2007 has begun and with it one of the mildest winters on record in
Southern Ontario; I know that the same does not hold true for our
chapter. The upcoming year will continue in the exciting tradition of
past years with motivating, interesting and thought-provoking programs
and events. But before I continue on about this year, I want to thank
our past board but most importantly our past president – Martha Foote,
for her tireless effects on behalf of the chapter. Thanks Martha.

It is now my pleasure to introduce the 2007 Executive Board:

• President – Pam Casey
• President Elect – Daniel Lee
• Treasurer – Joy Shanfield
• Secretary – Tylene Reaume
• Membership – Melissa Troemel
• Director – Heather Ritchie

Every year each chapter works under the association’s vision and
mandate but each chapter President also has some goals for their
particular year; 2007 is no different for me.

My two main goals for our chapter are:

1. Establish succession planning for the Executive Board. This type of
   planning enables smooth transitions from one year to the next and allows
   the skills and knowledge to be transferred easily from one person to the
   next. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to find new board
   members, this type of planning will eliminate that struggle.

2. Further our relationships with other associations that are not only
   in the librarian field. Networking of this type can assist us in
   membership growth and program planning which were two of the top desires
   from our 2006 membership survey.

In my opinion these goals are important in the continued success of
our chapter. To assist us in working on these goals, I hope that you,
our members, make a point to visit our website and watch your email for
information about our chapter and the up to date listing of current
events and programs.

Please feel free to approach any of the board if you have any
comments or concerns regarding the chapter. You will find our contact
information under the About Us section on the website: href="http://units.sla.org/chapter/ctor/about/executive.asp">http://units.sla.org/chapter/ctor/about/executive.asp

In closing, I am looking forward to hearing from our members and to
meeting each of you at our programs & events this year.

Pam Casey, CTT+
President

Happy New Year!

Its official – winter is finally here; and along with the first
snowfall of 2007 we bring you the year’s first issue of the Courier. To
kick-off the new year we welcome our 2007 Toronto Chapter Executive
Board. Our new president, Pam Casey, shares her goals for the year and
Daniel Lee gives us the low-down on what’s been happening at SLA. Also
in this issue, Melissa Troemel presents an overview of the 2006
Membership Survey.

Why not get out there in 2007 and attend some of the great chapter
events this year? Some of the upcoming events include:
Networking Night on January 31 and Effective
Negotiation Strategies for Purchasing Information Resource
Contracts on February 8. See the Toronto chapter website for
more details ( href="http://units.sla.org/chapter/ctor/">http://units.sla.org/chapter/ctor/).

As always, we are looking for writers, occasional and regular, to
contribute ideas, comments, thoughts, and news items. Share your
experiences with your colleagues. Contact us directly anytime for more
information.

Enjoy!!

Heather Postill
hpostill@sympatico.ca

Elizabeth Malak-McMullan
href="mailto:elizabeth.malak-mcmullan@vaughan.ca">elizabeth.malak-mcmullan@vaughan.ca

1. 2008 Annual Conference Changes to be Introduced at
Leadership Summit
In June 2006, the Board of Directors formed a workgroup “to study the
overarching issues of annual conference planning,” and report back to
the Board in October 2006.

This workgroup met over the summer and conducted surveys and
telephone interviews to determine the sentiments of SLA members. They
wanted broad input to their process in order to develop recommendations
to the Board regarding the annual conference. The group reviewed all
aspects during their deliberations and reported back to the Board as
requested with approximately 17 action items contained in one document.

The committee has decided on a theme for 2008. It is “Breaking Rules,
Building Bridges.” At the first planning meeting in Reno in January
2007, the committee will discuss the theme in more detail as well as all
of the changes in more detail to be sure they are clear and
understandable.

The Board unanimously approved the proposed conference model. The
changes will go into effect for the 2008 annual conference and will stay
in place for three years in order to measure the success of the changes.
You can review the complete document on the SLA website. ( href="http://www.sla.org/PDFs/boarddocs/2007/A07-10.pdf">www.sla.org/PDFs/boarddocs/2007/A07-10.pdf)

The following are just a few of the exciting and new action items
that will affect your planning activities.

• The conference will begin on Sunday evening and end on Wednesday
  afternoon with keynote addresses. The Wednesday keynote will be late
  afternoon and will be followed by a conference wide event. The purpose
  of this recommendation is to give a feeling of a defined start and
  finish to the conference. The Sunday keynote, according to our
  interviews, was well-received, though some adjustments to times are
  necessary.
• Leadership training will be expanded at the Leadership summit in
  January to include training for more unit leaders. This will cause a
  change in the leadership activities during the annual meeting.
• Divisions will be limited to 4-6 unique division-sponsored programs,
  including the business meeting and 2-4 co-sponsored sessions. Divisions
  with sections will be allowed an additional program per section. The
  surveys and interviews revealed that many of our members felt there were
  too many programs. It is hoped that this recommendation will encourage
  more cooperation in programming between the divisions and perhaps enable
  divisions to spend more resources on a fewer number of programs, thus
  increasing the overall quality of the conference.
• A series entitled “spotlight speakers” will be initiated. The
  conference planning committee, in consultation with the divisions, will
  select programs that will be highlighted in the program. The criteria
  for selection would be the program should have conference-wide appeal
  that could reasonably expect to pull in 250-300 people. Innovative
  programs with varied formats would be encouraged. These would still be
  division sponsored but they would be marketed differently and
  “spotlighted” in the conference program. Both the divisions and the
  Association could use these programs for marketing purposes for their
  mutual benefit.
• Varied formats for programs are encouraged as well as variable
  lengths of 60, 90 and 120 minutes for programs. This allows for more
  diversity and hopefully more interest in the conference. In addition,
  some programs with wide appeal could be repeated during the conference.

Questions regarding these recommendations before the Leadership
Summit go to Chair Gloria Zamora href="mailto:gjzamor@sandia.gov">gjzamor@sandia.gov.

2. New RSS Feed Service for SLA Members Helps Divisions Share
Resources
We want your input! Through a recent partnership with NewsGator, SLA is
now offering members a customized RSS feed service. The categories of
pre-selected feeds are based on subjects of interest to SLA divisions,
and these feeds are a great way to keep up with recent developments in
your industry. To maximize the value of this service, we encourage you
and the members of your units to submit suggestions for feeds of all
types — blogs, journals, news — that can be added to the categories,
thereby sharing them with your colleagues across SLA. Direct
suggestions, questions, and comments to Carolyn Sosnowski in the
Information Center at href="mailto:resources@sla.org">resources@sla.org or
+1.703.647.4914. Read the press release.

3. Opportunity to share your knowledge! Submit to the SLA
Call for Papers
Have you implemented a solution in your workplace from which you think
other colleagues could benefit? Have you given thought to an everyday
issue facing information professionals? Have you started an information
center from scratch and learned valuable lessons along the way? If so,
we’d love to hear about it! Every SLA member is eligible and encouraged
to submit a proposal for a contributed paper and presentation at the
2007 Annual Conference in Denver, CO, USA. Past paper topics have
included: online collaboration between libraries, perfecting
communication skills, implementing digitization projects, and browsing
in the special library. Brief abstracts are due 8 December 2006. If your
proposal is among the 12-15 chosen, your paper will be due in May 2007.
Learn more about submitting a proposal!
href="http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2007/callforpapers/index.cfm">www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2007/callforpapers/index.cfm

4. October 2006 Board Meeting Agenda and Documents – Open
Session

SLA 2006 October Board of Directors Meeting
21-22 October 2006
Monterey Marriott
Monterey, CA

1. Opening of the Meeting

1. Call to Order
2. Adoption of the Agenda
3. Presidents Remarks
4. Announcements and Recognition of Special Guests, Welcome Thomas
   Hogan, Sr.
5. Member Comments

2. Consent Agenda
   [The consent agenda is a group of action items that can be adopted
   without separate debate or vote by the unanimous consent of the board.
   Any board member may remove any items from the consent agenda for any
   reason prior to the adoption of the consent agenda.]

1. A07-05 Open Session Minutes for 9-10 June 2006
2. A07-06 Open Session Minutes for 14 June 2006
3. A07-07 Ratification of Approval of Knowledge Management Division
4. A07-08 Ratification of Approval of Name Change for Gay and
   Lesbian Issues Caucus
5. A07-09 Receive 2005 Audited Financial Statements and Management
   Letter

3. Items for Action

1. A07-10 Conference Planning Process Recommendation
2. A07-11 Application for Special Programs Funds from Australia and
   New Zealand Chapter
3. A07-12 Presentation of 2007 Budget and Finance Committee
   Recommendation
4. A07-13 Finance Committee Recommendation to Change Goal-Setting
   and Budget Cycle
5. A07-14 Finance Committee Recommendation to Fund Strategic
   Realignment and Marketing Initiative

4. Program Updates and Reports

1. B07-05 2007 Leadership Summit Report
2. B07-06 Interim Report from the 2007 Annual Conference Committee
3. B07-07 International Membership Initiative
4. B07-08 Alliances and Partners Assessment

5. Final Announcements and Adjournment

1. Other Business
2. Adjournment

   Full documents are available here. ( href="http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/governance/bodsection/pastbodmtg/1006agenda/
   index.cfm">www.sla.org/content/SLA/governance/bodsection/pastbodmtg/1006agenda/
   index.cfm)

5. Report from Internet Librarian 2006 (Podcast)
Janice shares her experiences at the October SLA Board of Directors
meetings and the conference.
href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/Pef1180d864640df4579ac3ca3b63a256YVFwRFREYmJ3.mp3">www.hipcast.com/export/Pef1180d864640df4579ac3ca3b63a256YVFwRFREYmJ3.mp3

Thank you to everyone who responded to this year’s membership survey.

According to you, the most valued Chapter service provided was
Programming, followed by the Discussion List, the Virtual Seminars,
Career Development, the Online Directory and the Courier.

By far the service most members would like to see added to those
already offered is discounts at bookstores (or other discounts). Also
often requested were an online resume hosting service, mentoring
services, and online links to member websites and blogs.

The top three professional competencies members would like to develop
are: applying information tools and technologies, managing information
organizations, and managing information services.

The top ten programming topics that most interested members were:

1. Best of the web for today’s information professional
2. Knowledge management
3. Succession planning
4. Content management tools
5. Industry specific topics (legal, insurance, business, health, etc.)
6. Web searching
7. Intranet best practices
8. Marketing your library services
9. Digitization projects
10. Library highlights and tours – what is XYZ library doing this year

Of the 133 members who responded in total, 44 members responded to
the question “Would you be willing to share your time and expertise?” Of
those 11 would be willing to offer career guidance, 9 would speak at a
program and 8 would offer internet assistance.

SLA does have an online resume hosting service. It can be found at
http://sla.jobcontrolcenter.com/. Members can post their resumes there
as well as browse the job board.

The Toronto chapter has an ad hoc mentoring service. We do our best
to match up those seeking a mentor with one. If you are interested in
either being a mentor or being matched with one, please contact the
Board.

The Board will be revisiting the survey results in the coming year in
an effort to address the issues raised.

Once again, the Board would like to thank all who responded.

Melissa Troemel is the Membership Chair for the SLA Toronto
Chapter.

Thanks are due to Kolette Taber of The Canadian Health & Life
Insurance Association (CLHIA) who continues to provide meeting space for
the Downtown Solos.

Downtown Lunch Meetings

Since my last report the Solos have had two downtown lunch meetings;
one on October 16 on project management for solos and another December
16 on media monitoring.

The discussion on project management featured a lively and
informative discussion on positive collaboration with other departments
such as IT and finding champions to progress valuable initiatives. We
were inspired to have this discussion by Pat Wagner’s very useful
article in the August 2006 edition of Information Outlook.

The December 16 meeting on media monitoring covered the strengths and
weaknesses of the various commercial vendors, including Canadian and
international content, how far back their archives went and any embargo
periods for key publications. The discussion also included monitoring
broadcasts and blogs and copyright and licensing issues to be aware of
in providing these services.

Future Plans

The Solos will continue to meet on a regular basis and at the time of
writing we are working on our program for the new year. Meetings are
posted to the Toronto Chapter listserv in advance of the event and we
are always delighted to welcome new members.

Paul Cheeseman is the Librarian at the Canada Pension Plan Investment
Board and can be reached at 416-868-5060 or href="mailto:pcheeseman@cppib.ca">pcheeseman@cppib.ca.

Upcoming Events

The New Information Professionals (NIP) Program is focusing on
alternative career paths this year. Watch for announcements about our
first event to be held on the evening of Tuesday, February 6th featuring
Kim Silk, President of BrightSail Marketing and Product Management ( href="http://www.brightsail.com/">www.brightsail.com), on the SLA
Toronto chapter website and listserv! Kim has had many years of
experience in project management and marketing for the online industry.
This is your chance to hear Kim provide valuable insight into the
winding road of an interesting – and alternative – career path!

New Members

We are always looking for new information professionals with whom to
connect. So pass this issue of Courier around and encourage a new
information professional or soon-to-be-graduating Master of Information
Studies (MISt) student to come to our next event!

After graduating from the Faculty of Information Studies at the
University of Toronto in 2004, Claire Lysnes began coordinating the New
Information Professionals (NIP) program in Fall 2005. The NIP program
aims to address specific interests of new information professionals both
within the SLA Toronto Chapter membership and profession. If you have
topic or speaker suggestions for future events, please get in touch with
Claire at href="mailto:claire.lysnes@utoronto.ca">claire.lysnes@utoronto.ca.

After almost 10 years at IntelliSearch, the fee-based research
service of the Toronto Public Library, in September 2006 Heather
Wilson has moved to InfoSolutions, the fee-based research
service of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of
Toronto.

Her contact information is:

Heather Wilson, MLS
InfoSolutions, BIC
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
(416) 978-1912
(416) 978-1920 (fax)
heather.wilson@rotman.utoronto.ca
www.rotman.utoronto.ca/bic/infosolutions

Liana Giovando is the new Training and Reference
Librarian at Goodmans LLP.

People on the Move will be a regular column highlighting the
achievements of our members and help keep us all in touch. Please share
your career changes, retirements, life changes, volunteer work.

Submit your news to Frances Wong at href="mailto:FWong@blgcanada.com">FWong@blgcanada.com or Radikha
Jaggernauth at href="mailto:rjaggernauth@hsf.on.ca">rjaggernauth@hsf.on.ca.

I have a guilty secret — I’m a library voyeur. Big or small, close
to home or on another continent, I just love to check out other people’s
libraries.

On a recent trip to Washington, DC I couldn’t resist an opportunity
to visit the Library of Congress; after all, it may be just about the
most important library in North America and, as the largest library in
the world, it contains more than 130 million items on approximately 530
miles of bookshelves.

Birthplace and keeper of the LC classification system and home to a
number of impressive collections, the Library of Congress is also the
U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Center of the ISSN Network.

Anyone with a library science degree is aware of the role played by
the Library of Congress, but did you know that the Library of Congress
was established by an act of Congress in 1800 when the seat of
government was moved to the new capital city of Washington from
Philadelphia? The legislation described a reference library for Congress
only, containing “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress
- and for putting up a suitable apartment for containing them
therein….”

Established with $5,000 appropriated by the legislation, the original
library was housed in the new Capitol until August 1814, when invading
British troops set fire to the Capitol Building, burning and pillaging
the contents of the small library. Shortly after, retired President
Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement.
Jefferson had spent 50 years accumulating books and his library was
considered to be one of the finest in the United States.

Jefferson’s collection included books in foreign languages and
volumes of philosophy, science, literature, and other topics not
normally viewed as part of a legislative library; a fact which generated
some controversy. Jefferson believed however, that there was “no subject
to which a Member of Congress may not have occasion to refer.”

In January 1815, Congress accepted Jefferson’s offer, appropriating
$23,950 for his 6,487 books, and the foundation was laid for a great
national library. The Jeffersonian concept of universality, the belief
that all subjects are important to the library of the American
legislature, is the philosophy and rationale behind the comprehensive
collecting policies of today’s Library of Congress. In 1897 the library
was opened to the public.

The Thomas Jefferson Building is the principal building of the
library, completed in 1897. With its Italian Renaissance design and
23-carat gold-plated dome it rivals any European palace (check out the
online tour at href="http://www.loc.gov/jefftour/">www.loc.gov/jefftour/).

The walls and ceilings are adorned with paintings, sculptures and
inscriptions dedicated to the evolution of the book, publishing,
literature, fields of knowledge and great authors. A full listing of
these inscriptions has even been published and is available on line ( href="http://www.loc.gov/loc/walls/">www.loc.gov/loc/walls/). It is
possible to spend hours just gawking at the lavish decoration and
reading the inscriptions. The Library of Congress truly is one of the
most spectacular, not just libraries, but public buildings, I have
visited.

The Library of Congress is located in Washington, DC and is open to
the public. Guided tours of the public spaces are free.

Photographs by Heather Postill
Additional Resources: href="http://www.loc.gov/about/history/">www.loc.gov/about/history/

Heather Postill is a graduate of University of Toronto, Faculty of
Information Studies and is the co-editor of the Courier.

Contract completes FPinfomart’s portfolio of major English Canadian news sources

Toronto, Ontario – November 27, 2006 – CanWest MediaWorks Inc. announced today that FPinfomart, the company’s industry leading news and business information service, will add Globe and Mail content to its portfolio of Canadian and International news sources, beginning January 1, 2007. This latest addition to FPinfomart solidifies its position as the largest and most comprehensive one-stop electronic resource for Canadian news sources.

Through an agreement between The Globe and Mail and CanWest MediaWorks Inc., FPinfomart will license The Globe and Mail and distribute content from the newspaper electronically through the FPinfomart product, including two years of archives and daily feeds. The Globe and Mail will be available to FPinfomart customers as part of the base subscription package.

“We are very pleased to welcome The Globe and Mail as our newest content source. This key Canadian source for national and international news and financial coverage broadens FPinfomart’s already extensive portfolio,” said Arturo Duran, President, Interactive and Business Integration, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. “As a result, FPinfomart customers will benefit from a one-stop source for complete Canadian and International news and business coverage.”

FPinfomart, available at FPinfomart.ca, offers unparalleled coverage of news and corporate data and is an essential resource for information professionals, business communicators and knowledge workers. FPinfomart has a strong subscriber base comprised of government, corporate and non-profit clientele and also provides pay per view services for the general public.

“Our contract with FPinfomart will extend the reach of The Globe and Mail content to many Canadian organizations” said Sandra Mason, General Manager Digital Media, The Globe and Mail. “This is yet another way that The Globe and Mail is providing our customers with more ways to access the news and content they most want.”

The addition of The Globe and Mail to the FPinfomart portfolio follows the recent addition of broadcast media monitoring, which provides real-time monitoring with clips available immediately after broadcast, and mobile services that allow FPinfomart customers to access content on the go. FPinfomart is a trusted source of news and business information for many businesses across Canada, highly regarded for its 24 hour, seven day a week, proactive media monitoring.

Please contact us at 1-800-661-7678 or at helpdesk@canwest.com for a demonstration of any of our products or services, or visit us online at: www.fpinfomart.ca. We look forward to working with you! FPinfomart.ca is owned and operated by CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.

Blogs, Transcripts, Newswires Added to Growing International Portfolio

Toronto, Ontario – December 1, 2006 – CanWest MediaWorks Inc. announced today an alliance between FPinfomart, the company’s industry leading news and business information service, and Newstex, the Content On Demand™ company, to add blogs, new international sources, and a significant collection of broadcast transcripts to FPinfomart’s extensive media monitoring portfolio. These latest enhancements further strengthen FPinfomart as the one-stop, electronic monitoring service for Canadian professionals who need timely, reliable, in-depth news and business information.

The announcement marks FPinfomart’s entry into the blog monitoring market, a service of increasing importance for more and more businesses as it generates candid and crucial information about their products, services and competitors. Additionally, the alliance adds over 140 international transcript and news sources, including CNN, BBC, CNBC, and a host of other worldwide news feeds. The new sources will be available to customers starting today, December 1st at FPinfomart.ca, with the exception of blogs, which will be available mid-December.

“This announcement with Newstex signifies a new era for FPinfomart as we enhance our offering to our business customers with comprehensive, trusted news and information feeds from around the world,” said Arturo Duran, President, Interactive and Business Integration, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. “With access to blogs, transcripts, and enhanced international content, FPinfomart customers will benefit from a one-stop source for complete, Canadian and international news and business coverage.”

Through this alliance, Newstex will provide Content On Demand™ – tailored, real-time news and commentary from thousands of branded newswires, newspapers, magazines, financial and business sources, official government feeds as well as Blogs On Demand™ – full-text blog content from premier Weblogs in a wide variety of categories.

“CanWest’s FPinfomart.ca service leads the Canadian market because of the company’s keen understanding of how people use information in business and in their personal lives,” said Larry Schwartz, Newstex President. “Delivering our Newstex Newsfeeds to FPinfomart customers is an important component of our strategy to deliver our content through the information products that people rely upon every day.”

The alliance with Newstex adds to FPinfomart’s existing portfolio of over 275 Canadian news sources and authoritative company profiles, and follows the recent addition of The Globe and Mail as a content provider, which completed FPinfomart’s portfolio of major English Canadian news sources. Other recent additions to the service include broadcast media monitoring and mobile services that allow FPinfomart.ca customers to access content on the go. FPinfomart is a trusted source of news and business information for many businesses across Canada, highly regarded for its 24 hour, seven day a week, proactive media monitoring.

Please contact us at 1-800-661-7678 or at helpdesk@canwest.com for a demonstration of any of our products or services, or visit us online at: www.fpinfomart.ca. We look forward to working with you! FPinfomart.ca is owned and operated by CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.