BCLA Making the Links Conference

["B. Patterson" <bpat@unixg.ubc.ca> (by way of Richard Hopkins <rhopkins@unixg.ubc.ca>)]

Making the Links: A Critical Look at Community and the Internet
5th Annual British Columbia Library Association Information Policy Conference 

March 20, 21, 22, 1997

Simon Fraser Downtown 
Harbour Centre Campus
515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Less than ten percent of the population have Internet access. And yet,
publicity about the Internet is everywhere. Governments and corporations
are promoting information technology as the solution to problems of
information access, education and communica tion. 

Making the Links will explore the impact of the Internet on libraries,
schools, and communities. How are social organizations using the Internet
to build communities and provide services to the public? How can libraries
maintain traditional services while providing new electronic resources? Can
schools and libraries maintain
their human qualities while policy makers move towards replacing staff
with computers? Can technology be used to increase the public good and
build strong, interpersonal communities? Which economic structures and
government policies interfere? Unequivocal policies are needed to ensure a
vibrant and active electronic space. Policy matters! 

Co-sponsors Aquelarre Latin American Women's Magazine, BC Coalition for
Information Access, BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, BC
Teachers' Federation, Canadian Women's Internet Association, December 9
Coalition, Rainbow BC, Simon Fraser University, U BC School of Library
Archival and Information Studies, Vancouver Community Network

Financial support gratefully acknowledged BC Information and Technology
Access Office, BC Teachers' Federation, Legal Services Society Resource
Centre, Simon Fraser University, UBC School of Library Archival and
Information Studies

Thursday Evening, March 20 6:00 - 7:30 pm Registration 

7:30 pm Dr. David Noble: Religion of Technology Dr. Noble is Professor of
History at York University and the author of Progress Without People: New
Technologies, Unemployment and the Message of Resistance, and the
forthcoming Religion of Technology: The Divinity of Man and the Spirit of
Invention.

FRIDAY MARCH 21
AM

8:00 -9:00	Registration

9:00 - 9:30 Brian Campbell: Policy Matters!  Brian Campbell is Chair,
Canadian Library Association Information Policy Task force; Chair the BC
Coalition for Information Access; a member of the BC Ministers' Advisory
Council on Information Technology; and Systems and Planning Director of
Vancouver Public Library

9:30 - 10:30	Stories from Cyberspace I
* Craig Maynard, Rainbow, BC
* Sandy Middleton, Literacy BC
* Jack Patterson, West End Seniors Network
* Persimmon Blackbridge, artist and user of on-line mental health groups

10:30 - 11:00	Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:00 Stories from Cyberspace II 

* Bernard Charles, Grand Chief of the Semiahmoo First Nations and
President of the Institute of Indigenous Government 
* Deb Thomas, Chief Librarian, Nelson Public Library 
* Lorena Jara, producer of America Latina al Dia, Co-op Radio 
* Geoff McMurchy, BC Coalition of People with Disabilities

12:00 - 1:00	Lunch

PM
1:00 - 2:15	Concurrent Panels
1.	Who controls the Internet?
* Hanson Lau, Executive Producer, CHMB AM1320
* Fatima Jaffer, co - co-ordinator of the South Asian Women's Centre and
Vancouver Status of Women co-ordinating collective member 
* TBA

2.	Arts On-line
* Thecla Schiphorst - co-curator, digital eARTH Transverse 			Worlds Web
Project; Instructor, Art and the Internet, Emily Carr School of Art and Design
* TBA

2:15 - 2:30	Break

2:30 - 3:45	Concurrent Panels
1.	Women and Access
* Lynn Hauka and Heather Gordon - Sunshine Coast Women's Centre
* Ellen Balka - Assoc. Professor, School of Communications, SFU
* The Honourable Sue Hammell, Minister of Women's Equality

2.	Access in the Community
* Penny Goldsmith, President, Vancouver Community Net
* John Rowlandson, President, Nechako Access Network
* Walter Sussel, Fraser Valley Community Information Society 

4:00 - 4:30	Jesse Hirsh, Information Activist
At 22, Hirsh is the director of the New Media Unit at the McLuhan Program in
Culture and Technology, and founder of TAO Communications. His interests
include examining the political, economic and social effects of convergence,
and the role of universal ac
cess in the redefinition of citizenship.


	SATURDAY, MARCH 22

AM 
9:00 - 10:15 Education: Challenges in the Networked Environment 

* Mary Bryson, Faculty of Education, UBC. "Gender, Educational Equity, and
New Information Technology"

* Robert Clift, Executive Director, Confederation of University Faculty
Associations of BC. "Brain Drain: Intellectual Activity in the Age of the
Internet" 

* Larry Kuehn, Director, Research and Technology, BC Teachers' Federation.
"A Critical Perspective on Technology in Education" 

* Judith Kootte, Past-President, BC. Teacher Librarians' Association. "The
Role of the Teacher-Librarian in the Age of the Internet" 

10:30 - 11:45	Libraries and Cyberspace

* Barbara Patterson, Librarian, Coquitlam Public Library
* Lynn Copeland, Manager, Library Systems, Simon Fraser University
* Jim Looney, Manager, Information Services and Technology, Library
Services Branch
* Shelagh Flaherty, Head, Business Division, Vancouver Public Library

11:45 - 12:30 Dr. Vincent Mosco 

Professor in the School of Journalism and Communications at Carleton
University, Dr. Mosco's most recent book is The Political Economy of
Communications: Rethinking and Renewal. He has served as a consultant to
governments in Canada and the United States and has also advised the
parties creating new telecommunications legislation for a post-apartheid
South Africa.


PM
12:30 - 1:30 	Lunch

1:30 - 1:45      Darrell Evans, Executive Director BC Freedom of
Information and Privacy Association "What are the Directions for the BC
Freedom of Information and Privacy Act?" 

1:45 - 2:45	Policies for Community Building
Small groups will pull together the issues from the various panels
regarding Community and the Internet and develop policy proposals for
community groups to pursue. 

2:45 - 3:30	Discussion Group Feedback
Report back from the discussion groups

3:30 - 3:45	Coffee Break

3:45 - 4:15 	Philip Halkett, Chief Information Officer An update on the
implementation of the BC. Electronic Highway Accord and an opportunity for
Philip Halkett to respond to the issues raised in the discussion groups. 

4:15 - 4:45 	Discussion on the Electronic Highway Accord An opportunity to
question Philip Halkett on the Electronic Highway Accord and issues of
public access and community building. 

4:45 - 5:00	Conference Wrap-Up

http://www.vcn.bc.ca/bcla-ip/links.html
BCLA, #110-6545 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby, BC V5H 1H3. (604) 430-9633 (ph);
(604) 430-8595 (fax)