LAC-Lustre Leadership

It was good to find someone else, in a posting by Wendy Reynolds on the Slaw blog www.slaw.ca/2010/10/13/lac-lustre-leadership/, lamenting the situation at Library and Archives Canada, 

The posting refers to an article in the Toronto Star commenting on  how "Library and Archives Canada, which is the official record keeper of the government, is still muddling through ..." in the preservation of Canada's digital heritage. See that article here.

Muddling through seems to be the modus operandi on a far wider scope of the organization activity. The organization gives every indication of being mired in ceaseless bureaucratic process; able to deliver the routine and incremental change, unable to break new ground to meet the demands of changing technology.

Actions that are taken, like joining the library catalogue to WorldCat, receive no publicity.

What does get publicity? Go look at the organization website. In the past month you'll learn:

-in the Media Room that "Librarian and Archivist of Canada reacts to the passing of former National Librarian Dr. Jean-Guy Sylvestre."

- in What's New, announcements on a new exhibition in Brantford, Thanksgiving Closure, presentations by the Librarian and Archivist of Canada, an update on the 1851 census and launch of "Upper Canada Land Petitions"


- in Major Announcements, a notice of a major system disruption next Saturday.

Then go look at the Pathfinder project reports and notice that they were already dated several months when they were posted.

Ask members of the former LAC Services Advisory Board if the committment made at its last ad-hoc meeting to consult individually with Board members and establish a new Advisory Board by September has even been started.

Who will hold LAC leadership accountable?