Presentations
Papers scheduled for presentation
Presentations will be 20 minutes with time allocated for questions and discussion.
Full papers will be published in a special issue of Urban Library Journal.
Radical Purpose: The Critical Reference Dialogue and Critical Information Literacy at a Progressive Urban College
Adler, Kate – Metropolitan College of New York
Metropolitan College of New York pioneered “Purpose-Centered Education,” a pedagogical model that blends theory and practice in students’ jobs and lives to produce graduates with a guiding vision of social justice. This paper explores critical information literacy and the reference dialog in the context of the Purpose-Centered Education.
Teaching the Skills to Question: Critical Information Literacy in the Library Classroom
Beilin, Ian – New York City College of Technology, CUNY
Leonard, Anne – New York City College of Technology, CUNY
Libraries and the Right to the City: Insights from Democratic Theory
Buschman, John – Seton Hall University
Harvey’s right to the city is “individualistic and property based” and also exists “to change it” to suit collective needs. Democratic theory adds specificity and nuance to these ideas in concrete ways for libraries concerning democratic voice, the complications of rights assertions and related ideas of community. “Rights” are only meaningful in a democratic context.
Rebuilding Post War Europe: New York and Digital Archives as Reconstitutive Fabric
Cocciolo, Anthony – Pratt Institute
This project explores four digital archiving and public access projects related to the events around World War II. These projects illustrate how digital space and New York as physical space undergird the potential for realizing new understandings among Americans, Germans, and Jews of German and non-German descent.
Sustaining Scholarship: Librarians and the Political Economy of Print
Drabinski, Emily – Long Island University
As workers in the knowledge industry, librarians have particular insight into the implications of the tectonic shifts wrought by the decline of print. Drawing on work to make the journal Radical Teacher open access, this presentation discusses how librarians can mobilize our insider knowledge to transform our communities of practice.
Library Research for the 99% : Reaching out to the Occupy Wall Street Movement
Gervasio, Darcy – Purchase College, SUNY
Ress, Ari – Freelance Researcher
Ecklund, Angie
Using the myMETRO Researchers Project as an example, we suggest ways librarians and professional organizations can support underrepresented communities. Aided by online tools, three academic librarians successfully overcame logistical barriers, gained mutual trust, and helped the environmental subgroup of Occupy Wall Street to research real-world impacts of climate change.
Radical Cataloging: From Words to Action
Lember, Heather – Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science
Lipkin, Suzanne – Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science
Lee, Richard – Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science
Radical cataloging seeks to give a voice to people and concepts that are difficult to access through library subject searches. In this session, we will discuss problematic Library of Congress subject headings, contemporary cataloging issues, and strategies for developing non-traditional library collections where the so-called “rules” of librarianship may no longer apply.
White Screen/White Noise: Racism on the Internet
Martin, Rebecca – Pappenheim Library on Anti-Racism at Community Change, Inc.
Morales, Myrna – National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region
McCann, Heather – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Williams, Stacie – Lexington Public Library & Transylvania University Library
The Internet is critical for disseminating information, but does not discriminate against information it carries. Hate speech and racist representations proliferate in social media, newspaper comment sections and community forums. What can information workers do to counteract those messages? How can critical race consciousness enhance on- and off-line library services?
Teaching and Learning Los Angeles: Transforming the Student Experience through Engagement with Library Special Collections in UCLA’s Freshman Cluster Program
Miller, Kelly E. – University of California Los Angeles
Montoya, Robert D. – University of California Los Angeles
In partnership with the Freshman Cluster Program, the UCLA Library is fostering the production of new urban history, created in dialogue with experts, emerging citizens, and diverse communities. By working with faculty to connect students directly with Los Angeles – traveling into the streets and back into the archives, the Library is becoming more responsive, flexible, and mobile.
Digital Inclusion, Learning, and Access at the Public Library
Morrone, Melissa – Brooklyn Public Library
Witt, Shanelle – Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library has been engaged in a digital inclusion project that brings together issues of ability, access, and learning styles. By giving our patrons skills and confidence to navigate technology both online and off, we are laying the groundwork for them to have a voice in the city.
The Role of Library in Reducing Information Poverty for Marginalized Urban Immigrants
Shen, Lan – Purdue University Calumet
This presentation provides an analytical overview of literature on information poverty, introduces the cultural and structural perspectives of marginalized urban immigrants, and addresses the practical library services in reducing information poverty through education programs and civic engagement activities to establish a more equitable and harmonious community.
Grinding the Gears: Academic Librarians and Civic Responsibility
Sloniowski, Lisa – York University
Ryan, Patti – York University
Williams, Mita – University of Windsor
Corporate encroachments are transforming universities into
edu-factories which are designed to produce servants of the state
rather than engaged citizens. Academic librarians have a duty to
resist the machineries of the institution. This panel will survey the
revolutionary potential inherent in the open source
movement, feminist porn collections, and critical information
literacy.
