Uncategorized

Government Information Day [Ontario]

Government Information Day will be taking place on Monday, December 7th in Waterloo, Ontario.

Registration [free] for the event is now available and the program is forthcoming. Please visit the following site for more information:

http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/government-information-day-in-ontario-gid-2015-tickets-19226121848

Gov-Info-Day_2015-01

Government Information Days [Ontario + BC]

Government Information Day [Ontario]

Date: Monday, December 7th, 2015

Speaker recommendations / proposals [deadline October 30]:
Agnes Zientarska-Kayko: azientarskakayko@uwaterloo.ca
Hélène LeBlanc: hleblanc@wlu.ca 

Government Information Day [British Columbia]

Date: Friday, May 6th, 2016

Speaker recommendations / proposals [deadline mid-January]:
Carla Graebner cgraebne@sfu.ca / 778.782.6881

Parliamentary budgets & Librarians: An interview with Kevin Page

Article posted in Open Shelf, available here.

Q: What is the relationship between the PBO and the Library of Parliament (LoP)? How much interaction did you have with the library and its librarians when you were there?

A: The PBO was created by an Act of Parliament (Accountability Act) in December of 2006. Canada was not ready to make the PBO an independent office of Parliament, so administratively, it reports to the LoP. There are similarities in the things that both the PBO and the LoP do: They both provide research services to Parliament for instance, so there is symmetry there. But it is not always a natural fit. Although research support is common to both, LoP has a confidential model—if a Member of Parliament (MP) needs information for a private member’s bill or needs to prepare for a committee, librarians provide confidential support. The PBO is more of an accountability model and provides independent opinion. If the PBO continues to exist, it should be outside of the LoP.

Read more…

Notes from Business Meeting at CLA 2014

CLA Government Information Network Business Meeting
May 29, 2014
CLA Victoria 2014

NOTES FINAL (June 17,2014 – Corrected July 2014)

Attendance: 14 members in person, 3 members by conference call. Sign-up sheet circulated. REMINDER: to join GIN send an email to membership@cla.ca You do not have to be a member of CLA.

  1. Introductions of those attending in person and those calling in by conference call and introduction of our liaison to the CLA Executive, Jane Schmidt.
  2. Report from CLA Moderators Network conference call – Calls held in September and April. Purpose of the Moderators Network, chaired by Geraldine Hyland (CLA office), is to provide exposure for the work of each network, to promote activities, to encourage networks to host online webinars, and to provide information on network responsibilities / administration within CLA.
  3. Introduction (via teleconference) of our new Co-moderator, Catherine McGoveran. Catherine asked for a Co-moderator as Caron will be stepping down at the end of December. Michelle Lake (Concordia) has expressed interest. Catherine is responsible for the following:
  4. Open Government Action Plan Consultation (OGAP2) at CLA 2014 (see below). Update from the Session:
    • Canada joined the Open Government Partnership in 2012. There are requirements to have action plans and consultations and reviews. Canada’s Open Government Action Plan 1 had a 3 yr cycle, we are at the end of yr 2. TBS is already starting work on Action plan 2.0, which was the basis for the consultation session at CLA (OGAP2).
    • See: http://data.gc.ca/eng/content/open-government-consultation-plan#btn1
    • The plan for OGAP2 hasn’t been released yet but “idea dialogue” is underway, again the focus of the CLA consultation session. The idea dialogue will feed into the “Activities” discussion, between now and October. This is all to feed into “commitments” (actions), which will be approved by cabinet. Providing input at a session or online is very important.
    • Today we addressed permanence of open government information in terms of access to preservation / archival copies of data, publications and websites; reducing the need for ATI requests, everything (almost) should be open; the need to change the culture of government so that everything is open . One thought… open government is yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We were also asked to recommended groups to consult.
    • The Open Government License will be more clear and will include data, information, and publications, and commercial and noncommercial use. The virtual library is going ahead and there is a plan in the works. The virtual library was mentioned and the TSB person said the publications.gc.ca was being reorganized.
  5. CLA Information Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC) (Todd Kyle) and the federal government’s Action Plan on Open Government. IPAC needs examples of information that has disappeared as a result of changes resulting from the Action Plan. Caron advised to see our Google doc created form entries on the LOST DOCS section of our blog.
  6. Update on the Depository Services Program and the DSP Library Advisory Committee:
    • New Terms of Reference for the Advisory Committee have been posted on the DSP website. References to “depository” libraries were removed. The committee needs another member from a public library. Notable digital collections received from departments for inclusion in the DSP e-collection: historical census and historical Agriculture Canada documents. (See supp checklists 12-43, 13-04, 13-17). The DSP follows the Government of Canada Communications Policy and Procedures for Publishing. A question about the new ILS was asked; it is proceeding. The DSP is still uploading to GALLOP portal (monthly) and working with the CGI-PLN.
    • Minutes of DSP meetings are posted online.
    • The Supreme Court of Canada and the CGSB will continue to send material to former depository libraries upon request.
    • Infodep-l listserve will continue.
    • Relevant sessions at CLA 2014:  The DSP is Dead; Long Live the DSP, Session H58.
  7. Government Information Days:
    • BC has a long standing “Gov Info Day”. This year, the event was held on April 25, 2014 at SFU Vancouver. A summary of this event will be published in a forthcoming issue of the BCLA Browser http://bclabrowser.ca/index.php/browser/index
    • Ontario held a Gov Info Day on 1 November 2013, and uOttawa is organizing one for this coming fall (2014).
    • “Access in the Academy” – This new free ebook provides instructions on how to embark upon federal and BC access to information requests. A troubling statistics is that the number of “non-responsive” requests is increasing. A listserv discussion last year on CLA-GIN brought to light that requests for publications sometimes result in the requirement for disclosure of personal information. (Caron)
    • Dr. Luanne Freund (UBC SLAIS) – results of her research on use of government web sites. Her research shows governments use websites to put up news; citizens want information on programs and services. Feedback shows that citizens want “findability” issues addressed, and governments are removing sites and content when they should be improving metadata and search engines.
  8. Announcements:
    • The Statistics Canada Library is using the Summon discovery layer. It appears that their entire collection, previously digitized (see CLA 2012 conference presentation, session D31 Open Past: Digital Projects from Government Libraries) , is now in the Internet Archive and links to the content provided by Summon. CORRECTION JULY 2014 The complete collection of STC’s published census volumes are available via the Internet Archive. STC is in the process of digitizing the official numbered publications and work is ongoing. A sizeable part of the collection has been digitized and can be accessed in electronic format by STC librarians. If there are specific publications that you are looking for, send them a request and they will send them to you electronically when available. Check their library catalogue – items that have been digitized will be indicated in the status field.

Submitted by Caron Rollins

Government Information Network (GIN) 2012 Report to CLA

 

Government Information Network  (GIN)

Activities:  January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012.

GIN is an active network.  We have 66 members as of April 20, 2013.  We have a page on the CLA website that includes information about our listserve and its archives, and our blog.  

CLA GIN Listserv

Archive and subscription info: http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/clagin

List Moderator: amanda.wakaruk@ualberta.ca

To post a message to the list: clagin@mailman.srv.ualberta.ca.

CLA GIN Blog:  https://agiig.wordpress.com

 

GIN participates in the Moderator Network and the conference calls organized by the CLA office. 

CLA 2012

Business meetings of GIN are held at during the CLA Conference.  At CLA 2012, our meeting was held on Thursday, May 31, 2012 from 7:30 am to 9:00 am.  22 members attended.  Minutes of the meeting were posted on our list serve and a copy sent to Kelly Moore.

GIN did not propose or sponsor any sessions at CLA2012, but did write in to the Conference Planning committee in support of sessions D31 and E37, and members , on their own,  proposed sessions C23 and I71 (see list below).

Session C 23,   What is the Role of the European Union Delegation to Canada?

Session D 31,   Open Past: Digital Projects from Government Libraries

Session E 37,    Open Sesame: Open Data, Data Liberation and New Opportunities for Libraries

Session I 71,   Official Statistics for Reference Librarians: Yes, You Need to Know This Stuff!

                 

DSP-LAC

The Depository Services Program of Canadian Government Publishing  (DSP) disseminates print government publications to libraries, captures and stores electronic government documents, and maintains the DSP Publications Catalogue[i]  .  The dissemination of government information to libraries and the listing of both print and electronic publications are a vital service to for Canadian libraries.  

GIN’s moderator is appointed by CLA as its representative on the Library Advisory Committee of the Depository Services Program (DSP LAC).   This appointment is extremely important   (CLA is able to have two representatives on the DSP LAC).   Library and Archives Canada the Library of Parliament are also members of the DSP-LAC.  

In April 2012 significant changes were made to the DSP program primarily that distribution of print publications will cease as of March 2014.  CLA through its membership on DSP LAC must lobby for the continued existence of DSP services, particularly: the continued existence of a catalogue of federal government electronic publishing; access to its records (preferably in MARC format with the ability to download records);   and information exchange between libraries and Canadian Government Publishing.    

In response to the changes to the DSP program and concerns about the continued existence of the DSP collection of electronic documents, a member of GIN proposed the establishment of a LOCKSS box for the DSP ecollection (120,000 items) during our business meeting at CLA 2012.    This project, known as the “Canadian Government Information Private LOCKSS Network, CGI-PLN[ii] has proceeded, outside of the auspices of CLA.   However, GIN provided the physical and virtual place where those interested in the project had their initial discussions. 

The changes to the DSP program were overshadowed by other announcements from the federal government about closures of federal government libraries and myriad changes at Library and Archives Canada.   The continued existence of the DSP Library Advisory Committee was in doubt.  Its mandate and membership are changing.   Meetings are now held by conference call (August 2012 and January 2013) allowing more librarians to attend who do not necessarily have to be nominated by a library association.  The minutes of DSP_LAC meetings have been forwarded to Kelly Moore.

 CLA should: continue to appoint representatives to DSP-LAC.  CLA should lobby for continuation of DSP-LAC because it is the only means for Canadian libraries to provide input to Canadian Government Publishing.  The DSP will evolve  as its role changes to gathering and disseminating electronic-only federal government publications.  Canadian libraries need a voice in what is collected, how it is catalogued, accessed and preserved.

 

Submitted by

Caron Rollins, Moderator GIN

crollins@uvic.ca

 

CLA 2013

Join GIN members at the Canadian Library Association’s Annual Conference, to be held in Winnipeg, MB from Wednesday May 29 to Saturday, June 1, 2013!

Our Business Meeting is set for Thursday, May 30, 2013, from 8:00 am to 9:30 am.

Draft Agenda :
1. Introductions (including Ronald Walker from Canadiana.org)
2. Report from CLA Moderators Conference Calls (webinars) and introduction of our new executive liaison Jane Schmidt.
3. Update on the Canadian Government Information Private LOCKSS Network (CGI PLN) and related federal web archiving projects.
4. Update on the Depository Services Program (with information from the DSP) and the DSP Library Advisory Committee.
5. CLA GIN Word Press Blog and Lost Docs list https://agiig.wordpress.com
6. Information from BC Gov Info Day and action regarding Federal Government Website Renewal project and related Treasury Board ROT guidelines (list govinfo-bc)
7. CLA Information Policy Advisory Committee (Todd Kyle) and the federal government’s Action Plan on Open Government
8. Report from on ALA Midwinter 2013 GODORT meetings

Federal Digitized Hansards accessible by 2015

From Slaw.ca

Full Collection of Digitized Federal Hansards by 2015?

Michel-Adrien Sheppard wrote about a presentation he attended on March 20th, 2013.  The event was organized by the National Capital Association of Law Libraries {NCALL}.  At the event, a representative from the Library of Parliament {LOP} outlined a plan for older federal parliamentary debates to be available without charge within 18 months.

Sonia Bebbington, Library of Parliament, wrote to confirm a January 2013 Announcement that LOP would provide an online portal access to the historical debates of the Parliament of Canada.  The content will be released in stages with the pre-1900 debates  and the content from 1988 to the mid-1990s available later this Spring. 

The portal will be a collaborative arrangement between LOP and Canadiana.org.

Draft Minutes of the GIN Network meeting, CLA Ottawa, May 31, 2012

Below are draft minutes from our meeting at CLA Annual, May 2012. 

 

I have information from ALA Midwinter 2013 and the August 2012 and January 2013 DSP Library Advisory Board meetings that will be sent out later this month.

Government Information Network Business Meeting DRAFT Minutes Agenda (CLA 2012 Ottawa)

See also Network page on CLA website.

Thursday May 31, 2012  7:30 am – 9:00 am – DRAFT Business Meeting Minutes

Attendance:  22 members.  Signup sheet circulated, contact C. Rollins.

  1. Update from the Depository Services Program representatives (Lepkey) regarding the April 13, 2012 announcement regarding cessation of print publications by 2014. http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/news/2012/2012-006-eng.html
  • DSP will continue as usual until January 2013.
  • Federal departments are likely to phase out print.
  • The Charter requires federal statutes and reports of Parliament to be printed.  Reports of Parliament are Parliament publications and will not be supplied to the DSP anymore. (AMANDA please ask about on August 28, including debates, committee final reports, statutes, bills, and case reports from the Federal and Supreme Courts of Canada).
  • No more “Weekly Checklist”, likely a database report of new electronic publications. Older checklists not CFL2 compliant will not be archived.   (note from Caron – these can be purchases from Proquest Microlog on fiche, very expensive, but perhaps a project worth getting funding for)
  • DSP may not catalogue print any more, due to costs of acquiring
  • DSP agreement will change, and the future of the DSP Library Advisory Committee is in double.  The August 2012 meeting has not been funded or approved.  Update #1: August meeting replaced by conference call to be held August 28.  CLA has one representative on the group (Rollins), normally there are two, but the second rep, (Winters)  term has expired and CLA will not make a replacement until the future of the committee is known).
    • o Update #2: The DSP- LAC committee will continue.  CLA Executive has been advised of this. 
  • Funding for a new ILS (Evergreen, as used by NRCan) has been approved for the DSP catalogue. It will be in place by April 2013, and will provide MARC records.  The existing DSP catalogue records for electronic titles will be converted to MARC.  No decision has yet been made about migration of records for print titles. An issues for DSP is that they don’t have copies on hand to re-catalogue. 
  • DSP is sending its electronic records to the APLIC portal http://aplicportal.ola.org/
  • DSP is willing to provide its records to a LOCKSS portal
  • Open Government Initiative  – Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government requires a Virtual Library. Publishing Canada (which includes the DSP)  have been ask to host this. There are questions about retention of continually updated electronic documents / information.  PW has proposed two collection one for “publications” with permanent MARC records, and on for continually updated material, with Dublin Core records.
  1. Discussion regarding establishment of a Canadian federal government LOCKSS PLN similar to the USDOCS LOCKSS PLN partnership between the US GPO and academic institutions.  Amanda Warkaruk distributed information and a call for participants for a Canadian Government Information Private LOCKSS Network Proposal (CGI-LOCKSS).  Information about the LOCKSS network can be found at http://www.lockss.org.   The CGI-LOCKSS network is be independent of CLA. Many at the meeting expressed interest in participating and will take information back to their home institutions.
  2. Report on the August 29-20, 2011 meeting from the CLA representatives to the Depository Services Program Library Advisory Committee (Rollins or Winters). Item cancelled (see Report from Winters and Rollins, posted to GIN list, and DSP advisory committee minutes on DSP website). http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/depositoryLibraries/dsp-lac/meetingMinutes2011.html
  3. Report from CLA Moderators Conference Call (January 2012)  
  • Information on accessing CLA funds by Networks for project and event proposals is now available, see CLA          website, Networks information page. .
  • A moderators information meeting is set for CLA 2012; Session B8, Thursday, May 31 “CLA Networks how to start              and manage them”
  • The CLA website will eventually be updated to provide more current communication tools for Networks and other            CLA groups.

               

  1. Report from on ALA Midwinter 2012 GODORT meetings (time permitting).  Item cancelled.

 

Sessions of Interest

 

Thursday May 31

Session B 8,  2:30 to 3:30 – CLA Networks: How to Start and Manage Them.

Moderator: Kelly Moore, CLA Executive Director

 

Session C 23, 4:00 – 5:30 – What is the Role of the European Union Delegation to Canada?

Mr. Maurizio Cellini,  Head of the Economic Section, EU Delegation to Canada and
Mr. Giovanni Di Girolamo, Head of the Political and Public Affairs Section, EU delegation to Canada

Accompanied by Danielle Fishman, Information Assistant, EU delegation to Canada

Moderator: Caron Rollins, Government Publications Librarian, University of Victoria.

 

Friday June 1

Session D 31, 10:30 – 11:30 – Open Past: Digital Projects from Government Libraries

                Bernie Gloyn, Assistant Director, Statistics Canada Library
                Iona Henderson, Web Coordinator, Department of Finance Canada
                Sonia Bebbington, Director, Knowledge Management and Preservation, Library of Parliament
                Eileen Bays-Coutts, Chief, Library Services, Department of Finance Canada
                Denise Ledoux, Coordinator of PARLINFO, Library of Parliament

 

Session E 37, 1:30 – 2:30  – Open Sesame: Open Data, Data Liberation and New Opportunities for Libraries

Wendy Watkins, Data Librarian, Carleton University
Ernie Boyko, Adjunct Data Librarian, Carleton University
Tracey Lauriault, PhD Student, Carleton University
Margaret Haines, University Librarian, Carleton University

 

Saturday June 2

Session I 71, 1:00 – 2:30 – Official Statistics for Reference Librarians: Yes, You Need to Know This Stuff!

                Mike McCaffrey, Lecturer, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
                Amanda Wakaruk, Government Information Librarian, University of Alberta

 

Objective(s) of the Interest Group:

 

  • To monitor issues relating to government publishing and the availability of government information.
  • To provide a channel through which interested Canadian Library Association /Association canadienne des bibliothèques  members can assist the Association to foster its mission statement and goals as they relate to government publications and information.
  • To provide a forum where library workers can learn from one another or from experts in the field and can participate in other activities aimed at improving access to government information.
  • The Access to Government Information Interest Group is also proud to sponsor the Olga B. Bishop Award.

 

 

 

CLA 2012 Session on the Role of the European Delegation to Canada

PLEASE NOTE:  UPDATED SPEAKER INFORMATION (not on CLA 2012 website)

Session C 23, 4:00 – 5:30 – What is the Role of the European Union Delegation to Canada?

Mr. Maurizio Cellini, Head of the Economic Section, EU Delegation to Canada and
Mr. Giovanni Di Girolamo, Head of the Political and Public Affairs Section, EU delegation to Canada

Accompanied by Danielle Fishman, Information Assistant, EU delegation to Canada

Moderator: Caron Rollins, Government Publications Librarian, University of Victoria.

Come to this session and learn about key European Union policies on trade, culture, education, cooperation, and internal market. Discover open sources available to all libraries and library users to gather information about the policies.

CLA 2012 Ottawa – GIN Business meeting Agenda for Thursday May 31 – LOCKSS proprosal

Please attend if you are in Ottawa!  

Government Information Network Business  Meeting Agenda (CLA 2012 Ottawa) (Room number not available yet)

Thursday May 31, 2012  7:30 am – 9:00 am – Business Meeting

  1. Update from  the Depository Services Program representatives  (Lepkey)
    1. April 13, 2012 announcement regarding cessation of print publications by 2014. http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/news/2012/2012-006-eng.html
    2. Discussion regarding establishment of a Canadian federal government LOCKSS PLN similar to the USDOCS LOCKSS PLN partnership between the US GPO and academic institutions. (Warkaruk)
    3. Report on the August 2011 meeting from the CLA representatives to the Depository Services Program Library Advisory Committee (Rollins or Winters)
    4. Report from Moderators Conference Call
    5. Report from on ALA Midwinter 2012 GODORT meetings (time permitting)

Information Items

  1. UBC Project  “E-informing the public” 3 yr – SSHRC funded project (principle researcher L. Freund).  New study “How do you search for information” Launched March 27, 2012.  http://diigubc.ca/research/egovernment/

 

  1. Decision from CLA regarding Olga B. Bishop Award
    1. December 16, 2011 CLA Digest announcement, from Chair of the Awards Review Task Force announcing approved awards, Olga B. Bishop not included.  See email from Keith Walker, Chair, to Dani Pahulje, for further info. http://www.cla.ca/Content/NavigationMenu/Resources/CLADigest/CLA_Digest_16Dec2011.pdf
    2. Training materials project.

 Caron Rollins

Moderator GIN