eChicago 2012: Planning for change based on high speed internet
The sixth annual eChicago conference took place on Friday/Saturday, April 20/21, 2012 at the University of Illinois at Chicago on the third floor of Student Center East. This page serves as a multimedia archive of the event in addition to the eChicago website.
The program booklet details the conference themes, sessions and people involved. Its front page explains:
For six years eChicago has brought campus and community together to talk about critical issues facing all of us. eChicago comes out of community informatics. It asks how local communities and social institutions use computers and the internet, especially in Black, Latino, and lower income communities. It’s about ending digital divides and seeing how the community can use cyberpower to end racism and poverty. The public library is the number one institution providing free computer access in the community, so we care about the past, present and future of the public library. And eChicago always links Chicago’s inner city with the suburbs, and with city, county, and state government. It’s about a more digital and more democratic Chicagoland.
Below are video, audio and presentation files from each session. The twitter feed archive captures the virtual discussion that took place shortly before, during and after the event. Conference documents such as the program and outreach material, as well as information on the conference organizers, are also available.
Sessions documentation
Session 1: Chicago Public Library: Empowering citizens
Chicago Public Library has many old friends and a new director. What do we need to know about its history in order to guarantee its future? Joyce speaks from her dual identity as the first IT director of CPL and then a scholar of the library’s history.
Kate Williams, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Opening and Chair
Joe Hoereth, University of Illinois at Chicago Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, Welcome
Joyce Latham, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
presentation slides:
audio file:
video:
Session 2: How is the local library serving communities in crisis and change?
The library depends on its patrons and the local community, and vice versa. What happens to this relationship when communities are under stress? When technologies are in flux?
Kang Chiu, Friends of Rogers Park Branch of Chicago Public Library
Brooke Bahnsen, Fremont Public Library
Rose Peterson, Rockford Public Library
Will Kent, Chicago Public Library, Chair
presentation slides:
audio file:
video:
Session 3: Does Illinois have high speed internet yet and are we using it?
What projects are being implemented? Are they working as they should? What plans exist for when the funds end? These panelists are either managing or studying the high speed internet rollout.
Dionne Baux, LISC Chicago
Jim Ciesla, Northern Illinois University
Tracy Felty, Saline County E-911
Gene Loeb, Center for CI Technology for Mental Health of Older Persons
Matt Parks, Northern Illinois University
Abigail Sackmann, Unversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
presentation slides:
audio file:
video:
Session 4: Is the library being reinvented for the 21st century?
How are computers changing the local public library? What is the future of downloading and uploading digital info in the library? What skills will 21st century librarians need?
Norma Lugo-Gulyas, Wilbur Wright College
John Spears, Naperville Public Library
Sarah Tansley, Chicago Public Library
Hilary Lee, Chicago Public Library, Chair
presentation slides:
audio file:
video:
Session 5: Graduate students: Future leaders getting prepared
What courses and research projects are we engaged in? What jobs are we preparing for? What projects can we collaborate on from difference institutions? What’s working, what else can we do?
Noah Lenstra, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
audio file:
video:
Session 6: Towards the digital transformation of Chicago's South Suburbs
This session focusses on the hardest hit suburbs. Does the suburban municipality have Internet connectivity and use policies and programs? Where are the digital divides between Chicago and the suburbs, or inside the suburbs? Where do we go?
Vivian Covington, University Park
David Johnson, South Suburban Community College
Bruce Montgomery, Technology Access TV
Greg Wass, Cook County
Rusty Winchel, Northern Illinois University Outreach
Abdul Alkalimat,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
presentation slides:
audio file:
video:
Session 7: Reconfiguring information: New media and YOUMedia
How is old media being reinvented with digital technology? Will professional journalism survive? How does new media change the definition of literacy? How is the public library involved?
Billy Belchev, Webitects
Mike Hawkins, YOUMedia
Jeff Kelly-Lowenstein, Hoy
Demetrio Maguigad, Community Media Workshop, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 8: Public Policy and the Information Revolution in Cook County
What are the current policies for high speed internet connectivity? Given budget crises will there still be funding to end the digital divide? What best practices are there in Illinois? What are the next steps?
Kate Williams, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Opening
David Johnson, South Suburban Community College
Greg Wass, Cook County
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 9: Edit Your City: Collaborative Media in the 21st Century
Can a wiki take a whole community into cyberspace? What is a local wiki? What are the best practices of a local wiki? What differences does it make for the life of a community?
Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Opening
Philip Neustrom, LocalWiki
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
In low income communities, why focus on the digital divide? How can we create more computer literate “hoodies?” Why is Facebook so popular? Is it important to diversify what people do? How?
Chris Hamb, Chrisp Media
Elizabeth Rosas-Landa, The Resurrection Project
Elizabeth Tarpley, Kennedy-King College
Jami Thompson, Chicago Public Library, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 11: Workshop: How to build a local community wiki
What is the digital footprint of the community? How can all digital info of a community be aggregated? How can someone upload new info? This session will explain how to start a wiki and ways to keep it going. How have they worked so far?
Philip Neustrom, LocalWiki
Brian Zelip, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
audio:
video:
Session 12: eChicago as global network: China and Chinese Chicago
China is a rising power and it’s here in Chicago and Illinois. How is Beijing “informatizing” its communities? What do various digital connections between China and the US look like? How is the history of Chinese Chicago part of the future?
Cao Haixia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Adrian Kok, Dominican University
Andrea Stamm, Chinese American Museum of Chicago
Kang Zhou, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Sophia Hu, Chicago Public Library, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 13: State policy and practice to span the digital divide
What is the current program to end the digital divide in Illinois? What kinds of projects use these resources? What’s working and what still needs to be done?
Brian Bell, Parkland College
Kara Kennedy, Lumity
Joey Mak, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity
Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 14: Chicago hip hop, the digital hustle & social justice
Organized discussions regarding the hip hop community, outside of actual cultural performance, have existed since at least the early 1980s. These discussions have become more frequent and widespread, especially as generations who've grown up with hip hop mature, and as universities, political campaigns and business models increasingly look to them for engagement and profit. This session explores a bottom-up approach to technology and networking by featuring four hip hop artists from Chicago who are leading best practices using new digital tools for community building and social consciousness.
Babyface Monster, Chi-Bangerz.com
Mike Hawkins, YOUMedia
Psalm One, PsalmOne.tv
Brian Zelip, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 15: Workshop: Digital tools for cultural heritage
People around the world are using technology to share and to stay connected to cultural heritage. New ways to search for roots and share culture emerge online. This workshop discusses simple social and technical procedures you can use to get involved in community and family history digitization. Topics covered include: basic digitization, using Omeka (http://www.omeka.org) to build digital libraries and museums, organizing communities around digital cultural heritage, and using digital cultural heritage in face-to-face settings, such as school assemblies or family reunions. The workshop's theme is: Everyone can do something now to contribute to the construction of universal designs for sharing local and family histories online.
Noah Lenstra, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
Session 16: Developing Our Vision
What three main points of the conference need to be remembered? What is your personal eChicago goal for the next year? What should eChicago 2013 be about?
Charles Benton, Benton Foundation
Alejandro Luis Molina, Caja del Agua Studios
Frances Roehm, Skokie Public Library
Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chair
presentation slides:
audio:
video:
