Western Libraries Scholars: 2025 Publications Roundup
Published on September 11, 2025
From data ethics to decolonization: Western Libraries librarians and archivists contribute to scholarship across disciplines
Western Libraries librarians and archivists made significant contributions to academic research in 2025, publishing work that spans health sciences, library science, education, and history. From data privacy in trauma research to sustainability in collection development, their expertise shaped conversations across disciplines and around the globe.
LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE
Sustainability in Library Collection Development: Introducing a Green Audit Template (Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship)
Authors: McCord D, Cassady S, Roman P, Cato J, Mantz E
What it's about: Presents a practical tool for libraries to assess publishers' environmental practices and reduce their carbon footprint through more sustainable collection decisions.
Link: https://doi.org/10.33137/cjal-rcbu.v11.43852
Big Deal Cancellations and Influences on Librarian Decision-Making (Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship)
Authors: Cassady S, Hare M, Mongeon P, Johnson C
What it's about: Examines how four Canadian universities navigated the complex process of cancelling expensive journal bundles, identifying best practices for data analysis, faculty consultation, and communication.
Link: https://doi.org/10.33137/cjal-rcbu.v11.43905
Exploring Canadian academic librarians' and archivists' research outside librarianship and archival studies (Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research)
Author: Hoffmann K
What it's about: Surveys Canadian academic librarians and archivists about their research in non-library fields, revealing diverse scholarly interests and perspectives on interdisciplinary work.
Link: https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v20i1.8141
In Pursuit of Equity: Applying Design Thinking to Develop a Values-Based Open Access Statement
Authors: Rigling L, Carlisle E, Waugh C
What it's about: Describes how design thinking principles helped library staff collaboratively develop an open access statement grounded in shared values, creating opportunities for staff at all levels to participate in organizational policy-making.
Link: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/items/0165ef31-d314-41cf-8906-4ae404a74aa2
Business Library Co-op Experiences: Takeaways and Advice from Participants (Journal of Creative Library Practice)
Authors: Marshall E, Melanson J, Hawkins A, Jones J
What it's about: Three recent co-op librarians reflect on their paid MLIS work experiences, discussing the transferable skills they gained, what they wish could have been different, and advice for future co-op librarians starting their career paths.
Link: https://creativelibrarypractice.org/2025/03/31/business-library-co-op-experiences/
DATA ETHICS & PRESERVATION
Sharing traumatic stress research data: assessing and reducing the risk of re-identification (European Journal of Psychotraumatology)
Authors: Kassam-Adams N, Thompson K, Sijbrandij M, Dyb G
What it's about: This research demonstrates practical methods for trauma researchers to safely share datasets while protecting participant privacy, addressing a critical barrier to open science in sensitive research areas.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2499296
The Data Resistance: Preserving Data Set Integrity During Federal Purges (Behavior and Social Issues)
Author: Thompson K
What it's about: Chronicles the urgent volunteer effort to preserve U.S. government datasets at risk of deletion in early 2025, highlighting the critical role of librarians and data archivists in protecting public information.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42822-025-00200-0
HEALTH SCIENCES
Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of vitamin A supplementation programs in Africa: A systematic review (Nutrition and Health)
Authors: Ezezika O, Quibrantar S, Okolie A, Ariyo O, Marson A
What it's about: Identifies key challenges and success factors in vitamin A supplementation programs across 12 African countries, offering evidence-based recommendations to improve coverage and implementation.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060241294133
Fructose Consumption in Pregnancy and Associations with Maternal and Offspring Hepatic and Whole-Body Adiposity in Rodents: A Scoping Review (Current Developments in Nutrition)
Authors: Zhao G, Chondon S, Gray C, Gentili S, Stanley M, Regnault TR
What it's about: Reviews evidence showing that fructose consumption during pregnancy affects liver function and fat accumulation in mothers and offspring, with potential sex-specific effects.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.104510
Measurement of Socioeconomic Deprivation in Orthopaedic Trauma (JBJS Reviews)
Authors: Otalike EG, Firth AD, Marson A, Scheimitsch EH, Joel GJ
What it's about: Highlights the need for standardized measures of socioeconomic status in orthopaedic trauma research to better address health equity and improve patient outcomes.
Link: https://doi.org/10.2106/jbjs.rvw.25.00087
What Visual Arts Strategies Exist to Improve the Uptake of Vaccinations? A Scoping Review (Global Implementation Research and Applications)
Authors: Ezezika O, Rahman S, Kris T, Hassan M, Marson A, Charise A
What it's about: Reviews evidence on how visual arts—from videos and animations to posters and infographics—can effectively increase vaccination rates when tailored to specific communities.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43477-025-00156-8
EDUCATION & PEDAGOGY
Pedagogies of discomfort and disruption: A meta-narrative review of emotions and equity-related pedagogy (Medical Education)
Authors: Sukhera J, Atkinson T, Hendrikx S, Kennedy E, Panza M, Rodger S, Watling C
What it's about: Compares how medicine, nursing, and teacher education address emotions in equity-focused teaching, revealing that health professions could learn from education's approach to emotions as social connectors.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.15603
ScriptAR: No-Code Development of Augmented Reality Educational Games (Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction)
Authors: Holford R, Wales M, Kelly LJ, Bednarski S, Bullock A, Harrap R, MacDonald Z, Graham TCN
What it's about: Introduces a simple spreadsheet-based tool that allows teachers with no programming experience to create customized augmented reality educational games for their classrooms.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1145/3734188
Assessment approaches and methods in physiotherapy education: A scoping review protocol (PLOS ONE)
Authors: Kowalski KL, Tawiah A, Miller E, Goodman M, Alcock G, Gillis H
What it's about: Outlines a comprehensive review of how physiotherapy programs assess student competence, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of different assessment approaches.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0335229
Knowledge Justice in the Helping Professions: From Theory to Practice (Open Educational Resource)
Authors: Campbell H, McKeown A, Sansom L, Holmes K, Dilkes D, Lengyell M, Glasgow-Osment B
What it's about: An open educational resource introducing epistemic justice concepts for students and professionals in nursing, librarianship, counselling, and related fields.
Link: https://doi.org/10.5206/ttyq9415
Integrating Diverse Ways of Knowing and Challenging Epistemic Injustice: An Example of Emancipatory Curricula in Canadian Nursing Education (Canadian Journal of Nursing Research)
Authors: McKeown A, Glasgow-Osment B, Campbell H, Modanloo S
What it's about: Describes a five-phase framework for nursing educators to decolonize curriculum and pedagogy, prioritizing Indigenous knowledge systems and addressing epistemic injustice. Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/08445621251367812
SOCIAL JUSTICE & EQUITY
A conceptual framework for defining work disparities: A case of nurses in long term care (WORK: A Journal of Prevention Assessment & Rehabilitation)
Authors: Shaw L, Masood M, Neufeld K, Connelly DM, Stanley M, Guitar NA, Garnett A, Nikkhou A
What it's about: Develops a new framework for understanding and analyzing workplace inequities faced by nurses in long-term care, from pay disparities to unfair job demands.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/10519815241295931
Mothering Through the Experiences of Homelessness With a Particular Focus on Child Separation in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review (Child & Family Social Work)
Authors: Ariba O, Oudshoorn A, Forchuk C, Wathen N, Easton C, Isard R
What it's about: Reviews research on mothers experiencing homelessness and child separation, revealing that racialized mothers and those under state surveillance face disproportionate risk.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.70067
HISTORY & CULTURAL STUDIES
Exorcising the Ghosts of Prescott from Conquest Historiography (Latin American Research Review)
Author: Dyck J
What it's about: Reviews eight recent books on Spanish conquest history, examining how contemporary scholars are moving beyond outdated narratives to create more nuanced and Indigenous-centered accounts.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/lar.2024.2
Criollo Patriotism and the Colonial Archive: Francisco de Florencia and the Early Florida Frontier (Book Chapter)
Author: Dyck J
In: Latinx Literature in Transition, 1444–1886: Volume 1, eds. Elisa Sampson Vera Tudela and Kenya C. Dworkin y Méndez (Cambridge University Press, 2025)
What it's about: Examines how colonial-era writing about Florida reflects early Latin American literary and political identity formation.
Rural Poverty in Ontario: A Case Study of the Ingersoll Rural Cemetery Potter's Field (Ontario History)
Authors: Groat C, Small R, Kirk E
What it's about: Examines historical patterns of rural poverty and marginalization through analysis of nearly 400 burials in an unmarked potter's field, uncovering the stories of former enslaved people, British Home Children, Chinese immigrants impacted by the head tax, and others who couldn't afford a proper burial.
Book Reviews by Jason Dyck:
- Stephanie Schmidt, Child Martyrs and Militant Evangelization in New Spain in Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies https://doi.org/10.1080/08263663.2025.2587062
- Rhae Lynn Barnes and Glenda Goodman, eds., American Contact: Intercultural Encounters and the Boundaries of Book History in Hispanic American Historical Review https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-11834496
- Alexandra Parma Cook and Noble David Cook, Luis Gerónimo de Oré: The World of an Andean Franciscan from the Frontiers to the Centers of Power in Sixteenth-Century Journal https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/733692
- Erin Woodruff Stone, Captives of Conquest: Slavery in the Early Modern Spanish Caribbean in Sixteenth-Century Journal https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/733700
