferable\, especially for libraries navigating the messy middle between strategy design and execution. Our case study is intended to spark ideas for libraries seeking to embed evaluation into their planning practices and make strategic intent more actionable and visible. \n\n\n\n 10:15 AM – 10:35 AM – From Scattered to Strategic: Developing Real-Time Dashboards for Library Assessment\n \nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, and Sarah Mantz (Western University) \nAcademic libraries collect a wide array of data through various platforms\, tools\, and procedures. However\, staff and leadership often find it difficult to access or interpret that data. At Western Libraries\, we had a common challenge. The data was hard to find\, housed in different platforms\, inconsistently tracked amongst our teams\, and difficult to connect for evidence-based decision making at all levels.  \nTo help with this\, we are developing a real-time dashboard that would promote transparency and accessibility to our data. This dashboard’s aim is to support evidence-based decision making across the entire organization to help with strategic planning\, resource allocation\, and operations.  \nThe project began with consulting with leadership to determine the scope of the project and define key goals. This was followed by a series of internal data inventory meetings with key stakeholders from across our User Services and Senior Leadership teams to understand what data was being collected\, how\, and by whom. These meetings revealed gaps in data collection\, along with key differences in how all the teams view and use their data. In conjunction\, we also worked with members of our LITS (Library Information Technology Services) team to assess the technical requirements\, explore visualization options\, and identify what would be the most sustainable options\, long term.  \nIn this session\, we will share our planning process\, lessons learned\, and practical steps we have used to map and consolidate our data across a large library system. We will also discuss how we framed our process using ADKAR (Awareness\, Desire\, Knowledge\, Ability\, Reinforcement) to support sustained change and contribute towards a culture of assessment at Western Libraries.  \nLearning Objectives / Key Takeaways  \n\nParticipants will be able to identify and consolidate existing data and determine gaps and solutions in current data collection. \nParticipants will be able to understand the early process of designing a “platform” to increase access to institutional data. \nParticipants will gain ideas for applying change management strategies to promote adoption and sustain assessment initiatives. \n\n\n\n\n 11:00 AM – 11:20 AM – Going Beyond the Gate Counts: Library Census Day\n \nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University) \nWho spends time and how much time are they spending in our libraries? That is the question that drove us to conduct a Census Day at all of our library locations. We captured library traffic of 19\,232 entrance/exits across the day.  We selected seventeen data points to record\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes each.  \nLike Dillalogue & Koehn (2020)\, we wanted to delve deeper than gate counts alone so we created a tap-in/tap-out tool for users to voluntarily tap their campus ID when entering and leaving all six of our libraries on a single day in 2025. We modeled this assessment project after McGill Libraries who have run a similar type of event in the past.  Our goal was to capture 80% of the traffic in a single day during our opening hours.  We also used Census Day as a catalyst for our LibQUAL+ survey for which we received more completed surveys than in previous years.  \nTwo approaches were critical to the success of Census Day: involving the entire library staff and partnering with the Office of Institutional Planning & Analysis (OIPA).  Staff were involved in establishing the id card scanning system; the logistics of the day for each library; role assignment on Census Day; developing and disseminating communication assets; celebrating the success of the day; assisting in preliminary analysis of the results).  Partnering with OIPA allowed us to select from over 200 data points; maintain anonymity of the data; and provided us with language for describing the analysis within the constraints of protecting patron data.   \nWe selected seventeen data points\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes.   \nIn this session we will share details of what we learned about who is using the libraries and how long they’re staying\, including data that surprised us and follow up assessment ideas.  \nAttendees will learn about the variety of data points collected by academic institutions and how those can be useful to inform decisions about hours\, staffing\, space design\, traffic flow etc.  \nAttendees will learn about an open-source dashboard system (Metabase) that allows querying of the data for data visualization.  \nAttendees will also receive a link to a packet with guidance on running their own Census Day.   \nReference: Dillalogue\, E.\, & Koehn\, M. (2020). Assessment on a Dime: Low Cost User Data Collection for Assessment. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice\, 15(3)\, 2–20. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29582  \n\n\n\n 11:25 AM – 11:45 AM – Assessing Project Success in Academic Libraries\n \nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nAt the start of any project\, project stakeholders define what constitutes success. This definition is then used at the end of the project to evaluate if these aims were met and ultimately determine if the project was “successful” or not. Typical metrics used in project management such as key performance indicators (KPIs) and resource utilization\, though potentially useful\, speak to businesses or for-profit workplaces and may not be the most relevant nor transferable to academic environments where profit is not a relevant factor. \nAfter completing multiple projects in McGill Libraries’ technology unit and using typical metrics to evaluate projects\, it became clear that though these metrics answered the “what” of a project\, they did not answer the “how”. Projects could be completed on time and meet their objectives\, but may have encountered significant issues during its course\, such as poor planning\, staff conflict\, and rushed timelines. Defining success in such narrow terms left staff feeling dissatisfied\, particularly if the project met significant challenges. Doing a retrospective on the project is one model to capture qualitative feedback\, allowing team members to learn and grow from (sometimes) negative experiences. This can provide additional context outside of typical success measures. \nThis presentation’s learning objectives include: \n\nBriefly describe the basic tools of project management documentation (e.g.\, charter\, retrospective).\nState the common metrics used to evaluate project success.\nDiscuss a model\, including retrospectives\, which captures participants’ qualitative feedback on project success in an academic environment.\n\n\n\n\n 1:00 PM – 1:20 PM – It Ain’t Broke… Or Is It? Facing Ambiguity and Uncertainty in Assessment\n \nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph) \nAs the saying goes\, “if it ain’t broke\, don’t fix it.” But sometimes it’s not so clear when a library service is fine as it is and should be left alone\, or if it is starting to break\, or is already broken.  For many years our library maintained a public webpage listing databases\, and in 2016 we implemented Springshare’s A-Z database list. Over this time\, our UX team has conducted usability studies\, gathered web analytics\, and monitored the library literature. We’ve recommended incremental changes to ensure this page is as usable and useful as possible. However\, more recently we began to wonder if this page is still relevant and if it’s doing more harm than good. After a thorough UX investigation\, we were unable to reach any definitive conclusion\, but our intuition that there is a problem has not gone away.  What do you do when your gut tells you there’s a problem\, but the evidence is inconclusive? When should you abandon incremental improvements and make a radical change? Who decides?   \nLearning objectives:   \n\nDiscuss the role of professional intuition in user experience work\, including how to balance gut feelings with empirical evidence. \nRecognize the signs that a library service may no longer be meeting user needs\, even when traditional usability metrics are inconclusive. \nEvaluate the tension between incremental improvement and radical redesign and identify strategies to make informed decisions about when to shift approaches.\n\n\n\n\n 1:25 PM – 1:45 PM – Enhancing User Experience: Applying a Student-Focused Approach to Library Website Design\n \nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, and David Pearson (MacEwan University) \nThis brief presentation highlights the experiences and lessons learned from a comprehensive redesign of an undergraduate library website that focused on enhancing the user experience for undergraduate students. The project team consisted of four library staff members: a graphic designer\, an IT specialist\, and two librarians. The main challenge the team faced was developing a user experience (UX) protocol that prioritized the perspectives of students while also garnering support from library staff for the proposed changes to our existing assessment practices.  \nPrior to the project’s launch in Fall 2023\, previous website redesign efforts primarily considered the opinions of library staff and faculty. Consequently\, the website’s information architecture and tone of voice were flagged as potential areas of improvement during the redesign process. This concern was validated when the team collaborated with upper-year anthropology students conducting ethnographic studies of the library website. In both discussions with the students and in their formal reports\, it became clear that they found the website to be inaccessible\, confusing\, and unwelcoming to students. To that end\, the project team developed a UX protocol that sought to prioritize student perspectives as well as best practices in accessible and inclusive web design.   \nThis presentation will provide a brief overview of the project\, key examples of student-focused user experience tools we applied\, and our observations and lessons learned as we continue to assess and refine the library website.  \nLearning Outcomes – Participants will:  \n\nUnderstand how to implement student-focused user experience practices in a web design project\nConsider methods of encouraging library staff buy-in for student-focused website design \nIdentify ways to sustainably collect and implement student feedback on an ongoing basis \n\n\n\n\n 2:10 PM – 4:10 PM – Dialogue in Library Assessment: Facilitation\, Approaches\, and Techniques\n \nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, and Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University) \nLibrary assessment practitioners can integrate the tools and techniques of dialogue to facilitate meaningful and inclusive community-based assessments—with library users as well as library colleagues. This workshop will introduce theory\, knowledge\, and skills for facilitating dialogue in library assessment work.  \nDialogue can be defined in many ways. It is a method for articulating needs\, desires\, and underlying assumptions in groups that rejects hierarchical power dynamics and is transformation focused. It uses participatory practices to host generative conversations\, be more inclusive\, foster mutual learning\, centre lived expertise\, and harness collective wisdom. It “can support groups and communities to respectfully explore polarizing issues\, address conflict\, deliberate on potential for complex issues and much more” (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University\, n.d.). In his 1999 book\, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together\, William Issacs succinctly and rather beautifully defined dialogue as “a conversation with a center\, not sides” (p. 19). Williams went on to state\, “It is a way of taking the energy of our differences and channeling it toward something that has never been created before. It lifts us out of polarization and into a greater common sense\, and is thereby a means for accessing the intelligence and coordinated power of groups of people” (p. 19).   \nAttendees of this workshop will learn about how the Instruction Plan Sub-Group of SFU Library’s Working Group for Information Literacy & Instruction (WGILI) is using methods in dialogue to assess the needs of their library instructor colleagues and to integrate their colleagues’ lived expertise into the Library’s new Instruction Plan\, which the Sub-Group is currently creating. After an introduction to theory and the SFU context\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of participants in a structured dialogue created by the Sub-Group to assess the needs of library instructors at SFU Library. This dialogue will facilitate co-constructed knowledge\, distributed leadership\, the cross-pollination of ideas\, and shared and visible sense-making.   \nAfter experiencing the structured dialogue as participants\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of facilitators as we “pull back the curtain” and review and reflect on the components\, design\, and outcomes of the dialogue. We will share the theory behind decisions made and actions taken and discuss the transferability of the facilitation methods used\, with an emphasis on the practical application of theoretical concepts and principles in other library assessment contexts. Templates and facilitation resources that attendees can bring into their assessment practice will be shared. We’ll also discuss the benefits of bringing methods in dialogue and facilitation into library assessment work.   \nLearning objectives  \nAt the end of this workshop\, attendees will be able to:  \n\nUnderstand dialogue as a methodology. \nApply facilitation techniques that enable dialogue and foster meaningful conversations in a library assessment setting. \nDevelop assessment insights using methods in facilitation and dialogue. \n\nReferences  \nIsaacs\, W. (1999). Dialogue and the art of thinking together: A pioneering approach to communicating in business and in life (1st ed). Currency.   \nMorris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University. (n.d.). What is Dialogue? Retrieved June 1\, 2025\, from https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/learn/what-is-dialogue.html  \n\nJustine Wheeler & Mary-Jo Romaniuk (University of Calgary) \nThe presenters will describe the Libraries & Cultural Resources (LCR) Impact Study at the University of Calgary. This study focuses on the experience of two distinct user groups: faculty and students. It was conducted in close collaboration with Implement Consulting Group. \nThe purpose of this study is to better understand LCR’s role and impact in the academic lives of students and faculty through capturing and measuring what happens when these users engage with LCR. Additionally\, the study aims to inspire and inform future strategic decisions and plans for Libraries and Cultural Resources. \nThe study is based on an Impact Compass framework\, which is a mixed methods approach designed to explore how cultural experiences impact individuals. The Compass serves as a tool for quantitatively communicating how an individual experiences a particular cultural product or service\, while also using qualitative data analysis to gain deeper insight into the findings. \nWhile the Impact Compass framework has previously been used for public libraries\, the framework had never been used in a research library context. To ensure the Impact Compass resonated in LCR’s context staff\, students\, and faculty were consulted\, and significant adaptations to the Compass were made. \nSpecifically\, through this collaborative process four pillars of library experience were determined: space\, collections and digital resources\, teaching and learning support\, and research support. Each pillar was assigned an impact compass. Each compass was divided into four dimensions of impact: emotional\, intellectual\, social\, and creative. Each dimension consisted of three parameters that were tested and refined to reflect the needs and context of a research library. Qualitative data was then used to provide nuance and understanding to the compass. From this impact profiles were developed. \nThe presenters will discuss the results from the study\, including the impact profiles for both students and faculty. Finally\, the presenters will discuss how the findings of the study have been used and plans for future use. \nLearning Objectives: \n\nBasic understanding of the method used for this study.\nPotentially\, gain insight from the findings of the study that could be generalizable to their own setting\n\nSabina Pagotto (Scholars Portal) and Katrina Fortner (Ontario Council of University Libraries). \nIn late 2024\, the library directors that make up the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) asked for support in explaining the value of the services they receive from OCUL and its service arm Scholars Portal\, to senior university administrators outside of the library. With more than 20 institutions varying significantly in size\, research intensity\, and institutional priorities\, there was no consensus about what kinds of information would be helpful for communicating to senior administrators. Some institutions\, for example\, preferred hard numbers and specifically asked about return on investment or cost savings; others felt that statements about qualitative benefits would be more compelling arguments with their administrators. \nIn response to this request\, the OCUL-Scholars Portal communications group launched into action. We investigated various ways of calculating value and cost savings in different services or areas of operations\, until we identified a range of data points we felt confident calculating for every institution. We also wrote value statements articulating the benefits or outcomes of consortial services that we expected to resonate with non-library administrators. Once we had a strong set of statements\, we asked library directors to rank the statements they felt would be most helpful for their institution. With the help of a template designed by our web services team\, we then generated custom reports for every institution that responded. These reports were distributed along with supporting documentation that provided more context to allow library directors to confidently discuss these reports with administrators at their institution\, connecting the dots between library cost or resource savings and positive campus community impacts. \nThis session will discuss the challenges\, opportunities\, and lessons learned throughout the project. \nParticipants will learn how to: \n\nDiscuss methodologies for calculating cost savings in consortial services\nTake a communications lens to assessment and consider the role of audience when communicating value\nThink critically about statistics and calculated values and understand the importance of knowing where the numbers come from\n\nKatrine Mallan (University of Ottawa) \nThis session will share how the University of Ottawa Library is using the CARL Library Impact Framework to bring greater clarity\, coherence\, and evaluability to the implementation of our new Strategic Plan. \nUsing one strategic direction as a case study\, I will walk participants through how our Library Management Group collaboratively developed a logic model to map key activities\, outputs\, audiences\, outcomes\, and underlying assumptions. This process helped us move beyond broad aspirations to define tangible actions\, test the plausibility of the impact pathway\, and lay the groundwork for meaningful evaluation. \nBy grounding our planning in the CARL Framework\, we built a shared understanding of how our work creates impact and established a clearer line of sight between strategy and implementation. \nThe session will highlight how the use of logic models: \n\nHelped us make our strategy more actionable;\nSurfaced assumptions and clarified intended results;\nCreated a stronger foundation for future assessment work.\n\nThis case study is particularly relevant for libraries seeking to bridge the gap between strategic planning and operational execution\, and for those aiming to integrate evaluative thinking without overwhelming staff or resources. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of the session\, participants will be able to: \n\nUnderstand how the CARL Library Impact Framework can support strategic plan implementation.\nIdentify key elements of a simple logic model that clarify intent and support future evaluation.\nReflect on how early evaluative thinking can enhance the coherence and feasibility of strategic planning efforts.\n\nThis session is designed to be practical and transferable\, especially for libraries navigating the messy middle between strategy design and execution. Our case study is intended to spark ideas for libraries seeking to embed evaluation into their planning practices and make strategic intent more actionable and visible. \nSam Vettraino\, Suzy Lee\, and Sarah Mantz (Western University) \nAcademic libraries collect a wide array of data through various platforms\, tools\, and procedures. However\, staff and leadership often find it difficult to access or interpret that data. At Western Libraries\, we had a common challenge. The data was hard to find\, housed in different platforms\, inconsistently tracked amongst our teams\, and difficult to connect for evidence-based decision making at all levels.  \nTo help with this\, we are developing a real-time dashboard that would promote transparency and accessibility to our data. This dashboard’s aim is to support evidence-based decision making across the entire organization to help with strategic planning\, resource allocation\, and operations.  \nThe project began with consulting with leadership to determine the scope of the project and define key goals. This was followed by a series of internal data inventory meetings with key stakeholders from across our User Services and Senior Leadership teams to understand what data was being collected\, how\, and by whom. These meetings revealed gaps in data collection\, along with key differences in how all the teams view and use their data. In conjunction\, we also worked with members of our LITS (Library Information Technology Services) team to assess the technical requirements\, explore visualization options\, and identify what would be the most sustainable options\, long term.  \nIn this session\, we will share our planning process\, lessons learned\, and practical steps we have used to map and consolidate our data across a large library system. We will also discuss how we framed our process using ADKAR (Awareness\, Desire\, Knowledge\, Ability\, Reinforcement) to support sustained change and contribute towards a culture of assessment at Western Libraries.  \nLearning Objectives / Key Takeaways  \n\nParticipants will be able to identify and consolidate existing data and determine gaps and solutions in current data collection. \nParticipants will be able to understand the early process of designing a “platform” to increase access to institutional data. \nParticipants will gain ideas for applying change management strategies to promote adoption and sustain assessment initiatives. \n\nSarah Coysh & Sheril Hook (York University) \nWho spends time and how much time are they spending in our libraries? That is the question that drove us to conduct a Census Day at all of our library locations. We captured library traffic of 19\,232 entrance/exits across the day.  We selected seventeen data points to record\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes each.  \nLike Dillalogue & Koehn (2020)\, we wanted to delve deeper than gate counts alone so we created a tap-in/tap-out tool for users to voluntarily tap their campus ID when entering and leaving all six of our libraries on a single day in 2025. We modeled this assessment project after McGill Libraries who have run a similar type of event in the past.  Our goal was to capture 80% of the traffic in a single day during our opening hours.  We also used Census Day as a catalyst for our LibQUAL+ survey for which we received more completed surveys than in previous years.  \nTwo approaches were critical to the success of Census Day: involving the entire library staff and partnering with the Office of Institutional Planning & Analysis (OIPA).  Staff were involved in establishing the id card scanning system; the logistics of the day for each library; role assignment on Census Day; developing and disseminating communication assets; celebrating the success of the day; assisting in preliminary analysis of the results).  Partnering with OIPA allowed us to select from over 200 data points; maintain anonymity of the data; and provided us with language for describing the analysis within the constraints of protecting patron data.   \nWe selected seventeen data points\, including present postal code\, degree level\, commuter or in residence\, mother tongue\, and age group among others.  We particularly wanted to map the distance that students travelled and see if there was a correlation between the length of time they spent in the libraries.  We were also curious to see if there was a correlation between the area of study and the library that an individual student chose. We noted that 96% of our patrons were undergraduate students with an average stay of 130 minutes.   \nIn this session we will share details of what we learned about who is using the libraries and how long they’re staying\, including data that surprised us and follow up assessment ideas.  \nAttendees will learn about the variety of data points collected by academic institutions and how those can be useful to inform decisions about hours\, staffing\, space design\, traffic flow etc.  \nAttendees will learn about an open-source dashboard system (Metabase) that allows querying of the data for data visualization.  \nAttendees will also receive a link to a packet with guidance on running their own Census Day.   \nReference: Dillalogue\, E.\, & Koehn\, M. (2020). Assessment on a Dime: Low Cost User Data Collection for Assessment. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice\, 15(3)\, 2–20. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29582  \nJessica Lange & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nAt the start of any project\, project stakeholders define what constitutes success. This definition is then used at the end of the project to evaluate if these aims were met and ultimately determine if the project was “successful” or not. Typical metrics used in project management such as key performance indicators (KPIs) and resource utilization\, though potentially useful\, speak to businesses or for-profit workplaces and may not be the most relevant nor transferable to academic environments where profit is not a relevant factor. \nAfter completing multiple projects in McGill Libraries’ technology unit and using typical metrics to evaluate projects\, it became clear that though these metrics answered the “what” of a project\, they did not answer the “how”. Projects could be completed on time and meet their objectives\, but may have encountered significant issues during its course\, such as poor planning\, staff conflict\, and rushed timelines. Defining success in such narrow terms left staff feeling dissatisfied\, particularly if the project met significant challenges. Doing a retrospective on the project is one model to capture qualitative feedback\, allowing team members to learn and grow from (sometimes) negative experiences. This can provide additional context outside of typical success measures. \nThis presentation’s learning objectives include: \n\nBriefly describe the basic tools of project management documentation (e.g.\, charter\, retrospective).\nState the common metrics used to evaluate project success.\nDiscuss a model\, including retrospectives\, which captures participants’ qualitative feedback on project success in an academic environment.\n\nJuliene McLaughlin & Robin Bergart (University of Guelph) \nAs the saying goes\, “if it ain’t broke\, don’t fix it.” But sometimes it’s not so clear when a library service is fine as it is and should be left alone\, or if it is starting to break\, or is already broken.  For many years our library maintained a public webpage listing databases\, and in 2016 we implemented Springshare’s A-Z database list. Over this time\, our UX team has conducted usability studies\, gathered web analytics\, and monitored the library literature. We’ve recommended incremental changes to ensure this page is as usable and useful as possible. However\, more recently we began to wonder if this page is still relevant and if it’s doing more harm than good. After a thorough UX investigation\, we were unable to reach any definitive conclusion\, but our intuition that there is a problem has not gone away.  What do you do when your gut tells you there’s a problem\, but the evidence is inconclusive? When should you abandon incremental improvements and make a radical change? Who decides?   \nLearning objectives:   \n\nDiscuss the role of professional intuition in user experience work\, including how to balance gut feelings with empirical evidence. \nRecognize the signs that a library service may no longer be meeting user needs\, even when traditional usability metrics are inconclusive. \nEvaluate the tension between incremental improvement and radical redesign and identify strategies to make informed decisions about when to shift approaches.\n\nAli Foster\, Abigail Graham\, and David Pearson (MacEwan University) \nThis brief presentation highlights the experiences and lessons learned from a comprehensive redesign of an undergraduate library website that focused on enhancing the user experience for undergraduate students. The project team consisted of four library staff members: a graphic designer\, an IT specialist\, and two librarians. The main challenge the team faced was developing a user experience (UX) protocol that prioritized the perspectives of students while also garnering support from library staff for the proposed changes to our existing assessment practices.  \nPrior to the project’s launch in Fall 2023\, previous website redesign efforts primarily considered the opinions of library staff and faculty. Consequently\, the website’s information architecture and tone of voice were flagged as potential areas of improvement during the redesign process. This concern was validated when the team collaborated with upper-year anthropology students conducting ethnographic studies of the library website. In both discussions with the students and in their formal reports\, it became clear that they found the website to be inaccessible\, confusing\, and unwelcoming to students. To that end\, the project team developed a UX protocol that sought to prioritize student perspectives as well as best practices in accessible and inclusive web design.   \nThis presentation will provide a brief overview of the project\, key examples of student-focused user experience tools we applied\, and our observations and lessons learned as we continue to assess and refine the library website.  \nLearning Outcomes – Participants will:  \n\nUnderstand how to implement student-focused user experience practices in a web design project\nConsider methods of encouraging library staff buy-in for student-focused website design \nIdentify ways to sustainably collect and implement student feedback on an ongoing basis \n\nJulie Jones\, Ali Moore\, Jennifer Zerkee\, and Adair Harper (Simon Fraser University) \nLibrary assessment practitioners can integrate the tools and techniques of dialogue to facilitate meaningful and inclusive community-based assessments—with library users as well as library colleagues. This workshop will introduce theory\, knowledge\, and skills for facilitating dialogue in library assessment work.  \nDialogue can be defined in many ways. It is a method for articulating needs\, desires\, and underlying assumptions in groups that rejects hierarchical power dynamics and is transformation focused. It uses participatory practices to host generative conversations\, be more inclusive\, foster mutual learning\, centre lived expertise\, and harness collective wisdom. It “can support groups and communities to respectfully explore polarizing issues\, address conflict\, deliberate on potential for complex issues and much more” (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University\, n.d.). In his 1999 book\, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together\, William Issacs succinctly and rather beautifully defined dialogue as “a conversation with a center\, not sides” (p. 19). Williams went on to state\, “It is a way of taking the energy of our differences and channeling it toward something that has never been created before. It lifts us out of polarization and into a greater common sense\, and is thereby a means for accessing the intelligence and coordinated power of groups of people” (p. 19).   \nAttendees of this workshop will learn about how the Instruction Plan Sub-Group of SFU Library’s Working Group for Information Literacy & Instruction (WGILI) is using methods in dialogue to assess the needs of their library instructor colleagues and to integrate their colleagues’ lived expertise into the Library’s new Instruction Plan\, which the Sub-Group is currently creating. After an introduction to theory and the SFU context\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of participants in a structured dialogue created by the Sub-Group to assess the needs of library instructors at SFU Library. This dialogue will facilitate co-constructed knowledge\, distributed leadership\, the cross-pollination of ideas\, and shared and visible sense-making.   \nAfter experiencing the structured dialogue as participants\, attendees will be invited to assume the role of facilitators as we “pull back the curtain” and review and reflect on the components\, design\, and outcomes of the dialogue. We will share the theory behind decisions made and actions taken and discuss the transferability of the facilitation methods used\, with an emphasis on the practical application of theoretical concepts and principles in other library assessment contexts. Templates and facilitation resources that attendees can bring into their assessment practice will be shared. We’ll also discuss the benefits of bringing methods in dialogue and facilitation into library assessment work.   \nLearning objectives  \nAt the end of this workshop\, attendees will be able to:  \n\nUnderstand dialogue as a methodology. \nApply facilitation techniques that enable dialogue and foster meaningful conversations in a library assessment setting. \nDevelop assessment insights using methods in facilitation and dialogue. \n\nReferences  \nIsaacs\, W. (1999). Dialogue and the art of thinking together: A pioneering approach to communicating in business and in life (1st ed). Currency.   \nMorris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue\, Simon Fraser University. (n.d.). What is Dialogue? Retrieved June 1\, 2025\, from https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/learn/what-is-dialogue.html  \n\n\n 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM – Ten Recent Assessment Projects that We Love\n \nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta) \nThe assessment landscape is changing.  There is an ongoing shift to a focus on value and impact\, an increase in qualitative and mixed-method assessment\, and nascent explorations into the role of generative artificial intelligence in assessment. In our current environment\, it can be difficult to keep up with new initiatives and developments – especially with limited time\, resources\, and/or technology.  \nIn this fun and fast-paced session\, the presenters will share their recent assessment projects and practice\, as well as\, highlighting innovative practices at other libraries. While many of the projects discussed in the presentation will be from academic libraries\, all of the projects can be applied in academic\, public\, government\, and other library settings. Furthermore\, examples will range from projects and practices that can be done with limited resources (time\, money\, technology)\, to more resource-intensive examples. \nProjects and practices presented will vary in focus (collections\, space\, instruction etc.)\, methodology (point-of-use\, predictive collections\, photo voice etc.)\, time period (cross-sectional\, longitudinal)\, and scope of impact (individual\, institutional\, societal). \nLearning outcomes: \nThis session is aimed at librarians who want to discover fresh perspectives or methodologies in the field of library user experience\, assessment\, or impact practice. The goal of the session is for attendees to leave with a new approach to assessment that they can apply in their library.  \nTime will also be provided for audience members to share their own recent\, exciting assessment initiative. \n\n\n\n 11:00 AM – 11:30 PM – Lightening Talks\n \nBeyond Bugs: Using a ‘Report a Problem’ Feature to Understand User Expectations – Caitlin Bakker (University of Regina) \nIn February 2023\, the University of Regina implemented a report a problem feature in its discovery system. Since that time\, more than 600 reports have been submitted\, and this has become a critical feedback channel. Through these reports\, we’ve gained insight into aspects of the search and discovery experience that patrons find confusing\, counterintuitive\, or frustrating. These user-submitted problem reports frequently highlight mismatches between system functionality and user needs and assumptions. By analyzing these reports\, we’ve been able to better understand user behaviour and expectations of the library system\, and of the library generally. This lightning talk will outline how these reports were analyzed\, and the insights gained through this process. \nTesting for usability and accessibility: Using a think-aloud protocol as an assessment tool for Open Journal Systems – Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina) \nIn this lightning talk\, the presenters will share their experience with usability and accessibility testing as part of the University of Regina’s launch of Proceedings of the Canadian Nuclear Society in Open Journal Systems (OJS). This lightning talk will focus on best practices and takeaways from using a think-aloud protocol to assess the collection and its search functionality. The primary goal of this testing was to enable diverse user communities to engage in effective information seeking\, whether they are accessing the system via desktop computers or mobile devices. The session will cover practical aspects of the testing methodology\, such as working with a remote Library practicum. Attendees can expect to learn about specific usability testing techniques including prompts\, screen readers\, recording\, and other aspects of think aloud testing\, and how they can provide critical insight into improving system design and user satisfaction. \nAsking Chat about Library Search – Susan Bond (University of Toronto) \nAt the University of Toronto\, we have in recent years added our embedded chat help tool to our discovery layer – Ex Libris Primo VE\, which we have branded locally as LibrarySearch. Because LibrarySearch is a self-service tool\, every chat launched represents a potential paint point – it’s a way of users letting us know they’re not able to self-serve. In early 2025 we undertook an exploratory assessment looking at one month’s worth of chat transcripts\, seeing what we could discover about challenges in our interface\, gaps in our documentation\, and problems with our eresources. Our findings included evidence in favour of changes we were already working on\, some quick wins\, and some things we’ll need to think more about before we can address them. In this lightning talk we’ll look at our specific findings about our User Interface\, our support document ad the staffing of our chat support\, and touch on what we learned about our coding/assessment and how we will change it going forward. \n\n\n\n 1:00 PM – 1:20 PM – Evaluating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of In-class Simulations in a Faculty Partnership\n \nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University) \nIn 2017\, a librarian-faculty partnership led to the creation of an in-class simulation for a first-year undergraduate course on global human rights. Students took on roles representing global actors (e.g.\, nation states and NGOs) to respond to a simulated crisis in their own role’s best interest\, which led to developing research\, evaluation\, and critical thinking skills in an active learning environment. A mixed-methods research study assessed the impact of the simulation\, combining qualitative data from reflections and observations with rubric-based quantitative analysis. This session will outline the simulation design\, assessment strategies\, and key findings\, demonstrating how play-based learning can meaningfully enhance student engagement and skill development. Attendees will gain insights into applying these methods in other instructional settings and using data to advocate for deeper faculty-librarian collaboration. \n\n\n\n 1:25 PM – 1:45 PM – Are Three Shots Better Than One? Assessing the Impact and Design of a New Information Literacy Program\n \nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University) \nIn 2023-2024 Thompson Rivers University librarians developed a pilot program to transform an information literacy program from predominantly one-shots to a structured\, integrated program. The English 1100 Library Instruction Pilot (ELIP) project was developed as a collaboration between the Library and the English department in Spring 2023 with the goal of expanding library instruction to support student success and student belonging. Rather than participate in the usual one-shot session\, designated ELIP students will take part in a series of three weekly library tutorials. The ELIP project has ran throughout the 2023-24 academic year\, during which time we collected student assignment data\, student feedback\, faculty feedback\, and reflective journal entries of librarian participants to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of the program. \nThe shortcomings of one-shot information literacy sessions are widespread and well documented in our profession. Nicole Pagowsky states that “the one-shot—even if there is more than one—makes it difficult to reach deeper learning\, critical thinking\, and inclusive pedagogy” (2021\, 2). However\, our approach to the pilot—neither a one-shot nor a credit course—is unique within the established literature.  \n\nDid the ELIP program help students succeed in their associated English 1100 courses?\nDoes more integrated instruction aid in relationship-building between the library and the TRU community?\nHow can we improve our instruction practices to better meet student needs?\n\nBy each of these metrics\, the ELIP program improved outcomes over the usual one-shot. Faculty survey results were very positive\, and the librarian instructors all observed the depth of student engagement and positive relationship-building. This closer relationship with students also resulted in tangible improvements to our teaching practices and existing learning objects. My presentation will introduce the ELIP program\, including the rationale for its design; introduce the various assessment methods we used; and discuss our results and next steps. Course materials\, as well as assessment tools (such as surveys and consent forms) will be made available to interested attendees. \n\n\n\n 1:50 PM – 2:10 PM – Measuring What Matters: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Training Using Quantitative Methods and Analytics\n \nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor) \nAs information literacy (IL) instruction continues to evolve in academic libraries\, assessment practices must keep pace to ensure meaningful outcomes. This session explores the effectiveness of IL training by presenting a study conducted at the University of Windsor that assesses both perceived and demonstrated IL skills among graduate students in the Faculty of Arts\, Humanities\, and Social Sciences (FAHSS). Grounded in the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and using a modified version of the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED)\, the study highlights how analytics and structured assessment tools can inform\, improve\, and validate library instruction programs. \nIL training takes various forms\, from classroom-based sessions to orientation activities and one-on-one consultations\, but its effectiveness often goes unexamined. By comparing students who received formal IL instruction with those who did not\, this session reveals whether training correlates with stronger research skills and confidence in navigating academic resources. \nParticipants will learn about a flexible\, scalable assessment approach using B-TILED\, which combines demographic data\, self-assessment of research abilities\, and objective knowledge tests. The session also discusses practical considerations for survey design\, implementation\, and analysis using SPSS or similar platforms. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of this session\, participants will be able to: \n\nDescribe how information literacy assessment tools can be integrated into academic library instruction programs.\nIdentify key components of the B-TILED framework and understand how to adapt it for different library contexts.\nAnalyze and interpret the relationship between self-perceived research ability and objectively measured IL skills.\nApply basic quantitative analysis strategies to assess the impact of library training using analytics platforms.\nDevelop evidence-based strategies to improve and justify IL instruction efforts in response to student learning needs and institutional goals.\n\n\n\n\n 2:10 PM – 2:30 PM – Ask the Users What They Want: Assessing How Researchers Find and Use Digital Collections in Their Work\n \nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nFor over 20 years\, libraries have been digitizing and providing online access to their collections to better serve the research\, teaching\, and creative aims of academics and non-academics alike. The open\, online nature of most library-digitized collections has helped facilitate access for new audiences; however\, this openness also means that libraries know comparatively little about those using these resources\, making these resources difficult for libraries to assess. If you don’t know who your users are\, how can you learn about them? \nUser experience research has gained popularity and widespread acceptance in libraries as a standard set of techniques for assessing library services and interfaces\, and digital collections platforms are no exception here. However\, much of the user experience research conducted for the purposes of assessing digital collections programs and platforms is limited to institutional affiliates and is concerned only with the digital collections platform itself\, neglecting questions about how users find these collections in the first place as well as how they use them in their research. \nThis presentation reports on a mixed-methods study conducted with the aim of broadening our horizons about who digital collections users are and how they use library-digitized resources in their research. Our study used anonymous surveys and qualitative interviews to achieve a balance of breadth of participation and depth of answers. Recognizing the open nature of our digital collections\, we included academic researchers regardless of location or institutional affiliation\, as well as non-academic researchers like journalists\, artists\, bloggers\, and public historians. Our study asked three main research questions: Who is using library-digitized collections? How do they find them? And finally\, how do they use them in their research? \nIn this presentation we will focus on the methods we used for this study\, their outcomes\, and what we learned from this process. We will discuss the importance of using multiple types of research techniques for assessment in the context of user experience research\, and in particular what this type of mixed-methods research can contribute to the suite of user experience research tools. Participants will learn about the strengths of mixed-methods research\, how exploratory research techniques can be used to complement and enhance other evaluative data\, like usability studies and web analytics\, that may be gathering for library assessment\, and how to apply these techniques to answer big questions in user experience and library service assessment. \n\n\n\n 2:45 PM – 3:05 PM – Peer-led IL Teaching Assessment: Cultivating a Culture of Reflective Assessment Practice Through Peer-Mentorship\n \nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University) \nOur session will feature the peer-led information literacy [IL] teaching assessment program we facilitate for librarians at our undergraduate university\, including the impetus\, development\, theoretical foundation\, structure\, and impact. We will share observations about how the program is contributing to our understanding of reflective teaching practice as central to teaching assessment and the development of a more cohesive community of teaching practice among instructional librarians involved in the program.  \nOur Reflective Peer-Mentorship Teaching Triangles program fulfills the Library’s mandate for developing sustainable IL teaching assessment practices in alignment with our University’s Strategic Plan\, Teaching Greatness. Taking a student-centred approach to assessment and grounded in the critical assessment of library instruction framework developed by McCartin & Dineen (2018)\, our critical IL assessment program promotes the intentional\, continuous evaluation of teaching cultivated through reflective practice. By placing the work of assessment and improvement on us as teachers we shift the assessment burden  (i.e. filling out feedback forms or measurement instruments) off of students.  \nBuilding our library’s long-standing involvement with teaching observation triangles and IL teaching mentorship\, our program offers ongoing teaching assessment opportunities in combination with targeted peer mentorship. Program participants form peer-mentorship triangles that meet multiple times across an academic term. Individual participants identify the priority teaching elements (i.e.\, content\, accessibility\, interactions with students) about which they would like to receive constructive feedback; peer observers adopt a strengths-based approach\, sharing positive feedback alongside any useful suggestions for improvement in the pre-identified areas. As members of a co-mentorship triad\, participants aim to foster teaching excellence in one another while also learning from one another\, collecting ideas for enhancing student learning experiences as they observe one another teach. For early career librarians in particular\, the co-mentorship aspect creates a safe environment for developing teaching competence and confidence. This program not only allows for meaningful assessment of teaching but also affords participants the opportunity to foster individual reflective practice in a way that is continual\, sustained\, and relational (Lewitzky\, 2020). \nFollowing our session\, participants will leave with an understanding of:  \n\nThe value of relational\, peer-observation for teaching assessment\nThe role of reflective teaching practice for sustained\, continual improvement\nHow our program is run so that it can be adapted for participant institutions\n\nReferences:  \nLewitzky\, R. A. (2020). Educating\, learning\, and growing: A review of the teaching role in academic librarianship. College & Undergraduate Libraries\, 27(1)\, 32-40. \nMcCartin\, L. F.\, & Dineen\, R. (2018). Toward a Critical-Inclusive Assessment Practice for Library Instruction. Litwin Books. \n\n\n\n 3:10 PM – 3:40 PM – From Chaos to Clarity: Preparing Open Access Publication Data for Collection Assessment\n \nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto) \nDevelopments in open access publishing\, business models\, and funding policies have brought scholarly communications into the fold of collection development work. Increasingly\, library collection development funds are repurposed to cover publishing fees through transitional read and publish agreements. With this shift comes a pressing need for new assessment frameworks – ones that go beyond traditional e-resource usage statistics to measure publication output and financial investment. Libraries must develop capacities to gather and analyze institutional publication data to inform collection development decisions.  \nHowever\, assessing open access publishing is not straightforward. Open access publication data is often presented in inconsistent formats and scattered across bibliometric and publisher reports\, which hinders aggregated analysis. To address this challenge\, The University of Toronto Libraries launched a pilot project aimed at streamlining the collection\, cleaning\, and visualization of OA publication data.  \nThe short session will share insights from the pilot\, which includes gathering publication data reports from several open access agreements\, standardizing the data into a unified template\, and building and interactive dashboard to visualize the university’s publishing activity and financial contributions in open access publishing. The project initially explored programming-based solutions for data cleaning but ultimately adopted KNIME – a low code\, open-source platform – to manage complex data cleaning tasks in a scalable and accessible way. \nFrom this presentation\, participants will: \n\nGain insight on how to track and visualize open access publishing at their institution\nUnderstand challenges for collecting publication data and strategies for collecting large\, unstandardized data sets\nIdentify tools low-code tools and solutions\, such as Knime\, for working with large complex data sets\n\nThis presentation will be valuable for those interested in new assessment methods and data sources\, data analytics tools\, and those looking to begin working with open access publication data. \n\n\n\n 3:45 PM – 4:05 PM – “Surprise Me!”: What a User Community Survey Revealed About an Open Stacks Collection\n \nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament) \nThe Library of Parliament’s (Library) rich collections\, developed over many decades\, are central to its mission of contributing to Canadian parliamentary democracy by “managing and delivering authoritative\, reliable and relevant information and knowledge.” The collections are distributed among several branches in the parliamentary precinct as well as an offsite storage facility.  \nIn addition\, a self-serve branch intended primarily for Library researchers provides on-site access to a print collection. A recent comprehensive assessment of this collection resulted in ample shelf space becoming available for new acquisitions. In considering how to develop this collection and manage the space\, we reflected on the current role and value of on-site print for subject specialists in their work and research\, professional development\, and leisurely reading. This process led to creating the user survey covered in this presentation.  \nIn this session\, I will present the survey from conception to results.  \nThe presentation will include:  \n\nAn introduction to the Library of Parliament (CARL’s newest member!) including its collections and users \nSteps and iterations in survey design \nSurvey objectives\, results\, and planned outcomes \n\nLearning objectives  \nConference participants will learn about: \n\nConsiderations in creating a focused survey for a local user group \nInsights gleaned from survey results\, including respondents’ experience of the print collection and the space; and differences between more recent and more seasoned researchers in their awareness of\, and preferences for\, print on site \nChallenges and lessons learned \n\n\nJustine Wheeler (University of Calgary) & Christine Brown (University of Alberta) \nThe assessment landscape is changing.  There is an ongoing shift to a focus on value and impact\, an increase in qualitative and mixed-method assessment\, and nascent explorations into the role of generative artificial intelligence in assessment. In our current environment\, it can be difficult to keep up with new initiatives and developments – especially with limited time\, resources\, and/or technology.  \nIn this fun and fast-paced session\, the presenters will share their recent assessment projects and practice\, as well as\, highlighting innovative practices at other libraries. While many of the projects discussed in the presentation will be from academic libraries\, all of the projects can be applied in academic\, public\, government\, and other library settings. Furthermore\, examples will range from projects and practices that can be done with limited resources (time\, money\, technology)\, to more resource-intensive examples. \nProjects and practices presented will vary in focus (collections\, space\, instruction etc.)\, methodology (point-of-use\, predictive collections\, photo voice etc.)\, time period (cross-sectional\, longitudinal)\, and scope of impact (individual\, institutional\, societal). \nLearning outcomes: \nThis session is aimed at librarians who want to discover fresh perspectives or methodologies in the field of library user experience\, assessment\, or impact practice. The goal of the session is for attendees to leave with a new approach to assessment that they can apply in their library.  \nTime will also be provided for audience members to share their own recent\, exciting assessment initiative. \nBeyond Bugs: Using a ‘Report a Problem’ Feature to Understand User Expectations – Caitlin Bakker (University of Regina) \nIn February 2023\, the University of Regina implemented a report a problem feature in its discovery system. Since that time\, more than 600 reports have been submitted\, and this has become a critical feedback channel. Through these reports\, we’ve gained insight into aspects of the search and discovery experience that patrons find confusing\, counterintuitive\, or frustrating. These user-submitted problem reports frequently highlight mismatches between system functionality and user needs and assumptions. By analyzing these reports\, we’ve been able to better understand user behaviour and expectations of the library system\, and of the library generally. This lightning talk will outline how these reports were analyzed\, and the insights gained through this process. \nTesting for usability and accessibility: Using a think-aloud protocol as an assessment tool for Open Journal Systems – Caitlin Bakker & Christopher Read (University of Regina) \nIn this lightning talk\, the presenters will share their experience with usability and accessibility testing as part of the University of Regina’s launch of Proceedings of the Canadian Nuclear Society in Open Journal Systems (OJS). This lightning talk will focus on best practices and takeaways from using a think-aloud protocol to assess the collection and its search functionality. The primary goal of this testing was to enable diverse user communities to engage in effective information seeking\, whether they are accessing the system via desktop computers or mobile devices. The session will cover practical aspects of the testing methodology\, such as working with a remote Library practicum. Attendees can expect to learn about specific usability testing techniques including prompts\, screen readers\, recording\, and other aspects of think aloud testing\, and how they can provide critical insight into improving system design and user satisfaction. \nAsking Chat about Library Search – Susan Bond (University of Toronto) \nAt the University of Toronto\, we have in recent years added our embedded chat help tool to our discovery layer – Ex Libris Primo VE\, which we have branded locally as LibrarySearch. Because LibrarySearch is a self-service tool\, every chat launched represents a potential paint point – it’s a way of users letting us know they’re not able to self-serve. In early 2025 we undertook an exploratory assessment looking at one month’s worth of chat transcripts\, seeing what we could discover about challenges in our interface\, gaps in our documentation\, and problems with our eresources. Our findings included evidence in favour of changes we were already working on\, some quick wins\, and some things we’ll need to think more about before we can address them. In this lightning talk we’ll look at our specific findings about our User Interface\, our support document ad the staffing of our chat support\, and touch on what we learned about our coding/assessment and how we will change it going forward. \nMichelle Goodridge (Wilfrid Laurier University) \nIn 2017\, a librarian-faculty partnership led to the creation of an in-class simulation for a first-year undergraduate course on global human rights. Students took on roles representing global actors (e.g.\, nation states and NGOs) to respond to a simulated crisis in their own role’s best interest\, which led to developing research\, evaluation\, and critical thinking skills in an active learning environment. A mixed-methods research study assessed the impact of the simulation\, combining qualitative data from reflections and observations with rubric-based quantitative analysis. This session will outline the simulation design\, assessment strategies\, and key findings\, demonstrating how play-based learning can meaningfully enhance student engagement and skill development. Attendees will gain insights into applying these methods in other instructional settings and using data to advocate for deeper faculty-librarian collaboration. \nAmy McLay Paterson (Thompson Rivers University) \nIn 2023-2024 Thompson Rivers University librarians developed a pilot program to transform an information literacy program from predominantly one-shots to a structured\, integrated program. The English 1100 Library Instruction Pilot (ELIP) project was developed as a collaboration between the Library and the English department in Spring 2023 with the goal of expanding library instruction to support student success and student belonging. Rather than participate in the usual one-shot session\, designated ELIP students will take part in a series of three weekly library tutorials. The ELIP project has ran throughout the 2023-24 academic year\, during which time we collected student assignment data\, student feedback\, faculty feedback\, and reflective journal entries of librarian participants to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of the program. \nThe shortcomings of one-shot information literacy sessions are widespread and well documented in our profession. Nicole Pagowsky states that “the one-shot—even if there is more than one—makes it difficult to reach deeper learning\, critical thinking\, and inclusive pedagogy” (2021\, 2). However\, our approach to the pilot—neither a one-shot nor a credit course—is unique within the established literature.  \n\nDid the ELIP program help students succeed in their associated English 1100 courses?\nDoes more integrated instruction aid in relationship-building between the library and the TRU community?\nHow can we improve our instruction practices to better meet student needs?\n\nBy each of these metrics\, the ELIP program improved outcomes over the usual one-shot. Faculty survey results were very positive\, and the librarian instructors all observed the depth of student engagement and positive relationship-building. This closer relationship with students also resulted in tangible improvements to our teaching practices and existing learning objects. My presentation will introduce the ELIP program\, including the rationale for its design; introduce the various assessment methods we used; and discuss our results and next steps. Course materials\, as well as assessment tools (such as surveys and consent forms) will be made available to interested attendees. \nRong Luo\, Shuzhen Zhao\, and Karen Pillon (University of Windsor) \nAs information literacy (IL) instruction continues to evolve in academic libraries\, assessment practices must keep pace to ensure meaningful outcomes. This session explores the effectiveness of IL training by presenting a study conducted at the University of Windsor that assesses both perceived and demonstrated IL skills among graduate students in the Faculty of Arts\, Humanities\, and Social Sciences (FAHSS). Grounded in the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and using a modified version of the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED)\, the study highlights how analytics and structured assessment tools can inform\, improve\, and validate library instruction programs. \nIL training takes various forms\, from classroom-based sessions to orientation activities and one-on-one consultations\, but its effectiveness often goes unexamined. By comparing students who received formal IL instruction with those who did not\, this session reveals whether training correlates with stronger research skills and confidence in navigating academic resources. \nParticipants will learn about a flexible\, scalable assessment approach using B-TILED\, which combines demographic data\, self-assessment of research abilities\, and objective knowledge tests. The session also discusses practical considerations for survey design\, implementation\, and analysis using SPSS or similar platforms. \nLearning Objectives:By the end of this session\, participants will be able to: \n\nDescribe how information literacy assessment tools can be integrated into academic library instruction programs.\nIdentify key components of the B-TILED framework and understand how to adapt it for different library contexts.\nAnalyze and interpret the relationship between self-perceived research ability and objectively measured IL skills.\nApply basic quantitative analysis strategies to assess the impact of library training using analytics platforms.\nDevelop evidence-based strategies to improve and justify IL instruction efforts in response to student learning needs and institutional goals.\n\nSarah Severson (University of Alberta) & Nailisa Tanner (McGill University) \nFor over 20 years\, libraries have been digitizing and providing online access to their collections to better serve the research\, teaching\, and creative aims of academics and non-academics alike. The open\, online nature of most library-digitized collections has helped facilitate access for new audiences; however\, this openness also means that libraries know comparatively little about those using these resources\, making these resources difficult for libraries to assess. If you don’t know who your users are\, how can you learn about them? \nUser experience research has gained popularity and widespread acceptance in libraries as a standard set of techniques for assessing library services and interfaces\, and digital collections platforms are no exception here. However\, much of the user experience research conducted for the purposes of assessing digital collections programs and platforms is limited to institutional affiliates and is concerned only with the digital collections platform itself\, neglecting questions about how users find these collections in the first place as well as how they use them in their research. \nThis presentation reports on a mixed-methods study conducted with the aim of broadening our horizons about who digital collections users are and how they use library-digitized resources in their research. Our study used anonymous surveys and qualitative interviews to achieve a balance of breadth of participation and depth of answers. Recognizing the open nature of our digital collections\, we included academic researchers regardless of location or institutional affiliation\, as well as non-academic researchers like journalists\, artists\, bloggers\, and public historians. Our study asked three main research questions: Who is using library-digitized collections? How do they find them? And finally\, how do they use them in their research? \nIn this presentation we will focus on the methods we used for this study\, their outcomes\, and what we learned from this process. We will discuss the importance of using multiple types of research techniques for assessment in the context of user experience research\, and in particular what this type of mixed-methods research can contribute to the suite of user experience research tools. Participants will learn about the strengths of mixed-methods research\, how exploratory research techniques can be used to complement and enhance other evaluative data\, like usability studies and web analytics\, that may be gathering for library assessment\, and how to apply these techniques to answer big questions in user experience and library service assessment. \nJody Nelson & Alison Pitcher (MacEwan University) \nOur session will feature the peer-led information literacy [IL] teaching assessment program we facilitate for librarians at our undergraduate university\, including the impetus\, development\, theoretical foundation\, structure\, and impact. We will share observations about how the program is contributing to our understanding of reflective teaching practice as central to teaching assessment and the development of a more cohesive community of teaching practice among instructional librarians involved in the program.  \nOur Reflective Peer-Mentorship Teaching Triangles program fulfills the Library’s mandate for developing sustainable IL teaching assessment practices in alignment with our University’s Strategic Plan\, Teaching Greatness. Taking a student-centred approach to assessment and grounded in the critical assessment of library instruction framework developed by McCartin & Dineen (2018)\, our critical IL assessment program promotes the intentional\, continuous evaluation of teaching cultivated through reflective practice. By placing the work of assessment and improvement on us as teachers we shift the assessment burden  (i.e. filling out feedback forms or measurement instruments) off of students.  \nBuilding our library’s long-standing involvement with teaching observation triangles and IL teaching mentorship\, our program offers ongoing teaching assessment opportunities in combination with targeted peer mentorship. Program participants form peer-mentorship triangles that meet multiple times across an academic term. Individual participants identify the priority teaching elements (i.e.\, content\, accessibility\, interactions with students) about which they would like to receive constructive feedback; peer observers adopt a strengths-based approach\, sharing positive feedback alongside any useful suggestions for improvement in the pre-identified areas. As members of a co-mentorship triad\, participants aim to foster teaching excellence in one another while also learning from one another\, collecting ideas for enhancing student learning experiences as they observe one another teach. For early career librarians in particular\, the co-mentorship aspect creates a safe environment for developing teaching competence and confidence. This program not only allows for meaningful assessment of teaching but also affords participants the opportunity to foster individual reflective practice in a way that is continual\, sustained\, and relational (Lewitzky\, 2020). \nFollowing our session\, participants will leave with an understanding of:  \n\nThe value of relational\, peer-observation for teaching assessment\nThe role of reflective teaching practice for sustained\, continual improvement\nHow our program is run so that it can be adapted for participant institutions\n\nReferences:  \nLewitzky\, R. A. (2020). Educating\, learning\, and growing: A review of the teaching role in academic librarianship. College & Undergraduate Libraries\, 27(1)\, 32-40. \nMcCartin\, L. F.\, & Dineen\, R. (2018). Toward a Critical-Inclusive Assessment Practice for Library Instruction. Litwin Books. \nErin Calhoun (University of Toronto) \nDevelopments in open access publishing\, business models\, and funding policies have brought scholarly communications into the fold of collection development work. Increasingly\, library collection development funds are repurposed to cover publishing fees through transitional read and publish agreements. With this shift comes a pressing need for new assessment frameworks – ones that go beyond traditional e-resource usage statistics to measure publication output and financial investment. Libraries must develop capacities to gather and analyze institutional publication data to inform collection development decisions.  \nHowever\, assessing open access publishing is not straightforward. Open access publication data is often presented in inconsistent formats and scattered across bibliometric and publisher reports\, which hinders aggregated analysis. To address this challenge\, The University of Toronto Libraries launched a pilot project aimed at streamlining the collection\, cleaning\, and visualization of OA publication data.  \nThe short session will share insights from the pilot\, which includes gathering publication data reports from several open access agreements\, standardizing the data into a unified template\, and building and interactive dashboard to visualize the university’s publishing activity and financial contributions in open access publishing. The project initially explored programming-based solutions for data cleaning but ultimately adopted KNIME – a low code\, open-source platform – to manage complex data cleaning tasks in a scalable and accessible way. \nFrom this presentation\, participants will: \n\nGain insight on how to track and visualize open access publishing at their institution\nUnderstand challenges for collecting publication data and strategies for collecting large\, unstandardized data sets\nIdentify tools low-code tools and solutions\, such as Knime\, for working with large complex data sets\n\nThis presentation will be valuable for those interested in new assessment methods and data sources\, data analytics tools\, and those looking to begin working with open access publication data. \nZe’ev Schneider (Library of Parliament) \nThe Library of Parliament’s (Library) rich collections\, developed over many decades\, are central to its mission of contributing to Canadian parliamentary democracy by “managing and delivering authoritative\, reliable and relevant information and knowledge.” The collections are distributed among several branches in the parliamentary precinct as well as an offsite storage facility.  \nIn addition\, a self-serve branch intended primarily for Library researchers provides on-site access to a print collection. A recent comprehensive assessment of this collection resulted in ample shelf space becoming available for new acquisitions. In considering how to develop this collection and manage the space\, we reflected on the current role and value of on-site print for subject specialists in their work and research\, professional development\, and leisurely reading. This process led to creating the user survey covered in this presentation.  \nIn this session\, I will present the survey from conception to results.  \nThe presentation will include:  \n\nAn introduction to the Library of Parliament (CARL’s newest member!) including its collections and users \nSteps and iterations in survey design \nSurvey objectives\, results\, and planned outcomes \n\nLearning objectives  \nConference participants will learn about: \n\nConsiderations in creating a focused survey for a local user group \nInsights gleaned from survey results\, including respondents’ experience of the print collection and the space; and differences between more recent and more seasoned researchers in their awareness of\, and preferences for\, print on site \nChallenges and lessons learned \n\n\n\n2025 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 27 – October 28 at Regina\, Saskatchewan\n\n2023 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 23\, 2023 – October 25\, 2023 at London\, Ontario\n\n2019 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 22\, 2019 – October 24\, 2019 at Windsor\, Ontario\n\n2017 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 26\, 2017 – October 27\, 2017 at Victoria\, British Columbia\n\n2015 Canadian Library Assessment Workshop\nOctober 14\, 2015 – October 16\, 2015 at Toronto\, Ontario\n\n\n \n Learn More About CLAW URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/2025-canadian-library-assessment-workshop/ LOCATION:Regina\, Saskatchewan\, Regina\, Saskatchewan\, Canada CATEGORIES:CLAW,Workshops & Institutes ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251023T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251023T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250918T181249Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250918T181249Z UID:38040-1761224400-1761228000@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice October Call: Unlocking Institutional Insights with Article Processing Charge (APC) Data from OpenAlex DESCRIPTION:Date: October 23\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nIn this session\, Jack Young (Research Impact Librarian\, McMaster University) and Kelvin Lee (Research Software Developer\, McMaster University) will explore how institutions can leverage Article Processing Charge (APC) data from the OpenAlex database to better understand and manage open access publishing costs. They will discuss the value of APC data for libraries and research offices\, along with the challenges of tracking and interpreting this information. \nPresenters will demonstrate how to use the OpenAlex user interface to analyze basic institutional APC data and identify gaps or inaccuracies in the dataset. They will also introduce an open-source computational notebook developed to access the OpenAlex API\, enabling automated APC calculations tailored to your institution. \nWhether you are new to OpenAlex\, computational notebooks\, or simply looking to enhance your data workflows\, this session will provide a useful introduction to approaches that can support your open access strategy. \nJack Young (MLIS) is McMaster’s Research Impact & Bibliometrics Librarian\, supporting the use of bibliometric data to enhance the reporting and strategic planning practices of the University\, its researchers and research units. In this role\, Jack provides training and consultations on tools and techniques for tracking the impact of research and knowledge mobilization activities. He currently co-chairs the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ (CARL) Community of Practice on Bibliometrics and Research Impact. \nKelvin Lee (BSc) is a Research Software Developer for Research Software Development and Support at McMaster University. Kelvin lends his computing science degree and experience in industry and academic research settings to support research and researchers through software development and training. \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/bibliometrics-and-research-impact-community-of-practice-october-call-unlocking-institutional-insights-with-article-processing-charge-apc-data-from-openalex/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Bibliometrics & Research Impact ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251022T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251022T160000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251009T140628Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251009T140628Z UID:38089-1761145200-1761148800@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Open Education Community of Practice October Call – Open Education Meets AI : The Open GenAI Project from BCcampus DESCRIPTION:Date: October 22\, 2025\nTime: 3:00pm-4:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThe Open Education Community of Practice is delighted to welcome Robynne Devine\, Elizabeth Childs\, and Harper Friedman for a presentation on the the Open GenAI Project. They will share the project’s goals\, introduce the AI-powered study companion prototype currently in development\, and explain how it will integrate with the BCcampus open textbook collection.  \nAs described in the project’s blog\, “The goal of this project will be to explore and experiment with a variety of open-source Gen AI tools and technologies that align with open education values\, including focusing on issues of equity\, accessibility\, and inclusivity while also offering offline access\, reducing environmental impact\, and ensuring student privacy.  BCcampus will work with partners in the develop of an ethically focused AI powered study tool prototype to compliment the BCcampus open textbook collection.” (Getting Started – The Open GenAI project) \nRobynne Devine\, Senior Project Manager\, Project Management Office\, BCcampus\nHarper Friedman\, Coordinator\, Open Textbook Publishing\, BCcampus\nElizabeth Childs\, Professor\, Program head\, Master of Arts in Learning and Technology\, Royal Roads University \nA discussion period will follow the presentation. All CARL members and non-members working in or interested in open education are welcome to join. \nIf you would like to be part of the Open Education Community of Practice and stay informed about upcoming events and activities\, subscribe to OE-COP-CARL-L\, the Open Education CoP discussion list. For more information\, visit the OE CoP webpage. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/open-education-community-of-practice-october-call-open-education-meets-ai-the-open-genai-project-from-bccampus/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Artificial Intelligence,Open Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251021T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251021T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251007T175457Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251020T223909Z UID:38083-1761051600-1761055200@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project: Office Hours DESCRIPTION:Date: October 21\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET \nRegistration \nAre you a CARL member planning to complete the DPC RAM this fall? Join us for group office hours and get started with support from your digital preservation peers! \nThese informal sessions are a friendly space to ask questions\, get some feedback\, or just have dedicated time to work on the assessment. While members of the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) will be present and help facilitate the conversation\, this is envisioned as a community network event where participants can collectively share knowledge and tackle tough questions together. \nFrench language office hours will be held on Monday\, October 20\, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET. These events will not be recorded. \nFor more information\, visit the project web page. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/national-dpc-ram-benchmarking-project-office-hours/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Digital Preservation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/photos_bul_Pub_57361-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251020T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251020T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20251007T175846Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251007T175846Z UID:38086-1760965200-1760968800@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project: Office Hours (French) DESCRIPTION:Date: October 20\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET \nRegistration \nAre you a CARL member planning to complete the DPC RAM this fall? Join us for group office hours and get started with support from your digital preservation peers! \nThese informal sessions are a friendly space to ask questions\, get some feedback\, or just have dedicated time to work on the assessment. While members of the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) will be present and help facilitate the conversation\, this is envisioned as a community network event where participants can collectively share knowledge and tackle tough questions together. \nEnglish language office hours will be held on Tuesday\, October 21\, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET. These events will not be recorded. \nFor more information\, visit the project web page. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/national-dpc-ram-benchmarking-project-office-hours-french/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Digital Preservation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/photos_bul_Pub_57361.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251016T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251016T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250912T153417Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250912T154038Z UID:37602-1760619600-1760623200@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Communications Community of Practice October Call – There’s a Method to this Madness: Evidence-based Website Redesign at UVic Libraries DESCRIPTION:Date: October 16\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThe Communications Community of Practice invites you to our October community call which will be centered around evidence-based website redesign. \nAcademic library websites are complex environments simultaneously serving many diverse audiences with diverse needs. As a result\, they often spiral into chaos over time. Tackling that chaos can feel daunting\, and many web redesign projects become mired in the details. UVic Libraries’ recent website redesign brought method to this madness through thoughtful collaboration\, thorough communication\, and evidence-based decision making. This talk will lean into the communications aspect of this project\, showcasing how targeted messaging & engagement throughout a redesign process can help build trust and sustain momentum. \nCaitlin Keenan is the Web Integration Librarian at UVic Libraries. She is responsible for providing strategic oversight of the Libraries’ web platforms\, ensuring they work together to support the institution’s diverse audiences of learners and researchers. She’s enthusiastic about evidence-based research practice\, decolonization in online spaces\, and accessibility. Caitlin holds an M.A. in Linguistics from Harvard University and a Master of Information Studies degree from McGill. \nHave you joined the CommUNITY yet? Subscribe to COMMS-CARL-L\, the Communications CoP Discussion List\, to stay up-to-date on upcoming events and ongoing activities. \nThis session will not be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/communications-community-of-practice-october-call-theres-a-method-to-this-madness-evidence-based-website-redesign-at-uvic-libraries/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Communications ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251007T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251007T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250923T184924Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T141801Z UID:38063-1759842000-1759845600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project : Kick Off Webinar [IN FRENCH] DESCRIPTION:Date: October 7\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET \n\n\nRecording \nJoin us for an overview of CARL’s National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project\, facilitated by Amanda Tomé\, Digital Research Alliance of Canada\, and Sarah Lake\, Concordia University and CARL Visiting Program Officer for Digital Preservation. Benchmarking digital preservation capabilities is integral to continuous improvement of digital preservation programs. Whether your institution is just getting started or has been engaged in digital preservation activities for some time\, benchmarking is an opportunity to see where you are and where your organization can grow. \nThis webinar launches the pilot phase of this project\, during which CARL member institutions will be invited to complete the assessment as a cohort. A second phase will take place in spring 2026\, broadening the initiative to the wider Canadian digital preservation community. Throughout both phases of the project\, the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) will provide support to organizations completing the assessment by sharing resources and hosting office hours. \nThe kick off webinar will provide participants with a background to the project and the Digital Preservation Coalition’s (DPC) Rapid Assessment Model (RAM)\, take participants through resources created by the CARL DPWG\, provide an overview of the office hours process and provide a forum for participants to ask questions. \nThis webinar will be held in French. An English language call will take place on October 6. \nNote that presentations will be recorded but the discussion period will not. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/national-dpc-ram-benchmarking-project-kick-off-webinar-in-french/ LOCATION:Online Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251006T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251006T150000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250923T184444Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T133755Z UID:38058-1759759200-1759762800@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project : Kick Off Webinar DESCRIPTION:Date: October 6\, 2025\nTime: 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET \nRecording \nJoin us for an overview of CARL’s National DPC RAM Benchmarking Project\, facilitated by Amanda Tomé\, Digital Research Alliance of Canada\, and Sarah Lake\, Concordia University and CARL Visiting Program Officer for Digital Preservation. Benchmarking digital preservation capabilities is integral to continuous improvement of digital preservation programs. Whether your institution is just getting started or has been engaged in digital preservation activities for some time\, benchmarking is an opportunity to see where you are and where your organization can grow. \nThis webinar launches the pilot phase of this project\, during which CARL member institutions will be invited to complete the assessment as a cohort. A second phase will take place in spring 2026\, broadening the initiative to the wider Canadian digital preservation community. Throughout both phases of the project\, the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) will provide support to organizations completing the assessment by sharing resources and hosting office hours. \nThe kick off webinar will provide participants with a background to the project and the Digital Preservation Coalition’s (DPC) Rapid Assessment Model (RAM)\, take participants through resources created by the CARL DPWG\, provide an overview of the office hours process and provide a forum for participants to ask questions. \nThis webinar will be held in English. A French language call will take place on October 7. \nNote that presentations will be recorded but the discussion period will not. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/national-dpc-ram-benchmarking-project-kick-off-webinar/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Digital Preservation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251003T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251003T133000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250912T225852Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251007T195659Z UID:37624-1759492800-1759498200@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Assessment Community of Practice October Call: To Survey or Not to Survey\, and Other Stories DESCRIPTION:Date: Friday\, October 3\, 2025\nTime: 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET \nRecording \nSurveys can be useful tools to learn what our users really think—but only if they’re planned with care and purpose. The Assessment Community of Practice invites you to a session exploring when surveys are the right tool (and when they aren’t)\, how to design them to gather meaningful responses\, and what to do with the results once you have them. \nIngrid Moisil started her career in a special library\, worked for a database publisher\, and has fond memories of the time spent in a public library. For the last 16 years\, she held several positions at the University of Ottawa Library and is currently Collections Strategy Librarian. \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/assessment-community-of-practice-october-call-to-survey-or-not-to-survey-and-other-stories/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Assessment ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250924T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250924T160000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250903T173110Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250903T173501Z UID:37547-1758726000-1758729600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Open Education Community of Practice September Community Call: Conducting a Program Evaluation of an OER Initiative: Benefits and Challenges DESCRIPTION:Date: September 24\, 2025\nTime: 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET \nRegistration \nConducting a Program Evaluation of an OER Initiative: Benefits and Challenges \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to invite you to the September meeting of the Open Education Community of Practice. \nThis month\, we’re bringing the community together to explore how OER programs can be evaluated in meaningful ways. Our guest speaker will be Mélanie Brunet\, Copyright and Affordable Learning Librarian\, who will share insights from her work evaluating the University of Ottawa Library’s OER Program. Her presentation will explore the key questions\, indicators\, and methods used in a utilization-focused evaluation\, while also highlighting the benefits and challenges of applying a program evaluation approach to measure and communicate impact. \nThe evaluation report can be consulted online: Brunet\, M. (2025). The University of Ottawa Library OER Program: Evaluation Report. University of Ottawa Library\, CC BY-NC 4.0. \nA discussion period will follow the presentation. \nAll CARL members and non-members working in or interested in open education are welcome to join. \nIf you would like to be part of the Open Education Community of Practice and stay informed about upcoming events and activities\, subscribe to OE-COP-CARL-L\, the Open Education CoP discussion list. For more information\, visit the OE CoP webpage. \nThis bilingual session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/open-education-community-of-practice-september-community-call-conducting-a-program-evaluation-of-an-oer-initiative-benefits-and-challenges/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Open Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CoP-Department-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250827T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250827T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250722T185848Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250806T145722Z UID:37200-1756299600-1756303200@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Canadian Repositories Community of Practice August Call – From Campus to Community Researchers: Evolving the Role of Institutional Repositories DESCRIPTION:Date: Wednesday\, August 27\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThis session kicks off a new Article Release Party! series\, hosted by the Canadian Repositories Community of Practice. To get the most out of the discussion\, attendees are encouraged to read Advancing the Dissemination and Preservation of Community-Based Research Products in Institutional Repositories ahead of time. To suggest a future article\, contact Steering Committee Chair Priscilla Carmini at pcarmini@uwaterloo.ca. \nInstitutional repositories have traditionally functioned as online platforms for scholarly work by university-affiliated researchers. However\, their potential to preserve and share a wider range of works created alongside community-based research partners remains underutilized. This session invites participants to reimagine institutional repositories as dynamic\, inclusive platforms that foster collaboration between academic institutions and the communities they engage with. Attendees will learn about findings from a recently published study exploring how community-based researchers perceive repositories and how these perceptions align with current services and opportunities for growth. The session will conclude with an opportunity for discussion where participants can share how their repositories are currently supporting community-based research\, voice concerns about broadening access and services\, and consider how initiatives like the Community Scholars Program might enable these shifts. \nPresenter: Robyn Hall\, Scholarly Communications Librarian\, MacEwan University \nRobyn Hall is Scholarly Communications Librarian at MacEwan University. She has presented extensively on ways that repositories can facilitate access to diverse research materials. \nThe presentation portion of this session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/canadian-repositories-community-of-practice-august-call-from-campus-to-community-researchers-evolving-the-role-of-institutional-repositories/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Repositories ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/CoP-Featured-Image-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250724T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250724T143000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250915T135849Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250915T135849Z UID:37669-1753362000-1753367400@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Workshop for the Library Community on SSHRC’s Aid to Scholarly Journals Grant Program [French Session] DESCRIPTION:French session\nDate: July 24\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET \nRegistration \nMany library-published or supported journals are eligible to apply for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Aid to Scholarly Journals funding opportunity. This program has been substantially revised for 2025\, and the deadline for applications is September 10\, 2025. \nThe grants support Canadian scholarly research and dissemination by offering a contribution to enable journals to defray the costs associated with publishing open access scholarly articles and digital journal dissemination. Grants are valued at up to $42\,400 per year over three years for emerging journals and up to $52\,000 per year over three years for established journals. \nThe CARL Library Publishing Community Engagement Team has partnered with SSHRC to arrange two webinars\, one in French and one in English\, specifically for journals hosted by Canadian academic libraries. Journal editorial teams and librarians are invited to join representatives from SSHRC to learn more about the Aid to Scholarly Journals grant\, and to ask questions of the experts regarding the eligibility\, application\, and merit review process. If you are considering applying for this grant or if you offer support to journals that are applying (or would just like to know more) please join us! \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/workshop-for-the-library-community-on-sshrcs-aid-to-scholarly-journals-grant-program-french-session/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Library Publishing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250722T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250722T143000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250915T142016Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250915T142016Z UID:37672-1753189200-1753194600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Workshop for the Library Community on SSHRC’s Aid to Scholarly Journals Grant Program [English Session] DESCRIPTION:English session\nDate: July 22\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET \nRegistration \nMany library-published or supported journals are eligible to apply for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Aid to Scholarly Journals funding opportunity. This program has been substantially revised for 2025\, and the deadline for applications is September 10\, 2025. \nThe grants support Canadian scholarly research and dissemination by offering a contribution to enable journals to defray the costs associated with publishing open access scholarly articles and digital journal dissemination. Grants are valued at up to $42\,400 per year over three years for emerging journals and up to $52\,000 per year over three years for established journals. \nThe CARL Library Publishing Community Engagement Team has partnered with SSHRC to arrange two webinars\, one in French and one in English\, specifically for journals hosted by Canadian academic libraries. Journal editorial teams and librarians are invited to join representatives from SSHRC to learn more about the Aid to Scholarly Journals grant\, and to ask questions of the experts regarding the eligibility\, application\, and merit review process. If you are considering applying for this grant or if you offer support to journals that are applying (or would just like to know more) please join us! \nThis session will be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/workshop-for-the-library-community-on-sshrcs-aid-to-scholarly-journals-grant-program-english-session/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Library Publishing ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250709T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250709T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250915T144121Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250915T144121Z UID:37676-1752066000-1752069600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Canadian Repositories Community of Practice July Call: Open Repositories 2025 Recap DESCRIPTION:Date: July 9\, 2025\nTime: 1:00-2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nHaving Open Repositories FOMO (fear of missing out)? Join the Canadian Repositories Community of Practice for an OR Recap event! \nFor many years\, Open Repositories (OR) has served as a key point of knowledge sharing and collaboration for repository managers at institutions across the globe. Unfortunately\, due to decreasing budgets for professional development and the political situation in the US\, many Canadian repository managers are unable to attend this vitally important conference. \nLuckily\, four Canadian representatives\, which include Amber Saundry (UBC)\, Julia Gilmore (Scholars Portal)\, Laurence Charest (Université de Montréal)\, and Pascal Calarco (University of Windsor)\, will attend OR 2025! During this event\, our OR attendees will provide the community with an overview of what they learned at the conference\, so that we all can gain insights from OR 2025. \nYou can add your questions in advance in our shared event document. \nThis session will not be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/canadian-repositories-community-of-practice-july-call-open-repositories-2025-recap/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Repositories ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250620T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250620T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250620T210649Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260318T140233Z UID:37092-1750424400-1750428000@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Mobilizing Learnings from @Risk North3: Next Steps for Digital Preservation DESCRIPTION:Date: Friday\, June 20\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRecording \nJoin us for an informal conversation on action items from @RiskNorth3: Safeguarding the Canadian Digital Record\, the digital preservation summit that took place in November 2024. Sarah Lake (Concordia)\, CARL Visiting Program Officer for Digital Preservation\, will give a short presentation on the high-level outcomes of @RN3\, as shared in the @Risk North 3 Summit Report\, and provide a progress update from the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) on these action items. The presentation will be followed by an open discussion moderated by Sarah and Geoff Harder (Alberta)\, chair of the DPWG. Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts and suggestions for carrying forward summit learnings and priorities. Whether you attended @RN3 or not\, this call is an opportunity to give feedback for future events\, and more broadly\, to provide community input on how we can best engage\, collaborate and support digital preservation in Canada in the next few years. \nThis call will be held in English. A French language call\, facilitated by Sarah Lake and Lisa Miniaci (BAnQ) will take place on Wednesday\, June 18th. \nTo facilitate a productive discussion\, we encourage participants to complete a short (6 question) form ahead of the call: https://forms.gle/H9nB5ageN3HGCkma6. \nThe DPWG includes members from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada\, Canadiana.org\, Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL)\, Library & Archives Canada\, Scholars Portal / Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL)\, CARL\, and several Canadian research libraries. The DPWG works towards the long-term stewardship of Canada’s digital scholarly record and multi-format documentary heritage\, including assessing digital preservation capacity\, available resources\, and funding opportunities within the Canadian research community; identifying and promoting relevant approaches\, standards\, practices\, and technologies\, and liaising with relevant international efforts in order to cultivate an appropriate knowledge of the broader field of digital preservation within Canada.  \nNote that presentations will be recorded but the discussion period will not. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/mobilizing-learnings-from-risk-north3-next-steps-for-digital-preservation/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Digital Preservation,RiskNorth ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Webinar-Featured-Image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250619T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250619T140000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250528T160722Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250620T145210Z UID:36977-1750338000-1750341600@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice June Call: Implementing DORA in Canadian Research Institutions DESCRIPTION:Date: June 19\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nThere is a global effort to evaluate research in a more responsible manner\, and Canada is no exception. Several Canadian institutions have recently signed on to DORA\, the Declaration on Research Assessment. But what does it take to actually implement DORA-aligned practices in a Canadian research context? \nJoin the Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice for a panel discussion with speakers from a cross-section of research institutions across Canada as well as from DORA itself who will speak to their organizations’ experiences\, challenges\, and lessons learned in implementing DORA. \nThis session will be recorded. \nKelly Cobey – University of Ottawa Heart Institute; co-chair\, DORA\nDr. Kelly Cobey is a Scientist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. She advocates for transparency in scientific publishing\, particularly open science implementation. She serves as the Director of the Metaresearch and Open Science Program and is an Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health. Cobey’s work focuses on improving the reproducibility of research and addressing issues like publication bias\, sub-optimal data management\, and predatory publishing. She is a frequent speaker and educator on responsible conduct in research and evidence-based publishing practices. She is co-chair of DORA (Declaration On Research Assessment) an international initiative with a mission to reform research assessment across all scholarly disciplines so that it supports the best quality research. \nRobert Chen – Research Analytics\, University Health Network\, Toronto\nRobert Chen manages the Research Analytics team at the University Health Network (UHN). He helped launch and coordinate UHN’s DORA Advisory Group that developed DORA-aligned recommendations for assessing researchers at UHN. He now coordinates the Research Assessment Implementation Committee that is responsible for guiding the implementation of these DORA recommendations at UHN. \nChristie Hurrell – University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources\nChristie Hurrell (she/her) is the Acting Associate University Librarian for Collections\, Content Services\, and Research Support at the University of Calgary. Christie’s research and practice interests stem from her interest in new ways of sharing and tracking the impact of research. She has been involved in the implementation of DORA at the University of Calgary since the institution signed on to the declaration in 2021. Christie has an MA in Communications and Culture from Toronto Metropolitan (formerly Ryerson) and York Universities\, and an MLIS from the University of British Columbia. \nInba Keho – University of Victoria Libraries\nInba Kehoe is Head\, Copyright and Scholarly communications at the University of Victoria Libraries\, British Columbia. She has a PhD from the University of Victoria and an MLIS from the University of Toronto. Inba’s interests include copyright\, author rights\, scholarly publishing\, and open scholarship. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/bibliometrics-and-research-impact-community-of-practice-june-call-implementing-dora-in-canadian-research-institutions/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Bibliometrics & Research Impact ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250618T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250618T160000 DTSTAMP:20260425T122842 CREATED:20250528T160240Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250528T160240Z UID:36974-1750258800-1750262400@www.carl-abrc.ca SUMMARY:Open Education Community of Practice June Community Call – Sustaining Openness: Navigating Budget Constraints in OER Programs and Grants DESCRIPTION:Date: June 18\, 2025\nTime: 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET \nRegistration \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to invite you to the first meeting of the new Open Education Community of Practice. \nJoin us for a candid community conversation on the financial realities of supporting and scaling OER initiatives. Whether you’re navigating reduced funding\, seeking campus partnerships or looking to advocate for ongoing support\, this is an opportunity to share experiences\, surface challenges\, and collectively imagine a more sustainable path forward for open education. \nAll CARL members and non-members working in or interested in open education are welcome to join. \nIf you would like to be part of the Open Education Community of Practice and stay informed about upcoming events and activities\, subscribe to OE-COP-CARL-L\, the Open Education CoP discussion list. For more information\, visit the OE CoP webpage. \nThis session will not be recorded. URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/open-education-community-of-practice-june-community-call-sustaining-openness-navigating-budget-constraints-in-oer-programs-and-grants/ LOCATION:Online Event CATEGORIES:Open Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NewsFeaturedImage-1.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR