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Section II - Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome(s)

Strategic Outcome 1 - Current government information is managed to support government accountability

Program Activity 1.1: Development of regulatory instruments and recordkeeping tools

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
121	5,128.9	121	5,125.1	121	5,125.1

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Regulatory regime is established across the Government of Canada and government information is managed and disposed of appropriately	Percentage of institutions that consider that recordkeeping and library services are integrated into their business culture	Baseline figure to be set by March 2012

Program Activity 1.2: Collaboration in the management of government records

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
89	2,406.2	89	2,406.2	89	2,406.2

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Increased capacity and readiness to manage Government of Canada information effectively	Percentage of Government of Canada institutions that show improvement in their capacity and readiness to manage information effectively	Baseline figure to be set by March 2012

Planning Highlights

LAC manages the two program activities under this strategic outcome through an integrated approach that supports information management across the Government of Canada (GC). We have substantially modernized our approach to this strategic outcome by supporting the GC in its implementation of the government-wide 2009 Directive on Recordkeeping. This approach helps guide decisions on what government records LAC acquires and manages. It also supports federal institutions to carry out their responsibilities vis-à-vis their own effective recordkeeping and information management.

Through our legislated mandate to provide leadership and horizontal coordination of federal library services, we will continue to implement a new vision and business model with federal libraries, institutions and key stakeholders. This exercise will explore strategies for making information more easily available to all public servants while benefiting from the burgeoning digital information industry and allowing federal libraries to more efficiently acquire and deliver information.

During 2011–12, a primary focus of our work will be collaboration with institutions through a new approach to the Records Disposition Authorities (RDAs). These set the terms and conditions that govern how government institutions dispose of records which no longer have business value, typically by permitting their destruction or by requiring their transfer to LAC.

Corporate Priority: LAC will redefine how it selects items to be acquired for the use of Canadians

In 2011–12, a new strategic government-wide plan will improve recordkeeping across the government and be better linked to LAC's acquisition mandate. The deliverables will include:

• a new and consistent methodology to support recordkeeping by federal institutions, demonstrated particularly through a shift to new disposition instruments that cover multiple institutions rather than the traditional use of unique authorities for individual institutions; and
  
  
• new mechanisms to support business value identification of information resources
  
  
• implementation of an engagement strategy for federal institutions that will enable Government of Canada employees to better understand and act on their recordkeeping and information management responsibilities.

Benefits for Canadians

• Implementation of the new recordkeeping regime across the Government of Canada will allow Canadians to exercise their rights as citizens to have access to government records of business value within federal institutions and access to records of archival value at LAC.
  
  
• A focus on identifying information resources of business value within Government of Canada institutions will facilitate the preservation and resource discovery of the information that is retained, enabling effective program delivery, timely responses to access to information and privacy requests and improved support for litigation.
  
  
• The commitment to store only information resources of ongoing business or archival value will benefit taxpayers through better-controlled document storage conditions and costs.

Strategic Outcome 2: Canada's continuing memory is documented and made accessible to current and future generations

Program Activity 2.1: Documentation of the Canadian experience

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
271	27,155.4	271	27,220.8	271	27,220.8

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
LAC's collection is relevant to and representative of the Canadian society	Percentage of users who consider that LAC's collection represents Canadian experience	Baseline figure to be set by March 2012

Planning Highlights

This program activity centres on our mandate to acquire published and unpublished documentary heritage that represent Canada's continuing memory, reflect Canadian society and will be of interest to current and future generations. During 2011–12, most of this LAC activity will continue to take place under our legislated requirements such as the legal deposit of materials by publishers and the government records mandate. Modernization is leading us to assess and update our appraisal and acquisition priorities and approaches. Our goal is to ensure a LAC collection that is coherent, relevant and takes into account LAC's roles among Canadian documentary heritage institutions. Because appraisal and acquisition sets the stage for the LAC preservation and resource discovery commitments that follow, this program activity is a focal point of Modernization Innovation Initiatives under two of the six corporate priorities listed in Section I.

Corporate Priority: LAC will adopt a more collaborative approach to fulfilling its mandate

LAC recognizes that it is neither possible nor necessary for us to acquire Canada's entire array of documentary heritage. Under Modernization, we see our future as a collaborative partner in a larger pan-Canadian documentary heritage network with shared roles and responsibilities for all documentary heritage institutions in Canada. During 2011–12, we intend to move forward on this MII and:

• implement an emergent and comprehensive external engagement strategy; and
• develop collaboratively a network model and a staged implementation of the pan-Canadian documentary heritage network.

These efforts will clarify the capacity and resources needed to build collaboration in pursuit of an effective, sustainable pan-Canadian network of memory institutions.

Corporate Priority: LAC will redefine how it selects items to be acquired for the use of Canadians

LAC needs to determine what constitutes "the best evidence of Canadian society" as this will shape our choices in what we acquire, preserve and make available for resource discovery. It will enable us to assess which current LAC holdings merit continued retention. This core issue is the basis for two Modernization Innovation Initiatives.

This MII would guide future acquisition and preservation choices by LAC. It could change the existing LAC acquisition models in which published documents are acquired comprehensively through Legal Deposit while other unpublished items in all media are acquired on a more selective or ad hoc basis through gifts, purchases and donations. This will require substantial consultation with documentary heritage stakeholders beginning in 2011–12, which will lead to:

• progress toward a new appraisal / acquisition policy framework.

Since we have acquired our holdings at different times and under different assumptions about what the LAC collection should include, some of which may no longer be in line with our mandate. They may not represent the best evidence of Canadian society or may duplicate holdings we already have in depth.

A systematic review of LAC holdings will identify items that could be transferred to memory institutions where they are more relevant or needed. We will draw on our experience with a similar systematic review of our government records holdings that allowed us to dispose of kilometres of documents from our storage shelves that had no business or archival value, reducing costs and making the remaining records easier to find and use. During 2011–12, this long-term process will begin with two initial steps:

• implementation of the policy instruments needed for the systematic review described above; and
  
  
• development of methodologies for a new reappraisal program to ensure retention of relevant holdings.

Benefits for Canadians

• As we move forward with Modernization and pursue the strategies and initiatives described under this program activity, the collection will increasingly reflect the diverse Canadian experience and respond to Canadians' broad variety of interests and needs in terms of documentary heritage.
  
  
• LAC will manage acquisitions in order to make holdings accessible to Canadians as quickly as possible.

Program Activity 2.2: Preservation of continuing memory

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
197	26,463.8	197	29,791.6	197	13,037.6

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
LAC collection is safeguarded in an appropriate way to make it accessible for current and future generations	Proportion of the collection in appropriate storage	45% by March 2012

Planning Highlights

This program activity centres on our ongoing mandate to manage the collection in ways that ensure its long-term preservation and accessibility to Canadians. During 2011–12, LAC specialists will continue to use an array of archival and preservation techniques on analogue and digital materials and support their circulation and storage. These specialists will continue their work to preserve and reproduce fragile materials and digitize documents to ensure accessibility for Canadians. While the work to pursue an external engagement strategy and to define a coherent "whole of society" approach described under Program Activity 2.1 will have implications for this program activity, another Modernization Innovation Initiative is of specific relevance here.

Corporate Priority: LAC will ensure digital preservation

This initiative will build on our ongoing work to respond to gaps and common needs among memory institutions related to digital preservation. We have been exploring how best to establish a Trusted Digital Repository (TDR) capacity at LAC for some years. Our experience and the lessons learned from other countries have enabled us to identify how a LAC repository presence in a Canadian network of TDRs might work. Our experience underlines the need to move forward incrementally. In 2011–12, we will extend the progress that we expect to make in 2010–11 such as developing a project to review the TDR strategy related to digital government records. This progress will include:

• creating a project to manage TDR Core Project (Technical); and
• defining the TDR program architecture, technology, policies, organization and overall framework.

Benefits for Canadians

• Canada's digital documentary heritage will be better preserved and more accessible to Canadians both here and abroad.

Program Activity 2.3: Exploration of documentary resources

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
220	23,428.9	220	23,511.7	220	23,511.7

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Canadians have access to Canada's documentary heritage	Percentage of clients satisfied with modernized services across channels	By March 2012 Mail: 75% Online: 70% At exhibitions: 70%
	Percentage of clients who report being able to find what they are looking for by channel	Online: 60% Baselines to be set by March 2012 for: In-person; Telephone; and, Mail channels

Planning Highlights

This program activity involves distributing and making available Canadian documentary resources. This takes place through LAC programs, services and activities, many of which are delivered in collaboration with partners or online. For example, we are using the walls and screens of other institutions to deliver our Portrait Gallery of Canada program so Canadians outside of the National Capital Region can see LAC's portrait collection. The program activity includes the underlying work to describe and organize holdings that can result in databases, indexes and catalogues. LAC's responsibilities extend support to Canada's libraries and archival communities through initiatives such as the National Archival Development Program (NADP).

Because this program activity commonly represents the face of LAC to Canadians, it is a focal point for Modernization. We will pursue four MIIs under two corporate priorities as focal points for action under this program activity.

Corporate Priority: LAC will improve access to its holdings

This MII addresses our approach to making reproductions of non-digital material in our collection. We now make 750,000 photocopies annually for clients. The goal is to provide copies in digital format only and re-purpose the content we produce to make it available online. The steps in 2011–12 will include:

• assessing existing workflows and identifying a best service delivery model; and
  
  
• expanding digital reproduction to include responses to Access to Information and Privacy requests.

A comprehensive analysis and revision of our approaches to service delivery will help us identify the optimum mix of channels and service levels to meet evolving client expectations and to support broad use of our collection. We will make changes in order to maximize resources, including enabling electronic service delivery. To do this, we will:

• develop a model of tiered service for LAC; and
  
  
• pilot test possible tiers of service and evaluate them.

At the centre of this MII is our redesign of work processes related largely to our acquisition and resource discovery activities. In particular, we will look at improving the process and shortening the time between acquiring material and making it accessible to Canadians. On that foundation, we will:

• test a high-level new process model for LAC's supply chain.

LAC and its predecessor organizations have a long record of providing services to libraries and archival communities and to corporate entities such as publishers. These services include: national and international library and archival standards initiatives; interlibrary loans; national catalogues; early cataloguing of Canadian publications for distribution to booksellers and libraries; provision of international standard book and serial numbers to Canadian publishers; and the National Archival Development Program. To ensure that LAC is providing the best service mix in the most efficient manner to its institutional clients, LAC is undertaking a review of the broad range of services it provides. During 2011–12, and based on research and strategic analysis done in 2010–11, we intend to:

• propose, consult on, and develop a service strategy that will be refined as appropriate for institutional clients; and
  
  
• create and implement a phased implementation of that strategy.

Corporate Priority: LAC will modernize how it describes its collection to improve access

Metadata is commonly defined as "data about data." It offers standard ways to describe information in our collection, such as names of authors or subject categories. Metadata makes it easier for users to find the information most relevant to them and for our employees to manage the collection. LAC does not have a single descriptive framework for its holdings. Instead, we have distinct work processes for published material, private archives and government records, as well as for various formats.

Establishing a single descriptive metadata framework will take place in stages beginning with research into best practices elsewhere and then developing the policy framework that will guide subsequent choices. This will require consultation inside and outside of LAC and should help to identify how we can better use metadata generated by third parties who create documentary heritage.

In 2011–12, we intend to:

• develop a policy framework for a single metadata standard for description; and
  
  
• develop tools to capture metadata from publishers, donors, creators and users to supplement LAC descriptions.

Benefits for Canadians

• Canadians will have improved access to more of our collection as information will be easier and more consistent to find.
  
  
• Canadians will receive services aligned with their identified needs and that are cost effective for LAC to provide.

Internal Services

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
217	28,376.6	217	28,370.9	217	28,370.9

Planning Highlights

Internal services make fundamental contributions to the achievement of the two strategic outcomes and all corporate priorities of LAC. They ensure compliance with Government of Canada legislation, regulations, and policies. Our internal services include senior management functions, finance and accommodations, human resources, contracting, security, planning, information technology, information management, communications, audit and evaluation.

In addition to the ongoing activities that enable LAC to operate, this program activity is the focal point for one corporate priority.

Corporate Priority: LAC will build its capacity to manage and fully discharge accountabilities

Most of our corporate priorities depend significantly on internal service-related factors. For example, the government expects LAC to make the same improvement in information management under its Directive on Recordkeeping as all other federal institutions. However, two MIIs are specific to this corporate priority.

In 2004, the creation of LAC brought together the workforces of the two former institutions. Most work processes, as well as the competencies required to serve them, did not change. However, processes will evolve and new competencies will be required to meet the requirements of a modernized LAC.

We also recognize the government-wide emphasis on increasing professional competencies and the convergence of skills required to respond to an environment driven by information technology. The professional skills of new staff are reflecting the evolution of library, archives, and information management specializations within academic institutions and the variety of new approaches undertaken within other memory institutions.

To respond to these approaches and other trends shaping the workforce and workplace of the future, as well as the new rules and regulations under the Public Service Modernization Act, we have committed to ensuring that our workforce is even more competent, organized effectively, committed to our goals and representative of Canadian society. We intend to accelerate the development of LAC's employees and management staff through an innovative workforce strategy, which we believe will also help to increase employee engagement in Modernization. During 2011–12 under that effort, we will:

• identify the key competencies needed to deliver on the MIIs, as well as conduct an analysis of the LAC workforce to identify strengths and gaps;
  
  
• address the highest priority Human Resources (HR) policies that need to be improved to support the workforce strategy, followed by development of an action plan to address remaining HR policy priorities;
  
  
• propose a model to increase the efficiency and transparency of our staffing and classification processes; and
  
  
• implement a talent management framework to support employee career aspirations and maximize the use of their strengths in the workplace.

The digital environment is challenging our existing information technology infrastructure. Our IT environment is characterized by a lack of central, enterprise wide design or alignment; numerous IT systems across multiple business lines, sometimes with similar or overlapping functionalities; and competing demands for scarce IT resources across LAC. A current IT infrastructure that does not always meet client needs still has to serve as the foundation for some of our collaborative activities.

We know that properly applied, IT will play a pivotal role in achieving much of our Modernization vision, especially with respect to digital acquisition, analogue digitization, preservation, collaboration, discovery and sharing LAC holdings in new ways and using emerging technologies.

The path forward will be through enterprise architecture (EA), which is a business-driven, disciplined process through which we will define our business goals and strategies, the assets and processes required to execute them, as well as identify their impacts on information technology goals. We will use an EA approach to develop and document the core services, business objectives, values, stakeholders, drivers and vision for LAC, and develop a prioritized IT strategy roadmap that will best support our entire array of business activities, as well as our mission, vision and mandate.

Based on a 2010–11 assessment of IT opportunities in LAC and the development of an EA framework, we will have a coherent overview of LAC's current IT situation and the approach that we will need to address IT needs in a coherent, LAC-wide way. On that foundation, during 2011–12, we will:

• take the EA framework and determine how well current elements, such as services, applications and databases, fit within it - and what elements are needed to support Modernization most strategically;
  
  
• review our IT priorities in the context of the proposed enterprise architecture framework, and develop the governance for IT priority setting and our investment planning.

Benefits for Canadians

Effective internal services ensure that LAC is able to deliver on its mandate in cost-effective ways and meet the needs of Canadians efficiently and effectively.

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