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Online lecture by Helen Shenton: The role of libraries in the dialogue
between academia and society (26 October, 5.15 p.m. GMT)
Zurich Central Library and the University Library of Zurich (UBZH)
invite you to an online lecture in the series “Books, data, rooms. The
University Library in the 21st century”.
Helen Shenton, Librarian & College Archivist (Trinity College Dublin)
The role of libraries in the dialogue between academia and society
26 October, 5.15 p.m. GMT
Zoom link:
https://uzh.zoom.us/j/69484671
Libraries can exercise a critical convening power, at the centre of
‘knowledge quarters’ in the community and as physical forums for public
debate at the inter-face between the academy and society. They can be
the touchpoint for exploring major interdisciplinary dialogue especially
in the digital realm. They can play an important role in the ‘soft power
of cultural diplomacy’, being in the vanguard of confronting difficult
international relations.They can catalyse dialogue in societies around
‘contested history’, creating virtual reconstructions of dispersed
material as a response to issues of restitution and repatriation.
In this talk, I will propose some ways how a university library can play
an active role in these developments and contribute to its university’s
objectives towards society. In doing so I draw on my dual experience as
a museum professional at the Victoria and Albert Museum and as a library
executive at the British Library, at Harvard University and at Trinity
College Dublin.
Arriving in Trinity College Dublin as Librarian and College Archivist in
summer 2014, I undertook wide and deep consultation as a key component
of the new Library Strategy. The Strategy assumes that ‘the Library is
the gateway and the entry route for many people into the University’ and
that there is ‘enormous potential for the Library to demonstrate the
opening of the University to the city and beyond.’
I will explore some current and emerging illustrations of these roles at
Trinity College Dublin. These will include the major Old Library
Redevelopment Project,new Book of Kells exhibition and publicly
available MOOC; the creation of the Virtual Trinity Library, which
is making the unique and distinct collections accessible to the world,
and includes the virtual recreation of historic collections; the
foundational partnership between the Library and the Trinity Long Room
Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute with an increasingly vocal
public engagement profile; and the role of the Library in projects
examining societal issue of contested history and colonial legacy.
More information:
https://www.zb.uzh.ch/de/event
