NRC Library: celebrating 100 years!
NRC Library: celebrating 100 years! - Transcription
[October 2024. Presentation organized and recorded by Liane Patterson]
[Speaker: Liane Patterson]
[NRC library: celebrating 100 years]
Welcome to the NRC library: celebrating 100 years.
[Themes]
[Content displayed on the screen:
- Part 1: NRC Library origin and growth
- Part 2: New 2024-25 services from Library and Information Management Services (LIMS)
]
In 2024, the Library celebrates its 100th Anniversary. We are very proud of the library’s heritage and I will present some highlights of the NRC Library from its beginning in 1924 until now. In addition to learning more about the history of the library, you will also learn about the new services that the Library and Information Management team has introduced this year.
[Vocabulary]
[Content displayed on the screen:
- CISTI - Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information: the NRC Library was known as CISTI from the 1970s to the 2010s
- NSL - National Science Library
- LIMS - Library and Information Management Services: the NRC Library is part of the LIMS directorate
- KITS - Knowledge, Information and Technology Services: LIMS is part of the Knowledge, Information and Technology Services
]
A quick note on some initialisms and acronyms that are in the presentation.
We’ll try to avoid them when possible, but they do tend to be second nature,so we do want to clarify what we're referring to.
In particular, CISTI, which is what the library was known by for quite a few years, and LIMS, which is how we are known internally now.
[Origin story and growth]
In the next few slides, we will share the origin story of the NRC library and some interesting facts about its growth over the years.
[Early days]
[Content displayed on the screen:
Cornerstone of the NRC Library: provision of information services to the NRC and Canadian researchers.
Three photos of buildings, including:
- Library of Parliament
- 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa
- M-55, NRC Campus, Ottawa
]
The goal of the NRC library from its earliest days has been the provision of information services to the NRC and Canadian researchers.
The pictures presented here are the main buildings where the NRC library has been housed over the years.
The Library of Parliament, then 100 Sussex Drive and since the 1970s M-55 on the NRC Montreal Road Campus.
[Scientific, medical, and technical (STM) information]
The NRC Library has one of North America's leading print collections of scientific, medical, and technical (STM) information.
360,000 books/reports and 20,000 serial titles in the NRC Library’s print collection are not available elsewhere in Canada. This unique material is approximately 50% of the NRC Library’s print collection.
The collection is managed as a national asset and collaborates with other libraries in order to preserve rare and unique material, minimize duplication of resources and maximize access to information. The NRC Library is part of the Federal Science Libraries Network (FSLN), a partnership between Canadian federal science libraries to enhance access to high-quality relevant information resources and services delivered by library and information professionals. Working together, FSLN member departments can benefit from economies of scale and leverage best-in-industry research tools.
[History of the National Science Library: BOOKS to BYTES]
[Content displayed on the screen:
Chronology including :
- 1924 - Collection Negligible
- 1928 - Collection ~1 000
- 1932 - Collection 12 000
- 1957 - Collection 350 000
- 1966-68 - Collection 725 000
- 1972 et 1974 - Collection experiences rapid growth in the 70's
]
Now for the NRC Library’s origin story.
NRC was founded in 1916. A year later, in 1917, a little over $1,300 was the grand total spent on library and publication services. That is about $31,200 in today’s dollars.
At this time it became evident that a collection of books, reports and government documentation would be a benefit to the NRC. So, a small NRC collection of documents was permitted to be housed at the Library of Parliament. This step established a small print collection but there were no librarians or scientists yet.
By 1924, the name, National Research Council of Canada, was authorized by the Privy Council, and the NRC Library was officially established (it was previously called “Honorary Advisory Council On Scientific and Industrial Research”). NRC’s first president, Dr. Henry Marshall Tory made it clear from the outset that he intended to create “a library that would serve scientific workers everywhere in Canada.”
1928 saw the appointment of the NRC's first official chief librarian, Margaret Gill. She inherited a small collection of 1,000 titles.
In 1932, the building at 100 Sussex Drive in Ottawa was officially opened. It was known as the ‘Temple of Science’. With it, the original “National Research Library” was also opened. At this point, the library had a unique collection of 12,000 titles. Through the 1940s the NRC Library continued to grow under Margaret Gill’s direction. Assisting Canadian industry to keep abreast of new developments in technology and research is part of NRC genetics. In 1947 the Department of Reconstruction’s Technical Information Service, was transferred to the NRC. Also known as TIS, this service provided aid in a variety of ways to small and medium-sized industries.
Through the 1940s the NRC Library continued to grow under Margaret Gill’s direction. Assisting Canadian industry to keep abreast of new developments in technology and research is part of NRC genetics. In 1947 the Department of Reconstruction’s Technical Information Service, was transferred to the NRC. Also known as TIS, this service provided aid in a variety of ways to small and medium-sized industries.
The period through the 1950s sees the NRC Library unofficially taking on the role of National Science Library (NSL) and Margaret Gill retiring – replaced by Jack E. Brown. When the National Library of Canada was established in 1953, it was decided that the NRC library would focus on science and technology, while the National Library of Canada would concentrate on collecting materials in the humanities and social sciences. As a result, in 1957 the Director of the NRC Library was given the specific assignment of developing the NRC Library into a National Science Library (NSL).
As the Library’s collection expanded so did its reach. It broadened from serving just the NRC to all Canadians and on to researchers all over the world. With this, and with increasing staffing, it became obvious that the National Science Library was going to need a home of its own. In 1959 planning for a new building, which would become M-55, began. Construction started in August of 1971.
That brings us to the 1960s. During this time many technical innovations that may seem trivial today had major impacts in the library world. Mechanization and automation of services began. For instance, 1963 saw the first database produced by the National Science Library of all NRC publications. In 1964 the Telex was adopted to improve document ordering and in 1969, we had the installation of the first fax machines to help for document delivery. Small things by todays standards, but revolutionary in its time.
In 1966, the status of National Science Library was made official. The tradition of innovation within the library continued with the development of CAN/SDI, the first computerized national selective information dissemination (or current awareness) service in 1968. CAN/SDI stood for “Canadian Selective Dissemination of Information.” The software was provided to UNESCO in 1971 for free distribution anywherein the world.
Another tool was launched in 1972. The cumulated tapes from CAN/SDI together with a common search engine and command language were released by NSL as CAN/OLE (Canadian Online Enquiry), the first real-time information retrieval system in Canada. CAN/OLE offered access to internationally-recognized indexes of scientific literature as well as to smaller Canadian sci-tech databases.
In 1969, Cabinet had given the NRC a mandate to develop a national scientific and technical information system, and in 1974 the National Science Library merged with the Technical Information Service (TIS) – which we mentioned earlier - to become NRC-CISTI — the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. The merger with TIS lasted 4 years. After which TIS spun out to form the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).
We’re celebrating 100 years of the National Science Library this year, and also 50 years since the Grand Opening of CISTI's new home on the Montreal Road campus in 1974. M-55 is an impressive masterpiece of modern architecture.
The library’s old address at 100 Sussex is where the NRC archives are still housed today. The archives are involved with the preservation of NRC archival material, acts as a resource center and provides ongoing support to NRC history projects. We are offering tours of both M-55 and the archives this month – we will put the registration link the chat.
In 1979, after over 20 years of service, Jack E. Brown retired, and Elmer V. Smith becomes the new Director General of CISTI. He would be known above all as a progressive defender of the gains made by the institution. He would be known, above all, as a progressive defender of the gains made by the institution.
[History of the National Science Library: BOOKS to BYTES]
[Content displayed on the screen:
Chronology including :
- 1980-83, 1993 and 1994 - Collection growth continues to 90's; inventory exceeds 8,000,000
- 1997-1999 and 1999 - Physical collection decreases with the launch of Virtual Library
- 2000's and 2010's - Collection further declines due to budget constraints
]
The 1980’s and 90’s saw continued growth as well as changes and adaptations prompted by the movement into the Digital Age.
In 1980, the library (CISTI) launched a service directed towards the development, production, and dissemination of critically evaluated scientific numeric data. The CAN/SND system contained 13 highly technical numeric databases related to chemical analysis, molecular structure, and molecular biology and was the only system in the world that offered all of the crystallographic databases in one place.
By 1983, the library generated more than 200,000 copies and loans of documents, more than any other specialized information centre in North America and by 1985, the collection covered more than 50 kilometres of shelves.
The 1990’s saw CISTI enter a digital transition. The decade started with Elmer V. Smith’s retirement in 1991 with Margot Montgomery replacing him as Director General of CISTI. Under her reign, a strategy was developed for the international distribution of CISTI’s services.
By 1993 CISTI has become the largest scientific and technical library collection in North America. That same year, the product Romulus was released in cooperation with the National Library of Canada (NLC). The first CD-ROM ever produced by NRC, Romulus was a version of the Union List of Scientific Serials in Canadian Libraries that CISTI and National Library of Canada had been producing in database form since 1965*. It would go on to receive an award from the Canadian Library Association in 1994.
As part of the continued transition to online service, the Telex service adopted in 1964 is dropped and the first orders were accepted by Internet, and in 1994 CISTI launched its first website.
By 1994 also, through IntelliDoc, the library's document supply service were computerized from end to end. IntelliDoc became the backbone of NRC-CISTI’s Document Delivery service which delivered a million documents a year to clients at its peak. It was given an award of excellence the next year by the publishers of Canadian Business, to mark the "design of a remarkable solution in information technology“.
By the mid-to-late 90’s more and more scientific research was published electronically, and in 1995 both CAN/SND and CAN/OLE, that we discussed briefly earlier, were discontinued.
In 1997 CISTI launched its Virtual Library to provide direct access to its library services for NRC research institutes across Canada. CISTI developed authentication and authorization systems to ensure that publishers’ rights are respected while ensuring that users could obtain the information they need.
Though 1997 to 1999 CISTI’s expanded the NRC Information Centres located across the country in NRC research institutes. By 1999 CISTI was operating 10 centres and by 2005, there would be 17 NRC Information Centres across the country. Perhaps some of you remember these information centres and the librarians that worked there. I myself started off in the Winnipeg NIC.
In 1998 the NRC Expertise database was developed and released. It provided a direct link to more than 1700 NRC employees who have expertise to share with industry, academia, or other government departments. The database continues to be administered and maintained at NRC as the NRC Directory of Science Professionals.
By the close of millennium the library maintained an inventory exceeding 8 million titles and received more than 3,500 requests a day.
The 2000s brought significant changes to the library - the digital transition that began in the 1990s stepped up in earnest. In 2007 Bernard Dumouchel, who became head librarian in 1998, retired and Pam Bjornson became CISTI’s final director general.
By the 2000’s, the approach to the library collection had become more about access to information then collecting physical information.
Toward the 2010s, implementing the transformation required by the Government of Canada Strategic Review of 2008 became a focus for CISTI and major changes realigned NRC resources and programs.
For CISTI, this created two service delivery models: Information Intelligence Services and National Science Library Programs.
In 2009, after an initial pilot project, CISTI launched NRC Publications Archive (NPArC), an on-line repository that provides direct access to thousands of NRC-authored scientific and technical publications.
In 2010, NRC Research Press, a part of NRC since 1929, and part of CISTI since 1994, spun out from the NRC and became Canadian Science Publishing, a not-for-profit company.
The name CISTI was phased out, with the name change shifting back to National Science Library externally. Internally it became Knowledge Management (KM). Services continued to exist, albeit on a significantly smaller scale. Partnerships were sought to continue to deliver some services via private sector vendors. For example, CISTI partnered with Infotrieve Canada, Inc to provide document delivery services from CISTI’s library collection on CISTI’s behalf. In 2014 – Another internal name change occurred when KM merged with Information Technology to form KITS, with the library services no longer an Institute or Research Centre, but as a directorate within KITS.
Throughout the 2010s, the NRC Information Centres in the regions were also eventually closed. LIMS staff may still be located in the NRC Research Centres but now they serve all of NRC from their regional location.
In 2018 a further name change occurred, when Knowledge Management become known as Library and Information Management Services (LIMS) – which is how you know us today. Throughout the many changes over the past few decades, the provision of scientific, technical and medical information remained a priority, and the National Science Library, and LIMS, continues to partner with other organizations and vendors, as well as implement new technologies, in order to fulfill its core role in supporting NRC research and innovation as part of Canada’s innovation infrastructure.
As I mentioned before tours of the NRC Library at M-55 and the Archives at 100 Sussex will be offered throughout October for Canadian Library Month. If you cannot make it to these buildings, a virtual tour of M-55 is being developed.
[Our new services]
What the NRC Library looks like now?
Last year during Canadian Library Month we presented all of LIMS’ services and we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about new services that we are we offering.
[Library and Information Management Services]
Internally, the NRC library is known as Library and Information Management Services (or LIMS). We provide an array of services, tailored to meet your information needs. The services can be grouped into 5 large pillars:
- Research and Business Intelligence
- Accessing Collections
- Information and Data Management
- Publishing and Preserving Research and Data
- Access to Information and Privacy
This table provides examples of the types of services under each pillar that we currently offer.
[LIMS: New Services]
Today, we are going to tell you about the new services and products that we now offer to everyone at NRC.
If you are curious about all of LIMS services, our service catalogue can be accessed at any time using the link at the bottom of the screen and which will be made available in the chat. You can also view last year’s Library month presentation about our services (the link is also available now in the chat).<-->The first set of LIMS new services we will discuss is Research and Business intelligence.
[Research and Business intelligence: New Services]
[Content displayed on the screen:
- Research security due diligence support – NRO Checks
- Verification that potential collaborators (and their co-authors) have no current affiliation with any of the 103 Named Research Organizations (NROs) of concern in patents, publication and funding data
- Supports the research security due diligence processes for collaboration or expert identification
- Authoritative non-subscription information resources
- Coming soon to the NRC Library website: lists of expertly selected free information resources related to NRC research to ensure NRC has access to reliable information
- Have a great information resource you want to share? Send it to NRC.IA-IA.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
]
We have 4 new services in this category that we would like to highlight today.
Named Research Organization Checks:
On July 10, the NRC released its Policy Statement on Research Security which requires federal researchers to verify that potential collaborators have no current affiliation with any of 103 Named Research Organizations (NROs) of concern. We can help you with that by cross referencing the affiliation of any person or group of persons with the list of NROs based on their publications in Scopus. The verification can also be done on sources of funding and patents. In our own procedures, Intelligence & Analytics (I&A) has made this NRO publication check a standard practice when we assist with the identification of experts for peer review and advisory committees.
Authoritative non-subscription information resources
The subscription databases that the NRC library pays for you to access are listed on the library website, in a section called the A-Z List. In order to maximize your access to high-quality information, the I&A team has been working to create an additional list that includes selected free resources that are pertinent to Research Centers’ work.
This new list will be available by the end of this fiscal year. If you have an information resource that you would like others at NRC to know about please send it to us.<-->[Research and Business intelligence: New Services]
[Content displayed on the screen:
Citation analysis - Understand the breadth of the domains, organizations and researchers citing your team's publications
Prompt engineering - I&A is developing expertise to help you use generative AI tools effectively
]
Under Citation Analysis there is more to publication impact analysis than just citation counts and FWCI. Citation analysis can help you tell the bigger story about who is using your research and what fields your research is impacting. I&A has recently developed a methodology to conduct citation analysis on a team’s set of publications. The process digs deeper into your citations, telling you how many have been cited by NRC, by your own team, and by externals researchers. In addition to analyzing the affiliations or people citing your research, citation analysis can also demonstrate the breadth of impact your research is having by revealing which fields and domains are citing your work. We can also identify patents or policy documents that are citing your team’s publications, helping you to demonstrate commercial and societal impact. This service will help you show how far reaching your research impact is!
And for prompt Engineering I&A is currently working to develop expertise in the area of prompt engineering, which is the process of taking more control over the interactions with an AI tool by structuring inputs, also called prompts, to guide the tool to provide the optimal desired output. If you have questions about how to optimally structure input into your generative AI tools, so that you can get the results you are looking for, you can reach out to us for help.
[LIMS: New Services]
The second pillar of services we will see is Accessing Collections.
[Accessing Collections: What's New]
[Content displayed on the screen:
Library Chat - Allows you to ask your library-related questions and get an immediate response from an expert NRC Library staff member
Inter-library Loans - For the first time since 2019, the NRC Library provides inter-library loans to the world
NRC Library and Archives resumed in-person visits - Use the collections on-site at the NRC Library at M-55 or the Archives at Sussex
New Library and Archives Officer - Additional staffing enables increased access to the NRC Archives collections and services
]
2024 has been a big year for the collections team! This year we added a few new ways for you to access the NRC Library collections.
- We launched a library chat service available to all NRC employees. NRC can now access library services by clicking the Chat button on the library front page. We’ve had 116 chat sessions with NRC staff since launching this option.
- In July, the NRC National Science Library Collections were made publicly available worldwide for inter-library loan the first time since 2019. We provide about 25 articles a week from our unique and rare print collections to support research around the world.
- We fully restored onsite services that had been closed due to COVID. We reopened access to NRC and Canadian visitors, and are offering a brand new National Science Library tour. You can now wander the stacks, read in our reading room or enjoy the views of the NRC campus! Contact us to book a tour or be on the lookout for our upcoming virtual tour.
- We also created a new Library and Archives Officer position. This new role will help to increase access to the NRC Archives and will benefit both NRC and our external clients.
- A forthcoming Virtual Library Tour will allow clients to visit and explore the library from anywhere
[LIMS: New Services]
The third pillar of service in LIMS is Information Management (IM).
[Information Management: New Training]
[Content displayed on the screen:
- New DocZone fundamentals training – Fall 2024
- Condensed DocZone training that serves as a refresher or introduction for new users
- Self-paced, offering flexibility for review at your convenience
- In-depth training sessions are also available upon request
- New IM 101 training – Spring 2025
- Sets you up for success to manage your information effectively
- Available on SuccessFactors for all NRC employees
]
The IM Policy and Advisory Services team has always provided training, but we've introduced 2 new additions to our offerings.
The first is a prerecorded session called DocZone Fundamentals, for new users of DocZone. The session covers the basics of DocZone, such as the structure and permission model, and instructions on uploading documents and adding metadata.
We hope to have it available on SuccessFactors this Fall.
The second new offering is an IM 101 module that we are aiming to launch on SuccessFactors in the spring of 2025.
It will present a new angle on your responsibilities to manage information as a public servant from storage and transmission guidelines to effective management of files and emails. Like the security module, employees will be asked to complete this IM module which you can preview later this month.
[LIMS: New Services]
The fourth pillar of new service we will discuss: Publishing and Preserving Research and Data.
[Publishing and Preserving Research and Data: What's New]
[Content displayed on the screen:
- Scholarly communication and publishing support
- New Scholarly Communication Librarian position
- Assistance with copyright, publishing licences and online author presence
- Publishing consultations and training for research centres
- Additional Read-and-Publish agreements with Wiley, Institute of Physics and Canadian Science Publishing
- New Publishing OA @NRC’s resource guide for authors
- Bibliometric profiles
- Customized snapshots of your team’s metrics to understand publication strengths & trends over time
]
We have established new scholarly communications services that include assisting NRC clients with Crown Copyright, licenses to publish, author profiles and more. Our new scholarly communication librarian will soon start to offer “a la carte” services to support research centers' specific publishing needs.
This year the library added three new publishers to our growing list of publishers who allow NRC researchers to publish open access for free:
- Wiley
- Institute of Physics (IOP) and
- Canadian Science Publishing.
Be sure to check out our Publishing Open Access @ NRC for the most up to date list of journals that qualify.
We still have openings in the Managing Author Profiles and Metrics workshop. This workshop is designed to help you learn more about your Scopus and ORCID profiles and how to find your FWCI.
The link will be placed in the chat.
Bibliometric Profiles
Bibliometrics are an important part of how NRC measures research excellence. To help research centre’s understand their research impact, Intelligence and Analytics started to provide an annual Bibliometric Snapshot for any research centre. The Snapshots track each RC’s citations, FWCI, open access publishing, collaboration rates and partners, as well as the fraction of publications with high FWCIs. We can help you understand a sudden drop or rise in any of your bibliometric measures, suggest possible ways of improving some of the measures, or just provide the data so you can keep track of your metrics.
[LIMS: New Services]
The fifth pillar of new services in LIMS is Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP).
[Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP): Proactive Disclosure]
The new ATIP service we’d like to highlight is proactive disclosure. The Access to Information Act supports the government’s commitment to being transparent and open. For this reason, Part 2 of the ATIA legislates the proactive disclosure of certain types of information.
The ATIP Office works collaboratively with the groups responsible for each proactive publication requirement to fulfill these legislative obligations. These groups have established processes to ensure accurate, complete and timely publishing.
[The Future?]
What does the future hold? NRC Library services always strive to incorporate new tools and technologies into our work flow and be responsive to client needs as they change and as research evolves. We plan to continue to do so!
[Connect with LIMS]
[Content displayed on the screen:
I need help...
- Managing projects that involve the collection, use, or storage of personal information: atip-aiprp@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- Organizing and managing the information I or my team is producing and receiving: IM-GI@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- Finding and accessing information resources (journal, databases, articles) the NRC holds and ordering articles: NRC.Library-Bibliotheque.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- Getting the right information to support evidence-based decision-making for my business and research projects and bibliometrics: NRC.IA-IA.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- Managing research data and publications produced as an NRC employee: NRC.Open-Ouvert.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- Unsure which mailbox to select? Send your request to the NRC.Library-Bibliotheque.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca mailbox where it will get routed to the appropriate group.
]
This concludes the presentation.
You can access our service catalog and contact points by reaching out to the appropriate group within LIMS for any questions you may have. The emails are here.
[Thank you]
And a thank you to the authors of this: Chantelle Boulanger, Tracy Minkus, and Steven Leclaire, with a bit of help from me.
And I'm the English presenter.
[Sources]
- Brown, Jack E. National Science Library of Canada. In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 1st Ed.; Kent, A., Lancour, H., Daily, J.E., Eds.; Marcel Dekker, Inc: New York, 1976, Vol. 19, 177-181
- CISTI News archive – 1997 to 2009
- Leclair, Steven, Under the microscope: The library collection, 2023. LinkedIn
- National Research Council. National Science Library – Celebrating 50 years of service, 1974. NRC Digital Repository.
- Steves, Brian. The History of CISTI. Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, 1992. Published by CISTI. NRCC#38022. NRC Digital Repository.
- VanBuskirk, Mary, History of the NRC Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, 2009. DocZone
If there is any further information that you’d like to know where this information came from, we do have the sources here, which are of course all available through the NRC library.
| Autre titre | National Research Council of Canada Library: celebrating 100 years! |
|---|---|
| Téléchargement |
|
| DOI | Trouver le DOI : https://doi.org/10.4224/40003447 |
| Auteur | Rechercher : 1 |
| Affiliation |
|
| Format | Texte, Allocution |
| Conférence | Canadian Library Month, Octobe 2024, Ottawa, ON, Canada |
| Description physique | 28 slides |
| Résumé | |
| Date de publication | 2024-10-01 |
| Maison d’édition | National Research Council of Canada. Knowledge, Information and Technology Services |
| Traduit sous le titre | |
| Langue | anglais |
| Exporter la notice | Exporter en format RIS |
| Collection | Publications organisationnelles du CNRC |
| Identificateur de l’enregistrement | f5fbb1b6-7dfe-4972-aed8-6f4d0a2f6c15 |
| Enregistrement créé | 2024-12-20 |
| Enregistrement modifié | 2025-01-06 |
- Date de modification :