Government Information in Canada

Access and Stewardship

Edited by Amanda Wakaruk, Sam-chin Li
Contributions by Graeme John Campbell, Talia Chung, Sandra Lynn Craig, Peter Alexander Ellinger, Darlene Marie Fichter, Michelle Andrea Lake, Stephen Bryant Marks, Maureen Elizabeth Martyn, Catherine Elizabeth McGoveran, Martha Murphy, Danica Josephina Pahulje, Susan Louise Paterson, Carol Marie Perry, Denise Caron Rollins, Gregory Clive Salmers, Tom J. Smyth, Brian Edward Tobin, and Nicholas John Worby
Categories: Social Sciences, Museum, Library & Archival Studies
Publisher: University of Alberta Press
Paperback : 9781772124064, 376 pages, April 2019
Ebook (PDF) : 9781772124446, 360 pages, April 2019
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Table of contents

Introduction: The Evolution of Government Information Services and Stewardship in Canada
Amanda Wakaruk and Sam-chin Li

I Historical Overviews
1 Government Publication Deposit Programs: The Canadian Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Landscapes
Graeme Campbell, Michelle Lake, and Catherine McGoveran
2 Official Publications and Select Digital Library Collections at Library and Archives Canada, 1923 to the Present
Tom J. Smyth
3 Parliamentary Information in Canada: Form and Function
Talia Chung and Maureen Martyn
4 Commissions and Tribunals
Caron Rollins

II Provincial Landscape
5 Alberta Government Publishing
Dani J. Pahulje
6 Saskatchewan Government Publications Deposit in the Legislative Library
Gregory Salmers
7 Inside Track: Challenges of Collecting, Accessing, and Preserving Ontario Government Publications
Sandra Craig and Martha Murphy
8 Digitization of Government Publications: A Review of the Ontario Digitization Initiative
Carol Perry, Brian Tobin, and Sam-chin Li

III Looking Forward: Collaborative Stewardship
9 GALLOP Portal: Making Government Publications in Legislative Libraries Findable
Peter Ellinger
10 The Canadian Government Information Digital Preservation Network: A Collective Response to a National Crisis
Amanda Wakaruk and Steve Marks
11 Web Harvesting and Reporting Fugitive Government Materials: Collaborative Stewardship of At-Risk Documents
Susan Paterson, Nicholas Worby, and Darlene Fichter

Contributors
Index

Open Access Title

Description

Public access to government information forms the foundation of a healthy liberal democracy. Because this information can be precarious, it needs stewardship. Government Information in Canada provides analysis about the state of Canadian government information publishing. Experts from across the country draw on decades of experience to offer a broad, well-founded survey of history, procedures, and emerging issues—particularly the challenges faced by practitioners during the transition of government information from print to digital access.

This is an indispensable book for librarians, archivists, researchers, journalists, and everyone who uses government information and wants to know more about its publication, circulation, and retention.

Contributors: Graeme Campbell, Talia Chung, Sandra Craig, Peter Ellinger, Darlene Fichter, Michelle Lake, Sam-chin Li, Steve Marks, Maureen Martyn, Catherine McGoveran, Martha Murphy, Dani J. Pahulje, Susan Paterson , Carol Perry, Caron Rollins, Gregory Salmers, Tom J. Smyth, Brian Tobin, Amanda Wakaruk, Nicholas Worby

Awards

  • Winner, Margaret T. Lane / Virginia F. Saunders Memorial Research Award (to Amanda Wakaruk and Sam-chin Li, co-editors) 2021
  • Short-listed, Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing 2020

Reviews

“In a democracy, publicly accessible information is not a want, it is a necessity…. Because of the real-life experiences and observations in this book, it is a must read for anyone interested in government information in Canada, particularly its dissemination, access, and preservation…. [The book] presents some real problems, as well as possible solutions, that exist in our current situation…. Simply put, government information is in crisis.”

- David McDonald, Legislative Librarian