University of Toronto Press Minds Alive: Libraries and Archives Now (Cultural Spaces)

Product Description 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. 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 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 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 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.