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TSamek's picture
Toni Samek School of Library and Information Studies

 

I have been working as an educator and scholar at the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta since 1994. Prior to that, my library and other work experience comes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A. and the following all in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Halifax City Regional Library, Saint Mary University's International Education Centre, Nova Scotia's Department of Solicitor General, ForceTen Computer Services Limited, and Sight & Sound Productions Limited.

My education includes a Doctor of Philosophy (Library and Information Studies) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto.

My teaching, research, and service interests include critical librarianship, intercultural information ethics, global information justice, human rights, intellectual freedom, social responsibility, library history, and library education.

In January 2001, I developed and introduced a graduate course at the University of Alberta titled “Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in Librarianship”. The course runs annually. Of the approximately 15 (a disappointing number) stand-alone intellectual freedom courses currently offered in North American library and information schools, this is the only course that provides a direct and upfront link between the concepts of social responsibility and intellectual freedom. Indeed, the course begins with discussion and exploration of intellectual freedom as a “contested” concept.

I am the author of the 2001 book Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in American Librarianship, 1967-1974, published by McFarland & Company Inc, Publishers, U.S.A. (In 2003, the book was published in Japanese translation by the Kyoto University Library and Information Science Study Group.) The historical work examines the American Library Association’s profound and contentious professional identity crisis during the Vietnam conflict. The book’s present day relevance is most notable in its treatment of library neutrality and librarianship in time of war, revolution, and social change.

In March 2007, I published a new book for Chandos (Oxford) Publishing titled Librarianship and Human Rights: A Twenty-first century guide. The book will be coming out of Buenos Aires in 2008 in a special Latin American adaptation in Spanish translation.

In addition, I am: Information Ethics Fellow, 2006-07, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Chair, Canadian Library Association's Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom;  Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee Member, Canadian Association of University Teachers; Editorial Advisory Board Member, International Review of Information Ethics; and, Advisory Board Member, Information for Social Change.
Bert Verstappen's picture
Bert Verstappen HURIDOCS Switzerland

Bert Verstappen, Programme Coordinator at the Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International (HURIDOCS), a global capacity-building network of organisations that use documentation techniques, monitoring methods, information management systems and available technologies in the defence of human rights and the prevention of abuses. Among the many helpful resources and manuals Bert has written is the excellent, What is documentation, available at HURIDOCS website. For more information on HURIDOCS see: http://www.huridocs.org/
Sasa Madacki's picture
Saša Madacki Human Rights Centre at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

Saša Madacki is the Director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to taking over as director, he was the Head of Information Research and Library Department at the Human Rights Centre.

In 2002, Saša participated in the New Tactics in Human Rights Central and East European Regional Training Workshop and wrote a tactical notebook on library and information services for the improvement of human rights work. Saša’s New Tactics Tactical Notebook: Making Sense of the Information Wilderness: Library and Information Services for the Improvement of Human Rights Work is available as a free download.

For more information about the Human Rights Centre at the University of Sarajevo see: http://www.hrc.unsa.ba/en/osoblje.html

Saša’s previous experience include: Advisor to the Judicial Reform/Rule of Law Cluster at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Serbia, Lecturer at the International Human Rights Courses at the Danish Institute of Human Rights, Referral Archivist in Federal Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Humanities Librarian at the State Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Research Librarian at the Soros Media Centre, Theatre History Researcher at the National Museum of Literature and Theatre Arts.

He has actively pursued library and information science projects. He has organized training sessions for the future Human Rights Librarians focusing on application of librarianship in the field of Human Rights.

He has written on theatre history of Sarajevo, destruction and deterioration of library materials, reconstruction of burned catalogues of National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Human Rights librarianship. Currently he is conducting a study of improvement of information flow and data exchange among human rights libraries in the Balkans. He also served as President of Division of Special and Faculty Libraries in Library Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His field of research includes knowledge management, digitization, library automation and impact of technology on human rights.

Saša is a lecturer at the Balkan Human Rights Network's School for Future Decision Makers, in the field of Human Rights and Technology and holds degree in Library Science and Comparative Literature from Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo.