Congratulations on Information Without Borders 2014
On behalf of my colleagues at the School of Information Management, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the organizing committee, and particularly co-chairs Leah Pohlman and Samantha Fritz, for a very successful Information Without Borders 2014 Conference. The entire day was filled with engaging, timely, and relevant presentations and discussions. The posters were of a very high quality, and certainly impressed the judges and audience . The silent auction was filled with lovely items made by local craftspersons; I know that I am already enjoying the soaps and the handmade bag that I acquired. The food was delicious. Everything, in fact, was a testament to excellent planning and a great deal of hard work. For those of you who could not attend, you can follow the day’s activities via the hashtag #iwb2014. If you follow @dalsimnews, you will see a number of photographs that capture some of the day’s events. You have all done us proud.
The Internet After Snowden – Ron Deibert Speaks at Dalhousie
Dr. Ron Deibert, an international expert on surveillance and privacy, will open the 2014 Information without Borders conference with the keynote address The Internet after Snowden.
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Dr. Deibert is also a co-founder and principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative and Information Warfare Monitor projects. He has published extensively on technology, media, and world politics, and he has advised governments, NGOs, and international organizations on issues of cyber-crime, cyber security, and access to information. With recent reports that Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) allegedly used information from free wireless internet at Canadian airports to track traveller’s metadata, Dr. Deibert was called upon to engage in discussion about this matter and he continues to be a key resource on the surveillance and privacy subjects for national and international news outlets. In his keynote address at this week’s conference at Dalhousie, Dr. Deibert will outline disturbing reactions and threatening geopolitical developments to the Snowden revelations as states, criminals, and shady companies struggle for advantage in the post-Snowden world.
The Information without Borders conference is organized by students in the Master of Library and Information Studies program at Dalhousie. Further details about the conference are available at this link.
Not to be missed: Information Without Borders Conference 2014
The 2014 Information Without Borders conference, organized by Master of Library and Information Studies students, features an exceptional lineup of speakers on Privacy, Security, & Surveillance: Developments and Challenges in the Information Age. The conference will be held in the McInnes Room of the Student Union Building on Thursday of this week.
Dr. Carolyn Watters, Dalhousie Vice President (Academic and Provost), will open the conference, followed by a keynote address by Dr. Ron Deibert, speaking on The Internet after Snowden. An international expert on surveillance, Dr. Deibert began documenting and warning Canadians and citizens everywhere about invasive surveillance activities before the extraordinary revelations of whistleblower, Edward Snowden. Professor of Political Science and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University Toronto, Ron Deibert is a frequent commentator in media reports on privacy and surveillance issues.
Break-out sessions will feature: Prof. Wayne MacKay, Schulich School of Law, Is Privacy Dead in the Age of Social Media and Technology, and Dr. Mike Smit, School of Information Management, Privacy, New Technology, and the Ongoing Conflict.
A panel on Multidisciplinary Issues in Privacy will include Creighton Barrett (Digital Archivist, Dalhousie University), Charmain Borg (NDP Digital Issues Critic and MP for Terreboone-Blainville, Quebec), David Fraser (Internet, Technology and Privacy Lawyer, Halifax), and Alison Shea (Privacy Officer/FOIPOP Administrator, Capital Health District Authority)
Three MLIS students will present papers on privacy themes: Marc Harper – How 1984 is Happening in the 21st Century: North Korea’s Kim Dynasty is Watching; Hilary Lynd – Eyes in The Shadows: Investigating Blanket Surveillance and the Case for Privacy; and Lee Wilson – Much Ado About Data: Privacy and Information Control in the Age of Social Media.
The conference will conclude with an address by Dr. Jacquelyn Burkell (Western University) on I’m Worried about my Mom, not the Government: Managing Personal Privacy in an Age of the Internet.
Further details about the conference are available at this link.
Three MLIS students present papers at IWB Conference
Three Master of Library and Information Studies will present papers at the Information without Borders 2014 conference in Halifax this week, addressing the theme of the conference, Privacy, Security, & Surveillance: Developments and Challenges in the Information Age. The students will draw on their international experience in presenting their papers, prepared initially in the MLIS course Information in Society
Marc Harper will speak about How 1984 is happening in the 21st Century: North Korea’s Kim dynasty is watching. Marc will conclude his studies for the MLIS degree this term, and spent three years as an English teacher in South Korea
Hilary Lynd will speak about Eyes in the shadows: Investigating blanket surveillance and the case for privacy. Hilary came to Dalhousie to pursue the MLIS after completing a MA in European History at University College London.
Lee Wilson will speak about Much ado about data: Privacy and information control in the age of social media. Lee is in his first year of studies for the MLIS, and taught English in Taiwan prior to moving to Halifax.
The Information without Borders Conference will feature keynote speaker Dr. Ron Diebert, Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, speaking on The Internet after Snowden. Further details about the conference are available at this link.
Call for Papers – Student Views: Research from Canada’s LIS Programs
The Canadian Library Association will host a student research paper presentation program at the CLA Annual Conference in May in Victoria, BC.
MLIS and LIT students, as well as recent graduates, are encouraged to submit presentation proposals. This is your opportunity to showcase and present your work at a national conference.
Presentations should be based on original research, either completed while enrolled in a program of study, or within one year of graduation. All submissions will be evaluated by a panel of referees, who will select five papers for presentation at the “Student Views: Research from Canada’s LIS Programs” to be held on Saturday, May 31, 2014, from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.
Each presentation will be limited to no more than 10 minutes, with additional time for questions and discussion.
The submission must include:
- A cover page with the student’s name, title of the paper, student status with graduation date, and student’s contact information, including e-mail address.
- A separate page that includes only the title of the paper and a 500-word abstract, summarizing the proposed presentation.
- A faculty member’s statement attesting to the fact that the submission fulfills the above requirements.
- Submissions should be in the form of attachments in MS Word, rtf or pdf.
Successful candidates will be required to be in attendance at the conference on May 31st to present their paper. Travel and accommodations costs are the responsibility of each student.
Submissions should be sent by email to:
Ms. Kerry Macdonald, Librarian
University of Manitoba Libraries
Seven Oaks General Hospital Library
Email: cla.govlib@gmail.com
Subject Line: CLA 2014 – Student Views: Research from Canada’s LIS Programs
Deadline: March 31, 2014
Reminder: IWB Conference
The Information Without Borders conference will take place on February 13th. Don’t forget to register for the conference. To give you a hint of what is to come, here is a synopsis of the opening keynote address:
Speaker: Ron Deibert
Title: The Internet after Snowden
A recent stream of documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has shed light on an otherwise highly secretive world of cyber surveillance. Among the revelations, perhaps the most important for the future of global cyberspace are those concerning the way the U.S. government compelled the secret cooperation of American telecommunications, Internet, and social media companies with signals intelligence programs.
For American citizens, the NSA story has touched off soul-searching discussions about the legality of mass surveillance programs, whether they violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and whether proper oversight and accountability exist to protect American citizens’ rights. But for the rest of the world, they lay bare an enormous “homefield advantage” enjoyed by the United States — a function of the fact that AT&T, Verizon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, and many other brand name giants are headquartered in the United States. What will the reactions to those revelations be?
Drawing from the first hand accounts of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab (Munk School of Global Affairs), Deibert will provide an overview of some disturbing reactions and threatening geopolitical developments to the Snowden revelations as states, criminals, and shady companies struggle for advantage in the post-Snowden world.
MIM student Liseanne Cadieux a finalist in a national student paper competition
MIM student Liseanne Cadieux is one of the Faculty of Management student finalists in the National Student Paper Competition on Blueprint 2020. By February 12 we should hear which of the 8 Dalhousie papers will be advancing to the next phase of the BP 2020 competition. Those authors will then prepare a short YouTube video to pitch their idea. Let’s make sure we support them as they compete for the National Public Choice Award. You can do this by reviewing and voting for their video in early March.
The Dalhouise finalists are:
- Carrie Armstrong
- Andrew Bucci
- Liseanne Cadieux
- Jennifer Gardner
- Amanda Iadipaolo
- Katie Mercier
- Katherine MacKenzie
- Lucas Ramsay
- Jeffrey Neto
- Brett Taylor
- Beth Whitfield
Suzette Soomai receives SSHRC award for research involving governmental organizations
Interdiscplinary PhD candidate Suzette Soomai, a member of the Environmental Information: Use and Influence group, has been awarded a Michael Smith Foreign Study grant by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Read more about this accomplishment here.
Data Privacy Day 2014
I encourage all local MLIS and MIM students to attend the 2014 Data Privacy Day at Dalhousie. This year’s theme is Respecting privacy, safeguarding data, and enabling trust. Registration is free for all students. I have attended all the Data Privacy Days and have found them to be very helpful, relevant, and informative. You may register at: www.dal.ca/dataprivacyday. SIM always has a booth at the affair, so it would be wonderful to have a strong presence from our community.