Lectures and conferences

Critical Thinking Lectures and conferences

Notes from Sage’s 2023 Critical Thinking & Artificial Intelligence Boot Camp

Today, I’m participating in the Sage’s 2023 Critical Thinking (CT) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) Boot Camp. My notes and thoughts brought to you live. The presentation is being recorded and will be posted soon on the Boot Camp’s page on the Sage website.

Keynote Dr. Leo Lo

First up is Dr. Leo Lo – providing an engaging keynote about the roles of librarians in the conversation about AI and CT on campus, balancing enthusiasm and caution around the uncertainty as the field grows. The goal is to position librarians as the place on campus to bring faculty and students together, with an eye on employability. Focus on empowerment & try different things.

Critical skills include:

  • Analytical thinking & prompt engineering
  • AI literacy, notably around capabilities & limits of AI
  • Ethical reasoning around core values & principles
  • Continuous learning

Roles of librarians:

  • Resource curators
  • AI Advocates
  • Libraries as campus collaborative hubs (spaces, devise & promote best practices)
  • Ethics discussion leaders

Recent paper:

Lo, L. S. (2023). The CLEAR path: A framework for enhancing information literacy through prompt engineering. Journal of Academic Librarianship49(4), [102720]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102720

Source: Sage 2023 Boot Camp

First Panel – Critical Thinking

J. Michael Spector highlights the importance of John Dewey’s How we think (1910, 2011) in learning by experience, especially at the onset on a student’s career – in middle school.

Madeleine Mejia offers a powerful analysis of using technology in CT, leveraging many thinkers such as Facione (1990). See her recent article:

Mejia, M., & Sargent, J. M. (2023). Leveraging Technology to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking Skills. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 51(4), 393–418. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472395231166613

Source: Sage 2023 Boot Camp

Raymond Pun proposes many concrete ideas for curating a learning experience around CT & AI. Here is a good list of ethical issues to consider with AI by Raymond Pun:

2nd Panel – mis/dis-information

Altay, S., Berriche, M., & Acerbi, A. (2023). Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges. Social Media + Society9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221150412

Source: Sage 2023 Boot Camp chat

Dan Chibnall, STEM Librarian, Drake University: fact checking is a proactive approach, not reactive. Truth, noise – ChatGPT will exacerbate the problem. Beware of offloading CT and learning to these tools. Cognitive biases and confirmation bias… and the loss of discovery (auto pilot of letting the tools doing the work).

Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, Mike Caulfield, Washington State University Vancouver, 2019, https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/454

Source: Open Textbook Library

Richard Wood, associate professor of practice at the Norton School of Human Ecology, University of Arizona. Critical thinking requires a lot of energy, your brain is mobilized in ways many find uncomfortable. The ladder of abstraction (deconstruct statements), enthymeme (Aristote), evidence to support premises: how to approach claims. Science does not “prove” it provides insight and evidence toward a consensus.

Brooklyne Gipson, assistant professor of communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Teaches race and gender issues. Alternate epistemologies, mindfulness of this space. Acknowledge that differences may be socialized from one’s past and are a key component of identity. LLMs and GPTs simply regurgitate variations of what is said, no fact checking. Engaged pedagogy. Rooted in social media space, acknowledge media literacy and bias as a shifting dimension.

Richard Rosen, retired professor of practice and chair of the Personal and Family Financial Planning program at the University of Arizona. Bill Gates: AI is probably the biggest development in computing since the personal computer. Endemic cheating. Early 1980s: calculators enter colleges. Do AI make up facts? Are AI and search engines the same? Lawyer in Texas using ChatGPT to look for case law & hallucinations. Use but verify. Facts vs opinions. Find the source.

3rd Panel – what students want from AI and what they want you to know

Sarah Morris, librarian & PhD student. Finish an assignment asap. Understanding AI: opportunities, challenges, limitations. Points of interest: AI literacy; possibilities/limitations; Policy issues; algorithmic literacy = dealing with assumptions and identifying knowledge gaps. Job prospects; lifelong learning; ways to connect to lived experiences of students.

Brady Beard, reference and instruction librarian at Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Humans in the loop of the information landscape. Looking for hallucinated citations and sources. Generative AI is not absolutely novel in many ways considering recent developments. Librarians are non-evaluative contributors to the learning experience, it is easier to be truthful about one’s approaches to their work. Reframe conversations about plagiarism and academic integrity: this is not the way forward as these tools have great promise for the future. Adjust our assessments (e.g.: oral examination in a Zoom call). These systems are not magic… using the term “hallucination” places agency in algorithms that they don’t have. What are the costs of these systems and tools.

I am sorry to miss the end of this Boot Camp as I have another commitment. Apologies to Hannah Pearson, fiction writer and Anne Lester, graduate student, for missing their presentations.

Concordia University Lectures and conferences

Researching business plans and projects – District 3 & eMBA version

When researching or launching a new business, information about industries, markets or competitors can be invaluable. In this session, we will cover resources from the Internet as well as licensed market and industry intelligence databases available from Concordia University Library. This is a workshop adapted from the “Entrepreneurship”  course at the John Molson School of Business.

Learning objectiveS

  • Locate industry and market reports from the Internet and the Library
  • Understand how to use datasets from Statistics Canada (Census & Cansim) and other national agencies
  • Develop a healthy information diet

Course Outline

1. Know your industry: reports from IBIS Wrold; SME Benchmarking; Mergent Intellect
2. Using Google for business research: trade associations & governments
3. Statistics Canada for entrepreneurs: Census & CANSIM
4. Reading up on your idea & staying up to date with articles

Course content

0. Where does information come from?

1. Know your industry – look up industry codes (NAICS)
2. Using Google for business research (governments & trade associations)
  • Find trade associations with Google
    • They post a lot of industry/market information on their websites
    • Trade shows, reports, analysis, press releases, lawsuits, white papers, directories, interviews, newsletters… is there a bias?
    • Watch the video for this step
  • Find government information with Google’s advanced search
    • Most government websites follow a standardized format for their addresses
    • Governments study and regulate many topics relevant for new business
    • Example: 2017 Communications Monitoring Report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Government Level Example of “Site/domain” Tip
Municipal .ville.montreal.qc.ca Look for “Montréal en statistiques” page for information for boroughs
Provincial .gouv.qc.ca The province deals with mainly: health, education, welfare, culture, agriculture/food…
“Federal” .gc.ca

.gov

europa.eu

Always check for reports from Industry Canada at site:.ic.gc.ca
International un.org

or other agency

Agencies affiliated with the United Nations have their own website
3. Statistics Canada for entrepreneurs
4. Reading up on your idea & staying up to date with articles

Concordia University Library’s Business Research Portal:
http://www.concordia.ca/library/guides/business.html
Concordia University Copyright Lectures and conferences

What’s up with Canadian Copyright? (new edition)

I just gave a lecture about copyright called: What’s up with Canadian Copyright? Click here to download the PowerPoint presentation.

It uses the excellent NFB documentary by Brett Gaylor called: RIP! A remix manifesto. See also the movie’s page here.

This is a similar lecture to the one I delivered in February 2013 in prof. Tagny Duff’s Intermedia class at Concordia University’s Scholl of Communication Studies.

It is part of a playlist of videos on YouTube, including one on Creative Commons and the user generated content exception. Here are the 6 videos in a single playlist:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPnbsfC0rE?list=PLaqfn26UOsX-jloDaE72pOxPxwySoiT_-&w=560&h=315]
Additional reading materials:

– Read the legislative summary for bill C-11 by the Library of Parliament. (in general, it is a great idea to find these legislative summaries, the Library of the Parliament of Canada usually issues these for most laws).

– The “CCH” supreme court case (on fair dealings): CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13, [2004] 1 SCR 339
Read the first dozen pages for a great introduction to Canadian Copyright. On fair dealings, start with paragraph 48, which reads :

48 Before reviewing the scope of the fair dealing exception under the Copyright Act, it is important to clarify some general considerations about exceptions to copyright infringement. Procedurally, a defendant is required to prove that his or her dealing with a work has been fair; however, the fair dealing exception is perhaps more properly understood as an integral part of the Copyright Act than simply a defence. Any act falling within the fair dealing exception will not be an infringement of copyright. The fair dealing exception, like other exceptions in the Copyright Act, is a user’s right. In order to maintain the proper balance between the rights of a copyright owner and users’ interests, it must not be interpreted restrictively. As Professor Vaver, supra, has explained, at p. 171: “User rights are not just loopholes. Both owner rights and user rights should therefore be given the fair and balanced reading that befits remedial legislation.”

On the 5 Supreme Court copyright cases delivered during the Summer of 2012, please access the Canadian Legal Information Institute’s website for the free full-text version of these rulings:

2012-07-12 Re:Sound v. Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada, 2012 SCC 38, [2012] 2 SCR 376
2012-07-12 Alberta (Education) v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), 2012 SCC 37, [2012] 2 SCR 345
2012-07-12 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Bell Canada, 2012 SCC 36, [2012] 2 SCR 326
2012-07-12 Rogers Communications Inc. v. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 35, [2012] 2 SCR 283
2012-07-12 Entertainment Software Association v. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 34, [2012] 2 SCR 231

How to analyse a copyright issue (in French) :

Comment utiliser une oeuvre protégée par le droit d'auteur ?

Comment utiliser une oeuvre protégée par le droit d’auteur ?

Lectures and conferences Research

75 academic librarian conferences

Mark Weiler had an awesome idea. As a member of the UWO Student Chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL), he posted a message to our mailing list (I am a member of CAPAL) and asked us to send him the list of conferences we attend. A few weeks later, the list includes about 75 mouth-watering conferences, enough to send you around the world a few times.

Mark has very graciously and generously allowed me to post the list here. As he says:

“I think it’s a list for academic librarians to reflect on — a kind of starting point which librarians can use to advance the profession in important directions. “

Well said ! If you have additional conferences, please feel free to add them to the comments section of this post!

Conference List
International Center of Medieval Art
Leeds International Medieval Congress
ABC Copyright
Access
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) – Conference
American Chemical Society (Chemical Information Division) – Conference
American Educational Research Association
American Library Association (ALA) – Conference
American Psychological Association
American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies (ASECS)
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) (Engineering Libraries Division) Conference
American Theological Libraries Association (ATLA)
Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA):
Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC): http://www.arsc-audio.org/conference/
Association of College and Research Libraries – Conference
Atlantic Provinces Libraries Association – Conference
BC Library Association
BookCampTO, hosted by the Canadian Book Professionals’ Association, which has a solid librarian presence, albeit usually more in the public library sphere: http://bookcampto.org/
Canadian Association of Legal Librarians (CALL) – Conference
Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres (CAML). Now held annually with Congress: http://www.yorku.ca/caml/drupal/?q=en/conferences
Canadian Association of University Teachers (committee meetings)
Canadian Association of University Teachers, Librarians’ Conference
Canadian Economics Association
Canadian Engineering Education Association
Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference
Canadian Library Association Conference
Canadian Society for the Study of Education
Centre for African American History – Conferences
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto
Charleston Conference
Computers in Libraries
Distance Library Services Conference (formerly Off-Campus Library Services conference).
Distance Teaching and Learning Conference
Educause
Electronic Resources in Libraries
Evidence-based Library Information Practice (EBLIP) Conference
Federated Computing Research Conference
Guelph Accessibility Conference
Handheld Librarian Online Conference
Hawaii International Conference on Education
International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres (IAML)
International Association of Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) Conference
International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA)
International Congress on Medieval Studies
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
International Leadership Association Conference
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
Internet Librarian
Joint Conference of Librarians of Color
Librarians Conference – Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)
Library Assessment Conference
Library Association of Alberta (Conference)
Library Orientation Exchange (LOEX)
Music Library Association (MLA)
Netspeed
North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG)
Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services
Ontario Chemistry Librarians’ Workshop (no website)
Ontario College and University Libraries Association
Ontario Library Association – Superconference
Patent Information Users Group (PIUG) – Conference
Shanghai International Library Forum (SILF)
Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues
Society for Teaching and learning in Higher Education (STHLE)
Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP)
Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques
Special Libraries Association (SLA) – Conference
Timberline http://www.acquisitionsinstitute.org/
Tri-University Group (Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, and Guelph) Conference
TRY – Toronto/Ryerson/York Conference
University of Toronto’s Internal technology conference: Techknowfile
Upstate New York Science Librarians
Visual Resource Association conference
Workshop on Instruction in Library Use (WILU)
World Library and Information Congress (WLIC)

 
 
Interestingly, this could be the start of an interesting research project. For example, I notice that some of the conferences are held by library-related groups (IFLA, CLA, ALA…) while others are from other fields. Why is that? Is it related to the field of interest of the librarian (social sciences librarian will prefer library-conferences or domain-conferences)? Or perhaps the location of a librarians home institution (Ontario librarians will just naturally gravitate to the OLA super-conference). Or does it have to do with the timing or location of the conference (Paris in the Spring anyone)?

In any case, enjoy the list and thanks again to Mark!

Copyright Lectures and conferences

Copyright a contrario – CDACI Lecture series, Université de Montréal

Here is the video of a lecture in English I gave yesterday at Université de Montréal’s Centre du droit des affaires et du commerce International. I also pasted below the abstract and the poster of the event :

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3GBJPTcf4M&w=640&h=360]

Copyright, caught in a digital maelstrom of perpetual reform and shifting commercial practices, exacerbates tensions between cultural stakeholders. On the one hand, copyright seems to be drowned in Canada and the USA by the role reserved to exceptions by the legislature and the courts granted to certain institutions. On the other, these institutions, such as libraries, are keen to navigate digital environments by allocating their acquisitions budgets to digital works.

Beyond the paradigm shifts brought by digital technologies, one must recognize the conceptual paradox surrounding digital copyrighted works. In economic terms, they behave naturally as public goods, while copyright attempts to restore their rivalrousness and excludability. Within this paradox lies tension, between the aggregate social wealth spread by a work and its commoditized value, between network effects and reserved rights. How can markets emerge if we are not able to resolve this tension?

After discussing some theoretical aspects described above, this paper will attempt to cast new light on user rights (as posited by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004) and other emerging concepts in copyright. In particular, the making available right will be analysed from the perspective of the library community. The goal is to express how libraries can fit in a distribution chain of cultural products through the two copyright tools at their disposal: licences/limitations and exceptions.

Concordia University Information literacy Lectures and conferences Open education

Talking at the e.Scape conference today

I will be giving my talk shortly this morning at the e.Scape conference at Concordia University on the topic of :
The unexpected journey from a 60 minute lecture to a MOOC: a librarian’s mid-way report
I’ll be talking about how my use of technology has changes my professional practice.
I’ll briefly discuss MOOCs also, positioning them as the extreme end of the elearning continuum – both in terms of structure and pace. More on MOOCs here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc&w=560&h=315]
Mostly, I’ll discuss my training videos as well as the development of a business information literacy curriculum as part of my employment, most of which are in various stages as pilot projects or drafts.

Concordia University Lectures and conferences

Open Access debate tomorrow

Access to knowledge SCPA event 2013-03-12 Here is the poster for a debate I am participating in tomorrow from 6PM to 8PM at Concordia University’s Bronfman Center:

Concordia University
School of Community and Public Affairs
Concordia to Hold Panel Discussion on Open Access to Intellectual Property and Collective Rights Management in Canada

MONTREAL, March 12th, 2013, 18h00-20h00. The School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University, will host a panel discussion on open access to intellectual property and collective rights issues. With the recent passing of Bill C-11 by the Federal government and various proposed bills in the United States that enhance copyright law, this topic has garnered much attention in recent years. Advocates for limited copyright restrictions believe that easier access benefits education and research, while opponents argue that without clear and concrete regulation, this will result in a significant loss of revenue for creators and publishers. The event will feature five panelists from both sides of the spectrum. This discussion will take place on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Concordia University’s Samuel Bronfman building, located at 1590 Dr. Penfield. A small reception will follow the discussion.

Concordia’s School of Community and Public Affairs is one that has implanted itself deeply into the Montreal community and for decades has been at the forefront of public affairs, community concerns, policy evaluation, and has presented an environment for discussion, debate, and discourse on all related matters. The School is sending an open invitation to all students and faculty from the Concordia community and neighboring universities, as well as the general public and all media to take part in this event and to contribute to the discussion in order to educate and inform the public about the current debate.

Panelists for this event include; MP Charmaine Borg, NDP Digital Affairs Critic; Dr. David Lametti, professor and researcher for McGill University’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy; Mr. Olivier Charbonneau, librarian for Concordia University; Me. Frédérique Couette, Legal Counsel for Copibec; and Mr. Philip Cercone, Executive Director of McGill-Queen’s University Press. Moderator: Me. Jonathan Levinson, Executive Director Institutional Planning and Analysis, Concordia University.

There is no admission fee, but places are limited.

The Facebook page of this event contains additional information.

Concordia University Lectures and conferences

My presentation for the e-Scape

Here is my proposed lecture for the e-Scape Conference at Concordia University:

1. Presentation Title:
The unexpected journey from a 60 minute lecture to a MOOC: a librarian’s mid-way report

2. A 100-word description of the session
Information Literacy can be understood as the curriculum Librarians must curate without a classroom. Traditionally, this has meant organising library services as well as in-class lectures to advise students on research skills and strategies. But two factors have moved me to explore a new approach. Firstly, the Internet and open education offer incredible opportunities to disseminate knowledge and collaborate with colleagues worldwide. Secondly, as one of the Business Librarians working closely with the John Molson School of Business, my community is broad and their needs are as deep as their passion for their field. In order to meet this challenge, I’ve implemented a series of training videos in order to test a new curriculum deployment strategy.

3. One to three learning objectives for the session
Determine the resource implications of designing a MOOC, in terms of effort (time), technology and skill
Evaluate the relevance of the MOOC model for one’s teaching

4. A bio about you, between 75 and 100 words
As an Associate Librarian at Concordia University, Olivier Charbonneau is primarily interested in copyright issues as well as questions of open access and social media (Web 2.0). He is a doctoral student at the Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal. He has over 15 years of professional involvement in library and cultural communities. He holds two masters degrees from Université de Montréal, one in information sciences and another in law, as well as an undergraduate degree in commerce from McGill University. He has kept a research blog since 2005 in French at www.culturelibre.ca and a work blog since 2011 in English at OutFind.ca.

Lectures and conferences

e-Scape: the eLearning conference at ConcordiaU

Concordia University (my employer) is organizing a conference on eLearning from April 3th to the 5th 2013:

President Alan Shepard will kick off the three-day conference with some remarks speculating on the impact of e-learning on the future of universities. The program will also showcase the wide spectrum of online, hybrid, and technology-supported teaching formats already adopted by faculty at Concordia and will feature visits from leading figures in the field, who will present keynote speeches.
[…]
Organizers of the e-Scape conference are hoping a series of plenary sessions will facilitate lively discussion about the pedagogical merits of technology tools in a relatively casual setting. The program will also provide faculty with the latest research findings on how to integrate new technologies to enhance the classroom experience.

Among the topics to be tackled: incorporating wireless student reponse systems, also known as “clickers”; successfully engaging students in massive open online courses or “MOOCs”; and integrating multimedia elements and social media to best effect in teaching.
[…]

I’ll probably present my business information literacy vidoes then…

Also worth a peek, this slide deck from Concordia’s interim provost on e-learning:
20130226-082735.jpg

Full presentation: http://www.concordia.ca/now/docs/e-learning_Feb2013.pdf