LETTER / LETTRE

March 2, 2011

Sophie M. Regalado
Editor, JCHLA/JABSC

Ms. Regalado,

In response to Monique St-Jean's question, 18 of the universities sampled in the study are members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), of which there are 21 outside of Quebec. Members of CARL are universities that have doctoral students in the sciences. Inexplicably, however, the list used for the survey also included three non-CARL libraries in lieu of the three final CARL libraries that should have completed the list of 21. Consequently, I agree that the lack of complete coverage of the Canadian research libraries context limits the usefulness of the study given that CARL libraries in Quebec and three elsewhere in Canada were not included in the survey.

My hope is that the article can still provide some indication of the provision of bioinformatics services in Canadian libraries. For example, it is interesting to note that, as written in the article, "the presence of a medical school is positively correlated with the provision of library services in bioinformatics".

The fact that l'Université de Montréal has a medical school, and that the library provides a bioinformatics education programme, seems to support this hypothesis.

The bioinformatics education initiative at l'Université de Montréal is an excellent example of the numerous innovative information literacy practices that occur within Quebec's academic libraries. Université Laval's excellent "Programme de formation documentaire" [1], is another such innovative programme. Hopefully, bioinformatics education programmes like those at l'Université de Montréal will help other academic libraries develop similar initiatives. I very much look forward to hearing about this project at the Canadian Health Library Association's June meeting.

Best regards,
Danielle Dennie

Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry and Physics Librarian
Concordia University

1. Carrier P. Programme de formation documentaire: Université Laval, Québec. Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval; 2004.