Mentorship Program Returns to Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The Mentorship Program of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is back!

"The CALL/ACBD Mentorship Program is an initiative intended to connect law library professionals by fostering positive relationships between members that will promote growth, leadership, and commitment to the profession. The program is open to all CALL/ACBD Members and all types of library professionals including library technicians and library assistants."

"Mentees can come from any background in legal librarianship or even straight from school. There is no maximum number of years in the profession for mentees. If you feel that you would like to grow as a professional in your job or taking on new projects or tasks, and would benefit from the guidance and support of another professional, then being a mentee could be for you."

"Mentors can come from any area or role of legal librarianship with no set minimum number of years in the profession. Mentors have the opportunity to help the professional growth of a colleague and, by extension, strengthen legal librarianship as a profession."

Interested parties need to register online by August 20, 2024.

 

March/April 2024 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The March/April 2024 issue of AALL Spectrum is now available online.

It is a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries. 

Among the feature articles in this issue:

• From 0 to 7 Staff Members: Essential Tips From the Trenches for First-Time Managers
• Who Are You? An Introduction to Professional Identity Formation
• Ask A Director: Balancing Hybrid/Remote Work

Mentorship Program for Visible Minority Librarians in Canada

The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada Mentorship Program is now accepting applications for the 2023 session that will run from May 1st to June 30th, 2023.

Applications will close on April 21, 2023:

"The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) recognizes the need to help visible minority librarians, especially early career and new immigrant librarians, develop their professional careers, as well as the need to encourage and guide visible minority library students with career planning. Lack of mentorship is often cited as a challenge among visible minority librarians, and through our mentorship program, we found that small acts of mentorship were able to make an impact on our mentees. Applying for this program will help create a larger network of visible minority librarians and increase our representation in the library profession. The 2023 ViMLoC mentoring program will recruit experienced visible minority librarians as potential mentors, as well as facilitate the matching of potential mentors to mentees. ViMLoC membership is NOT required to participate in this program."

New Canadian Law Librarian Salary Survey

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the Toronto Association of Law Libraries have teamed up to create a joint salary survey: 

"The 2023 Salary Survey is a joint undertaking between the Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL) and the Canadian Association of Law Libraries / L'Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD). The purpose of the survey is to determine benchmark employment remuneration received by members of the law library and legal information profession. A final report will be made available on the CALL/ACBD and TALL websites."

"Completion of this survey is voluntary. This survey is set up to collect responses anonymously. No identifying information will be shared and data will be presented in aggregate in the survey report. Any information that may be used to determine a respondent's identity will be excluded from the report."

The survey will remain open for two weeks from February 13-February 27, 2023.

Participants also have the option of entering a draw for ten $25 gift certificates.

Tabulated results will be available later in 2023

Mentorship Program for Visible Minority Librarians in Canada

The following announcement was distributed on the listserv of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

It is reproduced here with permission:

The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Mentorship Program is now accepting applications for the 2022 session! This mentoring session will run from May 2nd to July 1st, 2022. To apply as a mentor or mentee, please fill out the mentor application form or mentee application form. 

*** Applications will close on March 31, 2022 ***

About this program

The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) recognizes the need to help visible minority librarians, especially early career and new immigrant librarians, develop their professional careers, as well as the need to encourage and guide visible minority library students with career planning. Lack of mentorship is often cited as a challenge among visible minority librarians, and through our mentorship program, we found that small acts of mentorship were able to make an impact on our mentees. Applying for this program will help create a larger network of visible minority librarians and increase our representation in the library profession. The 2022 ViMLoC mentoring program will recruit experienced visible minority librarians as potential mentors, as well as facilitate the matching of potential mentors to mentees. ViMLoC membership is NOT required to participate in this program, however, you are encouraged to sign up for ViMLoC membership. Please visit our mentorship program page for more information.  

Should I apply?

This program is open to visible minority librarians at all stages of their career, and visible minority library students. In Canada, the visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: Chinese, South Asian, Black, Arab, West Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Latin American, Japanese and Korean. Participants with the intersectionality of these backgrounds are welcome to apply. We need mentors with all kinds of experience and skills. In recognition of your contribution to the mentorship program, we would be happy to provide mentors with a reference letter. 

Expectations

Applicants to the program are expected:

• To commit to the full term of the session;
• To keep in touch with their mentorship partner a minimum of twice per month (by email, phone, Zoom or other means of communication upon mutual agreement);
• To complete an exit survey (online) at the close of the session.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at vimloc@gmail.com . 

Research Study to Update Guidelines for the Education of Library Technicians

The following announcement was recently distributed on the listserv of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries:

"Attention Library Technician graduates!"

"You are being invited to participate in a research study to update the Canadian Federation of Library Association’s (CFLA-FCAB) Guidelines for the Education of Library Technicians. These Guidelines were last updated in 2011 and can be view here: https://cfla-fcab.ca/en/guidelines-and-position-papers/guidelines-for-the-education-of-library-technicians/  "

"The goal of this project is to provide a substantial update to the Guidelines for the Education of Library Technicians. This will help to establish a national standard for the education of library technicians in Canada, and a framework for the development of skills, knowledge, and abilities of library technicians to provide job-ready, and highly skilled graduates. The updated Guidelines will be available on the CFLA-FCAB website once completed and approved by the CFLA-FCAB Board."

"Link to survey: https://forms.gle/ziUTpNkDNjmCjasG9 "

"If you have any questions about the study, please contact Norene Erickson, ericksonn7 AT macewan.ca "

Diversity Statements in Canadian Academic Librarian Job Advertisements

The International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion has published an article by York University librarian Norda Bell entitled An Exploratory Study of Diversity Statements in Canadian Academic Librarian Job Advertisements:

"Diversity statements signal an organization’s culture, values, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Yet, diversity statements are often perceived as somewhat superficial “boilerplate” or basic statements created to comply with employment equity requirements, especially in job advertisements. With the objectives of understanding the presence of diversity statements in job advertisements, differences between types of libraries, and the types of diversity statements and messages contained in these statements, this study analyzed the diversity statements of 50 online job advertisements for Canadian academic librarian and archivist positions (...) Other findings around land acknowledgements, gender identity, and sexual orientation and others are discussed. Recommendations for further studies are included."

September/October 2021 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The September/October 2021 Issue of AALL Spectrum is now available online.

It is a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries.

This issue has a series of feature articles on innovation, e-discovery tools, post-pandemic hiring and creating healthy post-COVID work environments.

American Library Association Releases Revised Core Competences of Librarianship

The American Library Association (ALA) released a discussion draft of newly revised ALA Core Competencies.

The document describes the basic competencies expected of library professionals within the first several years after graduation. The ALA is the body that accredits university library and information studies programs in North America.

As the document explains:

"The ALA Core Competences (ALACCs) reflect basic knowledge gained through LIS education, job on-boarding, and ongoing professional development early in a library career. It is essential that library professionals working throughout their careers in school, academic, public, special, and governmental libraries be life-long learners to acquire specialized and advanced knowledge beyond those specified in this Core Competences document."

"Throughout the ALACCs, there are words and phrases that we wish to clarify in this front-matter. We chose to use the phrase 'library professionals' to be inclusive of anyone working in a position that requires an LIS degree in a library or information environment. This phrasing reflects the fact that these competences are in many ways specific to libraries, but can also be reflective of the work done by archivists, data scientists, information specialists, library/archival technicians, and others."

"This is the first iteration of the ALACCs which intentionally incorporates the concepts of social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion both throughout the competences and in a separate competence. Social justice in the library context includes the knowledge and skills necessary for library professionals to create and support library collections, services, personnel, facilities, and programs that foster equitable access to and participation of all people to use the library and its resources. Embedding social justice throughout the competences demonstrates that it is not a siloed activity, while having a separate social justice competence also recognizes that it contains unique attributes over and above the other competences."

There is more information about the consultation process on the ALA website. 

Various Canadian associations have elaborated their own professional competencies guidelines, among them:

• Competencies for Librarians in Canadian Research Libraries (Canadian Association of Research Libraries)
• Professional Development Pathways and Implementing CALL/ACBD Professional Development Pathways (Canadian Association of Law Libraries)

Job Hunting Tips for New Library Grads

Erin Clupp, Research Librarian in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Vancouver office, has penned a post on job hunting tips for new library grads on the blog of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries:

"Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed library school and are a freshly minted information professional. What is an exciting time in your life can also be overshadowed by what comes next: the dreaded job hunt, heightened by the fact that we are still struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Despite this being a challenging and unprecedented time to enter the workforce, there are still many exciting opportunities that await you. Here are some tips and words of advice that I hope are helpful and comforting as you navigate through this next phase of your career ..."

The author breaks down her advice into 5 categories:

1. Manage your expectations but be kind to yourself
2. Beyond the library – be flexible and think outside the box
3. Take a leap – consider a move!
4. Networking - Building relationships
5. Be prepared – do your research!

Successful Onboarding to Help New Employees Succeed

It is the time of year when we start planning for the arrival of summer employees and reviewing our orientation and training practices.

The January/February 2021 issue of AALL Spectrum, a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, offers some helpful advice in an article on Successful Onboarding: Creating an Environment Where New Employees Can Succeed.

The articles looks at various components of the onboarding process:

• Goals for Orientation and Onboarding
• Before the New Employee Arrives
• Mentorship
• After Arrival
• Process Training with Peers

New Document on Competencies for Librarians in Canadian Research Libraries

 The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) has released the final version of Competencies for Librarians in Canadian Research Libraries which is intended "to assist with personal and organizational goal setting while providing a context for recruitment and professional development":

"The competencies may be applied in CARL libraries for strategic planning or restructuring purposes, or in the development of mission and vision statements. Schools of library and information studies may consult them for curriculum development purposes or to prepare graduates for job interviews. Employers may find them useful for recruitment of new librarians, in training and development, and to assist those transitioning into new roles within the research library."

"The Competencies represent a range of knowledge, skills (often cited in the document as 'Knowledge of...' or ‘Ability to…’), and mindsets (often cited in the document as ‘Understanding…’) for librarians in research environments. Librarians will learn and develop their own competencies over a period of time and not all competencies will necessarily apply to every position. Individual libraries may want to place more emphasis on select aspects only, depending on their unique environments, the nature of individual academic or research librarian positions in question, or as levels of specialization in the profession evolve. To build flexibility throughout, CARL has taken an aspirational approach in developing the Competencies document with firm grounding in the fundamental principles of the profession. The aim is to match a set of aspirational values to the knowledge, skills and mindsets that are required for success in academic librarianship in Canada."

13 Questions With Lauren Buchanan, Australian Metadata Librarian

The librarianship.ca website has been running a series of librarian profiles called 13 Questions With...

To mark Library and Information Week in Australia, the site is profiling colleagues from down under.

The first profile is that of Lauren Buchanan, Senior Metadata Librarian, University of South Australia:

Career advice – what’s your top tip?
"Be open, flexible, and adaptable. Sometimes a job might look perfect and amazing on paper but the reality of it is a living nightmare. If a work situation is probably not going to improve because of the personalities or the structures involved, regroup, look around, and see what else is out there! Talk to your trusted colleagues and friends to see if there might be other roles on the horizon that might be interesting and go for it! Be prepared to adapt yourself to roles that you didn’t think would suit you – you might surprise yourself. Get used to managing up with tact and diplomacy where possible. At the same time, try not to burn any bridges with former bosses or colleagues."

Article: Diversity Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Academic Librarians

The most recent issue of College & Research Libraries features an article on Diversity Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Academic Librarians: A Systematic Review.

It is written by 3 Canadian academic librarians.

"The aim of this study is to determine the strategic approaches that academic libraries are using in their efforts to recruit and retain diverse librarians. Systematic review methodology involved searching Library & Information Science Abstracts, Library & Information Science Source, Gender Studies Database, Race Relations Abstracts, Google, and grey literature composed primarily of information from library associations’ and organizations’ websites. The primary search terms (and their variations) include diversity, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomics, academic library, librarians, recruitment, and retention. Publications were included if they were about the recruitment and/or retention strategies used by academic libraries to improve diversity among librarians. Nineteen publications and one ALA website were included in the review. All 20 publications were based in a North American context, and the interventions included targeted recruitment strategies, internship or residency programs, mentor- ship, and professional development opportunities. Using a modified version of the CASP Qualitative Checklist, the publications were critically appraised to evaluate the validity of the findings. Fifty percent of the publications included an assessment component to determine the value of the intervention. Although a number of programs exist to recruit minorities to academic librarianship, the number of visible minorities in the field has remained stagnant for decades."

13 Questions With Sophie Cayer, IM Broker, Employment and Social Development Canada

The librarianship.ca website has been running a series of librarian profiles called 13 Questions With ...

Here is the most recent one about Sophie Cayer, IM Broker, Employment and Social Development Canada:

"Career advice – what’s your top tip?
Networking is key. I can’t say how many times friends, colleagues and former colleagues have had great job opportunities by knowing the right people. My top tip to help your career is to have a solid reputation as a positive, hard-working team player."

Diversity in Law Librarianship - Broadening The Pipeline

Law librarian David Whelan explores the issue of The Law Librarian Pipeline in a recent post on LexBlog:

"Diversity is a challenge for lots of reasons. Smarter people than me have already looked at, discussed, and identified tools or methods to improve the diversity of law library staff. It’s an obvious and positive goal for organizations but it’s not an easy one to solve. There are some things, though, that as a hiring manager, seem like opportunities to change."

In the post, Whelan looks at different ways to find candidates that would broaden the diversity of the candidate pool.

He identifies three strategies that could prove useful for managers who are looking for practical solutions:

"It may be some time before I’m in a position to hire again but when it comes around, I’ll be more successful at reaching a diverse candidate pool if I can:

• eliminate or make optional the degree credentials (MLS, JD, and library technician) to allow experienced candidates to apply
• identify candidate pools (through professional associations or informal references) that would not normally apply, to encourage them to do so
• communicate to our organization that every new hire requires training and acclimation to fit into the team and environment, and a more flexible approach may require, short term, a longer learning curve, but the pay off is a permanently more diverse team"

13 Questions With Sarah Khraishi - Records Coordinator With Government of the Northwest Territories

The librarianship.ca website has been running a series of librarian profiles called 13 Questions With ...

Here is the most recent one about Sarah Khraishi, Records Coordinator, Government of the Northwest Territories:

"Career advice – what’s your top tip?
I’ve tried to make myself do things professionally that scare me–lots of public speaking, poster presentations, stuff like that. Sometimes there are good reasons not to do something, but I’ve found that I tend to talk myself out of stuff if it makes me nervous, and that’s not a good enough reason for me to avoid things I want to do and that would be good for me."

Joint 2018 Salary Survey Report by CALL and Toronto Association of Law Libraries

The Canadian and the Toronto Associations of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD and TALL) have released the results of their 2018 joint salary survey:

July 2019 Issue of In Session - E-Newsletter of Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The July 2019 issue of In Session is available online.

It is the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) and contains news from CALL committees and special interest groups, member updates and events.

There is news about:

• the recent conference of the British and Irish Association of Law Libraries
• the Salary Survey conducted by CALL and TALL (Toronto Association of Law Libraries)
• the CALL Copyright Committee; the Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization Committee; the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Group; the Professional Development Committee (continuing education); and the Scholarships and Awards Committee

June 2019 Issue of In Session - E-Newsletter of Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The June 2019 issue of In Session is available online.

It is the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) and contains news from CALL committees and special interest groups, member updates and events.

There is news about:

• recent awards honouring prominent CALL members
• the new Executive Board of the association
• the Professional Development Committee which handles continuing education programs for members
• the Membership Development Committee's mentoring program