Month: October 2004

public forums in libraries – where objectivity meets balance

Posted on by jessamyn

Another post on the subject of public fora. Aaron has finally told the story about the cancelled showing of Farenheit 9/11 that was supposed to happen at his library.

The current political climate is hindering free speech. Not wanting to participate in a conversation is one thing, but to prevent the conversation from taking place is another. There are many people who do not want conversations taking place in which criticisms of the current administration might be found.Friday night from 6:45-7:00 I’ll be sitting on the bench outside of the library explaning to dissapointed patrons how their freedoms of speech and thought were violated. Public libraries are one of the last potential public fora. Let’s do our best to keep them that way.

big news – keynote speech in Australia

Posted on by jessamyn

Big fun news this morning…. I’ll be giving a keynote speech at the Australia Library and Information Association’s New Librarian Symposium in Adelaide Australia in December. I had been invited last month but funding was going to keep me on this side of the pond and giving a talk via videoconferencing. I just got word that the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library [part of the larger institute] will be sponsoring my travel so I can give the talk in person. I’ve never been to Australia. I’ve never given a keynote talk. I’ve never been in the Southern Hemisphere. I guess now is as good a time as any to see if I’m on a no-fly list, huh? More from me as the situation develops. Anyone with local knowledge or who is a member of ALIA, feel free to drop me a line.

Posted in me!

let the NextGenners shine

Posted on by jessamyn

I’m not a NextGen librarian though I am often in the market for jobs, the same as they are. I’ve been thinking a lot about library schools increasing their acceptance rates at the same time as available jobs are seriously dwindling. Andrea and I were chatting about this on the way back from the library tour.

“Do you think you should be able to go through library school nowadays without knowing how to use a computer?”
“No.”

I’m not even sure who said what. I feel that the profession has enough experienced and able librarians who may not be tech savvy. The shift in the profession is leading us towards more and more technological solutions to library problems. I don’t think everyone has to be a systems librarian, but everyone should be able to competently troubleshoot a public PC and/or use their own computer for basic office and reference tasks at a bare minimum. The next step is letting the NextGens — or anyone who wants to really — really apply these skills to the workplace environment.