academic libraries

All this talk about academic libraries has me jonesing to hang out in my alma mater, Cornell College's library.   

Early on in the video, "The Future of Academic Libraries", I picked up on a theme: academic librarians seem to be spreading themselves quite thin, perhaps to justify their existence.  Jay Schafer suggested that libraries might serve as a sort of publisher/printer.  He also brought up digital preservation and access issues related to that.  How about modeling university libraries after the Apple Store?  What should be done about e-books and e-journals?  I am not entirely opposed to any of those ideas (except the publishing one--I didn't get that at all), but I worry that librarians in all settings are becoming jacks-of-all-trades and masters-of-none.

There is no doubt that librarians in this economy need to make sure their jobs are necessary.  My first instinct on how to do this is for librarians to instruct (especially since I'm in Information Literacy Pedagogy right now!).  My impulse was supported when Susan Perry urged academic librarians to focus on digital asset management and teaching.  A bit about digital asset management: I had never heard this term before, but it seems to be just another facet of cataloging.  There are an enormous amount of unresolved issues swirling around this topic, many of which were brought up during Nancy Mulhern's lecture.  Libraries may need to share digital assets, but it's important that those be accessible in some kind of consistent format.  Then there are the questions looming around the Google book project. 

Anyway, teaching is easier to talk about since it's certainly more relevant to me.  And it's certainly important to campus libraries.  Susan Perry said that university students still don't know how to research.  She called for library instruction to be "systematic, but not those boring library lectures", claiming that the term information literacy "turns people off".  Does her suggestion, "digital media literacy", really sound that much more enticing to young people?  This reminds me of the switch from the term school librarian to school library media specialist.  I feel the same way about both: the title really doesn't matter.  As far as information literacy instruction goes, it should include how to find, evaluate, and use information, digitally or physically and should be grounded in the classroom curriculum.  To get the faculty on the side of the teacher-librarian, information literacy instruction has to enhance the curriculum, not take time and attention from it.  It makes a lot of sense for librarians and faculty to "see [the library] as the logical extension of the classroom", though I think it might take more convincing for some faculty members to get on board.  The video suggests that libraries would not only be a resource for print and digital materials, but a place that would foster critical, analytical thinking, most likely through its teaching librarians.

all photos from cornellcollege.edu

To comment on the Apple Store model of organization, I like the idea of libraries as "group study and social centers".  Also the aesthetic of the Apple Store is incredibly pleasing, so I would not mind if libraries drew from that.  On the other hand, Apple Stores are not attempting to organize hundreds or thousands of books and documents, sometimes on different topics.  The Apple gives most every item equal footing/presentation, which would not be useful for libraries.  Besides, libraries already have a "genius bar" at the reference desk and geniuses wandering, ready to answer your questions-librarians!

In the video, "Challenges to Campus Use of the Kindle", I could see the Goldsteins' point--if they're not actually promoting the use of the Kindles and there are no visually impaired students on campus, who does it hurt to test them out?  I even wondered if it's fair to prohibit all students from using a technology tool because of a few who did not have accessibility.  After hearing the second half of the video, I still agree that Princeton wasn't really doing anything wrong, but they weren't doing anything proactive either. 

Marty Ringle's talk about accessibility and technology seemed less about whether Princeton was right or wrong and more about the impact that large institutions like universities can have on the development on technology.  As one measly consumer, I usually assume that my role is confined to accepting whatever developers shove out onto the market.  If it is an insufficient or inconvenient product, I just don't buy it.  I hadn't considered what kind of sway a university might have with Kindle or other technology developers.  I think Ringle's point was that if we accept an e-reader or other tool that is less than fully accessible, movement towards accessibility will be slow or nonexistent.  Further, he said "accessibility tends to benefit the entire community" and I am now convinced that is true.  I was impressed with his examples of accessibiliy features that have made easier the lives of people with many other disabilities, ranging from paralysis to dyslexia.  While it is noble and economically necessary to cut back on the paper used to print digital reserves, universities should not settle for a mediocre digital tool.  They should swing their weight towards technology developers and insist that all students have access to the technology.

When Olson quotes that “'[e]quality may well be defined as deliberate indifference to specific differences'”(653), the type of equality in this case hearkens back to our class discussion on Wiegand's view of neutrality as negative. After my summer “Beyond Diversity” workshop and that class discussion, the ideas of “decentering whiteness” and eradicating institutionalized racism have been in the back of my mind.
This article offered the first concrete example of how librarians could actually affect those kinds of changes. It was useful for me to consider how the issues with the Dewey Classification system would actually effect students or patrons. I can imagine an individual looking for information about people of his or her race. Under Dewey's hieracrhies, helpful and relevant materials may be stored in an area apart from other materials on race and ethnicity. This is yet another example of white privilege and how assuming patrons are a collective, homogenous group disenfranchises another group. I liked how Olson illustrated this problem using the railroad: while the Westward expansion of rail lines provided efficiency to some, it negatively affected the lives of others (whose opinions were not solicited nor heeded).
One remedy for the current restrictiveness of information organization that both Weinberger and Olson suggest is collaborative tagging or social cataloging. Authors and readers would not be restrained by traditional cataloging language and thus could label materials with accurate and usable search terms.
It's no secret that Weinberger enthusiastically supports this kind of organization, but I hesitate to turn to tagging in my own information management. It would take the same or more time and effort to tag my photos, for example, than it takes to place them under a date or event heading. I like that my bookmarks and emails are organized under categories and subcategories that I've created. However, I know that my system only works because I created it for myself and no one else. So when it comes to organizing information for the public, either digitally or physically, social cataloging may be a viable solution, like Olson's suggestion that users “leave a trail” for future users.

Race and Libraries

Unequal Legacies: Race and Multiculturalism in the LIS Curriculum
by Christine Pawley

Wow.  This article answers a lot the questions and concerns that I brought up in my last post.  It also provides context to the content of a summer workshop I attended called "Beyond Diversity".  Both the name of the workshop and the article tell me that stopping at "diversity" or "multiculturalism" is not enough.

The concept of creating a "nonwhite" or "race-neutral" library is an intriguing one.  I will admit that, to me, the library already seems "race-neutral".  However, I am aware that this perception is a product of white privilege.  During the "Beyond Diversity" workshop, we learned that on the backdrop of the dominant white culture, "whiteness" disappears, therefore it can be difficult for a white person steeped in "whiteness" to perceive how her privilege puts others at a disadvantage.  It is useful to reconsider how language and the "us versus them" mentality contribute to institutionalized racism, but I would really benefit from reading more practical suggestions on how to "decenter whiteness" in the library setting.