The Dare To Ask Challenge

Today, students from the Faculty of Information will hold a “Dare To Ask” challenge where they will answer questions to all who come to them. There are two objectives to the event; 1) raising money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation (a charitable organization that focuses on the AIDS crisis in Africa) and 2) “to raise awareness about the role of information workers (librarians, archivists, museum workers, journalists, writers) in their communities. The students believe that a key role of information workers is to be socially active members of the communities they serve.” It is an interesting idea and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like it before.

The issue of library/information philanthropy is something I’ve been thinking about lately. There are plenty of options for those interested in pursuing this route – donating money to literacy campaigns run by public libraries, helping academic libraries expand their services or you can even sponsor a book in need of preservation at the British Library and more. These are all worthy goals and should not be discounted. I do wonder if library/information philanthropy of that type is a bit too backward looking. Charitable activity is a competitive space with all kinds of good causes vying for attention. What kind of program would best distinguish information services from other causes? I would speculate that a focus on services may work better over the long run than a focus on collections or buildings.

Think of the nobility of libraries and librarianship

The Philadelphia Free Library system is broke, and they’re shutting it down, including cancelling “all branch and regional library programs, programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults” and “all children programs, programs to support small businesses and job seekers, computer classes and after school programs” and “all library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers” and “all community meetings” and “all GED, ABE and ESL program.”

Just look at that list of all the things libraries do for our communities, all the ways they help the least among us, the vulnerable, the children, the elderly. Think of every wonderful thing that happened to you among the shelves of a library. Think of the millions of lifelong love-affairs with literacy sparked in the collections of those libraries. Think of every person whose life was forever changed for the better in those buildings.

Think of the nobility of libraries and librarianship, the great scar that the Burning of Alexandria gouged in human history. Think of the archivists who barricaded themselves in the Hermitage during the Siege of Leningrad, slowly starving and freezing to death but refusing to desert their posts for fear that the collections they guarded would become firewood…

Read the whole entry by Cory Doctorow over at Boint Boing: Philadelphia Free Library System is shutting down. On further reading, I gather that the Library system may not actually shutdown, if the political brinkmanship gets resolved but it is highly possible.

Reading this post by one of my favourite science fiction authors (and major proponents of Creative Commons) was a great inspiration. Sometimes we focus so much on our tools and methods that we lose sight of the broader picture. Thanks for reminding us, Cory!

Inspiring Quote For a Monday

In order to be really good as a librarian, everything counts towards your work, every play you go see, every concert you hear, every trip you take, everything you read, everything you know. I don’t know of another occupation like that. The more you know, the better you’re going to be. – Allen Smith, PhD

Via In Forming Thoughts (which got it from the Bilingual Librarian).

The Web2.You Conference at McGill University

Over the past few days, I’ve been exploring Canadian blogs and learning about more conferences, past and future. Today, I’m going to review and comment on  the Web2.You Conference held at McGill University in February 2009. Even though I could not attend, there is a good archive of video and blog posts that have been valuable to explore. For blog posts, I would point you to John Dupuis’ recap (Science Librarian at York University), Graham Lavender’s blog (a student at McGill and one of the organizers of the conference), presentation files from Stephen Abram and I’m sure there is more out there. Thanks are very much in order to Graham Lavendar for curating the conference’s wiki – you can find presentation slides and videos from several of the presenters in one convenient location.

I was particularly interested to watch videos of Michael Stephen’s on the Hyperlinked Library. The presentation is 10 parts on YouTube (here is Part One). I’ve read his blog – Tame The Web – with interest for over a year but I’ve never seen him present. I was very much impressed with this presentation. There was a great deal of good ideas and examples there (including examples of signage gone wrong). One point I took away in particular was the notion of thinking more deeply about privacy and participation. These are complex questions but I think Professor Stephens is right to point out that sometimes concerns about privacy shut down debate and exploration. Near the end of the presentation, new trends in employment were discussed: job titles like “user experience librarian” or “emerging technology librarian” (both of those interest me!) came up. Also, he suggested homework for those attending : create a Wikipedia entry for the McGill library/information school (there is a basic one now) and recommended reading Seth Godin’s book Tribes (which I did a few weeks ago).

Conversations Videos: Stephen Abram & Michael Stephens

I read Stephen Abram’s blog on a regular basis and have met him several times, but this video was still interesting to me. He expresses some of the same views that I hold on libraries. Libraries have played an important role in my life for years and years. I like to visit them, I like to work in them and I find them to be a valuable resource. I am particularly inspired by the role he has played in professional associations.

I’ve never met Michael Stephens, but I’ve certainly read his blog and other writings. He does some very cutting-edge work; his dissertation looked at blogs. Libraries might be strongly associated with books, but that is only part of the picture in my view. He also makes the point that technolust is a danger for some – we need to remember that people are what make these organizations tick. I can understand that case but I’ve talked to a number of non-professionals who, for some reason, equate “librarian” with “check out clerk.” This is something that needs to be addressed. But that is not going to be done here.