Librarianship and Human Rights: A Twenty-First Century Guide(Chandos Information Professional Series)

The book is a practical guide to taking action on librarianship's responsibilities to the better attainment of human rights in the context of knowledge society. Concepts such as library core values and information ethics are used as springboards for propelling action on librarianship's responsibility to participate in the broad human rights agenda for individuals, institutions and society. The following articles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of particular import for information workers, receive special treatment: Respect for the dignity of human beings (Art. 1) Confidentiality (Art. 1, 2, 3, 6) Equality of opportunity (Art. 2, 7) Privacy (Art. 3, 12) Right to freedom of opinion and expression (Art. 19) Right to participate in the cultural life of the community (Art. 27) Right to the protection of the moral and material interests concerning any scientific, literary or artistic production (Art. 27)

Table of Contents:
Part 1 The Rhetoric: An urgent context for twenty-first century librarianship; Human rights, contestations and moral responsibilities of library and information workers. Part 2 The Reality: Practical strategies for social action; Prevalent manifestations of social action applied to library and information work; Specific forms of social action used in library and information work for social change.

About the Author :
Dr Toni Samek is Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). Toni chairs the Canadian Library Association's Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom and is an Advisory Board member of the international group Information for Social Change. Toni’s teaching, research, and service interests include critical librarianship, intercultural information ethics, global information justice, human rights, intellectual freedom, and academic freedom.

Review :
…a necessary, important and long-overdue book., SHINE Journal This is by far the best book I have read on librarianship for a very long time., John Pateman, Head of Libraries, Learning and Inclusion, Lincolnshire County Council Inspiring, affirming, activating, energizing, I ran out of superlatives to describe this book. If you are a library worker who wants to change the world, read it today – because tomorrow may already be too late., John Pateman, Head of Libraries, Learning and Inclusion, Lincolnshire County Council