Information Workers in the Academy: The Case of Librarians and Archivists at The University of Western Ontario
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2010
Volume
10
Issue
3/4
Journal
Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization
First Page
532
Last Page
536
Abstract
For much of its history, the organizational culture for academic librarians and archivists at The University of Western Ontario was primarily a culture of the practitioner. While librarians and archivists supported teaching, research and service at Western, they did not directly engage in it. As a result of grassroots efforts undertaken by members of Western’s academic community in the mid-2000s however, the potential contributions of information workers to the teaching, research and service mandate of University began to garner recognition. Born out of this collective awakening, a successful union drive and shortly thereafter an inaugural Collective Agreement for The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association; Librarians and Archivists (UWOFA-LA). The following contribution describes the shift in organizational culture that is currently underway for the academic community at The University of Western Ontario, and for its information workers in particular. The nature of academic librarians and archivists’ digital labour is also examined here.
Citation of this paper:
Mills, M. (2010). Information workers in the academy: The case of librarians and archivists at the University of Western Ontario. Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization. 10 (3/4), 532-536. Retrieved from: http://www.ephemeraweb.org/journal/10-3/10-3mills.pdf.
Notes
This paper was presented at the conference, "Digital Labour: Workers, Authors, Citizens," which was held at The University of Western Ontario on October 16-18, 2009.
Citation of this paper:
Mills, M. (2010). Information workers in the academy: The case of librarians and archivists at The University of Western Ontario. Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization. 10 (3/4), 532-536. Retrieved from: http://www.ephemeraweb.org/journal/10-3/10-3mills.pdf.