Virtual Dave…Real Blog

All too often librarians shy away from praise. Humility is a virtue, but let us today set that aside for a moment.

The world is a better place because of librarians. Throughout history – from Alexandria to medieval Spain to the streets of revolutionary America – librarians have stewarded their communities. Today librarians continue their mission to build knowledge and make the world a better place. In our academies, cities, businesses and schools, librarians are trusted partners and facilitators. There are few institutions that provide vital connective tissue across so many areas of society – libraries do.

It is not collections, nor buildings, nor computers that make a library. These are artifacts; outward manifestations of a mission. Librarians collect to care take society’s memory. They build buildings as a gathering place, the modern information watering hole. Librarians network computers to sew together minds across time and space. At the center is the librarian and his or her dedication to knowledge.

I am thankful for the safety net, the researcher, the dedicated guide. I am thankful for the community organizer, the activist, the dedicated teacher. Today, as every day, I am thankful for librarians.

I also ask that librarians not shy away from praise. Humility may be a virtue, but invisibility is not. Librarian are of service, not servants. All too often librarians hide behind the stacks – mask their light behind processes and metadata. It is time for librarians to follow the example of the warrior, the shifted, and free range librarians. It is time to lead and stand up. We must sing our own praises and remind our communities that they need us.

Have a happy Thanksgiving day.

This is a streaming screencast of a presentation I did to the Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies Board of Advisors. Nothing new for folks in the library world.

“Obligations and Opportunities” IMLS Grants to States Conference, Washington, DC

Abstract: A discussion of how library service should match how people build knowledge. It also discusses the obligation and power of libraries participating in their communities and society as a whole.
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2008/IMLSStates.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2008/IMLSStates.mp3
Video: http://ptbed.org/downloads/IMLSStates.mp4

Screencast:

Special thanks to Julie over at strangelibrarian.org for prompting this discussion of how Reference Extract fits into the participatory librarianship umbrella.

For more information on Scapes: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/blog/?p=460

Today I have to retract an example I have used in several presentations. The retraction is personally an embarrassment, but I think also a great example of the power of conversation in learning.

In several presentations I have referred to James Burke, and attributed to him an example of how the North winning the US Civil War is related to the development of modern computers. The problem is, he didn’t actually say that (at least I can’t find where he said it), and, the example is wrong. It was the Union Army that had the advantage of more men in the battlefield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19407/American-Civil-War). The problem is, I used an example and attribution from memory, and it looks like both memories were wrong. I am very sorry for that. It was a case of quickly adding an example, and then copying it from one presentation to another, and never going back and checking it. That is sloppy of me.

The reason I feel this episode demonstrates the power of conversation is in how I discovered this mistake. I gave a presentation in Boston yesterday where I used the Civil War example. Today, I got an email from someone in the audience who pointed out the error. This made me go back to find the original citation…or in this case, not find it. Aside from making it clear to me that I am not a professor of history, it also showed me the power and importance of conversation. I said something, someone else took up the conversation and through that process we came to an agreement. I learned (about history and relearned the importance of citing the source).

I have said several times in my presentations that I may well be wrong. It is my responsibility to try and get it right, and your responsibility to keep me honest. Just because a speaker is loud, doesn’t make him right. Our future is a collaborative conversation. It is the responsibility of all of us – speaker and audience, administration and staff, teacher and student – to educate and innovate. That only works if, when we hear something that is wrong or doesn’t make sense, we stand up and say so. Sure speaking out loud and in public is destined to lead to some embarrassing moments, but not speaking at all leads to irrelevance. That is a big part of doing these beyond the bullet points posts.

I am not proud of my mistake, but I am VERY proud of our profession for pointing it out.

By the way, I can’t leave without a pointer to Burke’s work. You can see just about the entirety of The Day the Universe Changed on YouTube these days. Here’s one to get you started:

My talk for the Joint Metrowest and SEMLS Annual Council of Members meetigns are now streaming. Those interested in how Reference Extract fits into the world of participatory librarianship will be especially interested in it.

“The Times They are a-Changin’” NMRLS Annual Meeting, North Andover, MA

Abstract: A discussion of how library service should match how people build knowledge. It also discusses the obligation and power of libraries participating in their communities and society as a whole.
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2008/BosAfter.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2008/BosAft.mp3
Video: http://ptbed.org/downloads/BosAfter.mp4

Screencast:

“Conversations: 2 Grand Pianos on a Stage” Joint Metrowest and SEMLS Annual Council of Members, Ashland, MA.

Abstract: An integration of how the concepts of participatory librarianship integrate into real tools and changes.
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2008/BostonMorning.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2008/BosMorning.mp3
Video: http://ptbed.org/downloads/Boston-Record.mp4

Screencast: