The University of Waterloo Library partners with the University of Waterloo (Waterloo) in teaching and learning, research, faculty and student recruitment and retention, risk management, staff development, advancement and fundraising, community relations, and equity, diversity and inclusion. Librarians/archivists share in Waterloo’s creative, intellectual and administrative work and are academic partners with the faculty. They participate in the governance of the institution as members of Waterloo’s governing bodies, faculty committees, and library committees. Librarians/archivists are committed to upholding intellectual freedom, facilitating learning, research and scholarship, and providing access to scholarly information. They have the right and responsibility to advocate for and to act on these commitments. Librarians/Archivists contribute to Waterloo’s scholarly activities, professional and community service, and they pursue research in library, archival, information science and other academic disciplines.
Librarians/archivists build and develop vibrant programs, resources, and spaces that are a vital component of Waterloo’s teaching and research mission, as articulated in its Strategic Plan. They draw upon expertise in a number of areas as they carry out these responsibilities, including: library, information science, archives and records management concepts; knowledge of academic disciplines; pedagogical, research, problem-solving, leadership, and management. Their contributions to Waterloo’s mission and strategy include:
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selecting, acquiring, and providing sustained access to research and scholarly information, and special collections;
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teaching critical evaluation of information resources, information appraisal, and research skills;
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organizing, arranging, managing, describing and providing effective access to research information, using information standards, schema, and technologies;
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managing financial resources, technological infrastructure, and facilities development;
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implementing and supporting library technologies, infrastructure, data sources and scholarly information and datasets;
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publishing in scholarly, peer-reviewed and practitioner’s venues;
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presenting papers and posters, and participating on panels at professional and scholarly conferences.
Through their professional activities, Librarians/Archivists are active partners and leaders--locally, nationally, and globally.
At its base, librarianship is responsible for supplying the lifeblood of the rest of the academy — access to information for the advancement of knowledge, invention, and teaching.
