2022‑2023 Lectures

The 2023 Dalhousie-Horrocks National Leadership Lecture 

Rita Tjien Fooh
Director of the National Archives Suriname

Perspectives from the global south (Suriname) on archival repatriation: challenges and opportunities

Monday, February 13th, 2023
5:30pm (Atlantic Standard Time - AST)
Online

Event Details (registration closed)

• Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqWos_LwDFE
• Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1860776507589931

Respondent (providing a brief interactive response to the lecture): Ir. Arjan Agema from the National Archives of the Netherlands

Endorsed by: Association of Canadian Archivists, International Council on Archives (Expert Group on Shared Archival Heritage), Library & Archives Canada, Nova Scotia Archives.

Abstract: Over the past five decades there has been a  growing consciousness  among archival institutions from the global south that the construction of their history and identity were based on the sources and narratives compiled by former colonial powers. The dominant storyline and perspectives in the archival sources were determined by the entity who held the power at that time. Access to these archival sources that are held in the repositories in Europe, USA , Canada and other countries are therefore of utmost importance for researchers and institutions in order to decolonize the archives . At the same time local acquisitions and recordings of oral history  are  important methods  for institutions to  control their own narratives and move beyond sources of the colonial archives.  In my presentation I will elaborate on the archival collaboration between the National Archives Suriname and the Netherlands, with a focus on the repatriation of colonial archives between 2010 and 2017 and the various projects both institutions undertook since then.  In addition, this lecture will also be centered around subjects linked to fostering archival collaboration with regional and international archival institutions and organisations, initiating conversations about best practices, and the role of archives in reparatory justice.  Lastly, in the age of repatriation of paper archives and digital collaboration, the global south is becoming increasingly dependent on hosting in the global north where different regulations apply with regard to open access, free reuse of archives, etc. How will this increasing sphere of influence of the global north affect the future of digital heritage?  

Speaker Bio: Rita Tjien Fooh is currently the Director of the National Archives Suriname. Since taking office as national archivist in 2010, she was involved in a seven year project (2010- 2017) for the repatriation of the colonial archives from the Netherlands to Suriname. This project is considered to be one of the large successful repatriation project on international level. She is member of the Foundation for the Historical Database Suriname and Curacao (HDSC) that was launched in 2018 after the successful implementation of the database of the enslaved people. Furthermore she serves in various national committees for the preservation of cultural heritage.

Mrs. Tjien Fooh is also actively involved in regional and international professional organizations. From 2015- 2019 she was  the President of the Caribbean Branch of the International Council on Archives (CARBICA).  During her CARBICA presidency she launched a three year project (2016- 2018) 'Archives at Risk: Advocacy & Capacity building in the Caribbean', a project funded by the International Council on Archives (ICA). In her capacity as CARBICA President she represented the Caribbean region in the Executive Board of the ICA.  Until recently (2021) Mrs. Tjien Fooh served the ICA in various roles. From 2015- 2017 she was the President of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program for the Latin American and Caribbean Region. Since January 2018 she was appointed by the Secretary General of the UNESCO, as a member of International Advisory Committee (IAC) of  the Memory of the World Programme of the UNESCO. Currently Mrs. Tjien Fooh is a part time lecturer at the History Department of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. She is still actively involved in projects related to the preservation and safeguarding of the Caribbean cultural heritage.  In her role as co-chair of the Caribbean Heritage Emergency Network (CHEN) she is currently preparing a project to launch a Caribbean hub for Cultural Emergency response in 2023. Rita Tjien Fooh holds a Archivistiek A degree from the University of Amsterdam and a Master degree in Public Administration from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam.

Following the lecture, the Dalhousie-Horrocks National Leadership Fund will be presented to MI student, Maddie Hare. This Fund was established in 2007 to honour Dr. Norman Horrocks, OC, PhD, FCLIP (1927-2010) for his outstanding leadership in the field of librarianship in North America, Australia, and Europe. Over several decades Dr. Horrocks, former Director of the School of Information Management and Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University, pursued a distinguished career of very active involvement in professional associations in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia, the United States, and Canada. His many contributions, for which he received local, national and international recognition, have advanced the field and the careers of countless individuals. The fund supports a scholarship and an associated lecture series through an endowment donated by the many former students, colleagues, friends and admirers of Norman Horrocks.

Respondent Bio: Ir. Arjan Agema is head of the Digitization department of the National Archives of the Netherlands and member of the management team. His team digitizes 1700 meters of archive every year. He is also responsible for the International Heritage Cooperation-program which emphasizes cooperation, exchange of (digital) collections and capacity building with a number of priority countries with special relations with the Netherlands. Since 2015 he is president of the board of Archives Portal Europe Foundation and he is a member of the ICA Expert group on shared archival heritage (EGSAH). Being educated as a non-western rural sociologist, Agema has work in development cooperation, and has had several leading positions in museums and archival institutions.

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Abstract

Scientometric approaches have been proposed as robust and large-scale alternatives to measure the mobility flows of academic researchers. In this presentation a reflection about the current and potential scientometric developments to study academic mobility will be introduced, with the aim of stimulating discussions about next steps in the future development of scientometric indicators and analytics on academic mobility worldwide.

Date: Jul 21, 2022 3:00 PM — 4:00 PM

Location: Rowe 3089, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2

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Abstract

Altmetric research is still (for the most part) driven by authors comparing citations and social media event numbers. Social Media Metrics (Altmetrics) v2.0 looks to go beyond basic counts and investigate the users consuming and disseminating science on social media, which entails investigating user interaction using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In this presentation, I will share work in progress investigating Reddit and StackExchange. On these two platforms, we can investigate more rich conversation threads where science is being shared and examine how, (potentially) why, who, and where science is being discussed. In addition, I will introduce our new OpenAlt platform!

Date: Jul 28, 2022 3:00 PM — 4:00 PM

Location: Rowe 3089, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2

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Abstract

Classic approaches to topic models produce clusters of documents using word co-occurrence frequencies. While these approaches are useful they don’t always align with clusters that are meaningful to humans since they don’t understand words used in different senses, underweight domain specific terminology, and don’t capture latent semantics in texts. Additionally, topic labels tend to be a bundle of words that don’t align with how humans understand topics. In this talk, we will provide an overview of contemporary approaches to topic modeling that leverage language models to produce clusters and generate meaningful topic clusters. This talk focuses on practical application and comparison of various methods to produce topics for groups of citation statements.

Date: Aug 18, 2022 3:00 PM — 4:00 PM

Location: Rowe 1014, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2

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Abstract

Evidence-based practice is an important aspect of health science librarianship. However, good evidence-based practice can only occur if the body of evidence is also of adequate quality. By using bibliometric techniques to map the health science librarianship research field, one can better understand the affordances towards evidence-based practice it can provide. By using bibliometric techniques to map the health science librarianship research field, one can better understand the affordances towards evidence-based practice it can provide. The ‘Library Literature & Information Science Full Text’ database was used to generate a bibliography of publications pertaining to health librarianship limited to the time span of 2012 – 2022. Using Excel and Microsoft Power BI, a descriptive analysis was conducted. VosViewer was used to create a subject term co-occurrence map.The average number of publications per year is 207.3 and it was trending downwards for 2012 – 2022. The most frequently assigned subject term was “survey. The average number of authors per paper is 2.5 and was trending upwards. The subject term co-occurrence map identified 5 clusters of keywords. which were interpreted as major themes found in the body of literature. A descriptive analysis was conducted. VosViewer was used to create a subject term co-occurrence map. The 5 keyword clusters were interpreted as major themes found in the body of literature. The identified themes were professional development, measuring the value output of librarian services, measuring the return on investment of library resources, improving the quality of LIS research, and outreach to other library and healthcare institutions. This depicts the health science librarianship research landscape as one of collaboration, concerned with finding ways of demonstrating value, and connecting with other types of libraries and the public.Evidence-based practice is an important aspect of health science librarianship. However, good evidence-based practice can only occur if the body of evidence is also of adequate quality. By using bibliometric techniques to map the health science librarianship research field, one can better understand the affordances towards evidence-based practice it can provide. The ‘Library Literature & Information Science Full Text’ database was used to generate a bibliography of publications pertaining to health librarianship limited to the time span of 2012 – 2022. A descriptive analysis was conducted. VosViewer was used to create a subject term co-occurrence map. The subject term clusters identified by the software depicted 5 themes in the literature: professional development, measuring the value output of librarian services,measuring the return on investment of library resources, improving the quality of LIS research, and outreach to other library and healthcare institutions.

Date: Sep 15, 2022 5:30 PM — 6:30 PM

Location: Rowe 1014, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2

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Abstract

When scientific researchers are sufficiently resourced to conduct their research and communicate their findings, the knowledge produced can underpin technology and policy outcomes related to the environment and society. However, interference with the research process and knowledge exchange of results has been observed in several countries, particularly for environmental researchers. This study reviews the history of interference in science in Canada and offers a definition of the term interference in science. To understand the prevalence and impacts of interference, researchers in the environmental studies and sciences in Canada were surveyed. The results indicate that these researchers seem overall better able to conduct and communicate their work than in the past decade, however, the high prevalence of ongoing interference remains a cause for concern. Considering the potentially severe consequences of interference for the well-being of researchers, science communication, and democratic governance, I recommend solutions to limit interference and improve knowledge exchange.

Date: Oct 13, 2022 3:00 PM — 4:00 PM

Location: Rowe 3001

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Abstract

Classic approaches to topic models produce clusters of documents using word co-occurrence frequencies. While these approaches are useful they don’t always align with clusters that are meaningful to humans since they don’t understand words used in different senses, underweight domain specific terminology, and don’t capture latent semantics in texts. Additionally, topic labels tend to be a bundle of words that don’t align with how humans understand topics. In this talk, we will provide an overview of contemporary approaches to topic modeling that leverage language models to produce clusters and generate meaningful topic clusters. This talk focuses on practical application and comparison of various methods to produce topics for groups of citation statements.

Date: Oct 27, 2022 3:00 PM — 4:00 PM

Location: Rowe 3089, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2

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Abstract: The Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002) initially advocated for a new generation of Open Access (OA) journals that would find alternative sources of funding rather than subscription fees to ensure readers’ free and unrestricted access to scientific literature. However, author fees or article processing charges (APCs) have become one of the most widely adopted sources of funding by the OA journals that now dominate the publishing landscape, ultimately contributing to heightening inequalities among researchers. Diamond OA, a community-based non-commercial OA model in which scientific publications are free for both authors and readers, is generally considered a journal-based alternative to APCs. Despite concerns about their quality, sustainability, and overall lower scale and output compared to APC-based and closed journals, diamond journals are generally considered essential for local and underprivileged research communities. However, their lack of indexing in major bibliographic databases such as Web of Science and Scopus remains a challenge in assessing their uptake, contributing to the negative perceptions associated with them. OpenAlex, a new fully open index of scholarly communications based on an aggregation of data from various sources, could potentially be leveraged for the assessment of various aspects of diamond OA journals and papers, such as their relative impact and their distribution across languages, disciplines, regions, income groups, and collaboration patterns at a scale never studied before. This presentation aims to provide a global picture of the current state of adoption and impact of diamond OA based on their coverage in various data sources.

Date: Nov 3, 2022 3:00 PM — 4:00 PM

Location: Rowe 3089, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2