Prof. Lynne Teather - Faculty of Information - University of Toronto

iscHooL ProFEssor
BriNGs rEAdiNG
To FirsT NATioN
coMMuNiTiEs
Professor Nadia caidi received
$80,000 from the Ministry of Training,
Colleges and Universities to
finance the On-Demand Book Service
(ODBS), to provide several First Nation
communities with better access to books
and digital materials. The project is a
collaboration between Keewaytinook
Okimakanak (KO), a non-political Chiefs’
Council serving communities in northern
Ontario, and the iSchool. As a result, KO
First Nation community, Keewaywin, and
two others, will be given a set of ODBS
equipment and content (a list of titles
purchased in consultation with members
of the community), as part of a pilot initiative.
“The aim is to explore the realities,
barriers, and challenges to reading in
First Nation communities, particularly
in remote and isolated areas of Northern
Ontario,” said Prof. Caidi. “The key
element is the importance of reading in
one’s life and how we can support it.” The
project provided students from both the
Information and Culture in a Global Context
course and Information Workshops
an opportunity to engage in meaningful
and respectful community-based
research. The ODBS responds to the
community’s collective desire for libraries
to offer balanced access to both physical
books and information technology, as
identified and recommended in reports
by Ontario Library Services North, among
others. The ODBS equipment, as well as
the ODBS portal (http://odbs.knet.ca),
will enable teachers and students at the
Keewaywin Public School to print and
bind digital content, create and publish
their own content, and create digital
archives. The project also examines the
communities’ reading needs and preferences,
in order to “identify content that
would appeal to them, based on various
target populations,” Prof. Caidi added. At
the conference, “Reading in First Nations:
Infrastructure, Access & Imagination,”
held in late March, the ODBS equipment
was showcased in Keewaywin via
video conferencing, and included a do-ityourself
book scanner (which can scan a
400-page book in less than half an hour),
developed by PhD student daniel reetz.
The day began with a keynote address
by acclaimed aboriginal author drew
Hayden Taylor, who discussed his reading
experiences growing up in Curve Lake
First Nation, and reflected on the lack of
Aboriginal writers to serve as role models.
Prof. Caidi said future plans include
the development of the ODBS portal into a
virtual space where community members
can access and meet people such as Mr.
Taylor, in order to ask questions and be
inspired. The ODBS is made possible
in collaboration with K-NET Services in
Sioux Lookout and KO Research Institute
(KORI) in Thunder Bay.
ProF. HEATHEr MAcNEiL
WiNs HuGH A. TAyLor PrizE
Professor Heather MacNeil was awarded
the Hugh A Taylor Prize for her article,
“Archivalterity: Rethinking Original
Order,” which appeared in Archivaria 66
(Fall 2008). The prize is awarded annually
for the Archivaria article that presents
new or refreshed ideas in imaginative
ways by “extending the boundaries of
archival theory in new directions.” Prof.
MacNeil was awarded a cash prize and
certificate, which commends her usage
of cross-disciplinary insight “to explore
the relationship between original order,
archival arrangement, and notions of
authenticity and representation,” and
notes that it “offers many possibilities for
enhanced archival practice.”
NOTEWORTHY
FAcuLTy oF
iNForMATioN
rEAccrEdiTEd
By ALA
Master of Information
(MI) students
depend on having
an accredited degree in order
to have credibility and the
externally-validated academic
qualifications required in the
information workplace. U of T’s
Faculty of Information has been
accredited by the American
Library Association (ALA) since
1937, when the iSchool’s BLS
program first received ALA approval.
This year, the External
Review Panel of the ALA found
the MI program met the ALA
Committee on Accreditation’s
“Standards for Accreditation of
Master’s Programs in Library
and Information Studies,”
and was approved June 2010.
“This status validates the
hard work of our faculty, staff,
alumni, and students in the
iSchool,” said dean seamus
ross. Accredited programs are
monitored regularly through
annual reporting processes and
periodic intensive reviews. They
must meet or exceed standards
regarding mission, goals and
objectives; curriculum; faculty;
students; administration and
financial support; and physical
resources and facilities.
informed | autumn 2010 11