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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
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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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251023T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251023T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251022T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251022T160000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251021T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251021T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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:20260425T123145
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:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251007T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251007T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251006T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251006T150000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251003T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251003T133000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250924T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250924T160000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250827T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250827T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250724T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250724T143000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250722T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250722T143000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250709T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250709T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250620T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250620T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250619T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250619T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250618T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250618T160000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250526T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250529T160000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250422T203706Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251024T143638Z
UID:36758-1748250000-1748534400@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:2025 Spring Member Meeting
DESCRIPTION:« All Events\n \n\n	2025 Spring Member Meeting\n\n			May 26\, 2025\n	  @\n09:00\nEDT\n	  –\n	May 29\, 2025\n	  @\n16:00\nEDT\n	 \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries is pleased to invite member directors to the 2025 Spring 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 Spring Member Meeting Program (PDF)\n					 \n\n	Inn at the Forks\, Winnipeg\, Manitoba\n\n75 Forks Market Road\n		\n		Winnipeg\,\n	Manitoba\n	R3C 0A2\n	Canada\n\n\n	+ Google Map \n\n					\n						\n	 \n\n	View Venue Website \n\n\n					\n				Accommodation\n		\n				\n				Session Descriptions\n		\n				\n				Guest Speakers\n		\n				\n				Previous Meetings\n		 \nHotel Details\nInn at the Forks75 Forks Market Rd\, Winnipeg\, MB R3C 0A2Tel: (204) 942-6555Hotel Website \nA block of rooms has been reserved for May 26-29\, 2025 at a cost of $245 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until Wednesday\, April 23\, 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					 \nSession Descriptions\nEngaging in the Community – Where Can Libraries Make an ImpactDuncan Mercredi\, Winnipeg Poet Laureate and Knowledge Keeper\, University of Manitoba Libraries(Wednesday\, May 28\, 8:30–9:00 AM) \nIn this session\, Duncan will discuss land acknowledgements\, their use\, the way in which acknowledgements are made\, and what considerations / perspectives should be taken; what his role as Knowledge Keeper brings to the University of Manitoba Libraries\, what are his priorities\, overall\, what does the role of knowledge keeper entail\, and what does he and the UofM libraries want to achieve; what considerations should CARL members be thinking about if they wanted to embark on the same journey amongst other things. \nUpdate on the work of the National Centre for Truth and ReconciliationRaymond Frogner\, Senior Director of Research and Head of Archives\, NCTR(Wednesday\, May 28\, 9:00–10:00 AM) \nThis presentation will trace four periods in the evolving Imperial / Indigenous relationship in Canadian history. Each period will be characterized with archival examples to highlight when juridical authority asserted its contested jurisdiction; and how Indigenous peoples’ responded. In each period the character of the archival records reflects the character of the relationship. \nImpacts of the Current North American Political Environment on Research\, Collections\, and EDI – PerspectivesGabriel Miller\, President and CEO\, Universities Canada (remote)Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy\, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)\, University of Manitoba(Wednesday\, May 28\, 10:15–11:30 AM) \nThe two invited speakers will offer their observations and thoughts – one from a pan-Canadian university advocacy organization’s perspective and one from an institutional administrator’s and researcher’s perspective – on how political developments south of the border and in Canada are impacting Canadian post-secondary education\, our universities\, the makeup of the academy\, research funding\, innovation\, and such societal goals as equity\, diversity and inclusion.  Measures being undertaken or considered by universities to find new opportunities and to mitigate negative impacts will also be discussed.  The session will not be focused on libraries so much as on the broader context in which research libraries are set.  \nCoARA and DORA: Changing the Research CultureDr. Kelly Cobey\, Ottawa Heart Institute and Co-Chair\, DORA (pre-recorded)Dr. Natalia Manola\, CEO\, OpenAIRE and Co-Chair\, CoARA WG OI4RRA (pre-recorded)Dr. Erica Conte\, Director\, Funding Strategy and Stewardship\, Unity Health Toronto(Wednesday\, May 28\, 11:30 AM–12:30 PM) \nWith recent developments in the open science space come calls from researchers and other stakeholders to enact more holistic changes to research culture\, including research assessment. Internationally\, DORA and CoARA are at the forefront of this movement; research assessment reform agreements issued by these organizations are garnering attention and gaining traction internationally and with some success in Canada. In this session\, invited speakers will provide pre-recorded dispatches from DORA and CoARA\, updating CARL members on the current state of play and contributing their perspectives on the Canadian context. \nReflecting Library Values in the Shift to Investment from ProcurementJoanna Ball\, Managing Director\, DOAJ(Wednesday\, May 28\, 2:30–3:30 PM) \nJoanna will broadly discuss investment versus procurement and how existing infrastructure assessment frameworks can be helpful to translate a library’s values into principles and rules that will guide their support to open infrastructures\, as investment.  DOAJ will be described as illustrative. \nIntellectual Freedom in Interesting TimesJames Turk\, CEO\, Centre for Free Expression (remote)Vickery Bowles\, CEO\, Toronto Public Library (remote)(Wednesday\, May 28\, 3:45–5:00 PM) \nThe session will explore whether Canadian academic libraries and their leadership need to more actively champion our profession’s core values in light of recent developments in Canada and other jurisdictions that are challenging intellectual freedom and its role in a just\, lawful\, and democratic society. Presentations from a leader and IF champion in the public library sphere (Vickery) and from one of Canada’s foremost academics on the subject (Jim) will be followed by Q & A\, and then by CARL tables discussion. Vickery will describe a recent TPL IF campaign and offer some observations for members’ consideration based on her experience. Jim will help us unpack the concepts and will suggest ways that academic libraries and their leaders may better navigate these times so as not to lose ground. \nTri-Agency UpdateMatthew Lucas\, Executive Director\, Corporate Strategy and Performance\, SSHRC (remote)Tim Wilson\, Associate Vice-President\, Research Programs\, SSHRC (remote)Kori St-Cyr\, Director\, Policy and Government\, NSERC (remote)Alison Bourgon\, Director-General\, Science Policy Branch\, CIHR (remote)(Thursday\, May 29\, 11:00 AM–12:00 PM) \nThe tri-agency representatives will update CARL members on developments in several areas: \n\nScope\, plans and timelines for the new OA policy\, post the comment period.\nThe state of play of the data management policy these days and any challenges arising\nDevelopments related to ASJ and SBA programs\, and investment in diamond OA.\nDevelopments related to DORA and the narrative CV rollout.\nThe state of the grant management systems changes and integration of PIDS\nAny structural changes and the prospect of a new capstone organization.\n\nGuest Speaker Biographies\nJoanna Ball: As Managing Director of DOAJ\, Joanna Ball is responsible for ensuring DOAJ fulfills its mission by setting strategic direction\, leading advocacy and engagement\, and securing the organisation’s sustainability. Before joining DOAJ in 2022\, Joanna spent over 25 years in management and leadership roles within research libraries in the UK and Denmark\, most recently as Head of Roskilde University Library. She has experience in strategy development\, managing cultural change and developing open access services and programmes. She is a member of UKSG’s Insights Editorial Board and is currently Chair of its Board of Trustees. Joanna lives with her family in Roskilde. \nAlison Bourgon is the Acting Director General of Science Policy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph\, and a Master’s of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. Before joining CIHR\, Alison held several research positions at the University of Ottawa\, the Ottawa Cancer Center\, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute\, including  managing knowledge translation projects related to clinical decision making and patient decision aids. During her ten years at CIHR\, Alison has held various leadership positions\, including Deputy Director of investigator-initiated and priority-driven programs\, and Manager of Knowledge Translation Strategies. In her current position\, Alison oversees the breadth of CIHR’s science policies and strategies\, including work in the area of ethics; research capacity; equity\, diversity and inclusion; knowledge translation; open science; and health research data. \nVickery Bowles is the City Librarian at Toronto Public Library (TPL)\, Canada’s largest public library system\, with 100 branches. Since being appointed in 2015\, she has championed public libraries as democratic institutions to preserve and protect democratic values and freedoms; in particular\, intellectual freedom – every individual’s right to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction – in Toronto and across the global public library sector. Toronto Public Library was the 2025 recipient of the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Award.  \nDr. Kelly Cobey\, is a scientist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where she leads the Metaresearch and Open Science Program. She is also an associate professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cobey holds a number of national and international leadership positions in the meta-research community. Since 2015 she has been a member of EQUATOR Canada which provides educational outreach and support for the use of reporting guidelines. She also presently sits on the Advisory Board of DORA (Declaration On Research Assessment) which aims to drive the use of more responsible metrics to evaluate research and researchers\, and serves on the Science Policy Committee for Research Data Canada. \nDr. Erica Conte is the Director of Funding Strategy and Stewardship at St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto. She has diverse work experience in academics\, industry\, and research administration\, including expertise in research assessment\, strategic planning\, communication\, institutional leadership\, as well as both traditional and philanthropic research funding. She is the Canadian representative on the INORMS Research Evaluation Group\, where she helps develop tools to support responsible research assessment and improve our use of global and national rankings in research. \nRaymond Frogner: As Head of Archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) since 2016\, Raymond Frogner is responsible for honouring\, safeguarding\, and facilitating responsible access to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) records and additional materials of enduring value to Indigenous Peoples. Born in Port Alberni\, British Columbia Raymond received his Master of Arts in Labour History from the University of Victoria and a Master of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia. His graduate work focused on archives and Indigenous identity. He continues to research and publish on archival issues with a focus on Indigenous societies\, identity and memory. \nDr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy was appointed as Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at University of Manitoba in 2021. Before assuming her role as Provost\, Dr. Hiebert-Murphy served as Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs) from 2016 to 2021.  An accomplished researcher\, clinician\, mentor and administrator\, Dr. Hiebert-Murphy obtained a BSW\, MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba\, completing a clinical internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston\, Texas. She is a Professor in UM’s Faculty of Social Work and the Psychological Service Centre in the Faculty of Arts. Her research and scholarship focuses on intervention with families of young children with disabilities and families impacted by violence\, and has been funded nationally (SSHRC) and provincially. \nMatthew Lucas joined the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in September 2015 as the Executive Director\, Corporate Strategy and Performance\, and has a background in science\, technology and innovation policy. Prior to SSHRC\, Matthew worked at Industry Canada where he held several positions\, including Senior Policy Advisor to the Science\, Technology and Innovation Council Secretariat\, and the Departmental Advisor to the Minister of State for Science and Technology. Matthew received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2005. \nDr. Natalia Manola is the CEO of OpenAIRE\, a pan European e-Infrastructure supporting scholarly communication and open science Europe since 2009\, and Co-Chair of the CoARA Working Group on Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment (WG OI4RRA). Natalia holds a Physics degree from the University of Athens\, and an MS in Electrical and Computing Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and has worked for several years as a Software Engineer and Architect in the Bioinformatics commercial sector. She has expertise in Open Science policies and implementation\, having served in the EOSC Executive Board 2019-20\, and in the Open Science Policy Platform (2016-17)\, an EC High Level Advisory Group providing advice about the development and implementation of open science policy in Europe. \nDuncan Mercredi is a Cree/Métis writer and storyteller originally from Misipawistik (Grand Rapids)\, Manitoba\, and Poet Laureate of Winnipeg. He is currently the Knowledge Keeper at the University of Manitoba libraries. \nGabriel Miller is the President and CEO of Universities Canada\, a role he assumed in 2024. He is an experienced not-for-profit leader who has built an extensive track record in member relations\, advocacy\, stakeholder engagement\, and public policy development over his 22-year career. Previously\, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Gabriel holds a B.A. in philosophy from Queen’s University\, and has served as a member of several not-for-profit boards as well as on the Government of Canada’s Diamond Jubilee Advisory Committee. \nKori St-Cyr is Director\, Policy and Government Relations at the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In this role\, Kori provides leadership to the agency’s international\, strategic policy and government affairs activities. Prior to this role\, Kori served as Senior Policy Advisor to NSERC’s Vice-President\, Research Grants and Scholarships. Before joining NSERC in 2020\, Kori served as Acting Manager in Science Policy and Senior Advisor in Science Strategy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Previously\, as a Research Associate with the Council of Canadian Academies\, Kori worked with multidisciplinary panels of experts to develop evidence-based reports informing public policy development in Canada. \nJames L. Turk is the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. He is a frequent media commentator and public speaker on freedom of expression\, intellectual freedom\, post-secondary education\, academic freedom\, whistleblowing\, and other public policy issues related to expressive freedom\, social justice\, and democracy.  He received his Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) from Harvard University\, studied political science and philosophy as a Knox Fellow at the University of Cambridge\, received his Master of Arts from the University of California\, Berkeley and his doctor of philosophy from the University of Toronto.  In 2024\, Dr. Turk was the inaugural recipient of the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Award. \nTim Wilson is the Associate Vice-President of Research Programs at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)\, where he is responsible for overseeing the Agency’s granting programs. Prior to coming to SSHRC\, Tim held a number of executive positions at the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Commission. In addition to his career in the Public Service\, Tim also teaches English Literature part-time at the University of Ottawa\, specializing in Renaissance Literature and Literary Theory. \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\nInn at the Forks75 Forks Market Rd\, Winnipeg\, MB R3C 0A2Tel: (204) 942-6555Hotel Website \nA block of rooms has been reserved for May 26-29\, 2025 at a cost of $245 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until Wednesday\, April 23\, 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					 \nSession Descriptions\nEngaging in the Community – Where Can Libraries Make an ImpactDuncan Mercredi\, Winnipeg Poet Laureate and Knowledge Keeper\, University of Manitoba Libraries(Wednesday\, May 28\, 8:30–9:00 AM) \nIn this session\, Duncan will discuss land acknowledgements\, their use\, the way in which acknowledgements are made\, and what considerations / perspectives should be taken; what his role as Knowledge Keeper brings to the University of Manitoba Libraries\, what are his priorities\, overall\, what does the role of knowledge keeper entail\, and what does he and the UofM libraries want to achieve; what considerations should CARL members be thinking about if they wanted to embark on the same journey amongst other things. \nUpdate on the work of the National Centre for Truth and ReconciliationRaymond Frogner\, Senior Director of Research and Head of Archives\, NCTR(Wednesday\, May 28\, 9:00–10:00 AM) \nThis presentation will trace four periods in the evolving Imperial / Indigenous relationship in Canadian history. Each period will be characterized with archival examples to highlight when juridical authority asserted its contested jurisdiction; and how Indigenous peoples’ responded. In each period the character of the archival records reflects the character of the relationship. \nImpacts of the Current North American Political Environment on Research\, Collections\, and EDI – PerspectivesGabriel Miller\, President and CEO\, Universities Canada (remote)Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy\, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)\, University of Manitoba(Wednesday\, May 28\, 10:15–11:30 AM) \nThe two invited speakers will offer their observations and thoughts – one from a pan-Canadian university advocacy organization’s perspective and one from an institutional administrator’s and researcher’s perspective – on how political developments south of the border and in Canada are impacting Canadian post-secondary education\, our universities\, the makeup of the academy\, research funding\, innovation\, and such societal goals as equity\, diversity and inclusion.  Measures being undertaken or considered by universities to find new opportunities and to mitigate negative impacts will also be discussed.  The session will not be focused on libraries so much as on the broader context in which research libraries are set.  \nCoARA and DORA: Changing the Research CultureDr. Kelly Cobey\, Ottawa Heart Institute and Co-Chair\, DORA (pre-recorded)Dr. Natalia Manola\, CEO\, OpenAIRE and Co-Chair\, CoARA WG OI4RRA (pre-recorded)Dr. Erica Conte\, Director\, Funding Strategy and Stewardship\, Unity Health Toronto(Wednesday\, May 28\, 11:30 AM–12:30 PM) \nWith recent developments in the open science space come calls from researchers and other stakeholders to enact more holistic changes to research culture\, including research assessment. Internationally\, DORA and CoARA are at the forefront of this movement; research assessment reform agreements issued by these organizations are garnering attention and gaining traction internationally and with some success in Canada. In this session\, invited speakers will provide pre-recorded dispatches from DORA and CoARA\, updating CARL members on the current state of play and contributing their perspectives on the Canadian context. \nReflecting Library Values in the Shift to Investment from ProcurementJoanna Ball\, Managing Director\, DOAJ(Wednesday\, May 28\, 2:30–3:30 PM) \nJoanna will broadly discuss investment versus procurement and how existing infrastructure assessment frameworks can be helpful to translate a library’s values into principles and rules that will guide their support to open infrastructures\, as investment.  DOAJ will be described as illustrative. \nIntellectual Freedom in Interesting TimesJames Turk\, CEO\, Centre for Free Expression (remote)Vickery Bowles\, CEO\, Toronto Public Library (remote)(Wednesday\, May 28\, 3:45–5:00 PM) \nThe session will explore whether Canadian academic libraries and their leadership need to more actively champion our profession’s core values in light of recent developments in Canada and other jurisdictions that are challenging intellectual freedom and its role in a just\, lawful\, and democratic society. Presentations from a leader and IF champion in the public library sphere (Vickery) and from one of Canada’s foremost academics on the subject (Jim) will be followed by Q & A\, and then by CARL tables discussion. Vickery will describe a recent TPL IF campaign and offer some observations for members’ consideration based on her experience. Jim will help us unpack the concepts and will suggest ways that academic libraries and their leaders may better navigate these times so as not to lose ground. \nTri-Agency UpdateMatthew Lucas\, Executive Director\, Corporate Strategy and Performance\, SSHRC (remote)Tim Wilson\, Associate Vice-President\, Research Programs\, SSHRC (remote)Kori St-Cyr\, Director\, Policy and Government\, NSERC (remote)Alison Bourgon\, Director-General\, Science Policy Branch\, CIHR (remote)(Thursday\, May 29\, 11:00 AM–12:00 PM) \nThe tri-agency representatives will update CARL members on developments in several areas: \n\nScope\, plans and timelines for the new OA policy\, post the comment period.\nThe state of play of the data management policy these days and any challenges arising\nDevelopments related to ASJ and SBA programs\, and investment in diamond OA.\nDevelopments related to DORA and the narrative CV rollout.\nThe state of the grant management systems changes and integration of PIDS\nAny structural changes and the prospect of a new capstone organization.\n\nGuest Speaker Biographies\nJoanna Ball: As Managing Director of DOAJ\, Joanna Ball is responsible for ensuring DOAJ fulfills its mission by setting strategic direction\, leading advocacy and engagement\, and securing the organisation’s sustainability. Before joining DOAJ in 2022\, Joanna spent over 25 years in management and leadership roles within research libraries in the UK and Denmark\, most recently as Head of Roskilde University Library. She has experience in strategy development\, managing cultural change and developing open access services and programmes. She is a member of UKSG’s Insights Editorial Board and is currently Chair of its Board of Trustees. Joanna lives with her family in Roskilde. \nAlison Bourgon is the Acting Director General of Science Policy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph\, and a Master’s of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. Before joining CIHR\, Alison held several research positions at the University of Ottawa\, the Ottawa Cancer Center\, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute\, including  managing knowledge translation projects related to clinical decision making and patient decision aids. During her ten years at CIHR\, Alison has held various leadership positions\, including Deputy Director of investigator-initiated and priority-driven programs\, and Manager of Knowledge Translation Strategies. In her current position\, Alison oversees the breadth of CIHR’s science policies and strategies\, including work in the area of ethics; research capacity; equity\, diversity and inclusion; knowledge translation; open science; and health research data. \nVickery Bowles is the City Librarian at Toronto Public Library (TPL)\, Canada’s largest public library system\, with 100 branches. Since being appointed in 2015\, she has championed public libraries as democratic institutions to preserve and protect democratic values and freedoms; in particular\, intellectual freedom – every individual’s right to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction – in Toronto and across the global public library sector. Toronto Public Library was the 2025 recipient of the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Award.  \nDr. Kelly Cobey\, is a scientist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where she leads the Metaresearch and Open Science Program. She is also an associate professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cobey holds a number of national and international leadership positions in the meta-research community. Since 2015 she has been a member of EQUATOR Canada which provides educational outreach and support for the use of reporting guidelines. She also presently sits on the Advisory Board of DORA (Declaration On Research Assessment) which aims to drive the use of more responsible metrics to evaluate research and researchers\, and serves on the Science Policy Committee for Research Data Canada. \nDr. Erica Conte is the Director of Funding Strategy and Stewardship at St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto. She has diverse work experience in academics\, industry\, and research administration\, including expertise in research assessment\, strategic planning\, communication\, institutional leadership\, as well as both traditional and philanthropic research funding. She is the Canadian representative on the INORMS Research Evaluation Group\, where she helps develop tools to support responsible research assessment and improve our use of global and national rankings in research. \nRaymond Frogner: As Head of Archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) since 2016\, Raymond Frogner is responsible for honouring\, safeguarding\, and facilitating responsible access to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) records and additional materials of enduring value to Indigenous Peoples. Born in Port Alberni\, British Columbia Raymond received his Master of Arts in Labour History from the University of Victoria and a Master of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia. His graduate work focused on archives and Indigenous identity. He continues to research and publish on archival issues with a focus on Indigenous societies\, identity and memory. \nDr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy was appointed as Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at University of Manitoba in 2021. Before assuming her role as Provost\, Dr. Hiebert-Murphy served as Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs) from 2016 to 2021.  An accomplished researcher\, clinician\, mentor and administrator\, Dr. Hiebert-Murphy obtained a BSW\, MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba\, completing a clinical internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston\, Texas. She is a Professor in UM’s Faculty of Social Work and the Psychological Service Centre in the Faculty of Arts. Her research and scholarship focuses on intervention with families of young children with disabilities and families impacted by violence\, and has been funded nationally (SSHRC) and provincially. \nMatthew Lucas joined the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in September 2015 as the Executive Director\, Corporate Strategy and Performance\, and has a background in science\, technology and innovation policy. Prior to SSHRC\, Matthew worked at Industry Canada where he held several positions\, including Senior Policy Advisor to the Science\, Technology and Innovation Council Secretariat\, and the Departmental Advisor to the Minister of State for Science and Technology. Matthew received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2005. \nDr. Natalia Manola is the CEO of OpenAIRE\, a pan European e-Infrastructure supporting scholarly communication and open science Europe since 2009\, and Co-Chair of the CoARA Working Group on Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment (WG OI4RRA). Natalia holds a Physics degree from the University of Athens\, and an MS in Electrical and Computing Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and has worked for several years as a Software Engineer and Architect in the Bioinformatics commercial sector. She has expertise in Open Science policies and implementation\, having served in the EOSC Executive Board 2019-20\, and in the Open Science Policy Platform (2016-17)\, an EC High Level Advisory Group providing advice about the development and implementation of open science policy in Europe. \nDuncan Mercredi is a Cree/Métis writer and storyteller originally from Misipawistik (Grand Rapids)\, Manitoba\, and Poet Laureate of Winnipeg. He is currently the Knowledge Keeper at the University of Manitoba libraries. \nGabriel Miller is the President and CEO of Universities Canada\, a role he assumed in 2024. He is an experienced not-for-profit leader who has built an extensive track record in member relations\, advocacy\, stakeholder engagement\, and public policy development over his 22-year career. Previously\, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Gabriel holds a B.A. in philosophy from Queen’s University\, and has served as a member of several not-for-profit boards as well as on the Government of Canada’s Diamond Jubilee Advisory Committee. \nKori St-Cyr is Director\, Policy and Government Relations at the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In this role\, Kori provides leadership to the agency’s international\, strategic policy and government affairs activities. Prior to this role\, Kori served as Senior Policy Advisor to NSERC’s Vice-President\, Research Grants and Scholarships. Before joining NSERC in 2020\, Kori served as Acting Manager in Science Policy and Senior Advisor in Science Strategy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Previously\, as a Research Associate with the Council of Canadian Academies\, Kori worked with multidisciplinary panels of experts to develop evidence-based reports informing public policy development in Canada. \nJames L. Turk is the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. He is a frequent media commentator and public speaker on freedom of expression\, intellectual freedom\, post-secondary education\, academic freedom\, whistleblowing\, and other public policy issues related to expressive freedom\, social justice\, and democracy.  He received his Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) from Harvard University\, studied political science and philosophy as a Knox Fellow at the University of Cambridge\, received his Master of Arts from the University of California\, Berkeley and his doctor of philosophy from the University of Toronto.  In 2024\, Dr. Turk was the inaugural recipient of the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Award. \nTim Wilson is the Associate Vice-President of Research Programs at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)\, where he is responsible for overseeing the Agency’s granting programs. Prior to coming to SSHRC\, Tim held a number of executive positions at the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Commission. In addition to his career in the Public Service\, Tim also teaches English Literature part-time at the University of Ottawa\, specializing in Renaissance Literature and Literary Theory. \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-spring-member-meeting/
LOCATION:Inn at the Forks\, Winnipeg\, Manitoba\, 75 Forks Market Road\, Winnipeg\, Manitoba\, R3C 0A2\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Member Meetings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250522T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250522T133000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250528T160024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250730T211138Z
UID:36971-1747915200-1747920600@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:Join the First Assessment Community of Practice Call
DESCRIPTION:Date: Thursday\, May 22\, 2025\nTime: 12:00pm-1:30pm ET \nRegistration \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to invite you to the first meeting of the new Assessment Community of Practice. With over 50 participants already signed up from across the country\, this CoP brings together library professionals working in assessment and impact to connect\, collaborate\, and learn from one another. \nThis inaugural session will include opportunities to meet fellow community members\, participate in informal icebreaker activities\, and share ideas for topics and themes to explore in the year ahead. The call will also feature an open discussion about current trends and challenges in assessment work across our libraries. \nAll CARL members and non-members working in or interested in library assessment are welcome to join. \nIf you would like to be part of the Assessment Community of Practice and stay informed about upcoming events and activities\, subscribe to ASSESSMENT-COP-CARL-L\, the Canadian Assessment CoP discussion list.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/join-the-first-assessment-community-of-practice-call/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Assessment
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250521T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250521T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250528T155200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250528T155200Z
UID:36966-1747832400-1747836000@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:Communications Community of Practice May Call – Communicating Change: A Discussion About Current Disruptions in Library Operations
DESCRIPTION:Date: Wednesday\, May 21\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nHow do we proactively think about the future of academic libraries when the infrastructures of trust–technological and social–upon which our profession depends\, are under threat and challenged? \nJoin the Communications Community of Practice (a.k.a. the CommUNITY) for an open and thought-provoking discussion on how libraries are navigating and communicating through periods of disruption and change. In this session\, we will explore how libraries are adapting in response to shifting technological landscapes\, increasing financial pressures\, and policy changes. \nOur panel of speakers—representing a variety of roles and institutions—will share insights on the communication strategies\, challenges\, and opportunities that have emerged in their respective contexts. \nCorey Davis\, Digital Preservation Librarian\, University of Victoria\nDr. Matt Huculak\, Director\, KULA: Library Futures Academy\, University of Victoria\nDr. Maha Kumaran\, Collections and Discovery and the Liaison Librarian for Education\, University of Saskatchewan\nStephanie Savage\, CARL’s current Visiting Program Officer for Copyright and Other Public Policy Matters\, University of British Columbia
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/communications-community-of-practice-may-call-communicating-change-a-discussion-about-current-disruptions-in-library-operations/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Communications
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250502T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250502T130000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250407T163837Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250416T192610Z
UID:36644-1746187200-1746190800@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Inclusive Collections Webinar Series – From Shelves to Streams: How Format Shifts Impact Diversity in Academic Film Collections
DESCRIPTION:Date: Friday\, May 2\, 2025\nTime: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET \nRegistration \nThe Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Equity\, Diversity\, and Inclusion Working Group (CARL EDIWG) is pleased to announce the third in a series of planned webinars on inclusive collections. \nCanadian research libraries are actively engaged in the ongoing process of decolonizing their collections\, cultivating inclusive libraries\, and adopting equitable and inclusive practices that aim to amplify and leverage the voices of marginalized and underrepresented communities in Canada. Through the Inclusive Collections webinar series\, the CARL EDIWG aims to facilitate conversations\, provide practical insights\, and foster the exchange of policies and strategies that promote diverse collections. \nIn this 60-minute session\, join librarians Trevor Deck and James Mason as they share conclusions from their research comparing the diversity of streaming media collections as compared to the physical counterparts held in academic libraries. They ask\, first\, whether the shift away from collecting physical media may also be a shift away from including diverse perspectives in film collections; and second\, if we have the data to draw a measurable and demonstrable conclusion. Exploring the potentials and limitations of utilizing large data sources including catalogue metadata and online open sources of data such as Wikidata\, they attempt  to understand the diversity represented in the collections and to better inform collection practices. \nThere will be time for questions and discussion at the end. This will be a collaborative future-forward conversation\, so please bring your own questions and/or proposed solutions. \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\, simultaneous translation and captions will be available throughout the session. Additional accommodation requests can also be emailed to Julie Morin\, Senior Program Officer at CARL (julie.morin@carl-abrc.ca). \nTrevor Deck\nTrevor Deck is the Music & Film Collections Management Librarian at the University of Toronto\, where he oversees collection development for music and film materials in all formats. With a background in philosophy\, film studies\, and music composition\, he brings a thoughtful and interdisciplinary approach to librarianship. Trevor has worked extensively in collection management\, licensing\, and digital resource development\, with a particular focus on streaming media and access to audiovisual materials in academic settings. He is an active member of professional organizations and has contributed to numerous initiatives aimed at improving access to music and film collections. Passionate about collaboration and knowledge-sharing\, Trevor is committed to supporting students\, faculty\, and fellow librarians in navigating the evolving landscape of media resources in libraries. \nJames Mason\nJames Mason is the Metadata and Digital Initiatives Librarian at the University of Toronto. He is currently focused on research at the intersection of art and technology\, with a particular interest in how libraries can support technology-driven research. His current interests also include metadata workflows and data analysis. \nNote that presentations will be recorded but the Q&A will not.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-inclusive-collections-webinar-series-from-shelves-to-streams-how-format-shifts-impact-diversity-in-academic-film-collections/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Equity Diversity Inclusion
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250415T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250415T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250407T162943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250424T204012Z
UID:36642-1744722000-1744725600@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Canadian Repositories Community of Practice April Call – Being Trustworthy: CoreTrustSeal Certification and Repositories
DESCRIPTION:Date: Tuesday\, April 15\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET \nRegistration \nSeveral national and international funders have mandated requirements for data management and preservation\, leaving researchers in search of a trustworthy place to deposit their data. What does digital preservation mean for a data repository? Can we provide this infrastructure for researchers? \nJoin the CARL Canadian Repositories Community of Practice to explore CoreTrustSeal\, a core level certification based on the Core Trustworthy Data Repositories Requirements for any data repository. In this session\, Corey Davis\, Digital Preservation Librarian\, and Shahira Khair\, Data Curation and Organizational Analysis Librarian\, will share how they successfully applied to have University of Victoria’s Dataverse CoreTrustSeal certified. Whether you plan to apply or not\, join us to learn more about digital preservation best practices in data repositories. \nThis session will be recorded. \nCorey Davis \nCorey Davis is the Digital Preservation Librarian at the University of Victoria\, with over 15 years of experience in academic libraries. He holds an MLIS from UBC and a BA in Greek and Roman Studies from UVic. He leads digital preservation policy and strategy development\, collaborates on technological infrastructure\, and advises faculty\, researchers\, and students. A founding member of the CARL Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG)\, Corey focuses on collaborative efforts to safeguard digital collections for the future. \nShahira Khair \nShahira Khair (she/her) is a Librarian at the University of Victoria Libraries\, with responsibilities for research data management and organizational analysis. She leads library support for the curation and publication of research data in UVic Dataverse\, the Libraries’ CoreTrustSeal data repository\, and collaborates with organizations across Canada to advance digital initiatives in research and higher education. She currently leads a national community of practice dedicated to building capacity for library assessment and communicating impact with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. She holds an MSc and MLIS from the University of Ottawa. \nAbout the Canadian Repositories Community of Practice \nThe Canadian Repositories Community of Practice unites professionals managing open repositories in Canadian libraries\, academic institutions\, and scholarly organizations. Its aim is to share best practices\, identify collaboration opportunities\, and network with colleagues nationwide. To join this community of practice and stay informed about the group’s upcoming events and ongoing activities\, subscribe to REPOS-L\, the repositories in libraries discussion list.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-canadian-repositories-community-of-practice-april-call-being-trustworthy-coretrustseal-certification-and-repositories/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Repositories
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250414T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250417T170000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20260108T171146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260108T172505Z
UID:39374-1744617600-1744909200@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:Evidence Synthesis Institute Canada 2025 (in English)
DESCRIPTION:Applications will be open from December 11th\, 2024 and will close on February 3\, 2025 at 11:59 pm PT. Successful applicants will be notified by March 3rd\, 2025. \nThe Institute itself is planned to run virtually from April 14-17\, 2025. The Institute will run from 12-5 pm ET / 9am-2pm PT on each of the days noted. Note that we are also planning to offer the institute in French in the fall of 2025. \nThe 2025 version of Evidence Synthesis Institute Canada is brought to you by a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and University of Victoria Libraries. The Institute will involve no charge for accepted applicants. \nWe are able to accept 50 participants in this offering of the Institute in Canada. Applications 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\nFurther details about the Evidence Synthesis Institute\, as well as a link to the application form is available at the following webpage: \nhttps://libguides.uvic.ca/ESICanada\n \nThe language of instruction for the Institute will be English. However\, we will have French-speaking instructors available for follow-up conversations. Each day of the Institute typically ends with discipline-focused discussion groups. If you would rather participate in discussion with other French speakers rather than with a disciplinary group\, please answer in the affirmative to the question on the application form. \nAny questions about the Institute or registration can be directed towards Zahra Premji (zahrapremji@uvic.ca).
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/evidence-synthesis-institute-canada-2025-in-english/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:ESI
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250410T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250410T143000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250407T163455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250423T201701Z
UID:36643-1744290000-1744295400@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice April Call – OpenAlex for Research Analytics
DESCRIPTION:Date: Thursday\, April 10\, 2025\nTime: 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET \nRegistration \nJoin the CARL Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice for a presentation and discussion on OpenAlex for Research Analytics with invited speaker Kyle Demes. \nInstitutions of all shapes and sizes rely on data about the activities\, outputs\, and impacts of their researchers\, as well as those at other institutions\, to drive their research strategy. Historically\, this data was only available through costly subscriptions to proprietary databases. Now\, all of this is possible with completely open databases\, but there aren’t yet many practical training opportunities with these tools. In this workshop\, Kyle will introduce OpenAlex as a source for research analytics and walk through common use analytics cases using OpenAlex. If you have specific use cases that you’d like to see covered\, let Kyle know in advance using this form: https://forms.gle/ztr9MnW8oA8Kyhgs5 \nBiography: Using data to make better decisions drives Kyle Demes. A former marine ecologist\, he has spent the last decade working with governments and universities on developing and implementing data-driven research strategies. As Chief Operating Officer of OurResearch\, he is working to build and sustain an open index of the world’s research ecosystem to ensure that analytics informing research strategies can be open and transparent. His spare time is split between his communities and the shorelines and mountains near Vancouver. \nThis session will be recorded.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-bibliometrics-and-research-impact-community-of-practice-april-call-openalex-for-research-analytics/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Bibliometrics & Research Impact
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250326T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250326T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250408T203233Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250509T184104Z
UID:36606-1742994000-1742997600@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:Communi-tea Time with CARL’s Communications Community of Practice
DESCRIPTION:Date: March 26\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm-2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nLet’s spill the tea! Join us for an informal gathering of library communications professionals to explore how AI is shaping our work. This is a great opportunity to ask any lingering questions from our last session\, Artificial Intelligence in Action: Ethical and Effective Library Marketing with Business Librarian Ann Liang (uSask)\, or to share how you’re using AI in your day-to-day library communications. Come exchange ideas and connect with colleagues navigating similar challenges and opportunities! \nThis session will not be recorded.  \nAbout the Communications Community of Practice \nEstablished in 2022\, the Communications Community of Practice (CoP)\, also known as the CommUNITY\, brings together library workers and other colleagues from Canadian academic institutions working or interested in communications. The goals of the CoP are to connect\, provide information sharing\, and grow expertise and capacity across Canada. For more information\, see Communications Community of Practice. \n 
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/communi-tea-time-with-carls-communications-community-of-practice/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Communications
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250226T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250226T150000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250408T202718Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250408T203912Z
UID:36676-1740578400-1740582000@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Webinar: Beyond Marrakesh: Fair Dealing and Creating Accessible Copies of Works for Disabled Persons
DESCRIPTION:Date: Wednesday\, February 26\, 2025\nTime: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST (11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PST) \nRegistration required \nPresenter: Rowan Meredith\nDoctor of Juridical Science (SJD) Student\, University of Toronto \nThe Marrakesh Treaty\, which entered into force in 2016\, was designed to create exceptions to copyright infringement for the creation of accessible copies of works for use by disabled persons. Libraries regularly rely on the Marrakesh Treaty\, and on Section 32 of the Copyright Act which implements the Treaty in Canada\, to produce accessible copies of works. However\, the disability exceptions to copyright law have limitations – for example\, they prohibit copying cinematographic works and works that are commercially available in an accessible format. These limitations often encourage libraries and other beneficiaries of the Section 32 provisions to be risk-averse in their copying activities. \nThis presentation will look at whether and to what extent the creation of accessible copies of works can be understood as falling under a broader exception to copyright law – fair dealing. The presentation will explore the fair dealing jurisprudence in Canada\, recognizing that user rights in Canada are meant to be given a broad and liberal interpretation\, and will apply it to the creation of accessible copies of works for use by disabled persons. In doing so\, the presentation will suggest an alternate basis in copyright law for libraries to create accessible copies of works where the Section 32 disability exceptions are insufficient for a given purpose.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-webinar-beyond-marrakesh-fair-dealing-and-creating-accessible-copies-of-works-for-disabled-persons/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Copyright
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250226T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250226T133000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250408T202528Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250509T183956Z
UID:36675-1740571200-1740576600@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Library Publishing Community Engagement Team Community Call – Publishing Standards
DESCRIPTION:Date: February 26\, 2025\nTime: 12:00 – 1:30pm ET \nRegistration \nThe CARL Library Publishing Community Engagement Team welcomes you to join our next community call about publishing standards.  \nIn 2022\, several publishing organizations (DOAJ\, COPE\, OASPA\, and WAME) jointly published updated Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. These principles are just one set of publishing standards that we encounter when supporting journals\, and it can be challenging to help journals adjust their practices and policies to meet external benchmarks. \nIn this practice-based meeting we invite you to share questions\, ideas\, obstacles and perspectives about the different publishing standards that you’ve encountered. If you have problems\, solutions\, a cry for help\, or would just like to commiserate with your colleagues\, please add your name to our speaker list by February 12 with a brief description of the topic you’ll be speaking about. Some ideas might include: How is everyone handling DOAJ applications? What do you think about the new DIAMAS Best Practices Checklist? How are we approaching editorial teams when their policies need improvement?  \nFacilitation for this session will be in French\, but speakers are welcome to participate in either English or French\, and discussion will take place in both languages.  \nThis call will not be recorded\, but we will capture notes in a shared document that will be distributed after the call. \nAbout the CARL Library Publishing Community Engagement Team \nThe CARL Library Publishing Community Engagement Team seeks to support Canadian library publishing practitioners in their functional roles and to grow Canadian expertise and capacity in this area. Members include: \n\nSonya Betz (University of Alberta) – co-chair\nMark Swartz (Queen’s University) – co-chair\nSamantha MacFarlane (University of Victoria)\nÉdith Robert (UQAM)\nRichard Hayman (Mount Royal University)\nJordan Pederson (Guelph University)\nJeanette Hatherill (Coalition Publica)\nMike Nason (University of New Brunswick)\nTomasz Mrozewski (York University)\nBrianne Selman (University of Winnipeg)\nEmily Carlisle (Western University)\nMathieu Pigeon (Université de Montréal)
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-library-publishing-community-engagement-team-community-call-publishing-standards/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Library Publishing
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250213T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250213T130000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250408T202005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250422T185430Z
UID:36672-1739448000-1739451600@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Canadian Repositories Community of Practice February Call - Repository Horror Stories\, Episode I: My Repository Broke My Heart
DESCRIPTION:Date: Thursday\, February 13\, 2025\nTime: 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET \nRegistration \nHas your repository broken your heart? Are you on the outs with your service provider? Did a bad online encounter turn into a cybersecurity nightmare? What’s the strangest redaction request you’ve received?  \nRepository managers often encounter unique workplace situations that are not well understood by other library colleagues. This is a very informal session that invites participants to share their tales of heartbreak and woe from repository work and (where possible) share how these issues were resolved. Find kindred spirits or help spare others from going through the same pain you’ve experienced. \nPlease sign up ahead of time if you have a story to share! \nThis event will not be recorded.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-canadian-repositories-community-of-practice-february-call-repository-horror-stories-episode-i-my-repository-broke-my-heart/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Repositories
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250204T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250204T140000
DTSTAMP:20260425T123145
CREATED:20250408T201817Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250408T201817Z
UID:36671-1738674000-1738677600@www.carl-abrc.ca
SUMMARY:CARL Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice February Call: A Dataset and Bibliometric Approach to Estimating Annual Article Processing Charges for Six Scholarly Publishers
DESCRIPTION:Date: Tuesday\, February 4\, 2025\nTime: 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET \nRegistration \nJoin the CARL Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice for a presentation and discussion on A Dataset and Bibliometric Approach to Estimating Annual Article Processing Charges for Six Scholarly Publishers. \nThe author-pays model\, in which publishers charge authors an article processing charge (APC) to publish their article open access\, is now a well-established and popular revenue source for publishers. Given the prevalence of APCs and emerging models like read-and-publish agreements\, reliable data is crucial for informed decision-making by funders\, libraries\, consortia\, and institutions. However\, estimating these fees is challenging due to the decentralized nature of scholarly publishing and limited transparency around these fees. This presentation by Leigh-Ann Butler and Eric Schares introduces an open dataset of APCs from six scholarly publishers over five years (2019-2023) and outlines the methodology and findings of a study estimating APC expenditures using this dataset. \nLeigh-Ann Butler is the Scholarly Communications Librarian at the University of Ottawa\, where she supports the library’s open publishing services\, the institutional repository\, and OA investments. She is a Research Associate at the ScholCommLab\, and board member of the Library Publishing Coalition. Prior to uOttawa\, she worked as a policy analyst on open science at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Her research focuses on scholarly communication\, open scholarship\, bibliometrics\, and science policy. \nEric Schares is the Engineering & Collection Analysis Librarian at Iowa State University in the US\, and a Research Associate with the ScholCommLab at the University of Ottawa\, Canada. He works to analyze publishing trends to support the open access transition in scholarly publishing. His research focuses on bibliometrics\, scholarly communication\, and open science. \nThis session will be recorded.
URL:https://www.carl-abrc.ca/event/carl-bibliometrics-and-research-impact-community-of-practice-february-call-a-dataset-and-bibliometric-approach-to-estimating-annual-article-processing-charges-for-six-scholarly-publishers/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Bibliometrics & Research Impact
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