On Wednesday, February 3rd, FIMS welcomed Alison Macrina, of the Library Freedom Project, for an exciting and provocative afternoon of events focused on information and data privacy and library practice. Macrina, an MLIS-trained librarian, is a Knight Foundation grant recipient who devotes her time and energies to training librarians – and their patrons – in using privacy-enhancing digital tools, such as encryption and Tor browser. Not only did Macrina give of her time in a panel discussion event, along with two other experts in their respective areas – datejie cheko green and Dr. Jacquelyn Burkell, both affiliated with FIMS – but she provided a hands-on workshop for over 30 participants made up of FIMS students, staff and faculty. Both panel and workshop saw a full house of eager FIMS and wider community members.
Macrina’s visit sparked a great deal of interest among FIMS’ LIS students, who are using the momentum generated by the special day and visit to continue to program around information privacy and security issues – from technical, policy and LIS-specific perspectives. Staff members Matt Ward, of the IT department, and GRC Librarian Marni Harrington will be supporting these efforts with their time, resources and expertise. We look forward to seeing the continued dialogue, led by student interest and supported by FIMS faculty, staff and the broad community of experts and enthusiasts that Alison has connected us to. Thank you, Alison, for your visit!
Below, please find video of the panel discussion, featuring Alison, datejie and Jacquelyn.