Answers to many questions can be found in libraries. Answers to questions about the recent closure of the Agriculture Canada Lethbridge Research Centre library are sadly lacking.
That is what makes it so troubling.
Converting research to digital format is a good idea. In theory, and hopefully in practice, it will make information more readily available to everyone.
In that respect, Agriculture Canada’s stated plans to digitize materials and develop “self-service” access to research materials and scientific journals make sense.
We are told that all unique and relevant materials were relocated but will still be available for loan, and that research centre employees had the opportunity to add some of the information to their personal collections that was otherwise conscripted to the dumpster.
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That didn’t prevent some researchers within the facility from raising alarm bells with their union about the library’s disappearance. They are among the 48 scientists and 85 technicians who work there.
It is their view that important data was discarded and that loss of materials will make it more difficult to access certain information relevant to their work.
And what work is that?
It is research that directly benefits farmers and ranchers and has done so since the facility was established in 1906. Projects based in Lethbridge have provided valuable agronomic and livestock information that has improved agricultural productivity across Canada.
The vast majority of it, particularly in the early days of the facility, was publicly funded — paid for by Canadian taxpayers. It belongs to us all.
At least, it did.
Who decided what information, whether historical or current, was relevant and worthy of saving? Is all of the retained information to be digitized? Will it be available to everyone? Is it even possible to convert all the library materials to digital format and if so, at what cost?
The public might be more inclined to accept Agriculture Canada’s explanation for closing the library — modernization and cost savings — if the government’s history of similar closures showed merit.
The Lethbridge research library is the 16th federal science library lost due to budget cuts and closures since 2012. In the case of seven libraries in the department of fisheries and oceans, researchers now say valuable research data has been lost, never to be recovered. As for savings, no proof has been provided.
We do not know if the same thing happened with research data once resident in Lethbridge. The fact that “the established government of Canada retention policy and procedures were strictly adhered to,” as Agriculture Canada contends, provides inadequate assurance.
The future is built upon the past. We do not know, nor does Agriculture Canada know, what agricultural information will prove vital to that future. That is the known unknown, so to speak.
The damage is done in Lethbridge. Answers are needed before any other research is destroyed.
