Category: librarianship

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Sexual Assault Survivors and Libraries-Can We Do More?

I have been spending this semester writing research methods papers on how we can study the information seeking behavior/needs of sexual assault survivors and/or the experience of survivors in the library. I am excited that I get to turn one of these (and hopefully more than one) into an actual study this summer, but it’s made me very aware of how little there is out there dealing with this issue. There aren’t any studies that look at survivors’ needs or experiences, and only one that discusses the issue at all. Since I won’t be doing my research until this summer, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share a few thoughts I’ve been having about some simple ways we could improve library services now. I’ve taken these from my own experiences of looking for information and interacting with people during the earlier stages of my healing process, and from my understanding of research in social sciences as a whole. I would really love to hear from practitioners too–what are you doing at your library? What do you want to do? What barriers do you see to implementing changes (if any)? So here are my ideas, add your thoughts in the comments!

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#AppleDRM

This morning, my partner and I were chatting when he mentioned a new patent Apple applied for to disable recording functions on their devices at concerts and theaters. This article gives you a brief overview. I had been waffling between upgrading to a Droid or an iPhone, but after reading this I may have my decision made for me! The patent is still being processed, from what I understand, and no announcement has yet been made as to whether it will be included on future iterations of the iPhone, but the fact that it was applied for raises some important issues for me. I posted a link to the article in a tweet, and in minutes had a number of retweets and responses that sparked a vibrant discussion about DRM (digital rights management) in a number of devices and what our role is in encouraging producers (like Apple) to reduce restrictions.

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Joplin Library Update, and How You Can Help

UPDATE 6/29: I just heard from Jacque Gage, who reported on the overwhelming response from libraryland to their call for funds. To date, $16,020 has been raised, all of which has been given to JPL staff impacted by the tornado. Great job everyone!!

UPDATE: A trust has been established via a local bank to help with distributing funds. This makes it so all donations go through a trust rather through an individual, although they will still be distributed to staff members in need of help from Joplin Public Library. Please make checks out to “Joplin Public Library Staff Relief Fund” and specify Shelli in the message/memo portion of the check. Checks can still be sent c/o the library (see address at the bottom of the post) for distribution. Thanks again!

Hello readers,
Thanks to the Iowa Library Association listserv, I have been getting some updates on how the public library in Joplin, MO is doing following the tornado. The building is not damaged at all, but 8 staff members lost their homes completely, two others’ homes were severely damaged, and two employees were injured during the storm (but they are still alive, so that’s a relief!) Amazingly, the Joplin PL is still open and being run by the staff who are able to make it in, which I think it a testament to their dedication to serving the Joplin community. This brings me to the next point: how can the rest of us help?

I just spoke with the library’s director after receiving a listserv update from her about donations. It’s not legal for the library itself to give donations to employees, BUT Jacque, as an individual, can. So, all donations should be written out to her (details below) and sent to her, c/o the library. She will then take the money and distribute it to employees. I know this is not the first time I’ve asked readers to donate to disaster relief this year, but I feel like it’s so important that we’re all here for our fellow LIS folks. Jacque said that 5 of the 8 employees who lost their homes only work part-time, one of whom is a single mother (who had her arm broken during the storm.) These folks especially need a hand. I’ll be sending a check off this week, and would love it if other readers would consider doing the same (or at least forwarding this information to people who might be interested!) Here’s the information:

Make checks payable to: Jacque Gage

Mail checks to: 
Jacque Gage, Director
Joplin Public Library
300 S. Main Street
Joplin, MO 64801

Thanks in advance to everyone for your help!!

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Publishing in LIS: Marrying Theory and Practice

Today B Sides Journal hosted a lunchtime presentation by Dr. Jim Elmborg about publishing for LIS students. Jim is incredibly insightful and deeply passionate about the success of his students, which meant that we walked away with some great perspective on publication in our field. I wanted to share my notes from the talk so other students and professionals can benefit from his ideas! The talk was incredible, and I am going to focus on a few of the big take-aways that will help me as I continue to publish and encourage LIS students to do the same.

1. Examine your motives: *Why* is it that you want to publish? Are you just doing it because you’re required to or want a line on your resume, or are you doing it because you love to investigate problems and share ideas? It’s important to check your motives to make sure that it’s something you genuinely want to do (as Jim said, you don’t want to be in a place where you’re required to publish but don’t have a desire to.) Once you’ve decided you want to write this research, start looking at ways to build up your writing habits. Jim draws from fiction writing tools that I plan to draw on as I continue writing. First, never quit writing for the day without knowing what your next paragraph will be. When you start writing next, it will be much easier because you already have a clear direction and know what you need to do next. Also, look at the iceberg metaphor (what you’re writing is only a part of the knowledge that you have that’s informing your perspective.) The more you write, the more you’ll feel frustrated (or at least I do) by not having a chance to put in every piece of information you know. For most things you write, no one will want to read a 5-10 page lit review, a detailed description of every theory that you’re drawing from, or an agonizingly long and tedious breakdown of your library’s usage statistics. These things have their place (enter, footnotes) but you are going to have a lot more going on than will fit nicely in the paper. If you find that your paper represents your exhaustive knowledge of the topic, it’s time to go back and look at it further.
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LIS education, Advocacy, and the Future of Librarianship

A lot of discussion has been circulating about the future of librarianship in response to comments made by Jeffrey Trzeciak (of McMaster University) indicating that he wouldn’t hire any more librarians, preferring instead to give certain positions to people in IT or with PhDs. I agree that in many instances you might want to consider candidates from a variety of backgrounds, but to discount librarians (especially coming from the University Librarian himself!) is an indication of how deeply our field is misunderstood. I first read about it through Jenica Rogers’ post, which I think provides a great intro to the subject and some awesome perspective on why we need advocacy as professionals (not just as a profession or as institutions.) My fellow Hack Library School editors, along with Courtney Walters and a few others, began discussing the topic via Twitter (I was at work, so didn’t get to jump in until after the fact!) If you’re interested in seeing the discussion, look for #savelibrarians. In addition, some blog posts have started going up to discuss our future as professionals–a great post in particular is Courtney Walter’s discussion of our identity crisis as librarians/info pros.

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>The Engaged Library

>Tonight in class, our discussion was on search (hardly surprising in a class on Search & Discovery), but the last few minutes of the class really got me thinking about the ways libraries engage users by learning about them. We all know that companies use cookies and other tracking technology to learn more about our browsing/shopping/searching habits. Some of them are quite good at it, and some miss the boat entirely by focusing one message only by targeting the location of the IP address but not targeting their message (“Iowa City mom finds $5 trick to whiten teeth” folks, I’m talking to you). I tend to find a lot of advertising annoying at best and intrusive at worst, but obviously it’s effective or people wouldn’t be taking the time to design ads and pay to drop them all over the web. Our instructor, Cliff Missen (of Widernet Project fame) summed it up perfectly: “Advertisers, Google, etc. know users so well, but we don’t see that going on in libraries.”
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>Keeping the Creativity Alive

>I’ve mentioned before how much I love LIS as a field where folks are creative, active, and engaged with others. I have been so fortunate to connect with people around the country (and some around the world) who challenge and inspire me! One of the first things I tell prospective or new LIS students is what a great potential there is for trying out new ideas in a non-judgmental environment, and most importantly, having a lot of fun while thinking up new ways to look at the field or to make it better. Looking for inspiration? I’ve compiled a short list of folks who have been very inspirational to me and who have challenged me to try new things.

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>Copyright Criminals

>Last night a group of SLIS students went to see Copyright Criminals, which was absolutely amazing, followed by a Q&A with Kembrew McLeod, an event that was part of the Iowa City Public Library’s Intellectual Freedom Festival. I am so excited about this film that I wanted to write a bit here. First of all, I highly recommend that folks should look at the website and watch the film. It’s very well done, and it calls into question our current copyright laws by looking at the history of sampling in music.

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>Roots and Routes: How I Came to Library & Information Science

>Today was orientation for the new cohort in our department, and it was absolutely a blast. The students are passionate and ready to work, and I felt fortunate to spend the day getting to know some of them. One of the presentations by LISSO (Library and Information Student Organization) included mention of The Library Routes Project. I’m glad I was there to learn about the project and to then go home and look at some of the posts, especially after spending a day with new students and with professionals who were discussing how they came to the field. I had read about it previously on Lauren in Libraryland, and was excited about the project. However, as happens so often, I got bogged down under other tasks and eventually slipped to the back of my mind.

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