From 23 to 25 October 2009, Michael Hohner attended a CAUT conference entitled Negotiating for Parity: Closing the Librarian/Faculty Gap on behalf of the UWFA Executive. The conference  was about how academic freedom allows librarians to vigorously oppose efforts to censor, filter or divert information. It also allows librarians to critique workplace mechanisms and structures that interfere with the exercise of their duties.  It is therefore essential that parity in regard to academic freedom exist between academic librarians and faculty in collective agreement language.  It is equally important that librarians elevate the exercise of academic freedom to a central place in the culture of their workplaces, as faculty have done.

Michael Hohner is the Systems & Media Services Coordinator for the University Library (on leave for 2009-2010). His full conference report can be found here.

CAUT Librarians' Conference Report