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.