Even at research-oriented institutions where faculty normally have a workload of 40% teaching, 40% research and 20% service, the professional expectations for librarian and archivist promotion and workload in many agreements continue to focus on assigned professional practice.

Professional “practice” or “responsibilities,” which can vary widely between individual members, are those specific to professional librarians and archivists that

provide essential contributions to the academic vitality and success of the academy. Librarian and archivist responsibilities normally include service and at times research, though in most agreements these are a much smaller component of their workload than professional practice/responsibilities.

However, over the past number of decades, a growing percentage of librarians and archivists has been pushing to increase their ability to engage in scholarship, which generally will require a workload decrease in professional practice. Language in the Laurentian University Faculty Association agreement provides parity with professors in workload allocation:

5.40 Academic Workload

5.40.2 The academic workload of a full-time Member during the academic year includes: (a) teaching/professional librarianship/archives management, including the supervision of graduate and undergraduate students; (b) scholarly activity, including commitments to external granting agencies; (c) University governance, administrative duties, and other contributions to the University. The normal guideline for the distribution of the workload among the three (3) main workload components is: forty percent (40%) teaching/professional librarianship/archives management, including the supervision of graduate and undergraduate students; forty percent (40%) scholarly activity, including commitments to external granting agencies; and twenty percent (20%) university governance, administrative duties, and other contributions to the University.¹⁴