Author: rdlankes

Posted on

Ferguson Library

I have never been to Ferguson. I have never been to the Ferguson Library. I love the Ferguson Library.

Go look at this page:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/ferguson-library-refuge-adults-children-amid-strife/story?id=25050930

Now read this:

http://johnbeaudoin4.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/the-library-of-solace/

I read these right after re-reading my book Expect More for an upcoming project that starts with the Arab Spring and the modern Library of Alexandria being protected, and in essence reclaimed by protestors:

After the uprising had subsided, when President Mubarak had stepped down and the protestors were celebrating their victory around the country, not a window of the library had been broken, not a rock thrown against its walls. Why, in the midst of tearing down the regime, did the people of the nation protect the library?

My answer was that over the years the librarians had been a service to the community and become part of the community-not simply a service of a government that was seen as disconnected and corrupt. I go on to say the reason the library was not harmed was not because the librarians inside were exceptional, but rather that they did their job. Let me be clear, they were brave and brilliant, but to call them exceptional is to expect too little of every librarian. This was the bar, I argued, that librarians should strive towards.

When I tell this story to audiences and new students I often see some fear…”would I be expected to support a revolution or function in an uprising?” I make some passing joke and dismiss the problem.

Then the town of Ferguson exploded with a population at odds with a militarized police force. Then the schools were closed down. Then the right of assembly was suspended.

Then, the librarians of Ferguson did their job.

Then, as in Egypt, the librarians proved once again that a library is not a collection or a building, but a vital member of the community. Or, as the librarians of Ferguson put it much more eloquently: a library is family.

Librarians of Ferguson, thank you.

Posted on

Bliss in the Moment

[EDITORIAL NOTE: Putting up a post that includes the words “bliss” and “optimism” in the midst of civil unrest in Missouri, rockets in Gaza, and bedlam in the Ukraine may seem a bit tone deaf. However, I feel it appropriate because: 1. It is about cancer and that excuses everything, 2. Adding to depressing news where you are nearly helpless to do anything about it doesn’t seem an appropriate response, and 3. Did I mention that it relates to cancer? Seriously, I think a decision to be happy and not helpless is a message we could all use right about now.]

IMG_5279On September 9th I will have another PET scan, just about 3 months after my previous scan. Fear not, this is a pre-planned event and part of the normal monitoring after a stem cell transplant. Assuming everything is clear the scans will become less frequent; PET scans will be replaced with less involved CAT scans, and so on. After about 5 years, if all goes well, there will be little monitoring of any kind.

Assuming all goes well.

That’s the trick, of course: all going well. Throughout two rounds of chemo and through the transplant I always hoped for things to go well… but often they didn’t. Coming up to a scan was a growing chorus of worry with a crescendo of doubt in an examination room moments before meeting with the doctor for results.

My clear scan in June was the same, and frankly I expected the summer to be relief from good news making an inevitable transition to doubt and worry for the upcoming scan. But a funny thing happened: I chose to have a cancer free summer. Not biologically of course, but in my mind, I wasn’t going to worry about what might be going on in my lymph nodes for the three months between scans. I rollerbladed for the first time in three years. I said yes to projects. I taught and I went on short trips. I got fat and furry and, well, I had a cancer free summer.

People asked during treatment if somehow I appreciated things more. Knowing that my time on Earth may be limited by cancer did I pay more attention to sunsets, blades of grass and such. Nope. I was too busy, or too sick, or too worried, or too tired, or, well, too cancer focused. I wrote an earlier piece about using cancer, and I did. I paid very close attention to my boys, my wife and such, but I was always paying attention because I had cancer. It is too fine a line between paying attention and paying attention while you still can.

I wrote an earlier piece on having optimism, and I was optimistic… but really, I was cautiously optimistic. The kind of cautious optimism that makes you smile as you re-check your life insurance policy and tuck a list of all your passwords for your wife into the safe.

These have all been things I have learned with cancer. This summer I learned something after cancer (or at least between…I’m still cautiously optimistic). I can make a decision to truly embrace the present. I decided to have a cancer free summer. Not to ignore reality, but rather to be joyful in the day. When I glide down the trail by Onondaga Lake I smile. The sky does indeed seem more brilliant and blue. The farmers market is a must for my Saturdays… not because it may be my last trip there, but because it is brimming with color and scents and it makes me happy.

This summer, this very day, I am genuinely happy. This summer has had its challenges, and I have had bad days, but I always return to a state of bliss. I am not living for the next scan, though I know full well that it is coming, and I know full well that it may not be clean. That is for the 9th not today. I am disappointed that I can’t go to the state fair this year with my compromised immune system. But you know what, it’s just a fair.

I wish I could tell you how to make a decision to enjoy your present. I hope it doesn’t take cancer to find this place. I also don’t know how long it will last. Is this just a summer, or can I continue to decide to be present and joyful? I hope so.

I know there are those who have used my previous missives as sermons. I have tried to look for some deeper meaning in my journey. I have tried to use pain to teach, uncertainty to give hope, and tragedy to call for action. Today’s sermon is not about deeper meanings, or tragedy, but perhaps one more lesson on hope. I hope for you to find joy in the moment. I hope you have the ability to choose to be happy. Be it the rainbow after the storm, or simply a respite before the next fight, I hope for you the bliss of simply living.

Posted on

A “Pre-Announcement” for My Next Book: The Boring Patient

So what the heck is a pre-announcement? Well, it is really a call for help as I continue to explore self-publishing. I am looking for advice, help, crazy ideas, and thoughts in general from the library community on how we can best use my next book, The Boring Patient.

What’s The Boring Patient about? It is the story of my journey with cancer. Here’s a short excerpt from the first chapter:

Dear Heroic Noble Inspiring Cancer Survivor

Boring Book CoverThe first line of the first pamphlet I read after my diagnosis of cancer told me I was a survivor. I didn’t have to be cured to be a survivor, I guess just be breathing. This struck me as a pretty low threshold. But as you have probably already found out, there are a ton of stupid metaphors and assumptions around cancer.

Take “fighting cancer”…yeah, that’s what it feels like to lie in a bed asleep for 16 hours straight…fighting. Or, I love it when folks tell me I’m heroic. If anyone was given the choice to take drugs to extend their life wouldn’t they do it? That’s not heroic, it’s common sense. I hope, like me, you have made the brave decision to try not to die.

So what’s in here for you? I hope some comic relief. Seriously, humor has been the best medicine– other than, you know, actual medicine (that’s Seth MacFarlane’s joke I stole). You’re going to hear a lot about the importance of a “positive attitude.” Screw that. You have cancer and could die from it. Feel free to cry, scream, piss people off, and flip the bird to God (he can take it). I do have to tell you, however, that gets very tiresome after a while. Tiresome not for everyone else, who cares, but to yourself. So why not confuse everyone and be happy…besides they all have to laugh at your jokes now.

For those who regularly read my blog, the book is a lot more than just a compilation of my cancer related posts, but has the same spirit.

Anyway, back to my call for help.

We talk a lot about how libraries can be friends to authors. Can we use this book to demonstrate that? I don’t have the ability for a multi-city speaking tour, but I have Skype and I’m always open to good ideas. Would this be a chance to publish the book serially with a chapter a week on library websites? Maybe team up with a newspaper and a public library? Let the creative juices flow.

Right now the plan is to publish this as both a reasonably priced paperback and ebook (with possibly an audio book to follow) as I did with Expect More (more on that soon), my previous self-published book on librarianship for non-librarians. 5”x8” and 145 pages.

Thoughts? Use the comment section below, or email [email protected]

Posted on

Kindle Unlimited

I wrote the following post for the iSchool’s Information Space Blog. Thought folks here might find it useful.

Can I tell you why I’m so excited about Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service? Because, aside from all my publications with academic presses and journals, I am an independent publisher. My book, Expect More, was published as a physical copy and digital copy through Amazon’s tools. What’s better, I’m automatically part of Kindle Unlimited, and maybe this will get me more readers. You see, the vast majority of the 600,000 titles in Kindle Unlimited are self-published books.Want the top sellers in the New York Times list? Ah, go to a library.

Surprised that a professor of library and information science isn’t all that worried about the fate of libraries (mostly public libraries) in the light of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited launching it’s “Netflix for Books?” Don’t be. Amazon joins a pretty crowded field, including Overdrive,Scribd, and Oyster. What’s more, Amazon is leading with 600,000 items, where libraries have access to tens of millions of titles…seriously.

Perhaps, you may think, I am an ivory tower academic blind to the coming disruptive change…like when the Internet was going to put libraries out of business… then Google…then Netflix…then Yahoo! Answers. Here’s the plain truth: there is a HUGE disruptive change happening in libraries, and it is facilitated by things like Google and Kindle Unlimited. Libraries are shifting from collection-focused buildings to centers of innovation focused on communities. If you think of libraries as places filled with books, you are in for a bit of a shock. Any library that can be replaced by a $10 a month subscription to stuff SHOULD be replaced.

Kids watching a 3D printer working

Kids at the Fayetteville Free Library watch a 3D Printer in action. Image via 3ders.org.

Let me give you a small example of what I mean. My wife recently had to be out of town for 2 weeks, so I got single-father duty. The majority of those days we were at the library. We were there so the kids could 3D print iPhone cases for their friends, borrow games, and join Minecraft groups. Did they check out books? Sure, on our way out…if we had time. Why was the public library doing all of these things? To meet the library’s mission of improving their community through knowledge creation. My kids were learning through books, sure, but also video games, Do It Yourself (DIY) printing, and by interacting with other folks in the community. In the coming weeks, the same library is having DIY sessions on home improvement, including electrical work…I NEED that.

Now, this might seem a flippant response to a major technology mover. After all, was there nothing in Amazon’s move that worried me? Oh yes…hell yes if I’m allowed to swear on this blog. It terrifies me and should terrify you how Amazon is currently working to break publishers and pursue a monopoly in book sales. They are making information unavailable to their customers trying to improve their position in the market. They are making titles harder or impossible to find out of a drive to the bottom line, not the good of the people.

Comic depicting what would happen if big ISPs were allowed to charge for tiered internet access.

An example of the consequences of the end of Net Neutrality. Image via commoncause.org.

But honestly, that is nowhere near as scary as things like network neutrality, where Internet Service Providers are trying to figure out how to monetize your viewing habits and pick the winners and losers in new Internet services. And that, frankly, pales in comparison to digital sharecropping, where huge corporations get massive billion-dollar valuations based on the content and work of their “users.” I mean, who is using whom when YouTube gets bought by Google for over a billion dollars and not one video producer saw a dime?

So are there scary things going on? Yup? Thank God we have some folks who are in the information industry and base their work on century-old values.Thank goodness there are information professionals that continue to maintain an internationally-distributed network of local knowledge hubs dedicated to community engagement and free and fair access to the life blood of democracy: information. Thank goodness there are librarians who long ago realized that it is not the size of your collection, but the reach of your community that really matters.

By the way, if you have $10 a month lying around, try Marvel Unlimited. If you are a comic book fan it is fricken incredible.

Posted on

Interview with Anna Maria Tammaro

Video and audio from a short interview with Anna Maria Tammaro on New Librarianship and Italian librarians:

Interview on New Librarianship with Anna Maria Tammero from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

Audio Only: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2014/Italy.mp3

Here is a list of the questions we started with:

1. What is the value of librarians and how can it be measured? if the librarians’ value is facilitating learning in our communities, how can we measure the achievement of members, their outcomes, and our impact?

2. In the Italian context, the autonomy of librarians is very limited: how can we feel responsible of improving our society?

3. In Italy, librarians have different education levels and work in different contexts in the North and the South of Italy: how can we share a common Library model?

4. As university librarians, how can we facilitate knowledge creation? should our role be in line or in collision with our University role, that shares the same mission of knowledge creation?

5. You put forth a kind of subversive vision of our profession. The first words that come to my mind are: overall change, assertion, participation. I find your idea of a new librarianship very inspiring. As an academic librarian, I ask to myself how librarians’ mission of improving society through facilitating knowledge creation can be reconciled within the academic community we first serve, whose mission is in a way parallel or identical. Isn’t that a role our parent institution will never let us play, if not just as a second choice?

Posted on

Master Class Now Open for Enrollment

Starting at the end of June I’ll be running the New Librarianship Master Class (June 30-July 27). For those who are familiar with the MOOC I did last summer, this is a repeat of that course. For those unfamiliar, here is a description:

About the Class

Libraries have existed for millennia, but today the library field is searching for solid footing in an increasingly fragmented (and increasingly digital) information environment. What is librarianship when it is unmoored from cataloging, books, buildings, and committees?

The vision for a new librarianship must go beyond finding library-related uses for information technology and the Internet; it must provide a durable foundation for the field. New Librarianship recasts librarianship and library practice using the fundamental concept that knowledge is created though conversation. New librarians approach their work as facilitators of conversation; they seek to enrich, capture, store, and disseminate the conversations of their communities.

Join David Lankes for this online course that provides a foundation for practicing librarians and library science students in new librarianship. It builds on The Atlas of New Librarianship, the 2012 ABC CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature and seeks to generate discussion about the future direction of the profession.

Course Introduction

For a brief video introduction see: https://vimeo.com/96621020

For a brief video introduction of New Librarianship see: https://vimeo.com/49680667

Join Others

Thanks to the generosity of the State Library of Illinois, the class will be open to all comers, but is targeting participants in the ILEAD USA project. To enroll, use the following instructions. Note that the class won’t start until June 30, but you can register now and get a sense of the course management system used.

Self Enroll

This course is being taught using CourseSites by Blackboard, an online platform for organizing and securely sharing course materials, online lectures, discussion and other learning activities. To request enrollment into my course, follow the steps below:

1. Launch a browser and enter the following URL to the course home page:

https://www.coursesites.com/s/_ILEADUSA

2. Once at the course home page, click the “Self Enroll” button.

When signing up, take note that you can register using existing account information from popular web services like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, Yahoo and Windows Live to make it easier to login.

Questions

If you have any questions please let me know at [email protected], or use the Discussion board under “Overview and Introduction.”

Posted on

EveryLibrary Rapid Response Fund

I love this idea. I have been a big fan of EveryLibrary since it started. They are doing good work for a good cause (libraries) and they are doing it in a smart way. Their latest effort, Rapid Response Fund, will allow them to help libraries at the 11th hour:

“Our Rapid Response Fund is designed to amplify the voices of local library advocates during a crisis by supporting paid ads for outreach and action. “

I urge you to take a look: http://everylibrary.org/rapid-response-fund/

Posted on

A Good PET Scan

If there is one thing that cancer has not taught me it is patience, so here’s the punch line: Had my first PET scan since the stem cell (bone marrow) transplant on Wednesday. Got the results today. The results: no indication of cancer at this time.

Now for more nuance than Twitter will allow. My oncologist sees no indications of lymphoma on the scan and is comfortable waiting 3 to 6 months for another scan. This is clearly good news. I don’t (and probably never shall) use the word cure. The cancer can come back, that’s why I’ll be monitored for the next several years (remember that the stem cell transplant procedure has a 50% success rate).

So. Great news. A great reason to have a great summer. I still have a compromised immune system, so I watch what I eat, stay away from sick folks, and off of airplanes (and cruise ships).

One scan down – a bunch more to go!