"Best Practices" 2001:
Innovative Internet Use in Canadian Public Libraries

Prepared by Danielle Pilon for LibraryNet, June 2001.

• Community Partnerships
• Supporting Local Economic Development
• Electronic Service Delivery
• Content Creation

Canada's libraries and schools have been connected to the Internet for several years now. Public libraries and library organizations in Canada have moved beyond providing public access, to designing and initiating wide-ranging projects. Libraries are able to use the Internet to connect their communities to the wider world, encourage local economic development, support lifelong learning and deliver programs in the most convenient manner possible. Whether the applications used are leading-edge technology or plain and simple, their aims continue to evolve in sophistication.

The Internet enables libraries to network with the communities they serve, both literally and figuratively. Partnerships with other community organizations and government departments allow even small public libraries to make a big impact on the Internet, while using scarce resources to the fullest. Library web pages promote their communities world-wide through tourism material and contribute to local economic development.

The Internet also allows even the smallest library to expand its services by adapting traditional library functions for delivery through the Internet. Libraries can offer searchable databases, improve distance services, and answer reference questions online. Some libraries use digital media to encourage traditional literacy by promoting new material and reader's resources online. Many libraries use their staff's expertise in evaluating and cataloguing materials to select and organize the web resources their patrons will find most valuable.

Content creation continues to be one of the leadership areas of Canadian public libraries. Historical material is being digitized at an amazing pace. From genealogical indexes to multimedia presentations, libraries are preserving local heritage and making it available to a wider audience.

Community Partnerships

• North Bay Public Library, in partnership with the City of North Bay, the North Bay Area Museum, and the North Bay Chamber of Commerce, has created a "Virtual City Hall" to provide enhanced access to municipal information and services. North Bay citizens can now access facts and forms, contact city staff, and search by-laws dating back to 1894, as well as related council minutes and agendas.
• "Starting and Growing A Small Business in Pickering" is a joint project of the Pickering Public Library and the City of Pickering's Corporate Promotions and Economic Development Section. It assists local new and growing small businesses by providing online versions of common business forms and links to resources on topics such as choosing the right business, writing business plans, and finding financing.
• The Provincial Information and Library Resources Board (PILRB) of Newfoundland, in partnership with the Community Access Program (CAP) and the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, administered a recent pilot project testing the potential for video-conferencing court hearings through CAP sites in the province. PILRB provided software, hardware, and training, while two public library CAP sites in Bay Roberts and Port aux Basques served as the remote court locations.
• Until this year, only nine communities in the Northwest Territories had public libraries. Now the Northwest Territories Public Library Services (NWTPLS) has launched a project to provide free public Internet access in the existing libraries, and to create "cyber-libraries" through Internet access in six other remote communities. These cyber-libraries will give residents access to the NWTPLS Borrower-by-Mail program, interlibrary loans throughout Canada, and all the resources of the Internet.

 

Supporting Local Economic Development

• To encourage the community to contribute to the vision of a planned new library building, Prince Rupert Public Library has created a website about one of the more intriguing proposals -- a new waterfront "bookboat" complex and tourist attraction. Learn about other bookboats and unusual libraries worldwide, and submit your comments on the library's proposal.
• The Bibliothèque municipale de Brossard's "Centre d'affaires.doc" offers assistance for local business owners, self-employed people, and entrepreneurs. Specialized research services, access to computers and training, and an email newsletter are all available through the business centre.

Electronic Service Delivery

• The Richmond Public Library, in partnership with FirstClass Systems Corporation, launched an online gateway to web-based training courses for its staff and patrons. The Online Learning Center provides e-learning courses in information technology and professional development at affordable prices.
• The Cape Breton Regional Library and the University College of Cape Breton Library have built up rich collections of Gaelic language materials over the years. Now, the two libraries have brought those records together in one online catalogue, LeughSeo. A simple, bilingual (English-Gaelic) interface allows users to search by author, title, or subject.
• In 2000, the Windsor Public Library became the first public library in Canada to offer chapter-a-day book browsing by email. The daily Online Book Club email messages include a brief introduction and an excerpt that takes about five minutes to read, intended to whet the subscriber's appetite for the full novel (available at the library, of course).
• A Java-enabled browser allows you to take an amusing virtual tour of the small Bibliothèque municipale de Bois-des-Filion - just click and drag the mouse over a 360-degree photograph of the library interior.

Content Creation

• The Bibliothèque municipale de Rouyn-Noranda publishes an e-zine written by kids who attend the library's Inter-Presse, a summer Internet camp for kids. Children 10 to 15 get the opportunity to be Internet "investigative journalists" and see their articles online.
• Staff from the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library created the Pictou & Antigonish War Cenotaphs web page, a collection of photographs of and transcriptions from local memorials of the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. Where possible, each soldier's name is linked to biographical information provided by Veterans' Affairs.
• Created by the New Westminster Public Library in collaboration with other community organizations, the New Westminster Heritage Homepage is a central resource for local history, heritage, and genealogy research. Take a virtual tour through the history of New Westminster, view historical photographs, learn how to research and restore a heritage home, and discover a wealth of other local history resources.
• Hamilton Public Library has produced a comprehensive web site on the industrial development of Hamilton. "Industrial Hamilton: A Trail to the Future" includes a narrative history, a timeline, and two interactive maps of the industrial district of the city.
• The "Home Sweet Heritage Home" web site from Calgary Public Library profiles a hundred well known pioneer Calgarians and their residences. From mansions to the "Bow Bend Shack" built for Calgary's first environmentalist, the stories of the individuals who lived in these houses are a fascinating sidebar to Canadian history.
• Created by the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, the online exhibit "L'héritage sépharade d'Afrique du Nord" gathers images of the finest of more than one hundred illuminated manuscripts, books, and ketubah (Jewish marriage contracts) lent by Montreal Sephardic families for the original exhibit at the library.
• The Estevan Public Library's online history of the South Saskatchewan Regiment (SSR) is being expanded daily through the enthusiastic contributions of SSR veterans and families from across Canada and overseas. Plans to digitize the book The march of the prairie men grew into a complete history once veterans became excited about the possibilities for the online preservation of their experiences. Now the site includes a full Nominal Roll of all SSR veterans, as well as photographs, documents, and full-text books. Translation of the site into German, Dutch, French and Spanish should be complete by the end of this summer.
• The Saskatoon Public Library prepared a comprehensive Online Directory of Seniors' Housing in Saskatoon for use by seniors and their families, or organizations that serve seniors. The directory includes contact information, general descriptions, and information about services offered for a wide selection of residences, ranging from special care homes to self-contained independent living units.