Minds Alive explores the enduring role and intrinsic value of libraries, archives, and public institutions in the digital age. Featuring international contributors, this volume delves into libraries and archives as institutions and institutional partners, the professional responsibilities of librarians and archivists, and the ways in which librarians and archivists continue to respond to the networked age, digital culture, and digitization.
The endless possibilities and robust importance of libraries and archives are at the heart of this optimistic collection. Topics include transformations in the networked digital age; Indigenous issues and challenges in custodianship, ownership, and access; the importance of the harmonization of memory institutions today; and the overarching significance of libraries and archives in the public sphere. Libraries and archives at once public institutions providing both communal and private havens of discovery are being repurposed and transformed in intercultural contexts. Only by keeping pace with users' changing needs can they continue to provide the richest resources for an informed citizenry.
Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Tami Oliphant, University of Alberta and Ali Shiri, University of Alberta
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Patricia Demers, University of Alberta and Toni Samek, University of Alberta
I. Enduring Values
Libraries: Why Bother?
Alice Crawford, University of St. Andrews
Academic Library Spaces, Digital Culture, and Communities
Guylaine Beaudry, Concordia University
The Public Library’s Enduring Importance
Marc Kosciejew, Western University
II. Public Literacy and Private Oases
Loss of the Social, Return of the Private: Acknowledging Public Failure in the Age of Boudoir Surplus
Mario Hibert, University of Sarajevo
Re-establishing Values, Constructing New Missions: The Value of the Modern Library in the Development of Information and Digital Literacy in Public Life
Konstantina Martzoukou, Robert Gordon University
III. Transformations and Resistance
Libraries’ Shifting Roles and Responsibilities in the Networked Age
Michael Carroll, American University Washington College of Law
The Interface of the Digital Library: The Perseus Digital Library as a Case Study
Geoffrey Rockwell, University of Alberta, Sarah Vela, Lisa M. Cerrato, Mihaela Ilovan, Stan Ruecker, Perseus Digital Library, and the INKE Research Group
Wanderbibliotheken: Travelling Books and DIY Libraries
Carolyn Guertin, Western University
IV. Disciplinary and Institutional Partnerships
Is Professionalism Still an Acceptable Goal for Archivists in the Global Digital Society?
Richard Cox, Comcast
Digital Research with All Our Senses: How the Archivist, the Historian, and the Librarian Can Work Together on the New Frontier
Nigel Raab, Loyola Marymount University
The Critical, Diverse (and Sometimes Neglected) Roles of Libraries and Archives in a Museum Setting
Brendan Edwards, Royal Ontario Museum
V. Curation and Commons
Beyond Place: Data Curation Possibilities for Post-custodial Archives and Libraries
Seamus Ross, University of Toronto
"The X-Files": The Truth is in the Archives, but Access is Restricted
Frank J. Tough, University of Alberta
Works Cited
Contributors
Index
About the Author :
Patricia Demers is a distinguished university professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta.
Toni Samek is a professor and chair at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta.
Review :
" Minds Alive combats sentimentality as a metric and a rhetorical stance for valuing libraries and fighting for their futures. Specific articles deliberately aim to help library leaders provide a context for advocacy, while others provide case studies for fostering change and innovation at libraries and archives."
--Laura R. Braunstein, Digital Humanities Librarian, Co-Lead, Digital by Dartmouth Library, Dartmouth College
" Minds Alive will bring up to speed anyone wishing to know what's happening to libraries, archives, and their professions in our digital age."
--Peter F. McNally, Professor Emeritus, School of Information Studies, McGill University
" Minds Alive has significance beyond the field for disciplines that rely on libraries and archives including humanities, history of the book, and digital humanities."
--Spencer D. C. Keralis, Digital Humanities Librarian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
