National Friends of Libraries Week and Open Access Week are occasions that we celebrate at Loyola University Chicago Libraries every fall season. Friends are people who support the Libraries to further our mission. They help us raise awareness about important issues such as open access, a movement to share knowledge freely without barriers. The International Open Access organization identified “Community Over Commercialization” as this year’s theme.  
 
Join us for a conversation with panel members from the Loyola community and neighborhood who will share their perspectives on creating and providing access to books and print media, open data, and open digital collections, all of which creates a more open and just media landscape.  

This program will be presented on campus and online.  Please sign up below so we can save space for you.  Free refreshments.    

Program

4:30 to 4:40pm                Welcome and introductions
4:40 to 5:20pm                Moderated Discussion
5:20 to 5:30pm                Audience questions; closing remarks

Panel members

• Moderated by Margaret Heller, University Libraries, Digital Services Librarian 
• Jennifer Farrell, Principal Designer & Printer, Starshaped Press and advocate for “Free the Books” campaign
• Greg Matthews, Faculty, Loyola University Chicago Center for Data Science and Consulting 
• Brianna Wright, Graduate student, Loyola University Chicago Digital Humanities

About the Panelists

• Margaret Heller (she/her) is Digital Services Librarian at Loyola University Chicago. She works on scholarly communication and open access, digital projects, web development, and user experience for Loyola University Chicago Libraries. Author of the 2019 book Community Technology Projects: Making Them Work, she is active in the library profession, currently serving as Past-President of Core, a division of the American Library Association.   
• Gregory J. Matthews (he/his) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and Director of the Center for Data Science and Consulting at Loyola University Chicago.  He received his doctorate in statistics from the University of Connecticut in 2011 and both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2004 and 2005, respectively.  Dr. Matthews’ research interests include missing data, statistical shape analysis, sports analytics, and statistical consulting.  He is an associate editor for the Journal of Data Science and the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports.  
• Since 1999, Jennifer Farrell (she/her) has operated Starshaped Press in Chicago, with a focus on designing & printing everything from business cards to posters, as well as custom commissions, wholesale ephemera and limited edition prints & books. All work in the studio is created with metal and wood type, making Starshaped one of the few presses in the country producing commercial work while preserving antique type and related print materials. Jennifer’s work has been repeatedly recognized in books, magazines and design blogs, and has appeared in poster shows throughout the USA and Europe.  Work can be viewed at www.starshaped.com. 
• Brianna Wright (she/her) is a second-year student in the Master's of Digital Humanities program at Loyola University Chicago. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in English and Gender and Women’s Studies. Currently, she works with the Loyola library as a Digital Systems and Reference Assistant. Brianna has been a contributor to the Lili Elbe and Lakota People’s Law Project Digital Archives since Fall 2022. Her contributions to these archives include creating mapping visualizations, enhancing web page design, and assistance with uploading digital records. Her research interests are data visualization, modernist anthologies, and social network analysis. Brianna plans to work as a user experience researcher after completing the program. 

              
Celebrate Friends of Libraries Week | October 15-21 and 
Open Access Week | October 23-29