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Global Voices from the Information World

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We are reaching out to a number of our colleagues in the library and information field to see how they and their institutions are faring in the current environment.  We will attempt to continue this series as long a the pandemic is having global effects.

From Japan:

JapanDokkyo University decided to extend the beginning of a new academic year from April 1st to May 11th. Other universities in big cities also extended the beginning of a new academic year, and some of them like Kyoto University are preparing all classes to online basis.

I felt better staying at home for at least 14 days (not mandatory) after coming back from Wellington, New Zealand where I had spent  almost two months at Victoria University at Wellington, School of Information Management as a visiting scholar.  I arrived in NZ after spending several months at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a visiting scholar. Even before losing anyone to the corona virus, New Zealand declared a national lock-down.  I was able to get on the final flight from NZ to Japan.

Now at home I am making hand-made facemasks to pass the time. I am sewing several facemasks with a pocket in which I can put a piece of bleached, washed gauze cloth or nonwoven fabric. Basically these are not made to prevent the corona-virus, but for my brother’s pollen-allergy protection. Here in Japan no facemasks are sold at stores, no adequate cloth is available at handcraft shops, but I found some in Wellington and brought them back to Japan. I hope they work!

Japan does not have a lock-down at this point, but officials are “asking” the public not to go outside on weekends in big cities like Tokyo or Osaka even though the number of corona-virus patients is increasing day by day. All stores, restaurants, cafes, even pachinko-playing places are open. Kind of a scary situation, but still the Japanese government hesitates to do anything. I wonder if policy makers (make decisions) on economics and business mainly, not … the health of the public.*

– Yasuyo Inoue is a Library Science professor at Dokkyo University in Saitama, Japan and had spent from Sep. 2019 to Jan. 2020 at the Center for Global Studies as a visiting scholar.

*A State of Emergency has now been declared in seven of the country’s 47 prefectures.

From Canada:

Our last day of work on site at our teaching university in British Columbia, Canada, was Wednesday, March 18th. Even though we had been watching the progress of the COVID-19 wave – first to the west, across the Pacific, and later with shock at the pandemic’s impacts in an unprepared Europe – it still seemed hard to comprehend. As a public institution, we worked in concert with our Ministry of Higher Education and other institutions to move courses and services online for the last few weeks of the semester. Through all of this, I have been immensely impressed by the resilience of our library’s 22 employees who have responded to this challenge by learning to work remotely with colleagues, supervisors and others, through new communication tools. As the UL, I feel it’s important to ensure we are connecting with all employees regularly, to acknowledge and try to reduce the feelings of anxiety and isolation that are sure to be affecting everyone to different degrees. We seem to be holding more meetings than ever, and chatting and sharing photos to maintain our sense of community. We continue to progress with various projects that ensure employees are involved in a range of activities, such as policy and procedures development. I am planning to hold our strategic planning session via MS Teams, and so it will be an interesting challenge to try to engage all employees through that platform. My practice is to create as much structure and routine as possible, for myself and my employees, to ensure that we continue to be a functional and supportive team, throughout this challenging time.

Schachter

Debbie Schacter

Dr. Debbie Schachter is the University Librarian at Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Debbie is a memberof IFLA’s Library Theory and Research Section, and is Chair of the OCLC Global Council and Chair of the OCLC America’s Regional Council. Debbie also teaches at the UBC Information School and the Langara College Library Technician Program.

 

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Global Knowledge and Transnational Crime

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posted by Thaddeus B. Herman

On Tuesday, Oct. 16th, the Center for Global Studies held its second event in a year-long series dedicated to the globalization of knowledge. Around 20 individuals attended to hear Dr. Yulia Zabyelina, Assistant Professor at John Jay college of Criminal Justice at City University of New York, speak about Transnational Organized Crime. Zabyelina’s scholarship relates to ‘crimes of the powerful’ – defined as crimes committed at the upper levels of government where it is difficult for individuals to be prosecuted or held responsible.

Zabyelina opened the event by asking the question “How does legal immunity provide an opportunity for serious misconduct to its holders?” This question relates to the topic of research she is currently undertaking in preparation for a new book. In her research, Zabyelina focuses on misconduct by representatives of the state, specifically diplomatic representatives.

Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) is different than organized crime. Organized crime elicits services that are in response to public demand, are often associated with the desire to have monopoly control in a particular area, and use a pattern of violence and/or corruption through methods of extortion, loan sharking, gambling, bootlegging, or prostitution, among others. TOC, on the other hand, is defined by the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC) as an offence that has been:

  • Committed in more than one State;
  • Committed in one State but a substantial part of its preparation, planning, direction or control takes place in another State;
  • Committed in one State but involves an organized criminal group that engages in criminal activities in more than one State; or
  • Committed in one State but has substantial effects in another State.

Conventional forms of TOC have included drug or human trafficking, migrant smuggling, or firearms trafficking. Whereas new and emerging forms include natural resource trafficking, counterfeit goods trafficking, cultural property trafficking, and cybercrime.

In her presentation, Zabyelina pointed out that typical theories dealing with crimes focus on causes such as poverty or lack of general opportunity because of life’s circumstances. TOC, on the other hand, is committed by smart, capable individuals who engage in sophisticated operations. This “elite deviance” is perpetrated by those who commit crimes despite having high educational and financial means. While Zabyelina pointed out there is literature on corporate crime and corruption, she intends for her research to fill an important gap in knowledge on elite deviance through TOC. Elite deviants are those who, according to the Criminaloid theory posited by Cesare Lombroso in 1876, project a respectable, upright façade in an attempt to conceal a criminal personality, enjoy the respect of society, and – because of their established connections with the government – are less likely to meet with opposition.

Zabyelina’s research is focusing on those individuals who have legal immunity that exempts them from search, arrest, and civil or criminal prosecution. Often, legal immunity also includes privileges such as exception from fiscal obligations. Individuals who may receive immunity are usually Heads of State, diplomatic corps, international civil servants, peacekeepers, MPs, or judges. The legal sources for diplomatic immunity vary from international conventions, such as the Vienna Convention of 1961 or the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies of 1947, to local domestic laws and constitutions of various States. Diplomatic agents are of particular interest to Zabyelina and were defined by her as “a public official who acts as an intermediary between a foreign nation (the receiving state) and the nation which employed and accredited the diplomat agent (the sending State)”. Diplomatic agents of various types make up a diplomatic corps and may hold titles as ambassadors, envoys, ministers plenipotentiary, chargé d’affaires, consuls and vice-consuls, or administrative and technical staff of diplomatic missions.

A typology of offenses by a diplomatic corps was offered by Zabyelina as one fruit of her research. This typology included four types of abuse:

  1. State-authority crime: crime committed on behalf of state institutions
  2. Diplomats as victims: crime without the diplomatic agent’s conscious involvement or knowledge
  3. Diplomats as co-conspirators: diplomats who have deliberately exploited legal immunity to profit from criminal activity
  4. Diplomats as principle offenders: diplomats who have abused diplomatic entitlements for profit as the principal perpetrator of a criminal act.

She provided several case studies to illustrate this abuse. Zabyelina pointed out that the North Korean government has been involved in state-sponsored criminal activity in order to help fund the regime, which is an example of the first type of abuse. As an example of the second type of abuse, Zabyelina highlighted an event that took place in 2012 which saw a shipment of drugs to the United Nations headquarters from Mexico in what appeared to be an imitation of a diplomatic pouch – which traditionally have not been subject to search. As no diplomat was found to be responsible for the crime, this act was perceived as an example of diplomats as victims of crimes. An example of the last type of crime comes from an event where an Ethiopian diplomat was arrested at Heathrow Airport for attempting to smuggle 123 pounds of cannabis through security. When detained, she attempted to use diplomatic immunity as a way to escape consequences of her actions. Her activity resulted in a prison sentence of 33 months.

The presentation ended with an open question followed by discussion with a lively interaction between the audience and presenter. An attendee asked how Zabyelina finds source material from states – especially when it is related to deviant behavior committed by their own diplomats. Zabyelina identified five areas from where she gathers her information:

  1. Mass media and journalism
  2. Court files
  3. Her colleague’s connection to the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services – where her college has interns working to help collect information
  4. Reports or investigations undertaken by international organizations
  5. Interviews with diplomats, members of the chambers of commerce, employees of the New York Police Department, and members of the US State Department

Overall it was an event which elaborated upon a very interesting aspect of global knowledge production.  For more information on the topic,  please look at the library guide – Global Knowledge and Transnational Crime.

 

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The Meaning of Global/Globalizing Knowledge

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Thaddeus B. Herman – Rapporteur

On Wednesday, September 26, over 30 individuals came together to participate in a discussion on global knowledge and its production. This event was hosted by the Center for Global Studies and was the first in a series of events exploring different aspects of globalization and knowledge. The discussion was led by a panel of four prominent Illinois scholars including Nicholas Burbules – Gutgsell Professor of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership; Andrew Orta – Professor of Anthropology; Assata Zerai – Professor of Sociology and Associate Chancellor for Diversity; and Steve Witt – Director of the Center for Global Studies and the Head of the International and Area Studies Library.

Witt opened up the discussion with a speech on access to academic knowledge and how it is being generated. He showed data that supported his claim that many “global” collections of knowledge really only include a very small portion of the globe and are not representative of truly global knowledge bases. Knowledge production – or at least the knowledge generated that has impact in academic organizations – largely takes place in a few countries, the majority of which are located in regions commonly referred to as the “west”.

 

Figure 1: Source: US Congressional Research Service. (2018, June 27). Global Research and Development Expenditures: Fact Sheet. Note the definition of “rest of the world”.

Burbules spoke second with a presentation titled “An epistemic crisis”, focusing on many issues around journal publishing. He indicated it is simply not possible to read every new article published in one’s field of study. In fact, more than 80% of all published papers are never cited and those that are cited are often not actually read. He also spoke of the influence of impact factors – the frequency with which articles in a journal have been cited in a particular year – and how this can lead to discrimination against local journals – which may be more relevant to a local population. Research institutions also pressure academics to publish in journals considered to have high impact factors. Of course, this system can be gamed and Burbules included examples of editors of journals who encourage those who submit to cite authors from their own journal in order to increase their impact factor.

Another issue highlighted was the lack of incentive to publish studies which reproduce and reinforce previous studies. Replicability is a cornerstone of the scientific method since a study performed under the same conditions should produce the same results. In fact, when meta-studies have attempted to reproduce results in many areas, a surprising number of results cannot be reproduced – even after increasing sample sizes. So we must ask ourselves the question, how much work of low quality is slipping through and being published?

Andrew Orta spoke on the globalized nature of Catholicism and Capitalism and how they have both been buffeted by local cultural forces. He briefly explored the concept that Catholicism responded to local practices of worship, and adapted to appear more palatable to a local audience. Interesting parallels were drawn between this process, and the process of incorporating global cultural trends into MBA programs around the world. The educational context of the MBA has changed from a “flat” model which saw a fairly standard set of curriculum taught throughout the world to models which are based on various cultural practices found throughout the regions in which the MBA program is established.

The final speaker of the day was Assata Zerai whose talk centered on access and digital inequality. Zerai pointed out that there are excluded voices from multiple fields of study and African research – particularly African research undertaken by women – is not included in western databases that collect research and provide access through search mechanisms. Scholarship that is readily available about Africa is largely generated by western scholars who are often disconnected from actual African perspectives. She argued that there is a direct correlation between the success of people-centered governance structures and women’s access to information and communication technologies (ICT). By not incorporating scholarship undertaken by women on the African continent, we are hindering the promotion of intellectual diversity.

Zerai is undertaking a project to build a database of the works of female African scholars to help make this body of research available to a wider audience and disrupt the conventional division of labor in the social sciences in which African scholars provide the empirical evidence while the heavy lifting of theorizing is left to their western counterparts. The hope is that this effort will amplify the voices of women scholars in African countries.

Following the presentations there was a rich dialogue between members of the audience and the panel members which ended with a dilemma. Can we create systems of knowledge to highlight voices that have been traditionally excluded from processes of knowledge generation and distribution? The speakers acknowledged that there is hope that a way may be found and we can move forward.

 

For more background information and reading please visit the library guide found at https://guides.library.illinois.edu/cgsbrownbag92618 .

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International Right to Know Day – September 28

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FOIA

In 2002 a group of organizations working in the area of free access to information met in Sofia, Bulgaria at the Freedom of Information litigation conference.  As a result of this meeting the International Freedom of Information Advocates Network was formed to promote the right of access to information for all people and underline the importance of transparency and openness on the part of governments.  The 28th of September is set aside each year to mark the progress made in promoting this “right to know”.

What constitutes transparency and openness in government?  This is an issue that affects all countries.  It includes the ability freely access and understand the publications and records of activities of government entities.  The U.S. Government Information Transparency Act of 2009 provides some additional background on the topic.  It states:

“Openness and accountability are deeply rooted in the U.S. Government, so much so that it is written into the Constitution that the Congress keep a record of its activities and make it available to the general public. To this end, the Congress has, over the years, enacted a number of laws requiring a variety of federal information to be made available to the public. Since its passage in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been a cornerstone of these efforts. Additionally, there are numerous federal laws requiring the public disclosure of an array of federal information including, but not limited to, the Ethics in Government Act, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, and the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act.

While all of these open government laws improve transparency and accountability, the information and data they produce, whether it be because of format, venue, or sheer volume, is not always useful. As it currently stands, a variety of federal business and financial information is available to the public in a number of different formats and places. Although the Internet has greatly improved the accessibility of this information, accessibility alone does not promote accountability. In order to be an efficient and effective resource for both the general public and the federal government itself, federal business and financial information must be made available in a standard and useful way so that data is more easily manipulated, searched, and shared.  The Government Information Transparency Act directs OMB to adopt single data standards for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of federal business and financial information. H.R. 2392 is intended to improve the transparency, consistency, and usability of federal business and financial information.”

The United States government has a long standing Freedom of Information Act that provides a process for retrieving information that is not readily available for a variety of reasons.  Passed in 1966, the Act was one of the first to address the challenges of government transparency.  The FOIA website provides excellent information on how to make a request, statistics on the number of requests received and processed and more.  Mendel provides an excellent overview of the Act and how it is currently measuring up in comparison to other nations’ laws.  The challenges to federal employees in accommodating the law is discussed briefly by Rodgers and helps us understand some of the difficulties endemic to completing FOIA requests.  The University Library subscribes to the Digital National Security Archive, a database that provides access to many collections of previously classified documents.

In a related area today is also the first celebration of the International Day for the Universal Access to Information which underlines the importance of easy access to information for sustainable development.  You can read more about this celebration at the UNESCO site as well as the site for the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

For more information on this topic you might read –

Books:

Adshead, M. & Felle, T. (Eds.) (2015) Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Hammitt, H. A. & Susman, T. M. (2004) Business uses of the Freedom of Information Act. Arlington, VA: Bureau of National Affairs.

Martin, G. Bray, R.S. & Kumar, M. (Eds.) (2015) Secrecy, law, and society. New York: Routledge.

Schudson, M. (2015) The rise of the right to know: politics and the culture of transparency, 1945-1975.  Cambridge:  Belknap Press.

Scholarly Articles:

Doshi, P., & Jefferson, T. (2016). Open data 5 years on: A case series of 12 freedom of information requests for regulatory data to the european medicines agency. Trials, 17(1) doi:10.1186/s13063-016-1194-7

Gunnlaugsdottir, J. (2016). Reasons for the poor provision of information by the government: Public opinion. Records Management Journal, 26(2), 185-205. doi:10.1108/RMJ-03-2015-0013

Liu, A. C. (2016). Two faces of transparency: The regulations of People’s republic of china on open government information. International Journal of Public Administration, 39(6), 492-503. doi:10.1080/01900692.2015.1018426

Mendel, T. (2016). The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act: How it Measures up Against International Standards and Other Laws. Communication Law & Policy, 21(4), 465-491. doi:10.1080/10811680.2016.1216685

Mohapatra, S. (2016). Right to information act, 2005 and privacy in public mental health sector in india. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 19, 23. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2015.11.011

Rodgers, M. A. (2016). Freedom of Information Act Requests Six Keys to Handling Them. Defense AT&L, 45(1), 50-52.

Vadlamannati, K. C., & Cooray, A. (2016). Transparency pays? evaluating the effects of the freedom of information laws on perceived government corruption. Journal of Development Studies, , 1-22. doi:10.1080/00220388.2016.1178385

Websites:

Ethics in Government Act

Digital National Security Archive

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act

FOIA Improvement Act of 2016

United States FOIA Resources

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act

IFLA

UNESCO 

 

 

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International Literacy Day!

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UNESCO Poster

 

“The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities, and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all.”

-UNESCO Director-General

September 8th, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day.  Established by UNESCO in 1966, International Literacy Day reflects the desire to increase global literacy rates, promote literacy as a tool for peace and positive change, and empower individuals to achieve their dreams. This year, UNESCO celebrates under the theme “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”, honoring the progress made toward global literacy, acknowledging current challenges, and discussing solutions that can be enacted across cultures and regions.

Global literacy is incorporated into many national and intergovernmental peace-building programs, including UNESCO’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the key goal of wiping out poverty, the international community identified education and literacy as valuable tools in the fight against economic inequality.  The Agenda specifically states, “ensur[ing] inclusive and equitable quality education and promot[ing] lifelong learning opportunities for all” is essential for true sustainable development.  2016 is the first year for 2030 Agenda implementation.

Literacy in a Technological Age

What role does technology play in literacy? Even though they increase our access to information, technological advances both help and hinder global literacy. With increased access, knowledge is always at our fingertips. This shift from print to digital eliminates geographic boundaries when attempting to access educational resources– that is, if we own the types of technology that can access it (phones, computers, tablets, etc.). Due to the increase in demand for digital materials, some basic literacy tools are only accessible electronically – thereby only accessible to those with enough monetary resources to purchase the technology that can access these digitized materials. The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) identifies this trend in the information services realm – a trend that no doubt favors more economically developed regions. IFLA acknowledges that access to information has and will continue to have profound impact on developments in the information economy.  According to the IFLA Trend Report,  “An ever-expanding digital universe will bring a higher value to information literacy skills like basic reading and competence with digital tools. People who lack these skills will face barriers to inclusion in a growing range of areas. The nature of new online business models will heavily influence who can successfully own, profit from, share, or access information in the future.”  Working with other interested organizations and individuals, this organization moved for the inclusion of these concepts in UNESCO’s Agenda.

For more information on the topic of literacy:

Scholarly Articles

Boughton, B. & Durnan, D. 2014. “Cuba’s ‘Yes, I Can’ mass adult literacy campaign model in Timor-Leste and Aboriginal Australia: A comparative study.” International Review of Education 60, no. 4: 559-580.

Duncan, Lynne G., Sarah P. McGeown, Yvonne M. Griffiths, Susan E. Stothard, and Anna Dobai. 2016. “Adolescent reading skill and engagement with digital and traditional literacies as predictors of reading comprehension.” British Journal Of Psychology 107, no. 2: 209-238.

Hanemann, Ulrike. 2015. “Lifelong literacy: Some trends and issues in conceptualising and operationalising literacy from a lifelong learning perspective.” International Review Of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift Für Erziehungswissenschaft 61, no. 3: 295-326.

Sharma, Ravi, Arul-Raj Fantin, Navin Prabhu, Chong Guan, and Ambica Dattakumar. 2016. “Digital literacy and knowledge societies: A grounded theory investigation of sustainable development.” Telecommunications Policy 40, no. 7: 628-643.

Sharp, Laurie A. 2014. “Literacy in the Digital Age.” Language And Literacy Spectrum 24, 74-85.

Books:

De Abreu, Belinha S. & Yildiz, Melda N. (eds.). 2016. Global media literacy in a digital age: teaching beyond borders. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Erstad, Ola & Sefton-Green, Julian (eds.). 2013. Identity, community, and learning lives in the digital age. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Rowsell, Jennifer. 2013. Working with multimodality: rethinking literacy in a digital age. London: Routledge.

Tyner, Kathleen R. 1998. Literacy in a digital world: teaching and learning in the age of information. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Welsh, Teresa S. & Wright, Melissa S. 2010. Information literacy in the digital age: an evidence-based approach.  Oxford, U.K: Chandos.

Web:

UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Agenda: http://en.unesco.org/education2030-sdg4

The First Stop for Education Data: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/default.aspx

Incheon Declaration Education 2030: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002338/233813M.pdf

Riding the Waves or Caught in the Tide: Insights from the IFLA Trend Report: http://trends.ifla.org/insights-document

IFLA Trend Report 2016 Update: http://trends.ifla.org/files/trends/assets/trend-report-2016-update.pdf

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World War I Remembrance – Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

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2014-08-01-tower-of-london-world-war-i-poppies-paul-cummins-01

The First World War began on July 28, 1914 and did not officially end until the signing of a ceasefire that went into effect on November 11, 1918 at 11:00 a.m.  Over the course of this time, 888,246 soldiers from Britain and its Commonwealth were killed in conflict.  To commemorate this loss, Paul Cummins and Tom Piper were commissioned to create this impressive installation of ceramic poppies flowing out of the Tower of London and into the surrounding moat.  To put this into perspective, 116,378 American military personnel were lost in this conflict. (Leland, 2010)

In the United States, Armistice Day was first officially commemorated in 1918 through a Presidential Proclamation by Woodrow Wilson.  In 1938 an Act was passed to create a legal holiday, Armistice Day.  In 1954 in the United States, the word “Armistice” was changed to “Veterans” in order to recognize the sacrifice of American soldiers involved in all conflicts.  After being designated as a federal holiday on the fourth Monday in November in 1961 as part of the Uniform Holiday Bill, the official celebration was changed back to the original date effective in 1978 .  For more on the history of this holiday in the United States, the Veterans Administration provides a brief History of Veterans Day.

This fall, the University of Illinois remembers “The Great War: Experience, Representations, Effects” with a calendar of events.  Come learn more about the War to End All Wars.

 

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Graduate Minor in Global Studies Information Sessions!

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Interested in expanding your disciplinary and professional vision as well as your job prospects? The Graduate Minor in Global Studies enables MA, PhD and professional school students to gain a deeper understanding of the processes of globalization. The Minor builds on students’ disciplinary and professional knowledge base to integrate their specialized skills within the broader intellectual, and public policy demands of the challenges confronting the world’s populations today.

Upcoming Student Information Sessions

For more information on the Graduate Minor and associated course
requirements, please attend one of the following informational meetings:

Thursday, September 11, 4-5 pm
Monday, September 15, 4-5 pm
Friday, September 19, 12-1 pm

All sessions will be held in Room 101 of the International Studies Building.

Refreshments will be served!

For more information contact:
Center for Global Studies
global-studies@illinois.edu * 217-265-5186

Visit our web site:
http://cgs.illinois.edu/global-studies-graduate-minor

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Copyright Week Sparks Discussion of Copyright in the Digital Age

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This week, in a campaign spearheaded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, numerous organizations including the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries are participating in Copyright Week. The campaign calls attention to the main challenges of copyright in the digital age, focusing on a different principle each day. These principles include “Transparency”, “Building and Defending a Robust Public Domain”, “Open Access”, “You Bought it, You Own it”, “Fair Use Rights”, and “Getting Copyright Right.” The goal of the campaign is to allow for the exchange of ideas and opinions on how to adjust copyright law for the digital age without infringing upon the free and open nature of the Internet.

These concepts have garnered an increasing amount of attention since the widespread internet protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) two years ago, and are still being debated by lawmakers in the US and around the world. While the public’s massive show of opposition against SOPA and PIPA in 2012 led legislators to reject the bills, the issues are far from settled. Dialogues such as the EFF’s Copyright Week are important in finding a way to regulate online piracy and protect copyrighted works without infringing on users’ rights or encumbering the Internet’s immense potential for spreading ideas and knowledge. This year will bring renewed efforts at passing anti-piracy laws, including a chapter in a huge international trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is reported to include new legislation on the subject. A robust and active discussion of copyright and its implications in the digital age is integral to ensuring that legislation remains transparent, fair, and productive for the future.

Stay informed about copyright law! These sources are a great starting point.

Websites:

Copyright Week Official Website

Electronic Frontier Foundation

World Intellectual Property Organization

ALA Washington Office Official Blog

IFLA on Copyright

Books from UIUC Libraries:

Brousseau, Eric., Marzouki, Meryem.Méadel, Cécile. (Eds.) (2012). Governance, regulations and powers on the Internet. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.

Burri, Mira,Cottier, Thomas. (Eds.) (2012). Trade governance in the digital age: World Trade Forum. New York : Cambridge University Press.

Seiter, William J., Seiter, Ellen. (2012). The creative artist’s legal guide: copyright, trademark, and contracts in film and digital media production. New Haven : Yale University Press.

Travis, Hannibal. (Eds.) (2013). Cyberspace law: censorship and regulation of the Internet. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge.

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Staff Spotlight – Elly Hanauer

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Ellie HanauerElly Hanauer is Associate Director at the Center for Global Studies. We talked to Elly about her job, her background, and her advice to students considering degrees and careers in Global Studies. Here’s what she had to say!

What is your job description? Can you tell me about what you do here?
I’m the Associate Director for the Center for Global Studies. Our overall mission is to globalize the research, teaching and outreach of the university, so it’s a very broad charge, and we do that primarily through funding and program development. We are designated as a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education through the International Foreign Language Education Program as part of their Post-Secondary Education Program. As a National Resource Center we fund a lot of faculty across campus, for example, course development projects that focus on interdisciplinary and global or trans-national policy topics. We specifically reach out to the professional schools on campus, and to encourage interdisciplinary work and collaboration across campus and between the various colleges on campus.  For example, we work with the Global Health Initiative to link faculty and students across disciplines working on global health issues. We also administer the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships through this grant. Additionally we develop and run a variety of programs separate from the Department of Education funding. Last year we were awarded a U.S. State Department grant from their Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to run a Study of the U.S. Institute for Secondary Educators. We bring a group of twenty to thirty mostly high-school educators from all over the world – everywhere from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan – to the Illinois campus for the Global Institute for Secondary Educators. During their time on campus the foreign educators attend lectures and workshops on American studies, U.S. culture, history, and society, and also to on pedagogy and curriculum development. We also develop programs for High School students, K-12 and community college educators. We recently developed and launched a summer workshop (one-credit course) for High School students in Global Studies.  In 2013 the workshop was on international human rights. This coming summer we’ll be focusing on environmental sustainability.

What is your favorite part about your job?
I love working with people from all over the world with programs like the Global Institute, and also getting to work with faculty, staff, and students across campus, so I’m not pigeonholed into one department or one area of the world. That’s been really interesting.

What brought you to Global Studies, and how did you choose this as a career?
My academic background, both my BA and MA, were in French. I did my Master’s in France, I studied abroad in France several times, and had always had a strong interest in foreign languages and cultural experiences in study abroad. When I came back from my Master’s, I started working at the Institute of International Education, which is a fairly large non-profit. I administered international scholarship, exchange and professional development programs. Over the years I worked a lot more on international development programs, and I ended up focusing on women’s issues, and working with women’s organizations in the Middle East promoting women’s leadership. I was there for about five years and I absolutely loved it, but I also missed the university environment, and I wanted to get back into that atmosphere.  I decided to go back to school for my PhD in International Education. My academic focus was still on France, and my dissertation, “The Discourse and Teaching of Immigration History in France: Negotiations of Terminology, Ideology and School Space” examines how the topic of immigration is addressed in French high schools. While I was working on my PhD I continued to work on international education programs, for example I worked on one of the State Department Study of the U.S. Institutes at New York University, so I was still keeping a foot into the administration of international programs. At the Center for Global Studies I really enjoy working as an academic professional, which bridges both academic inquiry and program management.

What would you say to a student who is considering a degree in Global Studies?
I would say, study abroad for a full year. I would say that they should definitely try to do an internship of some sort, to get some professional experience abroad as well as in this country to get a sense of what the workplace is like, but also to just figure out what you want to do. I know for me while I was in school I didn’t have any sense of  what I wanted to do professionally.  It was not until I had some internships and work experience that I was able to make those decisions. I would also definitely recommend to anyone who wants to go on to graduate study to also make sure you take some time to work in the real world to get that perspective and experience.

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