Scholar | Speaker | Writer | Teacher | Advocate
The video introduction to the threads of the Atlas, created and used in the New Librarianship MOOC, have now been added to the Threads sections of the Atlas companion site.
In the coming weeks I hope to make substantial changes to the companion site, creating a more expansive home for new librarianship and ongoing efforts, such as the Salzburg Curriculum. If you have ideas on how to improve the site, please let me know.
As we enter the official last week of the New Librarianship Master Class/MOOC I wanted to extend a personal thank you to the library community. Some may know this has been a very difficult year for me in terms of my health. A set of unexplained seizures in the Fall of 2012, followed by a lymphoma diagnosis in February of this year have been major challenges. Travel has become nearly non-existent, and my speaking engagements have been limited to Skype.
While my wife and family have been the force that have kept me going you, librarians, have been the force that have kept my mind engaged, and a part of the dialog on the future of our profession. The discourse in the MOOC, email, Twitter, and the blogosphere have been invaluable during my treatments.
I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed the MOOC conversations and how much I have learned. I have a lot to think about including: the political dimensions of new librarianship, the importance of multiple narratives, and the role of fiction. Like you, I too was overwhelmed with the sheer volume of comments in the first week, but digging through it I have been heartened by the healthy and deep conversation about libraries and librarians.
I have been thrilled to see the course has inspired blog posts, Twitter debates, and Facebook groups. I know a lot of you weren’t prepared for the theoretical and philosophical dimensions of the discussion, but I admire that we all dove in with respect and civility, if not agreement. We are indeed a noble profession, and one well equipped to forge a bright future.
I would also like to extend my thanks to my fellow instructors Jian Qin, Megan Oakleaf and Jill Hurst-Wahl. I would also like to thank Dean Liz Liddy and Associate Dean Jeff Stanton whose support made this course possible. Peggy Brown and Sarah Helson are the amazing instructional design team that not only provided tech support to the course, but were instrumental in bringing some pedagogical coherence to the MOOC.
The course would also not be possible without the administrative support of Blythe Bennett and Sarah Hagelin of the iSchool and Karen De Jarnette of University College’s TED Center. Thanks to MIT Press for supporting the course with the Atlas discount.
Lastly, a special thanks to IMLS and ILEAD USA. Both supported the development of the Atlas and New Librarianship in general. The ILEAD USA librarians not only provided exemplars for the course, but inspiration for me in their passion and dedication to service.
I don’t know yet the end of my personal health journey, but no matter the outcome, I do know you have made the journey not only more bearable, but inspirational.
Thank you.
The New Librarianship Master Class/MOOC is its third week, and the question can be asked…whats next? What happens after the August 4th end date for the course? The short answer is, the conversation can continue. What follows is some specific answers, and some longer term plans.
On August 5th, the tests and assessments in the course will disappear. This will allow us to grade the work, and certify folks seeking Continuing Education Units and graduate credit. See the FAQ for more details on receiving credits.
However, the rest of the course will remain open, as will enrollment for anyone wanting to join the course after the 4th. The hope is that two things will happen:
The videos, slides, readings, and structure will remain available. As a reminder, all of these are also available via Creative Commons License, so please use these materials in any way you would like. I need to be clear, that after August 4th, I personally will do my best to monitor the course, but Syracuse University can’t make a formal commitment to support instructors. Jill Hurst-Wahl, Megan Oakleaf, and Jian Qin have done a tremendous job in engaging in conversation, but alas, they have lives outside of new librarianship (unlike me). So it will become more self-service.
What I am really hoping is that after the crush of completing the course, and folks have time to catch up on the discussion boards, the conversation can continue as well. I have been very impressed by the sharing and thoughts on the future of the field. I know there are a lot of forums that the profession uses to talk, and if the MOOC can continue to be one, I am happy.
We’ll also be sharing what we’ve learned. I’m working on a behind the scenes screencast that highlights the technologies used in the course. I’ll share data as it becomes available.
As for future offerings? We’ll see. One idea that has been floated is building out week 3 of the MOOC for an offering aimed at “overseers” of libraries such as board members, principals, faculty, provosts and so on. If you have ideas on that, please share. We’re also working on creating a resource list of readings, videos, and resources brought up in the MOOC dialogs.
UPDATE July 29th: CEU Option Extended:
by popular request, we are extending the CEU deadline. Starting August 5th we’ll be identifying folks who have successfully completed the quizzes & evaluations and sending out Certificates of Completion, and a link to get formal CEUs if you so choose. However, the courses and quizzes will remain open until September 4th for those needing more time to complete the course for CEUs. So on September 5th we’ll once again identify those who have completed the MOOC and send a certificate of completion and link to get the CEUs if you choose. After that, the course will still be available, but not for credit. PLEASE NOTE, that after August 4th, there will be no regular monitoring by the Syracuse instructors.
I have been engaged in a discussion of librarians and power with Steve Matthews over on the BeerBrarian Blog:
http://beerbrarian.blogspot.com/2013/07/thoughts-on-new-librarianship-week-one.html?showComment=1373647786790#c3322455378238735629 (great post, but this is happening in the comments).
It would have stayed there, but my latest response is simply too big, and I’d rather be complete than terse. Also, I think these ideas on the role of libraries and librarians is of general importance I wanted to share. So here is the setup that kicked off this response:
Now, my response:
Steve I can honestly say your reply left me speechless. It was, for me, a moment of clarity as to why we disagree so fundamentally when reading your blog I see so much similarity. I see now your objection to my views on power, and I also see we are never going to agree upon them. So let this be my final comment.
I agree that as with learning, no one can force someone to accept power, or a service, or make a decision that one party defines as beneficial. In essence just because a librarian seeks to empower an individual or community does not mean that individual has to accept it. This is why education has been turned on its head from teacher-centric to learner-centric. Ultimately taking power, like learning, is a choice.
However, where I fundamentally disagree is that all individuals are given the same choices. That in essence all individuals and communities have the same opportunity to say yes to empowerment and therefore are never presented choices for power at all.
This is obviously a larger issue of social equity or social justice to use a more loaded term. If you live in Detroit today, you do not have access to the choices as someone who lives in Ann Arbor. The police and emergency units will show up in no less than an hour. You will have access to fewer libraries, your urban schools will underperform. Can someone in this setting overcome these obstacles on their own? Some can. The media is replete with stories of those they have, though often integral to these stories are mentors and heroes that made it happen.
I will simply mention other things that for long has robbed people of their choices of empowerment: race, gender, sexual orientation, poverty, and religion among other things. If we as a society subscribe that all people are created equal, and all people deserve an equal chance at success (note not an equal guarantee of it) then we endeavor to establish a level playing field of empowerment – literally social mechanisms of empowerment. This combination of private agencies (foundations), public agencies (like schools and libraries), marketplace agencies (training and internships), and religious agencies (charity and services) seek to establish bases of power (access to opportunities, skill sets, money, a regulatory context) that can be shared with the citizenry – though often in radically different ways and at times for conflicting different reasons. These agencies all are active in their impact and outreach – an outreach that represents a worldview (the role of government, the prioritization of a given group, the best means of empowerment) full of biases and points of view.
So these services and individuals seek to empower in a context of values and means. Often they conflict. And in these conflicts, gaps of opportunity either arise or are created. So that an individual may be deprived of opportunities and choices. Therefore he or she can be left without power not by the choices they make, but by the circumstances he or she finds themselves in.
If we believe, as I do, that librarians and libraries support the importance of things like equal access to knowledge, and prepared access to the democratic process we must first seek the power to do that. In the civic sector that comes in the form of charters and tax dollars. In essence a social compact with a community. We then use this power to offer it back to these communities, adhering to our values as agreed upon in that negotiation with the community (through boards, and budget votes).
Will all members of the community then accept or even agree with the power being offered (literacy, confidential access to the net, proxy battles against censorship, etc)? No, but they offer it so more members of society can choose empowerment.
To say the world works by people choosing either to empower themselves or not as if they all have the same choices to make ignores not only the reality of ongoing discussions on the role of government, but massive changes in societal opportunities brought about through the civil rights movement, women’s liberation, and child labor laws to only mention a few.
Now one may say that these movements didn’t come directly from the work of librarians. I would, again, disagree. Librarians and libraries did play a role, even if indirectly. Greater democratic participation and civic transparency was very much a goal of Carnegie’s library building. The advent of fiction collections and youth services was a proactive change in library service to meet the growing wealth of the middle class and a renewed emphasis on education. Open stacks still stand as a testament to open inquiry against the counter examples in repressive regimes.
In the first Arab Spring during protests in Alexandria all the prisons were opened and rapist and murders and thugs were put on the street to creat looting mobs to intimidate and invalidate the protests. The mobs went from government building to government building burning and vandalizing them.
These mobs then turned to the New Library of Alexandria. A structure built by the corrupt regime and whose board included the wife of the president. Protestors, men woman and children, gathered hand in hand to surround the building to protect it. By the end of the uprising, not one window was broken and not one rock thrown against its walls. The protestors even draped a flag across the stairs of the library, and every morning protester would touch and kiss the flag as they went out to march – in essence retaking the library for the community.
Why protect it? Because of the less than 10 year history of the library, the librarians and the staff did their jobs. The provided opportunity to learn, and engage in dialog with the local and global community. By embracing a belief that their work empowered people to learn, not just a party line, but whatever the learner wanted, they gave voice to those who had none. You could say they were being unbiased, but I would say in the pressure to tow the party line, they showed a strong bias toward open inquiry and serving the needs of the people over the government.
The world we live in is too complex to simply say people chose to be illiterate, or poor, or powerless. Certainly some do. But for those who choose to read they need a teacher willing to share their power of reading. For those who choose to fight to get out of poverty they need those who choose to provide access to online business sites that now require an online application even to be a janitor. And for those guaranteed the right to vote, they need access to documentation and voter registration be they democrat, republican, or independent. Without this empowering assistance they have no real choices. Only the illusion of it. And the illusion of choice and power may make the powerful sleep well at night, but it ultimately allows them to continually deprive power.
And so we come full circle to librarians and libraries. Do librarians seek out power, yes. They do so in order to serve. They do so in order to make powerful the individuals and communities and institutions they serve. But they do so in accordance with a set of professional values. Is the power they acquire neutral? No power is neutral – all power comes from some inequity. You are powerful on the playing field because you are faster or stronger. You are powerful in business because you have bigger profits, or better products. In government because of the size of your constituency. And you are powerful as a librarian because of your skills, and your credibility (that comes from performance and being intellectually honest about biases in an attempt toward unbiased).
This power of the librarian is also a large part of the power of a library. By sharing this power with the community through providing services, individuals and groups gain power. Some will chose not to accept it. But for far too many this will be their only opportunity to make decisions to lead to their own empowerment. Did the individual make the choice? Sure, but the library and librarian made the choice possible. And, they must continuously fight for the resources to do that.
With the announcement of the New Librarianship Master Class we’ve received a number of questions. The FAQ below is a set of answers to these questions (this document should be linked off the course site very soon).
Do I have to be a librarian to take the class?
The class is oriented towards professionals with some experience in librarianship (including paraprofessionals). A background in librarianship is not required, but recommended.
Can you give more detail about what will be involved in the class?
There are two short videos which will give you an introduction to how the class will run and what it will be about. See:
Introduction to the Master Class http://vimeo.com/68302323
Introduction to New Librarianship http://vimeo.com/49680667
How much time do I need to commit to completing the class?
Between the videos, readings, and discussions, plan on 20 hours total for the course. If you are taking the Master Class for graduate credit more time and participation is expected.
I’m in a remote time zone can I still participate in the class?
The course is offered as an asynchronous online class. That means that while there is a weekly schedule, there are no real-time events or lectures. All lectures and materials are available on demand to match your schedule.
What if I can’t attend during July, will it be offered again?
The course will be online for free after July, but not for CEU or graduate credit, and without guaranteed faculty participation.
Can I do some work ahead of the course?
Weekly assignments and modules are based on readings from the Atlas of New Librarianship. If you want a head start you can read the 6 threads that constitute the first half of the Atlas. Once the class begins, there will be lectures to introduce these threads, and discussion areas to ask questions and discuss ideas presented.
Do I have to pay for it?
To participate in the class is free. If you wish to receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) there is a $150 fee for 2.0 CEUs. To take the course for graduate credit you will need to pay $3882.00 $3,105.6 (thanks to a 20% tuition discount offered by the Dean) tuition and $50.00 fee for a three-credit course through Syracuse University and complete additional coursework through the month of August.
How do I enroll for CEUs credit?
How do I enroll for graduate credit?
What additional work is required for graduate credit?
In addition to completing the work laid out in the online course you will need to do weekly blog postings and complete a term paper on a theme from the Atlas of New Librarianship. This term paper will be in the form of an “Agreement Supplement” found in the second half of the Atlas.
Can I use these graduate credits in my own master’s program?
Transfer and use of credits is up to your program. We will happily supply the graduate course syllabus and any other information upon request.
Is there a Certificate of Completion if I choose not to get the CEUs?
Students who complete the class will receive an electronic certificate of completion.
Are there technical requirements for the course?
All you need is an Internet connected machine able to view online videos. You will also need to access the CourseSites website (http://www.coursesites.com). Near the start of the class (July 8) you will receive an email with specific instructions of logging into the course.
Will the videos be captioned for accessibility?
Lectures will be uploaded to YouTube for automatic captioning.
Can I use materials from the class in my own training and staff development?
We’ve worked hard to make the course “hackable.” Slides and videos from the class are released under the Creative Commons license. Lectures can be downloaded or embedded in any system that allows HTML.
It’s four in the morning and I should be asleep. Commencement starts in 5 hours, but chemo is keeping me awake. I was planning on writing a general message to new LIS graduates, but it just kept feeling overblown and preachy. Instead I’d like to direct my comments to this year’s graduating class of library science students – now librarians – at Syracuse University’s iSchool.
First, know that you are special to me. You were the first class I was responsible for accepting while LIS director. I learned so much from you. I saw how you filled the holes in curriculum and hands on skills by organizing yourselves and building a network of support. That move changed the program, and the school. I saw how you quickly saw beyond buildings and books to communities and proactive service.
Let me, if I may, give you one final lesson – a thought as you head into what for many will be your first job in libraries: Don’t wait. It will be too easy to wait to share your voice and your vision. You will want to wait for some experience. You will want to wait for promotion, or a management position, or the next job…don’t. Your voice, and your fresh perspective are too valuable to wait. The field needs you, just as I needed to learn from you.
I am not asking you to alienate, and I am certainly not excusing you from the obligation of listening. What I am saying is that time is no automatic test of fitness. Good ideas come from new places, and old ideas may need to be retired. The field needs your passion and it needs it now.
I realize that many of you are in your 20s and 30s and see the expanse of your life before you. You have plans, and career tracks, and goals for tomorrow…don’t wait. Don’t wait because now is the time for big and bold ideas. Don’t wait, because you have been prepared as radical positive change agents. Don’t wait, because you never know when all that time you saw before you is taken by lay-offs, an unreasonable boss, or the knife of a biopsy.
You have a voice in this profession not because your newly minted degree entitles you to one, but because you have earned it. I have seen you earn it in the classroom, and beyond. I am proud of you. Change the world!
“Moving Past the Deficit Model and Demonstrating Our Worth” Texas Library Association Annual Conference. Fort Worth, TX (via Skype).
Abstract: Our communities, be they an academy or a city, are not broken. Our communities are not passive users of services or consumers of reading. Our communities are our true collection. Their expertise, inventiveness, and experiences are a richer collection of knowledge than can be found in any set of stacks. Our operations and our advocacy must reflect community aspirations and dreams, not deficits and failings. This session will examine ideas and examples of aspiration advocacy and community-based services.
Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2013/TxLA-Deficit.pdf
Audio: Presentation – https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2013/TX-Deficit.mp3
- Question 1 – How can we get people to realize the library has services that they value and that we are not just collection?
- https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2013/Q1.mp3
- Question 2 – In the examples of building social networks for community organizations, how can we do that with our current systems?
- https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2013/Q2.mp3
- Question 2 – You talked about people building systems around them? Our catalogs can’t do that today, and I have questions everyday on how to use the catalog. What is available to have members build these systems and their networks?
- https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2013/Q3.mp3
Screencast:
Moving Past the Deficit Model and Demonstrating Our Worth from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
“School Librarians As Facilitators of Learning” Texas Library Association Annual Conference. Fort Worth, TX (via Skype).
Abstract: School librarians are more than teachers who work in the school library. They have the ability to bring whole new forms of instruction into a school. This session will cover new ideas and examples of school librarians moving beyond standardized testing and library management to help their students succeed.
Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2013/Facilitators.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2013/TX-Facilitate.mp3
Screencast:
School Librarians As Facilitators of Learning from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
Editorial note. After having a great conversation with folks on twitter it became apparent that I devalued youth librarianship out of hand. I apologize for that and it was not my intention. I have noted the edit below.
I got the call while I was in the Apple store (surgical mask firmly in place to protect a very low white blood count). It was hard to hear. Margy Avery, my editor at MIT Press, and Rachel Frick, head of the Digital Library Federation, were asking me if it was OK to “something … Expect More… something… OK?!” After a few more “what?” I got that they wanted to load my latest book on to their LibraryBox and distributed it around Austin Texas and the SXSWi Conference – which is cool. Rachel just wrote up a great post on librarians SXSW and I have to say that I am proud to be a tiny part and jealous as hell I wasn’t there.
You see, in all of the recent back and forth on rock star librarians I read the posts from the rather enviable position as someone who got to give keynotes, and got invited to conferences. I’m not sure I would use rock star, but I was very happy to be in demand as a speaker (hopefully about more substantive things than simply the latest gadget or trend). I am very fortunate to work at a place and in a job and with a boss who appreciates getting out and scholarship making a difference in practice (Syracuse University’s iSchool, professor, Liz Liddy who is awesome).
I realized a long time ago that these conference trips for me are more than just an opportunity to speak, pick up a few bucks, and get my ego stroked (which I am not a big enough person to not need). They are a chance to meet new people, hear amazing stories, and argue out ideas in the most amazing conversation – a conversation of professionals who every day serve real members.
Then a few things happened. Last summer I developed some mysterious illness that to this day no one is quite sure what it was. It put me to sleep most of the day, gave me splitting headaches, and eventually seizure like symptoms treated with draconian drugs that more or less put me in a permanent bad mood with 10% less brain function (or at least that is how it felt). My travel was canceled. And while I still spoke via teleconference, the stories and chance encounters, and frankly the group dialog was closed.
In January that was cleared up, and with glee I looked at the possibility of getting back on the road, always careful to balance requests with my obligations at work and at home. And three weeks later I was in the hospital for 20 days facing 8 months of chemo for lymphoma, and pretty much told that airplanes and a compromised immune system don’t mix. I vividly remember as a brilliant and compassionate nurse hung a bag of chemo medicine on an IV saying “you just have to get used to putting your life on ahold for a while.”
So as I read the conference posts, and saw the Movers and Shakers, and as I reviewed the conference slides posted by friends, I couldn’t help but feel a bit passed by. “Will they remember me?” “When I kick cancer’s ass will anyone still want me to talk?” It was a pity party. It was jealousy, it was the worst part of me. Then I got a calls from friends that started out with “how are you doing” and always ended with “how can we solve professional problem X” or advance on a dissertation, or do something cool. This week I got a message via FaceBook with a plea to speak out on Open Access (which I will) and add my voice to that conversation. A type of message I invite from all.
I realized that being a rock star librarian has nothing to do with stage time and wanting to hear me talk. To be a true star (and yes I realize the arrogance of implying I deserve that title), one must be able to get other people talking. And to get people talking one must have something interesting to start the conversation.
Chuck McClure (clearly one of my stars) once talked about how a bad conference (and journal) was filled with “How we do it good” pieces. Stories of implementation of some technique or technology in a library with little thought to larger issues, or larger implementation across the profession. George Needham (star) once said you could tell a bad conference by how many speakers started their presentation by telling you when they got their library degree (sometimes phrased as when the dinosaurs roamed the earth). Both points are about people speaking, not inviting the world to a conversation. Both are admissions of myopia. Good ideas, truly great ideas transcend place and transcend time. And any good conversation starts with a good question…and the question “will you look at me” is never a good question.
Also realize that when you ask a good question, when you propose a conversation intended to lead to positive change, there will be those who seek to kill the conversation. Some out of an honest belief that your position or ideas are not yet ready…seek these out. There will also be those who seek to stop the conversation out of envy, or an unwillingness to engage the new. The only way you know the difference is through conversation. Those who disagree for the right reason will converse, and argue, and fight, and reply. Those who seek to be shielded from change will simply ignore or dismiss you or worse belittle you. I was at a doctoral defense that lasted 30 minutes. Most of that time was the candidate presenting his material. Afterward I asked a member of the review committee why it was so short, when, in my opinion, the topic was so weak. The committee member’s response; “you have to say something interesting to prompt questions.”
So when I looked at the interior of my house and the institutional walls of the regional oncology center I felt like the world got smaller… the world I really wanted to be a part of was in Texas, or Mississippi, or London, or Austin. But then I realized, that my professional world is only as small as the questions I ask. There are good questions for those physical locations (am I doing all I can to care for and appreciate my family; am I doing all I can to kick cancer’s ass) but if my professional question is only “will you look at me?” Then, frankly, they are big enough because who the hell cares.
I have bigger questions. Questions about the future of our profession. Questions about the direction of the information science field. And these questions don’t stop at my front door and they damn sure don’t stop with me. I have had the most wonderful conversations with mentors, and mentees, and friends and colleagues since my diagnosis. Those Movers and Shakers? I have worked with a ton of them and feel fortunate to call them friends. They share my questions and are keeping that dialog alive around the world.
So can I sit in Wichita, or Columbus, or Fort Worth and get new stories? Not yet. But I am I trapped by the physical walls around me? No. And so, several months too late, I finally have my answer for the rock star conversation. Being a rock star is not about hipster attitudes and new tools. Nor is it about the number of conference invites, or even the area in which you practice. Being a rock star is about having a damn good question and being damn good about inviting others to join in a conversation.
Eric Miller made this point so clear to me. We were working on a project called Reference Extract that sought to use reference transactions as the basis for a credibility search engine. He asked “so what is our goal in this project?” I said something to the effect of “making a credibility search engine.” To which he replied “I think we’re trying to demonstrate how librarians can be fundamental to making good decision on the Internet.” Suddenly my response seemed small, and frankly uninteresting. I learned you NEVER lose by taking the high ground and the grand aspiration.
Youth librarianship and the books we choose and why? In youth Librarianship why should we care what books are chosen when we really care about how they propel our youth on a course to change the world they inherit? Don’t give me titles; give me titles and reasons. School libraries and adoption of the Common Core? Nope. Overcoming an increasingly misguided education assessment system to liberate the aspirations of our students? I’m there. What is a digital object identifier? I only care once you convince me that if librarians don’t step up and get our digital heritage in order, we are stymied as a society in inventing our future.
Good questions, passion, the quest to engage and forward the conversation of our profession does not have to happen on the road. It happens in the networks we build and the change we inspire. I hope to be back on the road and speaking when my body heals, but until that time I refuse to put the conversation on hold. If you feel your questions are important don’t wait for the conference invite, or the paper submission, ask the damn question. If what I say is stupid, or arrogant, or guarded, call me on it, and hope and pray others do the same with your work.
Librarianship is not a set of skills to be learned, or a set of degrees to be mastered. Librarianship is a conversation that has taken place over millennia. It is a conversation that we must all be a part of or it will die. It will not die from defunding, Google, and whether we make the transition to RDA. It will die if librarians forget they have an obligation to constantly reinvent ourselves, imagine a better future, or stay silent until asked our opinions.
The Digital Public Library of America announced the availability of LibraryBoxes throughout the SXSW conference (and Austin). Folks can connect wirelessly to these boxes and download books, videos and other digital files. We’ve included my Expect More book for those attending the conference. Thanks to Rachel Frick and Margy Avery for making this happen. Enjoy.
More can be found on their blog post: DPLA, LIBRARYBOX AND SXSWI (http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/dplaalpha/2013/03/09/dpla-librarybox-and-sxswi/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)