Posted by
Marcel Fortin on
Oct 13, 2006; 7:12pm
URL: http://civicaccess.416.s1.nabble.com/Re-Decision-on-Topographic-Maps-tp735p738.html
Tracey,
Yes, Heather did an amazing job and deserves all the credit.
But, speaking of keeping the record straight. I'm a little surprised by
your comment that there is little activism in the map and data librarian
community. Yes, the stereotype is that librarians are meak bookish
beings, but we are a passionate bunch and we bend over backwards to help
our community of users. Many may think that certain things just appear
miraculously in libraries, but they don't. We work hard to secure deals
with government bodies and third-party data vendors. Some deals are day
to day work contacting government bodies, but others are very important
deals for large communities.
Remember that Canadian digital census files arrived en masse in academic
libraries through the hard-work, dedication and arm twisting by a bunch
of data librarians in the late 1980's before the US census appeared in
digital format in US libraries in the 90's. Wendy Watkins of Carleton
and Laine Ruus of the U of T Libraries, to name just two of many,
deserve a great deal of praise with their work with Stats Canada over
the years. It was also the hard-work of map librarians that got those
same topo maps we've been discussing in digital format freely available
to the academic community in Canada. Grace Welch of the University of
Ottawa as well as other map librarians spent alot of time working with
NRCan on securing what seemed impossible to secure.
Lobbying and activism is a large part of what we do. Most of our deals
may not make the CBC news or the globe and mail pages like this one, but
they are just as important.
Marcel
Tracey P. Lauriault wrote:
> A beautiful Thing!
>
> Just to keep the record straight!
>
> *Heather McAdam*, the Geomatics Librarian
> (
http://www.library.carleton.ca/madgic/maps/gisweb/index.htm) at
> Carleton University MADGIC (Maps and Data and Government Information
> Centre -
http://www.library.carleton.ca/madgic/index.html) spearheaded &
> pretty much singlehandedly ran this campaign, on her dime and personal
> time. It is really important to give credit where credit is due. It is
> very rare to see this type of activism in the Map & Data Librarian
> Community and dang it she did it well!
>
> Here is the campaign website Heather Created -
>
http://www.mapsforcanadians.ca/>
> And for historical folkloric fun - Heather and I came up with the idea
> while giggling at a presentation being given at GeoTec 2006 this summer!
> We were taking notes, drawing pictures and well we were shusshed for
> having too much fun at a serious event! Thanks goodness for fun i say!
>
> If anyone on the list knows of a community ISP that can host the that
> would be great cuz it will be taken down soon as heather is footin' the
> bill!
>
> Eric Lilius wrote:
>
>>Here's a little more on this good news.
>>Eric
>>
------------------------------
Note: I am currently on research leave.
I am monitoring my email, but it may take longer than usual for me to reply.
If you require help with maps or Geographic Information Systems, please
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Marcel Fortin
GIS and Map Librarian, University of Toronto
130 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A5