Is Canada’s scientific information worth keeping? What do you think?

 

Part of the collection of Maurice Lamontagne Institute library ended up in a dumpster in July 2013.

The above photo shows part of the collection from a federal research institute in Quebec, in a dumpster in July 2013.  According to a story on CBC.CA, “Fisheries and Oceans Canada hopes to close seven of its 11 libraries by 2015. Already, stories have emerged about books and reports thrown into dumpsters and the general public being allowed to rummage through bookshelves.”

According to online newspaper, the Tyee, “The seven closed libraries contained irreplaceable material dating back 100 years on the state of the nation’s oceans, freshwater and fisheries.”

For the most part it appears that there is very little public knowledge of the closure of not only research libraries but also research stations, along with the alteration of federal environmental legislation.

Does this matter to you?  Should the public be concerned about the mishandling or loss of a hundred years’ worth of scientific research data?  Can this information ever be replaced, and why would it be a good policy to simply get rid of research data?

Please take a look at the articles in the Tyee and CBC.CA and decide for yourself if this is a worthwhile issue.