Dr. Joyce Latham - Opening Keynote Speaker eChicago Symposium
April 2012
Milwaukee, WI
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, School of Information Studies (SOIS) Assistant Professor Joyce M. Latham will be the opening keynote
speaker for the eChicago symposium on Friday April 20 sponsored by the
University of Illinois and hosted at UIC in the Student Center East on
Halsted Avenue. eChicago is a forum for people to share what is and what
could happen to make Chicago not only a digital city, but a more
democratic one. The goal of the symposium is digital equality, and
connecting people who don’t find each other easily in their daily lives:
librarians with community workers and volunteers; students with
professionals; social workers and resource workers; campus with
community; and government employees with grassroots activists.
Latham’s invitation recognizes her experience as the first Director
of Information Technology for the Chicago Public Library, as well as her
academic research on the engagement of the public librarian with their
library patrons, particularly in the city of Chicago.
The symposium will examine librarians as activists in both the
historical and contemporary perspective, as well as ways in which
libraries empower members of their communities. Echoing Norton Long, who
said "The free access to ideas that the public library stands for is
radically subversive” Latham will explore how libraries continue to
serve as information switching stations for their communities.
Past and continuing organizers and contributors include: University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information
Science, Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information
Science, University of Illinois at Chicago/Jane Addams College of
Social Work, the Daley Library, and the Institute for Policy and Civic
Engagement, The Arturo Velasquez Institute Digital Workforce Education
Society, The Benton Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Chicago
Public Library, The Institute of Museum and Library Services, The
Metropolitan Library System, Partnership for a Connected Illinois, and
Skokie Public Library.
To register for the free symposium, see a list of other speakers and sessions, or to read about past events visit http://echicago.illinois.edu
Rebecca Hall
Web Development & Marketing Coordinator
Instructor
UW-Milwaukee, School of Information Studies
PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201
Ph: 414.229.2855 | F: 414.229.6699
http://www.uwm.edu/sois