Our knowledge systems exclude many perspectives because legacies of injustice are built into their foundations. Racism, colonialism, and other forms of discrimination limit whose voices are heard, whose interests are prioritized, and whose knowledge counts. Openness can create pathways to more equitable systems of knowledge sharing; however, in pursuing this potential, it is important to explicitly recognize the ways these inequities are built into the foundations of academic systems.

To help situate the work of opening up research and education within this essential context, SPARC will host a discussion series to provide an introduction to broad concepts and considerations of epistemic injustice and knowledge equity in the areas of academic libraries and archives. These discussions will examine how universities, and thus academic libraries, are rooted in oppressive systems like white supremacy, racism, and settler colonialism, and how that is connected to our current work in libraries.

In the first panel of this series, we will be joined by the speakers below for a 60-minute discussion on the roots of libraries, archives, and academic institutions in slavery and anti-Black racism.

• Dorothy Berry, Digital Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Dr. Kirt von Daacke, Assistant Dean and Professor, Department of History, University of Virginia
• Dr. Shaundra Walker, Director of the Ina Dillard Russell Library, Georgia College & State University
• Moderator: Kanishka Sikri, PhD Candidate, York University and Research Associate, Knowledge Equity Lab

To assist participants in building their understanding of topics explored in these webcasts, we are collaborating with Sofia Leung to provide resources for hosting local accountability & unlearning study groups as a part of this series. These resources will be provided to participants ahead of the discussions and will be made available online.

Anyone is welcome to register for this discussion. A recording will be made available the following day for those who are not able to join live. We also encourage the community to use the recordings and study group resources to participate on whatever schedule is most convenient—even if that is after the series itself has ended.

Our recent community calls have done a deep dive into concerns about staffing levels dedicated to scholarly communications that emerged during COVID. During this month's call on July 14th at 1pm ET / 10am PT, we'll bring our collections strategy for FY23 into this conversation. What are your current collection priorities? Did your organization realize any opportunities for reinvestment? Are those opportunities being directed to staff or other priorities?

Publisher perspectives:

• Anthony Cond, Chief Executive, Liverpool University Press
• Emily Poznanski, Director, Central European University Press
• Amy Harris, Senior Manager, Library Relations and Sales, MIT Press
• Charles Watkinson, Director, University of Michigan Press

Author perspectives:

• Tomasz Kamusella, Reader, School of History, University of St. Andrews
• Sofia Leung, Do Better, Be Better LLC
• Miguel Escobar Varela, Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies, National University of Singapore

Library perspectives:

• April Hathcock, Director of Scholarly Communications & Information Policy, New York University
• Denise Pan, Associate Dean of University Libraries for Collections and Content, University of Washington
• Luke Vilelle, University Librarian, Hollins University
• Kate McCready, Interim Associate University Librarian for Collections & Content Services, University of Minnesota

This event is a public lecture component of the Knowledge Equity and Justice Spring Seminar.

Anasuya Sengupta is Co-Director and co-founder of Whose Knowledge?, a global multilingual campaign to centre the knowledges of marginalised communities (the minoritised majority of the world) online. She has led initiatives across the global South, and internationally for over 20 years, to collectively create feminist presents and futures of love, justice, and liberation. She is committed to unpacking issues of power, privilege, and access, including her own as an anti-caste savarna woman. She is the former Chief Grantmaking Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, and the former Regional Program Director at the Global Fund for Women. Anasuya is a 2017 Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow, and received a 2018 Internet and Society award from the Oxford Internet Institute. She is on the Scholars’ Council for UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, and the advisory committee for MIT’s Center for Research on Equitable and Open Scholarship (CREOS). Anasuya holds an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She also has a BA in Economics (Honours) from Delhi University. When not rabble-rousing online, Anasuya makes and breaks pots and poems, takes long walks by the water and in the forest, and contorts herself into yoga poses.

This event is a public lecture component of the Knowledge Equity and Justice Spring Seminar.

Speakers

Stefanie Haustein is associate professor at the School of Information Studies (ÉSIS) at University of Ottawa. She also co-directs the Scholarly Communications Lab (ScholCommLab), an interdisciplinary team of researchers based in Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada. Her research focuses on scholarly communication, bibliometrics, and open scholarship.

Leigh-Ann Butler is a Master’s student at ÉSIS and member of the ScholCommLab, conducting thesis work on article processing charges paid for gold and hybrid open access articles by Canadian researchers to the oligopoly of academic publishers. Leigh-Ann is also a policy analyst at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).