Victoria Sigurdson has been appointed media collections librarian at the York University Libraries (YUL).
Sigurdson has dedicated her career to empowering teaching, learning and research communities through the development of responsive university library services and collections. She is a graduate of York University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (Studio) program and holds a master’s degree in library and information studies from Dalhousie University. She brings extensive experience in media acquisitions and licensing, and a lifelong enthusiasm for a variety of musical styles and genres to the media collections librarian role.
In addition to an established history of collaborative projects with university faculty and staff, her library services experience includes film and visual materials management, reference and information services, digitization activities, accessibility services, as well as intellectual property rights and licensing consultation. She has been a long-standing member of both the video and the alternate formats communities within the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), as well as Chairing the Ontario Chapter and planning the annual general conference for the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA).
Her research focuses on the role of Canadian arts funding programs and media agencies in providing equitable access to media works, and how the interplay between international, national and provincial copyright legislation impacts the provision of accessibility services for digital media in the academic environment. Her topics of interest include the phenomenology of artmaking and creative spaces, alternative analog and instant photographic processes, data visualization and olfactory art.
Sigurdson will begin her leadership role to advance YUL’s media collections on Feb. 1.