So What? Library and Information Science Podcast

Camille Callison joins us to discuss the origins and developments of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee of the CFLA-FCAB (Canadian Federation of Library Associations - Fédération Canadienne des Associations de Bibliothèques). In addition to summarizing the Committee’s recommendation and projects, Camille discusses the Medicine Wheel framework used by the Committee; acknowledges the many contributors that supported the development of the Committee’s recommendations and report; and, touches on the challenges of providing recommendations for different types of libraries across Canada.

Further information and transcript are available online: http://sowhat.fims.uwo.ca/1-3-cfla-fcab-truth-and-reconciliation-efforts/

Games of all types are popular in libraries. However, the diversity of games and gaming formats present some unique cataloguing challenges. Mackenzie Johnson spoke with Emma Cross from Carleton University about those challenges and the current thinking about how to address them. Their conversation covers best practices, recommendations for those starting a gaming collection, and why games (and cataloguing games) matter.

A transcript of this episode is available from our website: http://sowhat.fims.uwo.ca/1-2-cataloguing-games/

Episode producer: Mackenzie Johnson

Early in 2018 Catherine Ross, Lynne McKechnie, and Paulette Rothbauer published “Reading Still Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community.” Twelve years after their first book on the topic, “Reading Matters,” the authors discuss reading, readers, the role of libraries, changing technologies and, emphatically, why reading still matters.

A transcript of this episode is available from our website: http://sowhat.fims.uwo.ca/1-1-reading-still-matters/

Episode producer: Mike Ridley

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) was created in 2016 following the demise of the Canadian Library Association. Why do libraries and library workers need CFLA? At the 2018 CFLA Annual Forum held in Regina, Mike Ridley, a PhD student at FIMS, Western University and a former Board member of the Canadian Library Association, attended the wine and cheese social event do ask those present that question. The pinot noir and brie were good, but the responses were excellent.

A transcript of this episode is available from our website: http://sowhat.fims.uwo.ca/0-3-why-cfla/

Episode producer: Mike Ridley

The thought you cannot think controls you more than thoughts you can speak aloud. Library and information science has long been bastion against the restriction of free inquiry, be it the banned book or the taboo thought. In this episode Jen Opoku and Alex Mayhew delve deep into taboo thoughts about aging and death. Meandering and philosophical, no topic is off the table in this discussion. Highlights include discussion of sexuality of the elderly, religious context of death, and the desirability of rejuvenation and life extension.

A transcript of this episode is available from our website: http://sowhat.fims.uwo.ca/0-2-a-conversation-on-ageing-and-death/

Episode producer: Alex Mayhew

To what extent are children’s picture books containing LGBTQ+ representations being included in the collections of Ontario public libraries? Jamie Orr sat down with Alyssa Duke, Melissa Martin, Danielle Betteridge, and Ashley Yeats-McKay, fellow MLIS grad students at FIMS, Western University, to talk about their research project which asks that exact question. This episode describes the nature of their research, some early findings, and their reflections on the implications of their work. A future episode will provide more detailed results from their research.

A transcript of this episode is available from our website: http://sowhat.fims.uwo.ca/0-1-lgbtq-stories/

Episode producer: Jamie Orr