The Social Responsibility of the Library and the Librarian in a Post-Factual World

[Please note that this presentation is only half of the full session. The second half included a discussion with Nicole Cooke of the University of Illinois, Miguel Figueroa of ALA’s Center for the Future, and Scott Walter the University Librarian of DePaul University. Unfortunately I was not set up to record their insightful remarks.]

“The Social Responsibility of the Library and the Librarian in a Post-Factual World” Dominican University School of Information Studies Annual Follett Lecture. Chicago, IL.

Abstract: Introduction to a panel discussion on neutrality and objectivity in librarianship.
Slides: Slides in PDF
Audio:

The Social Responsibility of the Library and the Librarian in a Post-Factual World from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

The Opportunities and Obligations of the Knowledge School

“The Opportunities and Obligations of the Knowledge School” South Carolina Association of School Librarians. Greenville, SC.

Abstract: An overview of strategic directions for the School of Library and Information Science and a call for participation.

Slides: Slides in PDF

Audio:

Presentation Notes:

[This is not an actual transcript of my talk, but rather speaking notes I used to prepare and captures the main points. Excuse the typos and lack of copy edits]

I believe that we have an amazing opportunity before us. An opportunity not only to increase the impact and reputation of the school, not only to advance the cause of school librarianship within the state, but to set the agenda for library and information science nationally and globally.

I further believe that in these times of alternative facts, fake news, and near contempt for public service, we have an obligation to lead.
Continue reading “The Opportunities and Obligations of the Knowledge School”

Eisenberg to Give Deans’ and Directors’ Lecture April 3

Postcard for the event

iSchool movement co-founder to deliver annual lecture 

Dr. Michael Eisenberg, dean emeritus and professor emeritus of the Information School of the University of Washington, will deliver the 2017 Deans’ and Directors’ Lecture on Monday, April 3, at the South Carolina State Library, located at 1500 Senate Street. His presentation “South Carolina – Your Time is Now,” will begin at 7 p.m.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is hosted by the School of Library and Information Science.

Eisenberg served as founding dean of the Information School at the University of Washington from 1998 to 2006. Known as an innovator and entrepreneur, Mike approached the iSchool as a startup—transforming the school into a top-ranked, broad-based information school with academic programs on all levels, increasing enrollment 400%, generating millions in funded research, and making a difference in industry, the public sector and education.

Prior to the University of Washington, Eisenberg worked as professor of information studies at Syracuse University, where he created the Information Institute of Syracuse. A prolific author, he has worked with thousands of students, as well as people in business, government, and communities to improve individual and organizational information and technology access and use. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University at Albany (SUNY).

His address will make the case for the importance of the information and communications fields in every area of human endeavor. Eisenberg will challenge South Carolinians to embrace that importance by thinking and acting big and bold, broad and deep to make the world a better place through programs, research, services, and engagement.

The School of Library and Information Science Deans’ and Directors’ Lecture honors the previous deans and directors of the school. A reception and ceremony for outstanding students and the induction of new members into Beta Phi Mu, the national honor society in library and information science, will take place before the event.

For more information, contact Angela Wright at [email protected] or 803-777-3858.  Find more information on the School of Library and Information Science at http://sc.edu/cic.

Sarasota Panel on Shared Issues with Librarians and Reporters

Sarasota County Public Libraries Staff Day: Panel on the News and Libraries

It was a great and pretty wide ranging discussion around fake news, editorial responsibility, possible collaborations, and even a little net neutrality thrown in for good measure.

Panel members Tom Tryon – Opinion Editor for the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Janet Coats – Founder & CEO of Coats2Coats, , and R. David Lankes, Director & Professor, University of South Carolina, School of Library and Information Science.

The Social Responsibility of the Library and the Librarian in a Post-Factual World

Follett Lecture Featuring David Lankes

Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 – 6:00pm

Location: Martin Recital Hall

Dr. R. David Lankes, 2016-17 Follett Chair, associate dean of the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications and director of the School of Library and Information Science there, will present the 2017 Follett Lecture, titled “The Social Responsibility of the Library and the Librarian in a Post-Factual World.” The author of The Atlas of New Librarianship and Expect More, he is a strong advocate for innovation and excellence in twenty-first century libraries.

Respondent panelists include Nicole A. Cooke, assistant professor at the School of Information Sciences and faculty affiliate of the Center for Digital Inclusion at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Miguel Figueroa, director of the American Library Association’s Center for the Future of Libraries; and Scott Walter, university librarian at DePaul University.

The lecture will take place at 6 p.m., followed by a reception; it is free and open to the public, with registration required. The Follett Lecture is generously supported by the Follett Corporation. For more information, please contact SOIS Assistant Dean Diane Foote at [email protected], 708-524-6054.

Celebration Through Action: The Obligation of Information and Communications in a Time of Alternative Facts

Three years and a day ago a nurse injected me with a lethal chemical cocktail designed to kill any remaining cancer cells in my body, destroying my bone marrow in the process. Three years ago a doctor pushed harvested stem cells directly into my heart where they were pumped to the rest of my body to regrow my marrow and save my life.

For my third birthday I was going to post an inspirational missive on moving forward and on the  obligation to use the gift of life to improve the lives around us. Then I realized actually working to improve lives is more important than talking about my experience. So today, to mark my third birthday I want to talk about action.

We scholars and academics in the information domains have a special obligation in these days of alternative facts. We academics working with both information and communications have an even more urgent obligation. That obligation is to work with communities around the country and around the world to actively build knowledge and a common framework for evaluating the work of politicians, scientists, activists, and the citizenry.

Some will say that this is a function of better education. If we could do a better job of building literacy in our communities – information literacy, media literacy – then the natural result would be a more unified view of the world. The problem with this argument is that the current political separation is not the result of a lack of information or access to the media, or a naivety around information. The increasing ideological divide is not because our communities have too little information, or even a general gullibility. No, the increasing divide and introduction of alternative perspectives is rather a result of sophisticated and conscious information behavior.

Remember that the filter bubble problem we now face was a solution to the problem of information overload. It is the result of information scientists and communication scholars studying the idea of matching information seeking behaviors, tuning search engines to user preferences, sentiment analysis, hyperlocal information needs, hyperlocal news, that has shifted agency and decisions to the individual. We saw the flood of information and in a deliberate attempt to buffer a “fire hose” of information we built data science and interfaces and algorithms and newspapers of the future to lower cognitive load and better meet the needs of the user/reader/citizen/patron.

We are not facing a gullible public overrun by the algorithms of the greedy and the manipulative. We are facing citizens engaged with tools built with the best of intentions that, yes, can be (and are being) manipulated, but ultimately allow people to view knowledge as simply an information problem. That is, what one believes to be true, like information, is to be managed, tailored, and individualized without the necessary social responsibility to connect, debate, and develop consensus.

The danger is not seeing truth and meaning as contextual; it is in not proactively working to shape that context. This is not about alternative facts, propaganda, nor misinformation. These concepts have always been at play. The fake news of today is the yellow journalism of a century ago – defined more by profit motive than ideology. The problem is not in construction of meaning or in agreeing on facts, but rather the necessary social component of defining what those facts mean.

Librarians and journalists alike have been about helping communities make better decisions through access to knowledge. We both hold to a code of ethics and principles that favor rationalism and both at their core require an internal motivation to seek out the truth. But – and this is vital – we both also believe that such motivation must include a social knowledge aspect. That is, both believe that communities must act together as well as individuals within a community. It is not simply speaking truth to power; it is understanding that true power comes from common effort. Librarians and journalists must be part of moving people to action. Exposing corruption in the news must be met by editorial calls for consequence. Teaching information literacy must also mean teaching information activism. It is not about highlighting inequities; it is about fixing inequities. It is not just about calling for diversity; it is about empowering diverse voices.

And so I come back to action.

Our goal must be to be knowledge schools. Pushing forward our different fields of information, librarianship, journalism, and communications, yes. But also working together around a common mission of impact. A knowledge school must seek to not only document society, but to improve it. Not to be neutral, but to be truthful and to actively work with our communities to knit a common and ever-evolving worldview. In this worldview there will be disagreement and argument, but it will serve as a common framework for debate and ultimately learning.

I am alive today because scholars in the fields of biology, chemistry, medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacology, information, and communications strived not just for knowledge, but impact. The same scholars that developed deadly chemical weapons in World War I later saw that mustard gas could be used to stop the uncontrolled replication of cancer cells and would develop life-saving chemotherapy. I am here today because information scientists built technology to transfer billions of points of data into journals and clinical trials. I am here today because journalists, and public relations experts, and communication scholars helped transform cancer from a shameful scourge to a noble curable fight in the mind of the public.

We have seen the power of scholars in information and communication coming together to save lives by fighting the misinformation campaigns of big tobacco. We have seen reporters work with librarians to uncover corporate malfeasance where carcinogens pollute the environment. We have seen those same reporters and librarians then hold those responsible accountable.

We all stand at an inflection point with the current national political climate. We have seen a resurgent press seek to hold politician and policy accountable. We have seen librarians stand up for the rights and voices of all community members. In the halls of academia, we must also seize this moment with our research and our teaching and our service. We information and communication scholars need to develop a response (systems, theories, courses, graduates) that replace walls of isolating code that encircle ideological factions, with platforms of community knowledge building. We must model that strident argument and sincere disagreement does not have to result in factions and fractures, but in a clearer understanding of the world. That has been the cornerstone of scholarship since Socrates, and it is our responsibility to promote that throughout society.

* Thanks to Professor Ernest Wiggins for his feedback

A Knowledge Organization in an Age of Alternative Facts

“A Knowledge Organization in an Age of Alternative Facts” Sarasota County Public Library Staff Development Day. Sarasota, FL.

Abstract: Communities need the public library now more than ever. In an era when neighbors are more divided than ever, and even the nature of truth and facts are in question, ho do librarians best serve their community? This presentation makes the argument that our communities do not need more information literacy, a greater emphasis on quality information, or a neutral institution. Rather our communities need trusted partners helping weave together common understandings of events and priorities.

Slides: Slides in PDF

Audio:

Here’s the actual video of the presentation:

Knowledge School Penthouse Interview @ 2016 Charleston Conference

The Charleston Conference and Against the Grain do a great series of interviews with Conference Speakers. Last year I was chosen for a “Penthouse Interview.” It is available in its entirety at: David Lankes Penthouse Interview @ 2016 Charleston Conference. It is also available in shorter segments on the Charleston Conference website at: Against the Grain Penthouse Interviews: 2016 Interviews.