• This timeline is an account of events related to the current and proposed location of the Inforum collection.
• The Inforum staff were first notified on October 31, 2017 that the collection would be removed from the Inforum, and dispersed to other UTLS libraries.
• References to "the Inforum librarians" refer to Kathleen Scheaffer, Nalini K. Singh, and Elisa Sze, the three f/t appointed Inforum librarians.
• NOTE:  We've changed the order of these entries to reverse chronological order, so the most recent posts appear first - (June 6, 2019)

 

 

August 6, 2019

As announced in Dean Duff's letter to the Faculty of Information community via the Faculty's i-announce mailing list (June 4, 2019), the Inforum collection is slated to be moved from the Inforum, and reshelved into the collections of Robarts and other UTL libraries, or sent to Downsview, before September 2019.

 

The timing of the move has been set for August 8 & 9. 

 

The collections area will be closed during that period, and also on August 7, to prepare for the move. The Inforum itself will be OPEN. We have prepared detailed FAQs to help our various categories of users navigate what the change will mean for them.  This information can be found on our website at http://uoft.me/Inforum-collection-move  We will be using this page to provide further updates as they become available.

 

We -- Kathleen Scheaffer, Nalini Singh, and Elisa Sze, the Inforum's full-time librarians -- would like to express our deep gratitude to all those who have offered support and encouragement during this time, and for the last few years.  We sincerely thank you.

 

 

June 5, 2019

On the afternoon of June 4, 2019, we received the Final Report of the External Reviewers, along with a response from Dean Duff.  In terms of the availability of this report, the terms of reference of the external review state that the final report would be shared with“the Dean, the Director, librarians and staff of the INFORUM [sic], as well as faculty and staff of the Faculty of Information and the Dean’s Advisory Committee.”  There is no provision in the terms of reference for the report to be shared with current students, or alumni of the Faculty.

 

A community letter from Dean Duff was sent to all students, staff, and faculty members of the Faculty of Information (June 4, 2019). In terms of the future of the Inforum collection, the letter included the information that before September [2019] “… move the remainder of the print collection to Robarts, other UTL libraries or Downsview, according to established collections development practices.”  The Course Reserves collection will remain in the Inforum.

 

To clarify, the collection will not be moved as a collection, but rather, will be dispersed by call number range over various libraries, such as Robarts, Gerstein, and Computer Science & Engineering.

 

 

May 2, 2019

The site visit phase of the Inforum External Review was completed on April 17, 2019.  We now await the report of the external reviewers. 

 

According to the review’s terms of reference, the reviewers submit a draft report to Dean within 3 weeks of the end of the site visit.  After that, two weeks are given for the correction of factual errors.  The report is then submitted to the Vice Provost – Academic Programs once the Dean has provided corrections to the Review Panel members.

 

The terms of reference goes on to state that, “The final report will be shared with Dean, the Director, librarians and staff of the INFORUM, (sic) as well as the faculty and staff of the Faculty of Information and the Dean’s Advisory Committee.”

 

We appreciate the continued interest in the future of the Inforum.

 

 

March 28, 2019

We'd like to let you know about a couple of things.  First of all, the Inforum Users' Advisory Committee had its inaugural meeting on Monday March 25. You can find out more about this group on our website at https://uoft.me/inforum-users-advisory   We are grateful to all the members for their service.  The next meeting is likely to be in Fall 2019.

 

Secondly, the external review of the Inforum is slated to take place on April 16 & 17.  We have prepared a submission for the External Review Panel that covers our work of recent years.  The submission is published on our website in the REPORTS section at  https://uoft.me/inforum-submission-ERP2019

 

 

October 31, 2018 

We apologize for our long silence.  Elisa and Nalini returned from research leave in July.

 

Since that time, Dean Duff has convened a Dean’s Advisory Group on the Inforum.  The membership is:  Dean Duff as Chair; Acting Dean & Assoc. Dean Academic, Kelly Lyons; Assoc. Dean Leslie Shade; BI Director Matt Ratto; PhD Director Seamus Ross; CAO Glenn Cumming; Inforum Interim Director Lari Langford; MISC Rep Jamie Duncan; MUSSA Rep Erica Chi; UTL Rep Caitlin Tillman; and, FIAA President Eve Leung.  The DSA Rep is TBD.  The group had its inaugural meeting, held in-camera, on October 10, 2018, and Inforum staff were briefed at a follow-up meeting on October 18^th, also held in-camera.

 

The Inforum is in the process of convening an Inforum Users Advisory Committee (See more at Inforum News, September 2018, pg. 8).  Our hope is that both groups will engage with the collections issue.  Our collections continue to reside in their usual Inforum home. 

 

To date, we have not received word about, or been part of any discussion, about its future. We thank everyone for their continued support as we all work towards providing the best possible experience for Inforum patrons.

 

 

April 17, 2018

The Dean issued a message to the 'announce' mailing list, which reaches all iSchool students, staff, and faculty. In the message, she thanked people for their input on the Inforum collection issue, and states that she will be reviewing all submissions received on or before April 15, 2018 before proceeding further. No date was given for a final decision. Prior to sending the message, the Dean shared the text of the message with the Inforum librarians and asked if they had any concerns.  They replied that it would be good if the Dean were to also review submissions received after April 15, since those people have taken the time to write in.

 

 

April 13, 2018

This wiki was made public, and we began to notify stakeholders about its existence.

 

 

April 9, 2018

The Dean and the Associate Dean (Academic) attended the monthly Inforum staff meeting, in order to bring forward Dean Duff's latest proposal to reduce the Inforum collection to just the Course Reserves, along with a few texts that faculty members might identify as "the canon."

 

Both the Dean and the Associate Dean (Academic) stated that the current collection is not reflective of faculty teaching areas. Inforum staff responded that the Collections librarian solicits and welcomes recommendations for titles to add to the Inforum collection, and every academic term, this message is reinforced by Inforum staff through the Inforum's Reading List Service, used by the majority of iSchool instructors.

 

Although Dean Duff stated that many faculty members were behind her proposal, Inforum staff pointed out that the collection has already been weeded down to the core materials, and that many students, staff, alumni, UTLS librarians, as well as individual faculty members, have either signed a petition or written messages in support of retaining the on-site collection, rather than dismantling and dispersing a valued resource.

 

The Interim Inforum Director clarified that the collection will not be moved on May 1, 2018. However, Dean Duff stated that she will read over all the messages that she has received, and will come to a final conclusion regarding the Inforum collection on or around April 15, 2018.

 

 

March 22, 2018

At the last Faculty Council meeting of the 2017/2018 academic year, Dean Duff raised the collections issue at the end of her Dean's report. Elisa asked for clarification regarding Dean Duff's decision to retain an "extended course reserves" of 1000-1500 items, including questions around the criteria, the process, and the May 1, 2018 deadline. The Dean responded that consultations were still happening.

 

MUSSA reported that they had implemented a survey on the collections issue amongst MMSt students.  Subsequent to the Faculty Council meeting, MUSSA shared the survey results with Kathleen and the Interim Inforum Director. The results indicate that ALL respondents were against the dispersal of the collection and that MMSt students felt they would be better served by keeping the Inforum collection on-site.

 

 

March 14, 2018

The Dean met with FIAA at their monthly meeting and answered questions from alumni about the collection plans.

 

 

March 13, 2018

MISC held a town hall on the Inforum collection issue.  MISC representatives stated that Dean Duff had amended her collection decision to now allow an "extended course reserves" of approximately 1000-1500 items to remain in the Inforum, while the rest of the items would be moved out.

 

Students in attendance felt that the Inforum collection should remain in the Inforum.  One of the issues that arose was: given that a suggestion to shelve the collection around the outer walls of the 4th floor (thereby freeing up the stacks space for study space) was on the table, how come it has not gained administration's approval? It would address the need for more space, while keeping the collection onsite.

 

 

March 7, 2018

The Inforum librarians were copied on the Dean's response to a support letter from a UTLS librarian who had written in on behalf of many UTLS librarians.

 

The Inforum librarians were notified that a webpage entitled 'Changes at the Inforum', with information pertinent to the issue of the Inforum collection, had been created at https://ischool.utoronto.ca/changes-at-the-inforum/. The webpage's opening text stated that "Consultations are underway about the proposed changes at the Inforum." Two events were listed: a MISC meeting and a FIAA meeting. The webpage also made the Faculty of Information Revitalization Master Plan publicly available for the first time.

 

The Inforum librarians noted the following about the public version of the Master Plan:

• Unlike the version of the Master Plan that was circulated by email on Oct. 6, 2017, this version of the Master Plan now contained the names of members on the Space Revitalization Working Group (p. 6).  The membership list clearly indicates that no Inforum staff were part of the group.
• Appendix 3.1 clearly indicates that "Inforum staff" were not consulted (p. 84).
• Despite the insertion of the membership list (p. 6), the factual discrepancies that the Inforum librarians had raised with the Dean at their Feb. 15, 2018meeting remained uncorrected:
• The public version of the Master Plan continued to assert that "Inforum staff" were consulted (p. 10).
• The public version continued to suggest moving the collection to UTL Downsview offsite storage as a possibility that "should be explored", rather than a recommendation to move the collection to Robarts Stacks (p. 10). 

 

 

March 6, 2018

The Dean issued a survey on the revitalization of the iSchool building, asking for regular faculty, doctoral students, and Masters students at the iSchool to participate. The survey invitation was delivered by email to the respective mailing lists.

 

 

March 1, 2018

At the Faculty Council meeting, Dean Duff addressed the Inforum collection at the end of her Dean's report.  The agenda had not identified the Inforum collection as a matter for discussion. The ensuing discussion resulted in no outcome other than a tabling of the discussion.

 

Several Masters students, PhD students, UTLS librarians, alumni, and a faculty member spoke in support of retaining the Inforum collection within the Inforum.

 

The Inforum librarians presented a possible solution that could resolve both the need for more study space and the need for the Inforum collection: distribute shelves of books around the walls of the library, thus freeing up the stacks floor for study desks. The Inforum librarians presented this as a win-win solution. The Inforum librarians also raised concerns over the lack of process, lack of collegiality, and lack of respect for governance.

 

A student representative who served on the Space Revitalization Working Group stated that the proposal to dismantle and disperse Inforum books in order to create additional study spaces was not discussed in the working group meetings that they attended, and that no such recommendation had been brought to their attention by the time they attended the working group's last meeting in May 2017. The representative did not receive a copy of the Master Plan before it was finalized and distributed to faculty members and staff.  (See March 7, 2018 below for more information regarding the Master Plan.)

 

UTLS librarians spoke on behalf of those who had signed a letter to the Provost, the Dean, and the Interim Director of the Inforum, articulating their support for proper consultation with the Inforum librarians on the collection decision. Since March 1, 2018, over 80 academic librarians across all three campuses have signed the letter.

 

Minutes of Faculty Council meeting of March 1, 2018:

https://ischool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Faculty-Council-Package-March-22-2018-updated-Mar21.pdf

Appendices A & B are about the discussion of the Inforum collection dispersal, and contain the text of Elisa's and Nalini's remarks. 

 

 

February 28, 2018

iSchool Masters students launch their Petition Concerning Future of the Inforum Collection.

 

The signatories reflect a cross-section of the iSchool student body (MI students from multiple concentrations and collaborative programs, MMSt students, PhD students) and alumni community.  Many comments included suggestions for providing more space while keeping the collections on-site, and reiterated the importance of the on-site collection to the students' studies.

 

 

February 27, 2018

The Inforum librarians learned from the Museum Studies Student Association (MUSSA) Statement on the Inforum Collection that the Dean had promised Museum Studies students she would investigate "the possibility of closing the Inforum to anyone outside of the iSchool community for the 2018-2019 academic year." If implemented, this closure of the Inforum would impose a barrier on non-iSchool-affiliated scholars, researchers, and professionals who would previously have had access to the Inforum librarians' services. This plan was not brought to the Inforum librarians' attention prior to the Dean's discussion with MUSSA.

 

A news item appeared on the iSchool website; this item, entitled 'A note from the Dean' was the text of the Dean's 'Update on the Inforum' statement. https://ischool.utoronto.ca/news/inforum-update/

 

 

February 26, 2018

The CAO issued a revision of the Master Plan, which now included the Space Revitalization Working Group membership list that had previously been omitted from the October 6, 2017 version. Both versions of the Master Plan indicated August 21, 2017 as the publication date, with no acknowledgement that revisions had been made.

 

 

February 23, 2018

Dean Duff's statement, “An update on the Inforum,” was sent out to the iSchool staff mailing list.

 

 

February 20, 2018

The Inforum librarians asked the Interim Inforum Director to confirm if Course Reserves would remain in the Inforum. The Interim Inforum Director confirmed that this change had been made to the earlier decision.

 

That evening, the Dean issued a statement entitled "An update on the Inforum" to the MI, MMSt, PhD, and regular faculty member mailing lists. In that statement, the Dean asserted that her original collection decision involved keeping Course Reserves in the Inforum, while dispersing the rest of the collection across other libraries. The Dean also stated that "alumni borrowing privileges will expand." However, the borrowing privileges as described are already currently provided (https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/alumni-library-access).

 

 

February 19, 2018 (Family Day)

The Dean visited the Master of Information Student Council (MISC) meeting to discuss her collection decision. The Dean amended her original decision, telling the students that Course Reserves would remain in the Inforum, while the rest of the collection was still slated to be dispersed across other UTLS locations.

 

 

February 16, 2018

The Inforum librarians provided the Dean and the Interim Inforum Director with a summary of the discussion points from the February 15, 2018 meeting, along with an attachment entitled Fact Sheet About the Inforum, compiled by Elisa with input from Kathleen and Nalini.

 

 

February 15, 2018

The Inforum librarians met with the Interim Inforum Director and the Dean, following several requests for such a meeting.  Three agenda items were discussed:

 

1. The strong negative impacts on various user groups of the iSchool community if the Inforum collection were to be dismantled and dispersed.
2. The lack of due process and governance in the decision-making process regarding the collection.
1. The Inforum librarians proposed ways to resolve the issue in a collegial and consultative manner.
2. The Inforum librarians requested that recommendations resulting from community feedback go through Faculty's governance structure.
3. The Inforum librarians suggested that the need for space and the need for an on-site library collection should not be pitted against each other, but resolved creatively, while following due process.
3. The negative impact that making such a decision without appropriate consultation and planning has had on Kathleen's workload and Nalini's and Elisa's research leaves.

 

The Inforum librarians raised the following concerns regarding the RFP/Master Plan that the iSchool CAO had circulated on Oct. 6, 2017:

• Under the section entitled "Space Audit", the Master Plan stated that "Inforum staff" had been consulted. In fact, the people knowledgeable about the collection who should have been consulted -- i.e., the Inforum librarians and library technicians -- had not been consulted prior to the release of the Master Plan. 
• The Master Plan had suggested looking at moving the Inforum collection to UTL Downsview (i.e., off-site storage) rather than Robarts Stacks as a possible option.
• Inforum Staff were not listed in Appendix 3.1 as one of the stakeholder groups consulted.
• Authorship of the Master Plan was unclear.  
• Membership of the Space Revitalization Working Group, to which the Dean attributed the recommendation to move the Inforum collection to Robarts Library, was unclear.

 

The Inforum librarians reminded the Dean and the Interim Inforum Director about the Memorandum of Agreement between The Governing Council of the University of Toronto and the University of Toronto Faculty Association (MOA) (https://www.utfa.org/sites/default/files/UTFA-MoA-2016.pdf), Article 5(3), which states: "A librarian shall carry out his or her responsibilities with all due attention to the establishment of fair and ethical dealings with library users, colleagues and staff taking care to be properly accessible.  A librarian shall foster a free exchange of ideas and shall not impose nor permit censorship. A librarian shall ensure the fullest possible access to library materials." (Emphasis added.)

 

Note that a public version of the Master Plan was later published on the iSchool website; see March 7, 2018.

 

 

February 8, 2018

At the Inforum Staff meeting, the Interim Inforum Director announced that the collection would be moved on May 1, 2018 because students wanted more space. Staff asked the Interim Inforum Director for clarification on how the collection move would impact services such as ILL, course support, and circulation, as well as staff jobs. The Interim Inforum Director expressed uncertainty on the specifics.

 

At the iSchool faculty meeting later that afternoon, the Dean introduced regular faculty members to the Master Plan, including her decision to move the Inforum collection to Robarts. Kathleen expressed concern about the decision. She noted that moving the Inforum collection to Robarts and other UTLS libraries would mean that Inforum materials would no longer be openly accessible to all, including the public.  She stated her opposition to the move, and explained that she, Nalini, and Elisa had not been consulted. Kathleen also reminded faculty of the New Partnerships Working Group recommendations that had been accepted by a Faculty Council vote on March 20, 2015, which included the following first two recommendations:

 

1. Keep the collections, including course reserves, within the Bissell Building.
2. Keep all Inforum staff and services within the Inforum.

 

A faculty member asked whether this faculty meeting was meant to be a consultation; the Dean responded that she was merely informing faculty members about her decision.

 

 

February 6, 2018

As the Interim Inforum Director had not yet organized a meeting between the librarians and the Dean, the Inforum librarians proceeded to request a meeting directly with the Dean.

 

 

January 31, 2018

The Town Hall was attended by 15 Masters students, the Dean, the Associate Dean (Academic), the Interim Inforum Director, the Assistant Dean (Registrarial & Student Services), the CAO, the Public Services Librarian (part-time, CLTA position), and the Collections & Public Services Librarian (full-time appointed, but still on research leave).

 

At the town hall, no one raised the suggestion that the Inforum collection should be moved out of the Inforum in order to make additional study space available to students.

 

 

January 30, 2018

Inforum staff learned that a Town Hall with students to discuss the hours of the Inforum, organized by the Dean, would be taking place on January 31, 2018.  The subject of the Town Hall was to discuss the withdrawal of students' 24/7 fob access to the Inforum space.

 

 

January 26, 2018

The Interim Inforum Director responded that Dean Duff was unchanged in her decision that the collection shall be moved, and that no meeting had been organized yet, although she stated that she would follow up.

 

 

January 24, 2018

Nalini followed up with the Interim Inforum Director since no meeting with the Dean had materialized.

 

 

November 30, 2017

At the Faculty Council Meeting, under the Programs Committee report, the Inforum collection was referred to as one of the collections supporting the Bachelor of Information (BI) program within the “University of Toronto Libraries Report for the Bachelor of Information, Faculty of Information, January 2017”, as appended to the “New Undergraduate Program Proposal” (see p. 67 of the Faculty Council meeting package).

 

The Inforum's “faculty-specific materials” were also cited in the “Student Services Report” appended to the same “New Undergraduate Program Proposal” (see p. 69 of the Faculty Council meeting package).

 

Faculty Council documentation for November 30, 2017:

https://www.ischool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Faculty-Council-Package-November-30-2017-UPDATED-Nov-29.pdf

 

Minutes of the November 30, 2017 meeting:

https://ischool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Faculty-Council-Package-March-1-2018-updated-Feb27.pdf (see p. 3-9)

 

 

November 28, 2017

The Inforum librarians met with the Interim Inforum Director to discuss their concerns.  They presented research evidence in support of maintaining print material in library collections, and advocated against collection dispersal.

 

The Interim Inforum Director agreed to send the Inforum librarians' research documents to the Dean before the holidays, and to help the Inforum librarians arrange a meeting with the Dean for early January.

 

Documents: Evidence in Support of Keeping an On-site Collection (E. Sze), and Collection Value (N. Singh)

 

 

November 17, 2017

The Inforum librarians requested a meeting with the Interim Inforum Director.

 

 

November 1-14, 2017

Inforum staff alerted Elisa and Nalini to the Interim Inforum Director's announcement about the collection.

 

The Inforum librarians examined the Master Plan of August 21, 2017. The plan stated that Inforum staff were consulted on the proposal to move the Inforum collection to Downsview, but according to Appendix 3.1 “Summary of Consultations and Activities”, none of the Inforum staff were listed as those consulted. Furthermore, the Master Plan stated that the proposal to move the Inforum collection to Downsview "should be explored," but it did not state that the decision to move the collection to Robarts had been already made.

 

 

October 31, 2017

At the end of the Inforum staff meeting, the Interim Inforum Director told the library staff present that the Inforum collection was moving to Robarts Library.  This information was presented as an announcement, not as a discussion or planning session.  She pointed staff to the email that was sent with the RFP on October 6, 2017 (see above).

 

 

October 12, 2017

At the Faculty Council meeting, the Space Revitalization Working Group did not present a report.

 

Minutes:

https://ischool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Faculty-Council-Package-November-30-2017-UPDATED-Nov-29.pdf (see p. 3-9)

 

 

October 6, 2017

Glenn Cumming, iSchool CAO, informed iSchool faculty and librarians by email that a Bissell Building Feasibility Study RFP had been sent to potential bidders. The email stated that "This communication is for information purposes only, no action is required on your part." The email included an attachment consisting of the RFP, which included the Master Plan of August 21, 2017. Since the email was presented as an RFP for information only, and it did not reference changes to the Inforum, the Inforum librarians did not examine the document closely.

 

This RFP was not published to the iSchool website; however, a public version of the Master Plan was later published to the iSchool website. See March 7, 2018 below for a link to the public version.

 

 

August 21, 2017

The Faculty of Information Revitalization: Master Plan ("The Master Plan") was generated, but not distributed to appointed faculty members and librarians until October 6, 2017. 

 

 

July 1, 2017

Nalini K. Singh, Reference Services Coordinator, and Elisa Sze, Collections & Public Services Coordinator, started their research leaves, with a return date of July 1, 2018.  Kathleen Scheaffer, Outreach & Instructional Services Librarian, remained as the sole full-time appointed librarian at the Inforum.

 

 

March 23, 2017

At the Faculty Council meeting, Dean Duff provided a verbal report on the Space Revitalization Working Group:

 

“The working group is meeting regularly to discuss space needs and wants in the Faculty.  Renovations of the washroom are underway to transform into a universal washroom, the expected date of completion is fall 2017.  Mr. Cumming said, "Elevator renewal will also be underway over the summer as well as the building automation project.”

 

Again, nothing was stated about changing the Inforum space.

 

Minutes:

https://www.ischool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Faculty-Council-Package-October-12-2017.pdf, p. 5 of 26

 

 

February 9, 2017

At the Faculty Council Meeting, the Space Revitalization Working Group provided a verbal report:

 

“Due in part to the success of the Inforum renovations on the 4th and 5th floors, the faculty will be undertaking an exercise to explore space needs, in particular investigating the space on the 1st and second floors. Two projects that are underway are doing a renovation to the 4th floor washroom to create a universal washroom and to renovate the building elevators.”

 

Nothing was stated about further changes to the Inforum space.

 

Minutes:

https://www.ischool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Faculty-Council-Package-March-23-2017-complete.pdf, p. 5 of 86

 

 

November 2016 - May 4, 2017 

A Space Revitalization Working Group met to discuss space needs and a vision for redesigning the rest of the Bissell building, following upon the success of the Inforum renovation.

 

 

April 2, 2016 - September 10, 2016

Inforum closed for renovations (“iReno 2016”).  A temporary satellite Inforum office opened at Robarts Library, 1st floor.

 

The newly renovated Inforum re-opened to the public on September 11, 2016. The Inforum collection was relocated to the 4th floor. The former stacks space on the 5th floor was converted into research labs and study spaces.

 

 

March 30, 2016

At this Faculty Council meeting, the Information Services Committee was dissolved, due to the dissolution of the iSchool's IT team, which had made up half of the Information Services department. The committee recommended that an Advisory Group to the Inforum Director be set up in place of a standing Inforum Committee, with the assumption that the Interim Inforum Director would do so.

 

Meeting minutes: https://web.archive.org/web/20170702022050/http://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/system/files/user/1186/faculty_council_package_-_june_9_2016_v._2.pdf (p. 5)

 

 

February 2016

Downsizing the Inforum collection to its current core collection was completed, in preparation for library renovations.

 

 

January 1, 2016

 

Professor Wendy Duff was appointed as the Interim Dean of the Faculty of Information, January 1-June 30, 2016, and later appointed Dean, July 1, 2016-June 30, 2019.

 

 

April-June 2015

Taking into account the motions passed at the March 20, 2015 Faculty Council meeting, the 4th Floor Renovation Committee, chaired by Professor Cara Krmpotich, met to discuss guiding principles and broad design ideas that would inform the 4th floor renovation plan. Membership included: an iSchool alumnus and sessional instructor; the Inforum's Collections & Public Services Librarian; the Interim Inforum Director; an iSchool assistant professor; an iSchool PhD student; a University of Toronto architect; and the iSchool Chief Administrative Officer.

 

This committee was combined with the 5th floor Renovation Committee sometime after June to form a smaller iReno committee. The Interim Director of the Inforum was a member of the iReno committee.

 

 

March 20, 2015

At the Faculty Council meeting, these Inforum-related matters were brought to Council attention

1. The Collection Development Policy was submitted to Faculty Council for Council's information: https://web.archive.org/web/20170702023510/http://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/system/files/news/10.1_collectiondevelpolicy.pdf
2. The Report of the New Partnerships Working Group was presented at Faculty Council. A motion to approve the report was brought forward, and the vote to accept the report was carried unanimously.

 

The New Partnerships Working Group report was the result of three public town halls and many letters submitted by stakeholders. The report consisted of 6 recommendations. The first two recommendations were:

1. Keep the collections, including course reserves, within the Bissell Building.
2. Keep all Inforum staff and services within the Inforum.

 

The members of the New Partnerships Working Group included: Dean Seamus Ross, the UTL Chief Librarian, the UTL Deputy Chief Librarian, the Interim Inforum Director, the Inforum's Outreach & Instructional Services Librarian, and two iSchool professors, one of whom was Professor (now Dean) Wendy Duff.

 

New Partnerships Working Group Report: https://web.archive.org/web/20170702111648/https://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/system/files/user/1186/report_of_the_new_partnerships_with_the_central_library_work_group.pdf

 

Faculty Council Minutes:https://web.archive.org/web/20170702111648/https://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/system/files/user/1186/faculty_council_minutes_march_20_2015_0.pdf

 

 

December 12, 2014

The Information Services Committee, a standing committee of Faculty Council, approved the new Inforum Collection Development Policy, which incorporated recommendations of the Ridley Report (2013), as well as feedback garnered from consultations held with faculty and student representatives from all programs and concentrations, and open discussions at four Information Services Committee meetings and a Faculty of Information Alumni Association (FIAA) Executive meeting.

 

 

October 17, 2014

At a Faculty Council meeting, Dean Seamus Ross announced the creation of a New Partnerships with UTL Working Group, in response to the External Review of the Faculty of Information.

 

Minutes of the Council meeting:https://web.archive.org/web/20160628123109/http://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/system/files/user/1150/faculty_council_minutes_october_17_2014_1.pdf

 

 

~ September 1, 2014

Lari Langford, a full-time Senior Administrative Librarian at another UTLS library was appointed as part-time Interim Inforum Director (0.2 FTE overload, averaging 8 hours per week).

 

 

May 23, 2013

The Task Force on Strategic Directions for Information Services Final Report (the “Ridley Report”) recommended reducing the Inforum Library's collection, and moving the remaining core collection from the 5th to the 4th floor. The Report stated that the remaining core collection should stay on the 4th floor, since stakeholder consultations revealed its importance. Consultations included all stakeholders, including all Inforum librarians and staff.

 

Full report: https://inforum.library.utoronto.ca/sites/inforum.library.utoronto.ca/files/ridley_tfis_final_report_may_2013_final-approved-by-isc.pdf

 

The Ridley Report was approved by Faculty Council (May 27, 2013):https://web.archive.org/web/20160628125845/http://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/system/files/user/108/special_faculty_council_minutes_may_27_2013.pdf