North/Nord will define and implement projects under three separate project streams. Each stream will be co-led by members of the Steering Committee, with guidance from Operational Working Groups consisting of members of the Canadian library community with expertise in the respective areas. More detailed information will be provided as projects are formalized. Please suggest project ideas using this online form.
Please view the recording of the North/Nord Open House held July 12, 2023 for an update about Project work to date. The presentation slides are also available online.
Canadiana
Our first Canadiana project focuses on monographs published by Canadian University Presses. It will identify both widely and scarcely held titles across academic and government libraries, and secure retention commitments for a suitable (TBD) number of preservation and access copies. Scott Gillies and Caitlin Tillman are serving as project co-leads.
Canadian University Press Project Documentation & Agreement for Archive Holders
Indigenous works
Through ongoing engagement with Indigenous community members and library representatives we will explore pathways to participation and project possibilities. Sheila Laroque, a Métis librarian from Saskatoon, is the project chair.
Statement of Intention
Along with a Land Acknowledgement, this statement of intention outlines our commitment to engagement, listening and learning, and collaboration. Our intention with this shared print program is to prioritize and build upon relationships with our partners first. Without our project partners and our relationships current and future, we would not be able to conduct our work. We commit for this project to be a discussion, a call for collaboration, a chance to rethink the colonial structures embedded within Shared Print practices to date. Our ideas of how this work might be done will evolve based on what we hear from our partners and the communities we hope to work with. Learning about how we can work collaboratively is our first priority as we listen to new ideas around access and stewardship for shared print.
List of Canadian Indigenous Publishers and Organizations. Our thanks to Jillian Metchooyeah for compling this information.
Government documents
Our first Gov Docs project builds on the work of the National Overlap Study conducted in 2019 and funded by LAC. That study resulted in the identification of scarcely held materials and the addition of scarcity notes into local records. The first phase focuses on identifying widely held titles and securing commitments from participating libraries. Louise White is the current Chair of the project working group.
Until retention commitments can be confirmed, please refer to the information here about stable repositories of print Canadian government documents to inform local weeding decisions.
Canadian Government Documents Project Documentation & Agreement for Archive Holders