Toni Samek, PhD, MLIS, Hrs. BA

Professor, Faculty of Education - School of Library and Information Studies

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Education - School of Library and Information Studies
Email
asamek@ualberta.ca

Availability
Please email to arrange appointments.

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

expressive freedom; information ethics; librarianship; human rights; artificial intelligence and ethics


About

Dr. Toni Samek is a Professor at the School of Library and Information Studies, Faculty of Education, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Alberta. Her books include: Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in American Librarianship 1967 to 1974; Librarianship and Human Rights: A twenty-first century guide; She Was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West; Information Ethics, Globalization and Citizenship: Essays on Ideas to Praxis; and, Minds Alive: Libraries and Archives Now. Toni's scholarship appears in translation in such countries as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Japan, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. Toni co-founded and served as first convenor for the Association for Library and Information Science's Information Ethics Special Interest Group, twice convened the Canadian Library Association's Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom, served two terms on the Canadian Association of University Teachers' Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee, and served on the Canadian Federation of Library Associations' Intellectual Freedom Committee and its Indigenous Matters Committee. She is on advisory boards for the Centre for Free Expression and the International Centre for Information Ethics. Toni received the debut Library Journal Teaching Award in 2007, a Faculty of Education Graduate Teaching Award in 2008, and a 3M National Teaching Fellowship from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 2012. Toni is recipient of the 2013 University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information Studies Distinguished Alumna Award, the 2017 Library Association of Alberta’s President’s Award, and 2018 honourary membership into the Golden Key International Honour Society University of Alberta Chapter in recognition of her academic and career achievements, as well as ability to build strong connections between the School of Library and Information Studies, the University of Alberta and students. In 2022, Toni was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for service to the Alberta library community.


Research

Toni's sustained research and scholarship are in information ethics, intercultural information ethics and global information ethics.

Researchgate Profile


Teaching

Teaching Awards:

  • 3M National Teaching Fellow, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2012
  • Graduate Teaching Award, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, 2008
  • Library Journal Teaching Award, 2007

Courses

LIS 592 - Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in Librarianship

An examination of the central concepts of intellectual freedom and social responsibility and the range of related issues impacting librarians, library institutions, and library associations. Sections may be offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar. Prerequisite: LIS 501 or consent of instructor.


Browse more courses taught by Toni Samek

Publications

Contemporary Critical Library and Information Studies: Ethos and Ethics, a chapter in book entitled The Palgrave Handbook on Critical Theories of Education. Edited by Ali A. Abdi and Greg William Misiaszek.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 9/14/2022
Publication: Palgrave Macmillan
Page Numbers: 337-353
External Link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-86343-2

Charting a Faceted Categorization of AI and Ethics.

Author(s): Samek, T., Shiri, A.
Publication Date: 6/1/2022
Publication: Proceedings of the Canadian Association of Information Science 50th Annual Conference, June 7 – 10, 2022.

Intellectual freedom: Waving and wavering across three national contexts.

Author(s): Shannon M. Oltmann, Toni Samek, Louise Cooke
Publication Date: 3/24/2022
Publication: IFLA Journal [Preprint]
DOI: 10.1177/03400352221085294

Indigenous-Engaged Education: A Canadian Viewpoint in the book, a chapter in the book entitled Social Justice Design and Implementation in Library and Information Science. Edited by Bharat Mehra.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 12/31/2021
Publication: New York: Routledge
DOI: 10.4324/9781003129219-19

AI and Ethics in Higher Education: An LIS Perspective.

Author(s): Huang, C., Samek, T. and Shiri, A.
Publication Date: 8/12/2021
Publication: Journal of Education for Library and Information Science
Volume: 64
Issue: 2
Page Numbers: 351-365
External Link: https://www-utpjournals-press.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/toc/jelis/62/4

Minds Alive: Libraries and Archives Now.

Author(s): Editors Patricia Demers and Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2020
Publication: University of Toronto Press

An examination of IFLA and Data Science Association ethical codes.

Author(s): C. Trepanier, A. Shiri and T. Samek
Publication Date: 5/31/2019
Publication: IFLA Journal
Volume: 45
Issue: 4
Page Numbers: 289-301

Seeking “Global Citizenship” in Graduate Library and Information Studies Education, a chapter in the book entitled In Global Citizenship, Common Wealth and Uncommon Citizenships. Edited by Lynette Shultz and Thashika Pillay.

Author(s): Toni Samek and Christina Palech
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: Leiden/Boston: Brill Sense.
Page Numbers: 75-92

Reflection on Risk in the Endeavours of Librarianship and Human Rights.

Author(s): Samek, T.
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: Türk Kütüphaneciliği (of the Turkish Librarians’ Association)
Volume: 32
Issue: 1
Page Numbers: 19-25

Information Ethics, Globalization and Citizenship: Essays on Ideas to Praxis.

Author(s): Editors Toni Samek and Lynette Shultz
Publication Date: 2017
Publication: McFarland Publishers, Inc. (USA)

Critical Reflection on Librarianship and Human Rights: A Book and Continuing Endeavor.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2016
Publication: In Emerald Book Series: Advances in Librarianship (Volume 41) Perspectives on Libraries as Institutions of Human Rights and Social Justice. Edited by Ursula Gorham, Natalie Greene Taylor & Paul T. Jaeger.
Volume: 41
Page Numbers: 245-263

Assembling PeerlessU: A Canadian Makeover Comes to Grief, a chapter in the book entitled Assembling and Governing the Higher Education Institution: Democracy, Social Justice and Leadership in Global Higher Education. Edited by Lynette Schultz and Melody Viczcko.

Author(s): Len Findlay and Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2016
Publication: London: Palgrave MacMillan
Page Numbers: 291-310

University Social Software Guidelines and Academic Freedom: An Alarming Labour Trend.

Author(s): Tayrn Lough and Toni Samek
Publication Date: 7/1/2014
Publication: International Review of Information Ethics
Page Numbers: 45-56

Looking to Our Own: Ethical Library and Information Workers at Risk, in Ethical Dilemmas in the Information Society: Codes of Ethics for Librarians and Archivists.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2014
Publication: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Papers from the IFLA/FAIFE – Satellite Meeting 2014
Volume: Edited by Amélie Vallotton Preisig, Hermann Rösch and Christoph Stückelberger
Page Numbers: 137-153

"You Can’t Hurry Love”: Slow Library Education in Culturally Diverse Society”.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2013
Publication: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, World Library and Information Congress 2013 Paper Repository

“”I Guess We’ll Just Have to Wait for the Movie to Come Out”: A Protracted First Stand for Teaching Information Ethics".

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2012
Publication: Journal of Information Ethics
Volume: 21
Issue: 2
Page Numbers: 33-51

Inclusión digital: un nuevo derecho humano.

Author(s): Pedro López López and Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2011
Publication: in Alfabetación informacional e inclusión digital, hacia un modelo de infoinclusión social. Editors: CUEVAS CERVERO, A. SIMEÃO. Gijón: TREA.

Digital labour shortage: A new divide in library and information studies education?

Author(s): Anthony Worman and Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2011
Publication: Information, Society & Justice
Volume: 4
Issue: 2
Page Numbers: 71-82

Intellectual Freedom: Issues and Information (Feature Article).

Author(s): Alvin Schrader, Samuel E. Trosow, Toni Samek, and Donna Bowman
Publication Date: 2011
Publication: Feliciter
Volume: 57
Issue: 1
Page Numbers: 10-13

She Was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West.

Author(s): Toni Samek, K.R. Roberto and Moyra Lang
Publication Date: 2010
Publication: Library Juice Press (USA)

Teaching Information Ethics in Higher Education: A Crash Course in Academic Labour.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2010
Publication: International Review of Information Ethics. Vol. 14 (December 2010). Pages 4-9.
Volume: 14
Issue: December
Page Numbers: 4-9

Bibliotek i Samhälle: Long May You Live!

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2009
Publication: In En ny förening är nödvändig BIS 1969-2009. Edited by Karin Fahller. Bibliotek i Samhälle. Sweden.
Page Numbers: 148-153

Kütüphane ve Bilgi Çalismalarinda Insan Haklari Bulgulari.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2008
Publication: Bilgi Dünyasi
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Page Numbers: 527-540

Biblioteconomía y derechos humanos: Una guía para el siglo xxi

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2008
Publication: Gijón, España: Ediciones Trea, S.L. (Spanish translation)

“An Introduction to Librarianship for Human Rights”

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2008
Publication: In Educating for Human Rights and Global Citizenship. Edited by Ali A. Abdi and Lynette Shultz. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Page Numbers: 205-221

“Los derechos humanos en el trabajo bibliotecario”

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2008
Publication: Educación y Biblioteca
Volume: July/August
Issue: 166
Page Numbers: 70-76

Guest Editorial: “Cultivating a Culture of Freedom of Expression in the Library Workplace”

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2008
Publication: Progressive Librarian
Volume: 31
Issue: Summer
Page Numbers: 3-5

“Librarians and Information Justice”

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2007
Publication: Academic Matters: The Journal of Higher Education
Volume: October
Page Numbers: 24-25

Librarianship and Human Rights: A Twenty-first century guide

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2007
Publication: Chandos (Oxford UK)

Unbossed and Unbought: Booklegger Press the First Women-Owned American Library Publisher, a chapter in the book entitled Women In Print: Essays on the Print Culture of American Women from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Edited by James P. Danky and Wayne A. Wiegand. Foreword by Elizabeth Long.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2006
Publication: Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press in collaboration with the Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Page Numbers: 126-155

“Internet AND Intention: An Infrastructure for Progressive Librarianship”

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2004
Publication: International Journal of Information Ethics [In summer 2005, the journal name changed to International Review of Information Ethics
Volume: 2
Issue: 11

Pioneering Progressive Library Discourse, a chapter in the book entitled Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2003
Publication: Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
Page Numbers: 137-142

Synergy, Social Responsibilities and the Sixties: Pivotal Points in the Evolution of American Outreach Library Service, a chapter in the book entitled In Libraries to the People: Histories of Library Outreach.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2003
Publication: Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Page Numbers: 203-218

Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in American Librarianship, 1967-1974.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2003
Publication: Kyoto, Japan: Kyoto University Library and Information Science Study Group. (Japanese translation)

Ethics and the Canadian Library Association: Building on a Philosophical Framework of Intellectual Freedom.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2002
Publication: In The Ethics of Librarianship: An International Survey. München: K.G. Saur.
Page Numbers: 35-58

Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in American Librarianship, 1967-1974.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2001
Publication: McFarland Publishers, Inc. (USA)

Library Ethics, Rights, and Values: Provocative Commentary on the Utility of Library Rhetoric.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2001
Publication: PNLA Quarterly
Volume: 65
Issue: 3
Page Numbers: 15-17

Introducing Intellectual Freedom Courses into the Canadian LIS Curriculum.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2001
Publication: Feliciter
Volume: 47
Issue: 1
Page Numbers: 28-30

Intellectual Freedom Within the Profession: A Look Back at Freedom of Expression and the Alternative Library Press.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 2000
Publication: Counterpoise: For Social Responsibilities, Liberty and Dissent
Volume: 4
Issue: 1/2
Page Numbers: 10-16

Humble empowerment: the LIS practicum.

Author(s): Dianne Oberg and Toni Samek
Publication Date: 1999
Publication: PNLA Quarterly
Volume: 63
Issue: 3
Page Numbers: 20-22

Learning to think like a professional: reflections from LIS students.

Author(s): Toni Samek and Dianne Oberg
Publication Date: 1996
Publication: Journal Canadian Association for Information Science Conference Proceedings
Page Numbers: 302-320

The Library Bill of Rights in the 1960s: One Profession, One Ethic.

Author(s): Toni Samek
Publication Date: 1996
Publication: Library Trends
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
Page Numbers: 50-60