2026 Windsor Lecture
Robert Wedgeworth, former American Library Association (ALA) executive director, will present "The Future of the iSchool."
Abstract:
I have always taken a wholistic view of our field from my conception of my World Encyclopedia in 1978 to my survey of the LIS and iSchools in 2013. There are a few simple principles I have learned over the years that have guided my life and career that may be useful as we navigate the challenges of higher education and the world of information. Two variables have guided my thinking: Precision and Scale.
I was first introduced to precision in my first job as a cataloger in the Kansas City, MO Public Library. I was first introduced to the possibilities of scale when Bob Hayes taught the “Library 21” staff how digitized information could be applied to library work during the Seattle World’s Fair. Putting those two variables together along with Jesse Shera’s formulation of the basic knowledge of librarians led me to appreciate the strength of the information triangle: information, users and the means to bring the two together.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Robert Wedgeworth is the former American Library Association (ALA) Executive Director. In 2021, he was elected to ALA’s honorary membership, which is their highest honor and conferred in recognition of outstanding contributions of lasting importance to libraries and librarianship. Wedgeworth also served on the Executive Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and became only the second American to be elected president of IFLA. IFLA named him Honorary President in 1997.
He has also served as dean of the School of Library Service at Columbia University and University Librarian at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Wedgeworth has been recognized with a wide range of professional honors, including the Lippincott, Melvil Dewey, and Humphry/OCLC/Forest Press Awards of the American Library Association, Black Caucus of the American Library Association Trailblazer’s Award, five honorary doctorates, Most Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Medal of Honor winner from the International Council of Archives and many others.
Wedgeworth received his MS in Library in Information Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his PhD in library services from Rutgers University.