Biographical Statements for Speakers
Biographical Statements for Speakers
An academic librarian currently seconded to the role of AODA Coordinator, Corinne (pronouns: she/her) is committed to promoting a culture of equity and diversity. Responsible for meeting and exceeding legislative obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Corinne is particularly interested in making the college experience an accessible one through responsive service and a solutions oriented approach. As Chair of the provincial AODA Committee for Ontario College Libraries (2013-present), her current focus is LEAP - the Library eResources Accessibility Project.
Althea Wheeler is the Copyright Strategy Manager in the University of Manitoba’s Copyright Office. After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in History in 2006, Althea completed her law degree in 2009 and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 2010. Following several years in the private practice of family law, Althea obtained an MLIS through the University of Alberta’s online program in 2017. Althea commenced working at the University of Manitoba in 2017, and since that time has enjoyed the challenges and opportunities to apply her backgrounds in law and librarianship to the ever evolving field of copyright.
I am Committed to disability rights in my scholarship, service, and teaching. My work brings together rhetoric, writing, disability studies, and critical pedagogy. My first book, entitled Disability Rhetoric, was published with Syracuse University Press in 2014. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education was published with Michigan University Press in 2017 and is available in an open-access version online. Disabled Upon Arrival: Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction of Race and Disability was published in 2018 with Ohio State University Press. I am the Founding Editor of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. I am currently an Associate Professor of English at the University of Waterloo where I am committed to creating a more accessible future for higher education.
Meredith Hatton is the manager of Access Services Scott Library and Library Accessibility Services. Library Accessibility Services is the sole provider of accessible content for students at York University. Meredith is a member of the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) Educator Advisory Group.
Joy Kirchner is Dean of Libraries at York University. She is currently the vice-chair and incoming chair of the Ontario Council of University Libraries. Her national and international roles include: SPARC’s Steering Committee, SPARC’s OER Advisory Board, ARL’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and past chair of CARL’s Advancing Research Committee. Joy is active in advancing accessibility in higher education. She currently represents OCUL Libraries on the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) Accessible Procurement Working Group which recently developed an accessible procurement guide to assist universities with procurement of services and equipment that is mindful of accessibility needs.
Andrea Kosavic is Associate Dean, Digital Engagement and Strategy. She is a PhD candidate in Communications and Culture at York University and has an information systems background from her MISt studies at the University of Toronto. Andrea has worked in the areas of digital scholarship, scholarly publishing and digital collections for 20 years and holds research interests in copyright, accessibility, scholarly communications, digital scholarship, social capital and gift economies.
Siobán Linnen is the Virtual Reference and Accessibility Associate at the Ontario Colleges Library Service. As the coordinator of the ACE service for college libraries and a project manager for LEAP, the Library eResources Accessibility Project, Siobán is committed to developing collaborative solutions that support libraries in providing accessible library services.
Heather Martin is the Copyright Officer at the University of Guelph,and also manages the Library’s E-Learning and Reserves Services team. She is currently co-chairing the University of Guelph’s task force on Open and Accessible Course Content.
Katya Pereyaslavska is the accessibility expert at Scholars Portal, Ontario Council of University Libraries. She is the recipient of the AODA 10th Anniversary Champion award which recognizes her work in the development of the Accessible Content ePortal (known as ACE) now available to all Ontario universities and colleges, the development of the Accessibility Toolkit for Libraries as well as the Report on Accessible Media (ROAM). In the last few years Katya has been engaged with the field of open education in the greater context of accessibility.
Victoria Owen holds the position of Information Policy Scholar-Practitioner in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. Her background is in library administration at the University of Toronto, and in special and public libraries, including the CNIB Library for the Blind. Victoria holds a Master’s in Library Science and a Master’s in Law, specializing in intellectual property. Her research focus is in information policy with a focus on copyright, preservation and the public interest. She is the chair of the Canadian Federation of Library Association’s Copyright Committee, a Governing Board member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ (IFLA), a member of OLA’s Copyright Users Group, and past chair of IFLA’s Copyright and Other Legal Matters Committee.
Asako Yoshida is a liaison librarian supporting Social Science and multi-disciplinary subject areas at Elizabeth Dafoe Library, the Humanities & Social Sciences unit library of the University of Manitoba. Between 2012 to 2018, she led Accessibility Services Implementation Team and among other things, implemented a pilot project to support alternative formats for patrons print disabilities. She is currently a member of the community of practice group with the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarian that focuses on studying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (CAPAL-WCAG).