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Librarians archiving Alberta’s scientific reports before change in government

Apr 18, 2019 | 2:05 PM

EDMONTON — An Alberta librarian has been archiving much of the provincial government’s online content — including studies on health, climate change policy and poverty reduction — to prepare for a change in government.

Katie Cuyler, who is leading the project, is a public services and government information librarian at the University of Alberta.

She says the project started in 2011, but ramped up again earlier this year when it looked like the provincial government could change.

The United Conservative Party won a strong majority government over the NDP this week and is to be sworn in April 30.

Cuyler says she has archived hundreds of thousands of policy documents and scientific reports online after hearing concerns from researchers and industry analysts that they could disappear.

She says a similar effort took place in Ontario to archive government research studies and data after the Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the province last June.

There have been drastic changes to government information in the United States since President Donald Trump took office.

The Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, which tracks changes to thousands of government websites under the Trump administration, has said hundreds of webpages providing climate information were omitted from a federal government website. Other pages have been substantially altered to removing mentions of climate and climate change.

The Canadian Press

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