Welcome to the 2020 issue of BCLA Perspectives! We are very happy to be back to help facilitate conversation and communication in the library, archival, and information communities. Like the Miscellany issue of 2019, there's no one theme for this issue. We wanted to...
BCLA Perspectives
Issue 1: The 2020 Issue
Beyond Tokenism: The Importance of Staff Diversity in Libraries
Introduction Diversity, inclusion, and equity are fundamental values of the American Library Association (ALA Core Values of Librarianship, 2004). Despite the continued growth of visible minority populations in Canada and the United States however, librarians of...
Critical Information Literacy and the Infodemic in 60ish Seconds
Introduction In August 2020, Capilano University’s Marketing and Digital Experience (MDX) sent out a call to faculty inviting them to be featured in their new 60 seconds with...video series. The goal of the series was to introduce faculty members to students and other...
Getting to Know…Ioana Liuta (and the Interlibrary Loans ‘magic’)
This article was originally submitted to BCLA Perspectives in February 2020. Ioana Liuta works as a library assistant for Simon Fraser University Interlibrary Loans and as a student librarian for UBC Library, for AskAway service, BC’s online library research chat. She...
Getting to Know…Sunni Nishimura
Sunni Nishimura is a settler librarian of Japanese, Scottish, and English descent, privileged and grateful to live and work on the traditional and unceded territories of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwxwú7mesh-speaking people. As a settler, and someone who has directly...
Hired in COVID – Lessons learned from interviewing during a pandemic
I don’t always get hired for my dream job, but when I do, it’s in the middle of the first wave of a global pandemic. Leaving the public service for academic librarianship was a dream I’d nourished for years. I vividly recall one point in 2018, while walking around the...
Online Only: Inclusivity and Accessibility in Library Services & Instruction
Preamble During this transitional time of remote learning in post-secondary, we chose a question-and-answer format to share our logistical responses to COVID-19 closures, as well as our initial reflections. We are curious how others would answer these questions and...
Preventing Another Crisis: Racism Against Asian Canadians and the Role of Public Libraries
Introduction On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic posed and continues to pose threats to Canada's public physical and mental health, as well as the economy. On top of these...
Slow Service Now Trending
Libraries have always been leaders in providing accessible services and adjusting to new trends. Libraries continually develop and evaluate their service models in order to provide the most relevant, authoritative and timely information to their patrons. At the Fort...
Supporting sustainability through liaison
This article was originally submitted to BCLA Perspectives in February 2020. Supporting sustainability through liaison I recently began a new gig as an academic librarian, moving from a corporate law organization. Over the past year I’ve been adjusting to working at...