Libraries, Human Rights, and Social Justice

Paul T. Jaeger is associate professor and diversity officer of the College of Information Studies and Co-Director of the Information Policy and Access Center at the University of Maryland. Dr. Jaeger's research focuses on the ways in which law and public policy shape information behavior, particularly for underserved populations. He is the author of more than one hundred and fifty journal articles and book chapters. This is his ninth book. His other recent books are Information Worlds: Social Context, Technology, & Information Behavior in the Age of the Internet (Routledge, 2010) with Gary Burnett; and Public Libraries and the Internet: Roles, Perspectives, and Implications (Libraries Unlimited, 2011) with John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure; Disability and the Internet: Confronting a Digital Divide (Lynne Rienner, 2012); Public Libraries, Public Policies, and Political Processes: Serving and Transforming Communities in Times of Economic and Political Constraint (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014) with Ursula Gorham, John Carlo Bertot, and Lindsay C. Sarin; and Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Information Policy and the Public Library (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014) with Kim M. Thompson, Natalie Greene Taylor, Mega Subramaniam, and John Carlo Bertot. His research has been funded by the Institute of Museum & Library Services, the National Science Foundation, the American Library Association, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others. Dr. Jaeger is Editor of Library Quarterly, Co-Editor of the Advances in Librarianship Book Series, and Associate Editor of Government Information Quarterly.
Natalie Greene Taylor is a doctoral candidate at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, where she also received her Masters of Library Science, specializing in e-government and school library media. She is a Graduate Research Associate at the Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC) where her research has focused on partnerships between libraries and government agencies and the role of school libraries in improving adolescent health and information literacy. Her research interests also include the role of policy in limiting or promoting youth information access, and her dissertation explores adolescents' experiences with digital government health information. Shehas published articles in Library & Information Science Research, Public Library Quarterly, Information Polity, and International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age, among others, and co-authored the book Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Information Policy and the Public Library. She is also an Associate Editor of Library Quarterly.
Ursula Gorham is a doctoral candidate in the College of Information Studies and a Graduate Research Associate at the Information Policy and Access Center (iPAC). She holds a law degree, as well as graduate degrees in library science and public policy, from the University of Maryland. She is admitted to practice law in Maryland and, prior to beginning the doctoral program, served as a law clerk in Maryland appellate and federal bankruptcy courts. Ursula's work at iPAC has focused on e-government partnerships in public libraries and the role of libraries in public policy and political processes. Her research interests also include the accessibility of legal information and court documents, with an emphasis on self-represented litigants, and her dissertation will explore the use of technology to expand access to justice for low-income individuals in the United States. Her work has been published in Government Information Quarterly, Public Library Quarterly, Journal of Open Access to Law, Information Polity, and International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age. She is an Associate Editor of Library Quarterly.