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We Were Here: a waypoint for library workers in a changing climate circa 2023 CE & 1.47 ± 0.09 °C above the preindustrial average
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- Author / Creator
- Hackborn, Daniel J
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The contemporary practice of librarianship and the discipline of Library and Information Studies (LIS) have both begun to reckon with the threat that a changing climate poses to vocational and cultural continuity. The vocation’s subjects, culture and information, have already been transformed in recent decades through mass digitization and integration into planetary-scale information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures. Now the effects of anthropogenic climate change are increasingly felt throughout the full domain of terrestrial activity, impacting cultural knowledges, communities, and the libraries that serve both. Articulating a proportionate vocational response has, thus far, proven challenging. This thesis attempts to contribute to the emerging discourse taking place at the intersection of cultural memory work and climate change by offering narrative and integrative literature reviews. The first presents a history of the vocation’s understanding, as represented in scholarly and professional library discourse, of the library’s role and responsibilities in addressing climate change from the late 20th century to the present. The second synthesizes research from multiple disciplines to determine how contemporary librarianship is implicated in the causes and impacts of ongoing climate change, situating and scoping the work within the locale of Treaty 6 Alberta. These reviews serve to lay the groundwork for introducing the Mitigation Adaptation Community Knowledges (MACK) Compass, a conceptual framework for assisting library practitioners and scholars developing locally relevant strategies and tactics for climate action within the unique context of their own work or organization.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2024
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Arts
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.