A message from Dean Wendy Duff:
I am pleased to announce that Victoria Owen has accepted the position of Information Policy Scholar-Practitioner at the Faculty of Information effective 1 September 2018.
In this newly created role, Victoria will share her unique experience and expertise in several key areas of information policy with our faculty and students. She will help connect our scholars and scholarship to the world of information policy beyond the university. Her extensive network of decision-makers around the world will be a rich resource for those exploring the development of information policy and examining the fundamental role it plays in democracy and civil society.
In her time as Chief Librarian the University of Toronto Scarborough, Victoria transformed the UTSC Library from a traditional service unit into a vibrant, highly valued scholarly and curricular resource. Prior to her arrival at U of T in 2004, she held the positions of Director of Library Services at the Canadian National Institute of the Blind and Chief Librarian at the Port Hope Public Library.
She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters in Laws with a Specialization in Intellectual Property Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.
As a leading national and international expert on Copyright and Information Policy, Victoria is Chair of the Copyright Committee of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, a Board Member of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Accessible Book Consortium, Governing Board Member of the International Federation of Library Associations and a member of the Policy Committee of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries.
She has been the keynote speaker and made presentations at many national and international conferences and meetings, including the Canadian Parliamentary Committee, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. She has also served as an expert advisor for the UNESCO recommendation for Digital Cultural Heritage.
Her many accomplishments as Chief Librarian at UTSC include:
- Leading the successful launch of the Liaison Librarian Program, the Digital Scholarship Unit, the UTSC Library Finance & Trading Lab and the Undergraduate Research Forum.
- Creating the User Services Unit by merging the Circulation and Reference units,
- Creating the Library Instruction Lab to facilitate information literacy instruction
- Creating the City Studies Lab.
Victoria has also been key member of several high-level committees on campus, including the Campus Leadership Forum, Research Advisory Board, Dean’s Indigenous Working Group, MEAD (Mentorship, Excellence and Diversity @UTSC), and the UTL Executive Committee.
I couldn’t be more excited to have her at the Faculty of Information for the next chapter in her amazing career.
