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Leadership Centre Creates E-Library
SSHRC provides public outreach support for project
The Centre for Studies in Leadership (CSL) is creating a new electronic leadership library, thanks to a public outreach grant totalling nearly $78,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Over the past few years, the centre has hosted, sponsored and participated in a number of public presentations and speaking events, most of which have been recorded using audiovisual equipment, says CSL research director Prof. Bill DeMarco, Department of Business.
Rather than archive the tapes in boxes and tuck them away, he and a small team are transferring the material to a digital format and archiving them online, where people around the world can access them 24/7. The library is expected to be up and running by fall, he says.
“Because the CSL is doing significant research on leadership characteristics of high-performing leaders, we thought it would be useful if, in the future, we had video presentations on leadership issues in archival format. It's great to know that decades from now, we can look back and be reminded of their words and the information they shared.”
He adds that the library will also be an excellent resource for faculty who may want to incorporate a video into their lesson plans.
DeMarco believes this service is important because people are becoming increasingly technology-savvy and this format is in demand across the globe.
“Audiovisual material plays a significant role in how we learn these days, and there's incredible room for the technology applications to grow. We've got to crawl before we can run, but I think that over time the CSL can become a hub for electronic media in the leadership field.”