2026-06-05 –, Room #3 Language: English
Panel Description Health librarians are increasingly authoring their own open educational resources (OERs) to teach advanced literature searching—an essential skill for evidence synthesis. These instructional materials are often created in response to gaps in existing resources and go beyond simple guides by incorporating bilingual content, scaffolded exercises, knowledge checks, and video tutorials. They reflect librarians’ deep expertise and commitment to affordable, open, and high-quality learning materials. This panel will highlight three librarian-led OER projects that exemplify this growing trend. Through brief presentations and a moderated discussion, panelists will share insights into the design, implementation, and impact of their work, and reflect on the broader implications of OER creation as a scholarly and pedagogical practice.
Panelists
- Sandra McKeown (Queen’s University) will present her self-paced module for teaching systematic review search strategies.
- Erica Nekolaichuk (University of Toronto) will discuss her comprehensive LibGuide for advanced health sciences searching.
- Peter Farrell (University of Ottawa) will share his and Nigèle Langlois’ bilingual adaptation of Erica’s guide, tailored to the uOttawa context.
This panel aims to inspire librarians to see OER creation as a meaningful extension of their teaching and scholarship. Attendees will gain practical ideas for launching their own projects, collaborating within and across institutions, and leveraging funding opportunities to support open instructional design.
Sandra McKeown is a Health Sciences Librarian at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where her main liaison areas are postgraduate medicine and public health sciences. Prior to becoming an academic librarian in 2016, she spent eight years working as a librarian at London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ontario. Sandra coordinated the development of a formalized knowledge synthesis library service at Queen’s and led an interprofessional team in developing an open access module series that introduces all steps of the systematic review process. She served as an editor for The Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association / Journal de l’Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (JCHLA / JABSC) from 2018-2021, was the recipient of the President’s Award for her local CHLA Chapter (OVHLA) in 2024, and is currently a member of the CHLA’s Committee on Research. Publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2728-6702 Email: sandra.mckeown@queensu.ca
Erica Nekolaichuk is a faculty liaison & instructional librarian at the University of Toronto. She is liaison to the Rehab Sciences Sector and the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education.
Peter Farrell is a research librarian at the University of Ottawa. Over the past three years he has acted as the subject librarian for epidemiology, public health, as well as the faculties of Science and Engineering. He has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from McGill and completed library school at the University of Toronto. For the past two years he has held a position on the CFLA-FCAB’s Climate Action Committee. Publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5119-0527 Email: peter.farrell@uottawa.ca