Concepts For a Revolutionary Field: Philosophy Behind Library and Information Science

Andrew Beman-Cavallaro, MLS

Associate Director of LibrariesPasco-Hernando State College

Spring Hill Campusbemanca@phsc.edu

352-340-4829

Librarian As Perpetuator• We are members of a cabal stretching back

millennia which has kept the Information of Mankind safe, caused knowledge to expand, and dedicated its participants’ lives to ensuring the intrinsic value of access.

• Radical Revolutionaries ;)

• Drivers of the catalysts of social change (Vision/Inspiration/Appreciation/Encouragement)

How?

• SSLLI

• Physics & Ontology: Nature of existence [Schrodinger (superposition)/Heisenberg]

• Philosophy as interest

• Information Theory, Foundations of Mathematics, Logic, Conversation Theory…

Who?

• Bertrand Russell: Logic/Linguistics

• Ludwig Wittgenstein: Mathematics

• Richard Dawkins: Biology/Genetics

• Claude Shannon: Information Theory

What?

• 117 Library related eJournals (PHSC)

• 1 Library & Philosophy Journal: Library Philosophy and Practice

• University of Oxford to the rescue: Luciano Floridi

Philosophy of Information

• Philosophy of Information in LIS

• Epistemology: Study of the nature of knowledge

• Social Epistemology

Philosophy of Librarianship?

• Do we have one? (ALA values)

• “To provide unbiased access of Information to a Population”

• Access, Engagement, Instruction, Info.Lit.

Philosophy of Librarianship? (cont.)

• Patience & Fortitude?

• Create, Consolidate, Disseminate, Utilize

• Are we just practical application?

BRIEF History

• Sumer tablets (cuneiform) 4th mil. BC

• Archives: approx. 2600BC

• Private archive: Ugarit, 1450BC-1200BC

• Library of Ashurbanipal (Sardinapolus): approx. 280BC, Nineveh

BRIEF History (cont.)

• Library at Alexandria, approx. 280BC

• Zenodotus to us

• Crazy idea #1: Cave paintings (Lascaux)

What Do We Know of Information?

• “Facts or details about a subject”(Merriam)

• Written words? Ideas? Interpretation? Language? Rewritten? Knowledge?

• Music as example

Information (cont.)

• Can Information be destroyed? (Hawking)

• Information Ecology

• Information vs. documentation

• Big data: The End of Theory

Quantum Computing

• Altering the future of the way we think

• As We May Think

• Qubit

Everything Is Information

Meme…(Dawkins)

Information & Communication

• If there is Information can you know about it without communication? (Take a look)

• Biologically (DNA)

• Libraries use Librarians to make more Libraries

• “The Information wants to get out”

Communication (cont.)

• Communication as transference of Information (Hofstadter: Gödel, Escher, Bach)

• Image based use of Information

• Douglas Adams’ technology rules

• Smart phones and kids & “www” (phone vs. user)

The Nature of Information

• Marking→(value)→ • Symbol →(organized)→ • Data→(processed)→ • Information→(understood)→ • Knowledge→(acted upon)→ • Wisdom

Nature of Information (cont.)

• Charles Babbage: Mechanical Computer (ahead of his time)

• Samuel Morse: Code (not alphabet nor binary)

• George Boole: Search Logic

• Alan Turing: Code breaking

Defining a Library• The building? (Seattle Public Library) Third Space?

• The Staff, fewer Libraries, more Librarians? (vending machine Libraries)

• The collection? (umbrellas, phone chargers, people)

• The population served? (Patron driven acquisition)

Defining a Library (cont.)

• Digital Commons vs. open access lectures

• Crazy idea #2: The grape

• Semantic web → subject cataloguing

Defining a Library (cont., cont.)

• Library as a place of conversation

• Look, feel, and smell of books not enough (eBook newcomers fall the fastest)

• Big redesign factor of a Library: 1st website

Defining a Library (cont., cont., cont.)

• The naysayers:

• In the digital age why do we need Libraries?

Defining a Library (cont., cont., cont.)

• Statistics to show value (no INTRINSIC value?)

• Library like Fire Department

• Consumerism of Information/relevancy

Everything That Has Information Confounds Society

• Everything • That• Has• Information• Confounds• Society

The People:

• Immanuel Kant: dignity, autonomy, respect

• John Rawls: Veil of Ignorance (contract)

• John Locke: Life, Liberty, property, taxation

• Aristotle: Teleological (sake for an end) To the best goes the best

Outcomes…

• Consequentialism?

• Utilitarianism?

• Libertarianism?

• Deontology?

Another Dude:

• “A country that does not know how to read and write is easy to deceive.”

-Che Guevara

• A population which is Information illiterate is easy to deceive.

• Information illiteracy=poverty (Not age based)

“Be realistic, demand the impossible.”-Che

Personal Burden of Information

• Responsible for accessing material which used to be provided

• Now without instruction/assistance

• Removal of eTitles from Libraries & personal devices

• Facebook editing settings & public status• Zuckerberg: End of Privacy

Dealing With the Devil?

• Library collaboration with corporations:

B&N, Amazon for eReader training

Renting book or article pages?

Wikipedia’s scholarly possibilities

YouTube as the World’s Public Media Library

A forgetful Google means a society denied the right to know

• Spark With Imagination, Fuel With Data

• Share Everything

• Be a Platform

• 1/5th Work Week

Hope From Non-Profit

Marketing

Crazy idea #3: Alternative READ Posters…

Marketing (cont.)• Social Media• Geek

• Anti-Reading PSA• Social Maturity And Real Thinking Syndrome PSA

• Inclusion in MLIS curriculum

Conclusions

Think radicalThink largeThink weirdThink often

Thank You

Special ThanksAnthony Adams: Librarian, Hernando County Public Library Ray Calvert: Director of Libraries, PHSCDrew Smith: Librarian, USF Guy McCann: Physical Sciences Professor, PHSC Jessica Riggins / Vikki McLean: TBLC

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