{"id":1778,"date":"2017-04-29T12:32:08","date_gmt":"2017-04-29T20:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2023-08-08T14:41:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T21:41:07","slug":"human-rights-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/human-rights-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a Special Library for That?!: Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

We hear quite a bit these days about human rights and how we all need to work together to keep these rights intact. What are human rights? One definition is \u201ceveryone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person\u201d (Article 3 of the <\/span>Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/span><\/a>). Since the adoption of the UDHR in 1948, lawyers, victims, and advocates have been working to ensure the values enshrined in the document are upheld equally around the world. That\u2019s when libraries can be the most helpful places to go to find materials to support this work.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Until this month, I didn\u2019t know there were \u201chuman rights libraries.\u201d In fact, they are everywhere in the world–many of them connected with universities or institutions, such as the <\/span>University of Minnesota Human Rights Library<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>ASEAN Human Rights Library<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Netherlands Institute of Human Rights<\/span><\/a>, or the <\/span>Venice School of Human Rights<\/span><\/a>! I exchanged emails with <\/span>Karl Adam Tiderman<\/a>,<\/span> the sole librarian of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights<\/a> in Lund, Sweden. Its library is the largest human rights library in Sweden, and it has an interlibrary lending system for all of the Nordic region. According to the\u00a0<\/span>website<\/span><\/a>, their mission is \u201cto facilitate research and to disseminate knowledge of human rights by providing access to up-to-date and relevant information and literature within the field of human rights and humanitarian law.\u201d Tiderman wrote that the library works in \u201cclose cooperation with Lund University, the largest in Sweden\u201d which allows them access to even more specialized areas. The library also belongs to the European Coordination Committee on Human Rights Documentation<\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0which is \u201can open network of Europe-based organisations and institutions producing human rights information,\u201d according to the ECCHRD site.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Karl Adam Tiderman<\/p><\/div>\n

When asked about the most common topics researched today, Tiderman replied, \u201crefugee questions are among the most common, but they have been so for several years. Topics that are more common now than before are migration, often related to Roma-people; so called \u2018Human Rights cities;\u2019 and human rights and the environment.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

How does one become employed in such a library? Tiderman has an MLIS but did not have any \u201cspecial academic education in human rights.\u201d He said they need generalists, but also look for staff interested in the field and who try \u201cto be up to date with the current developments within the library sphere.\u201d He\u2019s learned most of his knowledge on the job, with the help of researchers. My own research has not turned up whether Tiderman\u2019s educational experience is typical for a librarian in that field.
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Raoul Wallenberg Library<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course, you don\u2019t have to go to Sweden to work in a human rights library. You can work practically anywhere in the world. Most of them appear to be connected with institutes or universities. The other interesting fact is that there are schools that focus their teachings on human rights. Besides the libraries listed above, here are a few more:<\/span><\/p>\n