No abstract

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the instances of information literacy instruction within the virtual reference system of a Canadian university library. Design/methodology/approach Coding and analysis of a sample of chat transcripts over the course of one academic year have been used. Findings The analysis indicated that over 50 per cent of virtual reference interactions do not lend themselves to information literacy instruction. An average of 23.6 per cent of interactions included information literacy instruction and the preferred methods of instruction were modelling and resource sharing. Originality/value While previous studies have focused on information literacy instruction provided in a virtual reference setting, this study aims to identify not only instances of information literacy but also to better understand the nature of chat queries by codifying instances of a transactional nature. The results could lead to improved best practices for chat reference, enhanced staff training and varied promotion and delivery of not just virtual reference services but of other library services as well. A portion of this research project, including partial results for the Fall semester, was presented at the LILAC Conference in Liverpool in April 2018.

This study examines what can be learned about a library's electronic social work journal collection from usage statistics, survey data, faculty publications and an examination of open access (OA) availability. A collections analysis was completed using data from two main sources: a custom collections report created by 1Science and results of a faculty survey on their top journal choices for teaching. After creating a list of journals important to the field of social work, top journals were identified by article downloads, facultyauthored publications, and references to faculty-authored papers. A brief publications analysis using faculty websites and author searches in Web of Science was also completed, to provide local, contextual data. Journals were searched in SHERPA/RoMEO to determine their OA level and archiving policy. Library coverage for the journals was also included in the analysis. Results show that the McGill Library has access to almost all of the journals identified as important to social work. Nearly one third of publications authored by the McGill School of Social Work since 2006 are OA, and more than half of the faculty in the school have at least one article published in an OA journal. While this is a good start for librarians who want to help faculty and students understand OA publishing and access, there is room for outreach in this area. While these results will aid librarians supporting faculty, students, and practitioners in the field of social work, a secondary aim of the study is to demonstrate a method that can be used by librarians undertaking similar analyses in other fields. Collection Analysis This study uses four measurements to determine 'usage': article downloads, publications written by McGill researchers, references made by McGill authors, and top journals as identified by faculty for teaching. The first result pertains to the 1Science report's category of Social Work journals. Within that category, Children and Youth Services Review was the top downloaded journal. See Table 1 for the top 10 journals by downloads in 2015, as per the 1Science report.

INTRODUCTION This study offers insight into open access (OA) culture at Canadian university libraries by detailing the degree to which librarians working at Canada’s U15 make their research OA, as well as exploring the depth and reach of any OA mandates these institutions have. METHODS This study uses a combination of bibliometric analysis and review of institutional OA policies, beginning with an examination of a five-year span (2014-2019) of librarian-authored publications, searching four key LIS databases, followed by a systematic search for a university-wide or library OA statement, policy, or mandate on each of the U15 websites. RESULTS & DISCUSSION The data suggests that Canadian academic librarians are personally motivated to self-archive and make their research open. The high rate of publication in Gold OA journals combined with the fact that several of the key LIS journals for Canadian librarians are already OA, points to the importance of OA publishing for librarians as a community, as does the high number of expressions of commitment to OA publishing. Given the lack of variance comparatively between schools with an expression and without, the authors cannot comment on whether the expressions of support correlate to higher proportions of OA articles. CONCLUSION This article provides a snapshot of a positive OA publishing culture at 15 Canadian university libraries by presenting data that shows most libraries have an expression of commitment to OA principles and most Canadian academic librarians working at U15 schools ensure their research is open access.