LIBRARY ARCHIVES CANADA Canadas Knowledge Institution for the

LIBRARY & ARCHIVES CANADA Canada’s Knowledge Institution for the 21 st Century Presentation to the Ontario Library Association February 4, 2005

The Transformation A Leading-Edge Knowledge Institution Our transformation into Library and Archives Canada as a new knowledge institution ensures more awareness and better understanding of, and easier access to, Canada’s rich documentary heritage, the unique record of our experience together. This is critical to respond to the needs of Canada as a successful knowledge society.

The Road Travelled LAC Legislation - Part of the Advancement of Canada be served by an institution that is a source of enduring knowledge, accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society

Our Goal A Leading-Edge Knowledge Institution 4 Unparalleled access – in breadth and depth – to information about Canada and sophisticated information architecture and systems to support it 4 Client focus – meeting the needs of Canadians with multi-channel service – reaching them where they live (digital content, virtual reference, digitization on demand) with individualized content 4 Innovative programs to make known and interpret our heritage (youth & school material, genealogy, Portrait Gallery) 4 Fostering life-long learning – customized learning experiences tailored to the needs of the learner

Our Goal A Leading-Edge Knowledge Institution 4 Partnerships with libraries, archives and museums across Canada to provide access to all of Canada’s documentary heritage 4 Risk management – sustainable solutions to challenges of preservation of the ever-growing documentary heritage of Canada

Extraordinary Consolidated Collections 4 19 million books, periodicals, newspapers, microfilms, government publications 4 156 km of unique textual records 4 21 million photos; 350, 000 works of art 4 Portraits of Canadians since 1710 4 Canadian theses and dissertations 4 Gigabytes of electronic publications & official records 4 Outstanding collections of Canadian 4 § Maps and architectural drawings § Film, video, sound recordings & broadcasts § Music, stamps, editorial cartoons, posters & pamphlets Both traditional and new media

Library and Archives Canada A Presence Throughout the Country For Library and Archives Canada (LAC), the dissemination of knowledge is a priority; the vast documentary heritage preserved by the institution must be made available for all Canadians to enjoy to its fullest. LAC uses several means to make its collection accessible to Canadians throughout the country.

Library and Archives Canada A Presence Throughout the Country Our national outreach We reach all Canadians Our Web site 4 Youth 4 The Aboriginal community ü Theses Canada ü Dictionary of Canadian Biography ü Canadian Genealogy Centre Our exhibitions across Canada Our public programming Our loans 4 Publishers 4 The academic community 4 Researchers 4 Genealogists 4 Persons with disabilities We share our expertise Bibliographic data Reference services Preservation techniques Canadian Book Exchange Centre Workshops and conferences

Our National Outreach Web Site Web site 4 In 2003– 2004, there were over 9, 100, 000 visits to our Web site 4 The most popular online resources included: § Census records § First World War records § Virtual exhibitions on Confederation, Prime Ministers and Canadian Women § AMICUS (Over 28 million bibliographic records) § Read Up On It (Guide to children’s literature)

Our National Outreach Loans Interlibrary Loans—Where the requests came from Northern Territories 2% British Columbia Atlantic 9% Loans 12% Ontario (outside NCR) 24% Quebec (outside NCR) National Capital Region (NCR) 15% Prairies 20% 18% 4 75, 000 requests received in total (fiscal year 2003– 2004). From these: § 42, 000 were filled with loans or copies from our collections § 27, 000 received responses with alternative locations

Our National Outreach Loans In 2003– 2004, some 200 original documents Yellowknife were lent to institutions for exhibition purposes. Edmonton Miscouche Wanuskewin Calgary Québec Trois. Rivières Joliette Montréal Regina Winnipeg Toronto Windsor Stellarton Fredericton Halifax

We Reach All Canadians Youth Read Up On It / TD Summer Reading Club Youth 4 The only bilingual national program designed to increase literacy and promote an increased awareness of English and French Canadian children’s literature. 4 40, 000 copies of Read Up On It are distributed throughout the country. 4 10, 000 Web site hits in September 2004 alone. 4 The summer reading club is designed to help children develop a taste for reading, and TD Bank asked LAC to extend the program’s activities throughout Canada. 4 In the summer of 2004, the program reached 45, 000 children.

We Reach All Canadians The Aboriginal Community Project Naming 4 The Aboriginal community The project connects Inuit youth with Elders and bridges the cultural differences and geographic distances between Nunavut and the more southern parts of Canada. “My participation in this project gave me a better understanding of the way in which we should organize our territory, Nunavut. I realized that our Elders had lost a large part of their culture, and I’ll never forget that they managed to solve problems much more serious than my own. ”

We Share Our Expertise Bibliographic Data AMICUS Database Over $7 M in savings to Canadian libraries every year: 4 AMICUS is Canada’s national catalogue, providing bibliographic information on books, periodicals, music documents, videos and other published documents in Library and Archives Canada’s collection, as well as publications held by other Canadian institutions. 4 AMICUS records are bilingual and meet international standards and norms. 4 Over 2, 000 Canadian libraries and resource centres use the AMICUS Web services. 4 In 2003– 2004, LAC catalogued 74, 799 titles for the collection, all made available in AMICUS. Bibliographic data

We Share Our Expertise Reference Services Reference services 4 In 2003– 2004, LAC responded to some 70, 000 reference questions. 4 Nearly half of all Canadian inquiries came from Ontario. 4 In proportion to their population sizes, the smaller and more remote provinces and territories used the inquiry services more than the other provinces. This was particularly true for Manitoba, Nova Scotia and the Yukon. 4 756, 103 photocopies were produced on request.

The Road We’re On Implementing LAC

The Road We’re On Our Directions for Change THE WHAT 4 4 A new kind of knowledge institution A truly national institution providing Canadians with access to the whole of their documentary heritage 4 A prime learning destination 4 A lead institution in information and knowledge management THE HOW 4 Access is the primary driver 4 A clear focus on the client 4 Effective stewardship of Canada’s documentary heritage 4 Strategic approaches to description and metadata 4 Mainstream digital 4 Strengthened leadership and strategic focus 4 Integrated and holistic approaches

The Road We’re On Organizational Integration ü Integrated Reference services ü Integrated Reference and Consultation Rooms ü One integrated lending service ü Intellectual Management Office to guide Description approaches for both archival and library material ü One Sector for the whole collection development, organization and care

The Road We’re On Implementing LAC 4 Implementing our new organizational and governance structure 4 Implementing our new legislation 4 Passing and implementing new legal deposit regulations 4 Conducting 4 catalytic initiatives 4 Developing new programs to make known the documentary heritage of Canada 4 Playing a strong role in designing and implementing the government IM Program 4 Developing new partnerships with library and archival communities

The Road We’re On 4 Catalytic Initiatives to Take Us into the Future ü Digital Collection – to focus on challenges of acquiring, describing, managing and preserving access to digital content ü Metadata – to develop a metadata framework to facilitate delivery of content and services to users ü Service Delivery Transformation – to focus on seamless, efficient multi-channel access to LAC services and content, and on profiling LAC content within the ‘Amazoogle’ environment ü AMICAN – to improve access and provide the system for intellectual and physical management of our holdings Supported by ü LAC User study – to look at changing environment, clients, user needs and behaviours

The Road We’re On Toward a National Digital Strategy? ü A need for a more strategic, national approach ü We want to make more Canadian digital information available ü We want to make sure we can preserve access to that digital information over time ü Time to look toward a collaborative approach that will allow us to collectively do more

The Road We’re On Stakeholder Consultations 4 Comments requested from communities on LAC Directions document 4 Sessions held with several library groups, and archival groups from all provinces and territories 4 A rich source of community input as we redefine LAC’s national role

What we heard from you Stakeholders Consultations 4 Strong endorsement of LAC Directions for Change LAC is urged to: 4 Partner more with stakeholders to deliver service, achieve national reach and access 4 Strengthen national leadership roles 4 Play a liaison/advocate role for libraries and archives within Go. C 4 Share expertise, training, guidance more 4 Continue focus on putting content and tools online 4 Embrace digital but not lose sight of traditional

Partnering LAC National Role In collaboration with partners LAC will 4 4 4 Develop national strategies for Canada’s documentary heritage and provide leadership in achievement of national goals Contribute to building capacity in library and archival communities Foster innovation and new approaches in library and archival communities Deliver national programs and services in partnership with library and archival communities Contribute Canada’s experience and expertise internationally and share international developments with Canadian library and archival communities Position libraries and archives within government and community agendas and increase public awareness

Ultimate Goals 4 Advancing nation building – contributing to a strong sense of identity 4 Making a real difference to the quality of life of Canadians 4 Creating and sustaining a nation of learners 4 Contributing in a measurable way to a cohesive, confident, creative, competitive, democratic Canadian society

In Conclusion “You get all steamed up about a problem and all excited about a grievance and you go and hear someone expound that topic and discuss the matter thoroughly, and you agree heartily. And you go home under the totally false impression that you have done something about it”. George Bernard Shaw “Now that is just a left-handed way, ladies and gentlemen, of saying to you that this mandate I have spoken about is not my mandate, it is our mandate for the future”. W. K. Lamb