Academic literature on the topic 'Ontario. Education Dept. Library'

Over the past few decades, partnerships and programming between secondary school and post-secondary librarians and libraries have been widely discussed in library literature. These collaborations often exist to help high school students develop information literacy (IL) skills and to provide a smoother transition to university-level research. This paper examines the current high school outreach activities at Ontario university libraries that aim to bridge the gap between high school and post-secondary education. The purpose of this research, conducted through online surveys and interviews with academic librarians in the province, is to provide a snapshot of high school outreach activities and to highlight the benefits and challenges of such programming. It also examines why some libraries no longer offer such activities or programs. This analysis of the variety of outreach activities aims to generate discussion and ideas that academic libraries can use to connect with high school libraries.

The setting for this study was the J.A. Turner Professional Library which is the central corporate Professional Library for the Peel Board of Education which is the largest Public School Board in Canada located west of Toronto encompassing Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. The library also provides library services for educators in graduate programs at Brock University, St. Catharines, and the extension campus Park Royal, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, York University, Toronto, and the Faculty of Education University of Toronto to support their professional development and continuing education needs. The focus for the study were the Peel and Brock consumer groups to allow for comparison. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the services and resources of the J.A. Turner Professional Library by aseertaining the views and opinions of these two consumer groups. The data collection consisted of a self-reporting questionnaire and selected interviews. The results indicate that there is a high level of support for the J.A. Turner Professional Library. The interviews provided future directions for the development of the J.A. Turner Professional Library. The study closes with a series of recommendations to enhance the operation of the J.A. Turner Professional Library within the organizational context of the Peel Board of Education.

The Ontario College of Art & Design is a university that provides undergraduate education to a markedly diverse student body. Although the Dorothy H. Hoover Library offers proactive information literacy programming targeting academic research needs, only peripheral support was traditionally given to studio practice. To rectify this gap the reference librarians, in dialogue with selected design and art faculty, endorsed a Library exhibition program using the Library as both case study and exhibition site. An analysis of several works featured in a recent exhibition demonstrates how art can establish an eloquent dialogue with a visually-oriented learning community and lead to the examination of key philosophical and ethical issues in librarianship.

Information literacy instruction is a core function in academic librarianship, yet librarians may feel unprepared for teaching. This qualitative research study explores, through the experiences of eight academic librarians in Ontario, Canada, how librarians learn to teach in the classroom. It uses narrative inquiry to study and share these experiences, an approach that is in the mainstream of teacher research, although little used in the library and information literature. Areas explored include the librarians' expectations of librarianship; what they learned at library school; teaching as learning; support from colleagues; continuing education; teacher identity; talking about teaching.

The setting for this study was the J.A. Turner Professional Library which is the central corporate Professional Library for the Peel Board of Education which is the largest Public School Board in Canada. The library also provides library services for educators in graduate programs at Brock University, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, York University, and the Faculty of Education University of Toronto to support their professional development and continuing education needs. The focus for the study were the Peel and Brock consumer groups so as to allow for comparisons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the services and resources of theJ.A. Turner Professional Library by ascertaining the views and opinions of two consumer groups of the Professional Library at the Peel Board of Education. The author initiated the evaluation for several reasons including: her belief that the library as a service component of the organization must ensure that it's objectives fit the organizational culture and as the Peel Board was committed to organizational renewal i.e., strategic planning so was the library. The sample consisted of library users drawn from two consumer groups of which there were 127 Peel and 50 Brock users, and 32 Peel and three Brock stakeholders. The data collection consisted of a self-reporting questionnaire and selected interviews. For the purpose of analysis the responses were divided into the following two groups Peel Board of Education and Brock users. The results indicate that there is a high level of support for the J.A. Turner Professional Library. The interviews provided future directions for the development of the J .A.Turner Professional Library. The study closes with a series of recommendations to enhance the operation of the J.A. Turner Professional Library within the organizational context of the Peel Board of Education.

Angus McGill Mowat was an inspirational voice for public library work during the Great Depression. In 1937, after he became Inspector of Public Libraries in the Ontario Department of Education, he helped revive spirits and raise service ambitions in smaller rural libraries. Building on the “modern library” concept popularized after the First World War, he re-energized trustees, librarians, and library workers with hundreds of visits to promote local efforts before 1939. His inspections encompassed the advisement of trustees on management and financial processes; the promotion of librarianship and staff training; the improvement of collections and services for adults and children; the reorganization of functional building space; the formation of county systems; and support for new public school curriculum reading reforms. Although warfare interrupted his work, Mowat’s wide-ranging inspection method brought renewed optimism and laid the groundwork for genuine progress in the provincial public library system after 1945.

This study consists of an analysis of the information literacy (IL) needs and levels of 44 social work graduate students at a mid-sized Canadian university using the Technology Acceptance Model. Students completed a quantitative questionnaire that included supplementary open-ended questions. Results showed that students who received a library tour and/or in-class library instruction were more knowledgeable and confident about library resources and services. The study clearly demonstrates that information literacy sessions should be essential components of graduate education. A comprehensive literature review of information literacy studies focusing on social work students is also provided, along with the current graduate social work modified Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED) assessment tool (Beile O’Neil, 2005). The authors recommend that information literacy surveys in Canada include the relevant required elements for the Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP) and program learning outcomes. Given the lack of a Canadian national document for information literacy standards, such surveys should also reflect the components of ACRL’s new Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This study can serve as a model for replication at other universities, particularly those that are part of the Ontario Council of University Libraries and that have graduate social work programs.

A Review of: Powell, Ronald R. and Susan E. Boling. “Post-Master’s Educational Needs of Information Professionals.” Journal of Access Services 3.4 (2005): 29-43. Objective – To investigate post-master’s educational needs and interests of information professionals. Design – Survey research using print and electronic questionnaires. Setting – The geographic area surrounding Wayne State University in Michigan, United States of America. Subjects – Members of the library associations of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Methods – Systematic random samples were derived from the membership lists of the library associations in Ohio, Indiana, and Southwestern Ontario. Paper questionnaires were mailed to those selected. Michigan Library Association’s official policy barred the release of its membership list to researchers. Consequently, announcements of the survey were placed in three successive issues of the Association’s electronic newsletter. Interested members were directed to a web site to complete an electronic version of the questionnaire. This option was also extended to members of the other three library associations. The overall research question was investigated through specific questions that sought to ascertain the overall level of interest in professional library and information studies (LIS) education, levels of interest in specific types of programs, factors that favoured or deterred enrolment in doctoral programs, as well as the fields of study that were preferred for combination with LIS in doctoral programs. With the exception of demographic type questions (e.g., place of residence and educational qualifications) and two questions that required open ended responses, the questionnaire design encompassed questions with Likert scale type responses. Analysis of the responses included descriptive statistics, the use of Pearson chi-square to determine statistically significant relationships, and, to a lesser extent, content analysis. Main Results – A total of 270 questionnaires (33%) were returned from three populations: Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario. A self-selected sample of 101 members (6%) of the Michigan Library Association responded. In general, almost 80% of the respondents admitted some importance to adding to their LIS qualification. However, only 41% felt that this was important or extremely important. From a choice of six educational offerings, namely, continuing education activities, non-degree master’s coursework, a second master’s degree, post-master’s certification, doctoral programs, and other, continuing education activities was the most valued, by 65.5% of the respondents. Participants were asked about their reasons, and the importance of these, for considering or deciding to enrol in an LIS doctoral program. The yearning to acquire knowledge was reported by 69.7% as the major reason, followed by 45.8% of the respondents who cited the wish to increase their income potential. In terms of major factors, prestige received the lowest rating, 21.1%. The time involved (73.8%), cost (66.3%), and distance from the program (63.2%) were cited as the major deterrents to enrolling in doctoral programs. When asked about the likelihood of pursuing a doctoral LIS program in combination with business administration, computer science, or without any combination, “not likely” was the most popular choice. Those who were very likely or likely to pursue a joint program totalled approximately 30% of the respondents, while 37% indicated an interest in undertaking a doctorate in LIS only. The most frequent reasons proffered by those who selected “not likely” or “definitely not” for any of the three doctoral offerings included lack of interest, mitigating factors (e.g. time, cost, age, and program location), unfavourable cost/benefit analysis, preference for another area of knowledge, and the view that Ph.D.s were only useful for university faculty. Given the option to name subject areas that they desired to see combined with LIS in a doctoral program, 23 of 101 respondents proposed education, while 19 opted for public administration. A question inviting any other comments on the issue of post-master’s education yielded a predominant desire for “non traditional instruction,” particularly online courses as well as classes held in convenient locations. In terms of relationships between geographic location and factors that influenced interest in enrolling in a doctoral program, the desire “to become a more effective manager,” and “other” were statistically significant. The analysis also revealed a strong positive relationship between willingness to pursue an LIS-only doctoral program and the availability of such a program in geographic proximity. Similarly, there was a strong relationship between willingness to pursue an LIS program in close vicinity and the importance that was given to further LIS education. Conclusion – Online instruction and geographic proximity are key determinants of information professionals’ interest in pursuing post-master’s education at the doctoral level. Continuing education activities, non-degree coursework, and certificate programs are preferred over doctoral LIS programs, despite the finding that the major reason for enrolling in doctoral LIS programs is to fulfill the desire for knowledge acquisition. Schools offering Library and Information Science studies need to explore options for providing distance-education doctoral LIS programs as a means of reversing the current shortage of LIS faculty.

A descriptive analysis of the histories of the Institute of Professional Librarians of Ontario (1960â 1976) reveals not only the circumstances surrounding the creation, growth, and decline of this singular expression of the professionalization of librarianship but also foregrounds the ways in which the historical narration of the profession must look beyond the traditional delineation of intrinsic traits in order to circumscribe librarianship more adequately. To that end, consideration is given to one important factor, the Royal Commission Inquiry into Civil Rights (1964-71). It is evident that historical recovery of this sort is crucial to the profession's self-understanding as it negotiates its contemporary stance with respect to both librarians and the publics that they serve.