iSchool Bertha Bassam Lecture Announcement:
Date: Thursday, April 14th, 2011
When: 7:00-9:00 pm (talk and reception)
Where: Koffler House/Multi-Faith Centre, Room 108, 569 Spadina Avenue, Toronto (U of T campus) [Map]
Cost: No charge – everyone is welcome, but RSVP by April 13 to kathleen.obrien@utoronto.ca
Because it only happens every few years, the Bertha Bassam Lecture is always a highly anticipated event with a well respected speaker. The next Bertha Bassam Lecture will be held at the Koffler House/Multi-Faith Centre (U of T Campus) on Thursday, April 14, 2011. Under the title, Cultural Institutions and Cultural Courage, we are thrilled to have guest speaker Dr. David Carr. Led by Dean Seamus Ross and hosted by the Faculty of Information Alumni Association, Dr. Carr’s lecture will be introduced by Kelly McKinley, Director of Education and Public Programs at the AGO.
Abstract:
The formative legacy of any democratic culture or learning community is borne and embodied by its library. At its best, it is a living, constructive institution where experience and knowledge increase. The aspirations of a community — what it wants to become and what it hopes to give to its children — require a generative public conscience and provocative voices. More than a record of our time and place, the library is a record of us as we embrace or turn away from our challenges. We require a place that holds both pages and voices, electrons and arguments; and more: a place where thoughtful citizens will strive to become something together.
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An apt discussion during this election time. Also, I’m curious about the convergence between libraries and cultural institutions, and didn’t take the time to learn about such things in lie-berry school, and David Carr’s research, I think, does this. Yay for taking some time out to think deeply about stuff! And having a free glass of wine.
A resource I came across recently is a report from two researchers at the University of Washington, who are doing a comprehensive study of university students’ information seeking behaviours when attempting to undertake research for coursework. The authors published their preliminary findings in a report called, “
