what do we do and why do we do it?

What do we do and why do we do it?Presented by Emily [email protected]

"Give the people what they want is a brittle and shallow civic philosophy."

Pariser (2011)

I Went into the Maverick Barby Gary Snyder

"I went into the Maverick BarIn Farmington, New Mexico.And drank double shots of bourbon

backed with beer.My long hair was tucked up under a capI'd left the earring in the car..."

"The purpose of the Library is to preserve the integrity of civilization..."

Blyberg, Trainor, & Greenhill (2009)

“...librarians and others concerned with the freedom to read asked themselves about the effects on library policy and practices of the investigations of national and state un-American activities committees, state education committees, and the widely publicized book-centered conflicts which have taken place in California since the end of World War II.”

Fiske (1959)

"Contrasted to science, it [library science] necessarily consists of judgements of value that translate a vision of the world into the social engagement that follows from it."

Cossette (1979)

"The future of the web is about personalization...now the web is about 'me.'"

Yahoo! Vice President Tapan Bhat (cited by Pariser)

March 24, 2012 11:30am

Yahoo! News

New York Times Front Page

Ombudsman = ?

CreditsLeeder, K. (2010) My Maverick Bar: A Search for Identity and the "Real Work" of Librarianship

http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2010/my-maverick-bar-a-search-for-identity-and-the-real-work-of-librarianship/

Snyder, G. (1974) Turtle Island

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/901204

Booth, C. (2010) Librarians as __________: Shapeshifting at the Periphery

http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2010/librarians-as-__________-shapeshifting-at-the-periphery/

Blyberg, Trainor, & Greenhill. (2009) The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians

http://www.blyberg.net/2009/04/03/the-darien-statements-on-the-library-and-librarians/

Fiske, M. (1959) Book Selection and Censorship: A Study of School and Public Libraries in California


See also: Collier, E. (2010) The Fiske Report.

http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2010/the-fiske-report/

Cossette, A. (1979) Humanism and Libraries: An Essay on the Philosophy of Librarianship


Pariser, E. (2011) The Filter Bubble


Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topgold/5883898308/

TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

Librarian Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingstonlibrary/4540133650/

What do we do and why do we do it?Presented by Emily [email protected]

Please bear with me for five minutes while I tell you what’s on my mind.

I’ve been struggling with librarianship’s identity. For me this is not a new struggle. Identity tropes have been permeating our profession for quite some time. They have been aided and abetted by technological change, disintermediation of information, the sudden and hip popularity of earning a Master of Library Science, and the myth of the “graying of the profession.”

"Give the people what they want is a brittle and shallow civic philosophy."

Pariser (2011)

Personalization on the net poses the same problem Fiske identified in her report. As library workers our professional conundrum lies in this scary place between an un-articulated philosophy of praxis and these ethical issues surrounding information. Information is now tainted by automated personal relevance. Worse, relevance algorithms can mirror social problems such as classism, racism, sexism, and other injustices.

I Went into the Maverick Barby Gary Snyder

"I went into the Maverick BarIn Farmington, New Mexico.And drank double shots of bourbon

backed with beer.My long hair was tucked up under a capI'd left the earring in the car..."

In 2010 my friend and colleague from In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Kim Leeder, wrote an article called: My Maverick Bar: A Search for Identity and the “Real Work” of Librarianship. A month later, Char Booth authored Librarians as __________: Shapeshifting at the periphery in the same journal.

"The purpose of the Library is to preserve the integrity of civilization..."

Blyberg, Trainor, & Greenhill (2009)

In 2009, John Blyberg, Cindi Trainor, and Kathryn Greenhill composed and endorsed the The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians.

These are all recent examples of librarians searching for the meaning of what we do. These questions become especially important in times when libraries, library funding, and access to information are called into question. When have they not?

“...librarians and others concerned with the freedom to read asked themselves about the effects on library policy and practices of the investigations of national and state un-American activities committees, state education committees, and the widely publicized book-centered conflicts which have taken place in California since the end of World War II.”

Fiske (1959)

But our introspections didn’t begin in the early 21st century. In 1959 Marjorie Fiske completed a study titled: Book Selection and Censorship: A Study of School and Public Libraries in California. The study revealed that librarians were struggling with questions of “quality or demand” when it came to collecting materials.

"Contrasted to science, it [library science] necessarily consists of judgements of value that translate a vision of the world into the social engagement that follows from it."

Cossette (1979)

Twenty years later, in 1979 a Canadian student named Andre Cossette authored the essay Humanism and libraries: an essay on the philosophy of librarianship. In it he asks questions pertaining to library science’s philosophical underpinnings. Today we still grapple with these questions. Library workers do not have one unifying philosophy.

Last month at OLA, we discussed this book and questions of library philosophy. At one point we concluded that “Librarians are facilitating for everyone the lifelong development and experience of human knowledge, culture, and discourse.”

In all of these examples, from current day to the 1950’s there is a common thread: civic engagement and the public good.

Now that I’ve spent half my time talking to you about librarianship’s history with ennui, I’d like to fastforward to 2011.

"The future of the web is about personalization...now the web is about 'me.'"

Yahoo! Vice President Tapan Bhat (cited by Pariser)

Eli Pariser, one of the co-founders of Moveon.org, wrote a book entitled: The Filter Bubble. Many of you may have heard of it or read it. Pariser discusses the inherent tension between disintermediated information production and delivery, and the internet personalization craze. In short, internet personalization is creating filter bubbles in which we exist, where no one truth is the same for any individual. In a previous era, content was delivered to us by humans who have ethical values, such as a newspaper editors (or librarians).

March 24, 2012 11:30am

Yahoo! News

New York Times Front Page

Today, we see information that has been deemed most relevant because people within our networks, who have similar profiles to us, have clicked on that link. Relevance is no longer based on curation or information’s impact on social and civic life. The social and monetary capital of a click-through is driving what we see.

As information consumers our worldviews are being shaped by the systematically and algorithmically filtered information we see. Our filter bubbles illustrate and further enable our social and political choices. Our search results show us information that is easy to believe, rather than what might challenge our worldviews. We’ve become programmed, like robots, by our own filter bubbles

Ombudsman = ?

Despite Pariser’s provocative arguments, he identifies some crucial needy spaces that present opportunities for librarians. He points to the need for information curators. Furthermore, he argues “appointing an independent ombudsman and giving the world more insight into how the powerful filtering algorithms work would be an important first step [to help the common good]”.

CreditsLeeder, K. (2010) My Maverick Bar: A Search for Identity and the "Real Work" of Librarianship

http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2010/my-maverick-bar-a-search-for-identity-and-the-real-work-of-librarianship/

Snyder, G. (1974) Turtle Island


Booth, C. (2010) Librarians as __________: Shapeshifting at the Periphery

http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2010/librarians-as-__________-shapeshifting-at-the-periphery/

Blyberg, Trainor, & Greenhill. (2009) The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians

http://www.blyberg.net/2009/04/03/the-darien-statements-on-the-library-and-librarians/

Fiske, M. (1959) Book Selection and Censorship: A Study of School and Public Libraries in California


See also: Collier, E. (2010) The Fiske Report.

http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2010/the-fiske-report/

Cossette, A. (1979) Humanism and Libraries: An Essay on the Philosophy of Librarianship


Pariser, E. (2011) The Filter Bubble


Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topgold/5883898308/

TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

Librarian Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingstonlibrary/4540133650/

So, my dear colleagues, I don’t have any solutions to these problems of philosophical praxis, identity, and the ethical dilemmas we face. I’m simply asking you to engage in these questions and these navel-gazing exercises with me. What do we do? And why do we do it?

Thank you

what do we do and why do we do it?

Education