Land-Grant or Land-Grab Universities?

By Kirstin Nelson (Follow us on LinkedIn) When I started my job at the National Agricultural Library, I had yet to think much about land grant universities. I attended one (University of Nebraska) and remember walking past Morrill Hall almost daily. A plaque outside the building mentioned the words “land grant”, but I didn’t understand their

Different Skills in Your Librarianship Path: Art Tours and Cataloguing

By Kaia MacLeod (Follow us on LinkedIn) Oftentimes, I use a 2021 job posting for a Canadian National Film Board Librarian as an example of requirements versus skills when talking to current MLIS students. As someone with a film degree, there was a chance I could become a film librarian but one of the job requirements

We Are Not History Part II: How You Can Help

By Mikayla Redden (Follow us on LinkedIn) Last summer I posted a critique of the Library of Congress classification system’s treatment of materials about Indigenous peoples in We are Not History. Since then, I’ve received many questions about decolonizing professional practice and services: Where do I start? How do I know what is okay and not

Just A Librarian Doing Indian Law

By Rebecca Plevel (Follow us on LinkedIn) Regardless of where I am working and teaching, I am and will be a librarian doing Indian law. That passion arises from both my heritage (I am a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation), and my work in and around Indian Country in Arizona for 30+ years. It also

‘Sorry for the Genocide’: Breaking Down The Pope’s Apology Tour

By Mikayla Redden A lot has transpired in Canadian Indigenous relations since my last contribution here. Turtle Island has played host to the head of the world’s most powerful religious institution; the head of the British Monarchy, of which Canada is a commonwealth state, has died; and a new leader who has expressed racist and

Truth and Reconciliation/Orange Shirt Day: From Difficult Conversations to Amplifying Indigenous Voices

By Lynie Awywen Content Warning: The following contains potentially triggering subject matter and includes mentions of residential schools and violence against Indigenous peoples and children September 30th, 2022, marks the second year of the federal statutory holiday known as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR) in Canada. It also coincides with Orange Shirt Day.

We Are Not History

By Mikayla Redden I hadn’t been in graduate school more than a month when I noticed something alarming about the Library of Congress (LoC) classification system—the alphanumeric system we, in academic libraries, use to organize our collections. Materials about Indigenous folks in Canada were mostly confined to the E’s. For any readers not familiar with