31st chat, May 5 2015: educational technology, neoliberalism, and #critlib

moderated by @oksveta
Storify (pdf, html) by @tmillerLibrary

Suggested reading:

• Audrey Watters “Convivial Tools in an Age of Surveillance” http://hackeducation.com/2014/11/13/convivial-tools-in-an-age-of-surveillance/

If you’re still curious/for reference:

• Alison Hicks “LibGuides: Pedagogy to Oppress” http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/libguides-pedagogy-to-oppress/
• Josh Honn “Notes on Student Privacy and Online Pedagogy” http://sites.northwestern.edu/jch629/2014/02/01/notes-on-student-privacy-and-online-pedagogy/
• FemTechNet, “DOCC 2013: Dialogues on Feminism & Technology” http://femtechnet.newschool.edu/docc2013/
• Kevin Hamilton “Learning with Handbrake: A Ripping Story” http://learningthroughdigitalmedia.net/learning-with-handbrake-a-ripping-story

Discussion questions:

• Q1 What are some educational technologies being used in your library? How do you interact with them in your work? #critlib
• Q2 How is edtech not neutral? To you, what are some of the intersections of edtech & politics that we should be most mindful of? #critlib
• Q3 Is “convivial” edtech possible? What are some strategies for subverting oppressive uses of edtech in libraries? #critlib
• Q4 Beyond mitigating harm of dominant edtech paradigms, what are avenues for building out educational uses of tech on our own terms?#critlib

30th chat, April 28 2015: critlib tech manifesto

moderated by @eliganrood and @cynth
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Notes to review:  Techifesto Draft & Ideas: http://tinyurl.com/critlibtechifesto

Readings:

• FemTech Net Manifesto: http://femtechnet.org/about-the-network/manifesto/
• Dissertation by Ajit Pyati, Western Ontario University: “Re-Envisioning Libraries in the Information Society: A Critical Theory of Library Technology”: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/fimspub/9/ (full dissertation), specifically Chapter 3: A Critical Theory of Library Technology
• Other Manifestos From Which to Drawn Inspiraton: http://femtechnet.org/about-the-network/manifesto/
• Feminists in tech: http://aboutfeminism.me/
• Cyborg Manifesto: http://www.egs.edu/faculty/donna-haraway/articles/donna-haraway-a-cyborg-manifesto/
• Critical Engineer http://criticalengineering.org/
• Manifesto for Humanities in the tech age: http://uchri.org/media/pdfs/Manifesto_Humanities.pdf

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What ideas listed on the critlibtechifesto resonate with you + why? Draft is available @ http://tinyurl.com/critlibtechifesto #critlib
• Q2. Why/Do we need a #critlibtech manifesto? #critlib
• Q3. What are the core values? #critlib
• Q4. Who benefits from the manifesto? Does anyone ‘own’ it? Will it be updated? How ought it to be promoted/distributed? #critlib
• Q5. How/Does/Would it inform other critical conversations happening in libraries (eg. oa, infolit, frameworks, diversity) #critlib

29th chat, April 21 2015: anti-oppressive facilitation strategies

moderated by @alyciaicyla, @captain_maybe, @kellymce
Storify (pdf, html) by @oksveta

Readings:

• On Facilitation, Char Booth: https://infomational.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/on-facilitation/
• Anti-Oppressive Facilitation – Making Meetings Awesome for Everyone, the AORTA Collective: http://aorta.coop/sites/default/files/ao_facilitation_resource_sheet_july_2014.pdf
• Calling IN – A Less Disposable Way of Holding Each Other Accountable, Ngọc Loan Trần: http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2013/12/calling-less-disposable-way-holding-accountable/

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What is good facilitation? What strategies make for a good meeting or discussion? #critlib
• Q2. Tell us about a meeting that reinforced systemic power dynamics or oppressions (e.g. not on an individual basis). #critlib
• Q3. How can participants intervene when there is troublesome facilitation? How can you effectively call out bad behavior in a mtg? #critlib
• Q4. How might we apply feminist/anti-racist theory in discussions? Could librarians adapt/apply the Aorta guidelines? #critlib
• Q5. What resources have you used for facilitation? How have you taught yourself to consciously facilitate? #critlib

28th chat, April 7 2015: critical pedagogy and student/staff development

Moderated by @jmymcginniss

Storify needed

Recommended reading: “Transformative Library Pedagogy and Community-Based Libraries: A Freirean Perspective,” by Martina Riedler and Mustafa Yunus Eryaman, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9yzR15BSR_0YjdibHAyaFFtZTQ/view

Discussion questions:

• Q1. Why are students employed at/by your library? #critlib
• Q2.  How are your interactions with student staff characterized? Is there room for the dialogic process? #critlib
• Q3. How does library employment help student staff to engage with their views of knowledge, power and authority? #critlib
• Q4. How does library employment contribute to the “education of the complete person”? #critlib
• Q5. If you could make one change to move toward employing #critlib in your student staff development approach, what would it be?

27th chat, March 31 2015: what is #critlib, where are we going

Moderated by @pumpedlibrarian

Storify by @hsifnihplod

Discussion questions:

• Q1. Let’s talk about what #critlib is as discourse: what is critical librarianship and what is it not? What does it mean to you?
• Q2. And now what are these #critlib chats, what do they mean to you? Do you have tips for novices? What are the chats and what are they not?
• Q3. Do you have any major takeaways from #acrl2015  or #critlib15 to share? #critlib
• Q4. What’s next? Where are we going? Ideas for action, projects, etc.? This Q is a free-for-all #critlib
• Q5. Would anyone be willing volunteer to organize a #critlib uncon for ALA? #critlib15 part 2?

26th chat, March 10 2015 : makerspaces

moderated by @foureyedsoul
Storify (pdf, html) by @oksveta

Suggested links to look at:

• the first 3 pages of [Chapter 7: “Spaces of Learning: The Anarchist Free Skool”](http://rebels-library.org/files/anarchistpedagogies.pdf), plus as much more as you’d like to read (I encountered this link from www.hybridpedagogy.com ‘s Critical Pedagogy #moocmooc, by the way http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/mooc-mooc-critical-pedagogy/ )
• [The Maker Movement and the Rebirth of Constructionism](http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/constructionism-reborn/)
• [Concept Lab on Critical Making](http://monoskop.org/log/?p=13415)
• [Street Libraries: Infoshops and Alternative Reading Rooms](http://web.archive.org)

Crowd-sourced suggested readings:

• Deb Chacra:  http://tinyletter.com/metafoundry/letters/metafoundry-15-scribbled-leatherjackets via @oksveta. Another version published with The Atlantic rather than her personal site: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/why-i-am-not-a-maker/384767/
• Roger Whitson & Dene Grigar’s “Critical Making” webseries:  http://www.rogerwhitson.net/critical-making/?page_id=2 via @nnschiller
• Amy Wickner’s blog post on making, mending, craft, and “counting”:  https://thegirlworks.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/making-counting-herding-worms/
• Sarah Fox, Rachel Rose Ulgado, and Daniela K. Rosner’s “Hacking Culture, Not Devices: Access and Recognition in Feminist Hackerspaces” paper: http://depts.washington.edu/tatlab/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2015_CSCW_Fem-Hacking-Final.pdf via @DinahHandel
• Evgeny Morozov’s “Making It,” tracing comparisons between American Arts & Crafts Movement and Hacking/Making: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/13/making-it-2 via @stupidplover
• John Lanchester’s “The Robots Are Coming”: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n05/john-lanchester/the-robots-are-coming via @stupidplover
• Make: Magazine’s taxonomy of makerspaces, hackerspaces, fab labs, & tech spaces: http://makezine.com/2013/05/22/the-difference-between-hackerspaces-makerspaces-techshops-and-fablabs/
• “The Rise of Feminist Hackerspaces and How to Make Your Own” by Liz Henry via @oksveta [added subsequently but too good not to include]: https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-rise-of-feminist-hackerspaces-and-how-to-make-your-own

Discussion questions:

• Q1 What aspects of #critlib mesh well with #makerspaces – access, approach, pedagogy, technology, etc.?
• Q2 What aspects of #makerspaces could benefit from substantial critique? #critlib
• Q3 What might a #critlib version of a #makerspace look like? Do you have experiences with #makerspaces that you’d suggest others emulate?
• Q4 What policies, actions, or programming would you recommend for #makerspaces seeking to be more inclusive and socially aware? #critlib
• Q5 What workshops could libr* lead at #makerspaces to forward #critlib ideas? If unable to affect policy, how can we become involved?
• Q6 Time for #critlib pitches! Feel free to include links to about #makerspaces, diversity, pedagogy, etc.

25th chat, February 24 2015: state of the literature

Moderated by @nnschiller

Storify needed

Links:

• Liberation Librarianship Zotero library: https://www.zotero.org/groups/liberationlibrarianship
• I had an undergrad research assistant add library instruction / #critlib related citations from Information Literacy and Social Justice to a shared Zotero group: Critlib Zotero Library: https://www.zotero.org/groups/critlib

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What aspects of the published #critlib scholarship are strongest? What is currently the most interesting trend?
• Q2. Are there gaps in the #critlib scholarship that want filling? What foundational pieces needs to be in place before we can move forward?
• Q3. Are you interested in #critlib scholarship but would prefer to work in collaboration? Let’s play #critlib yenta and do some research matchmaking.
• Q4. Would a shared Zotero library of #critlib citations be useful? I have a library pulled from a recent book of essays and there is an existing critlib zotero library.
• Q5. Is there a line where #critlib methodology and #critlib core assumptions meet? How do we tell whether disagreements stem from methods or conclusions?

#critpitch: Critical Pedagogy Book CFP, ACRL unconference, ???

24th chat, February 10 2015: assessment and #critlib within accreditation, program review, and other standards

moderated by @lisalibrarian
Storify (pdf, html) by @beccakatharine

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What types of accreditation, program review, governmental, etc. standards are in play at your institution?
• Q2. How do accreditation, program review, governmental, etc. standards impact the library?
• Q3. How do accred, prog rev, govt, etc. standards impact critical librarianship – how are they hindrances, enablers, etc.?
• Q4. What strategies do you have for articulating #critlib practices within standards-based programmatic assessment?

23rd chat, January 27 2015: residency programs and diversity in librarianship

moderated by @ACRL_RIG
Storify (pdf, html) by @ACRL_RIG

Topic: Residency programs aim to make academic and research librarianship more inclusive and diverse. Historically, residency programs were created to address a skills gap between LIS education and the specialized needs of academic and research libraries. Today, residency programs are often marketed as a “diversity initiative” of a library, citing a lack in racial and ethnic diversity within the profession. Sometimes their goal is to recruit and retain minority librarians; other times their goal is to experiment with new library services. This #critlib will consider residency programs within the broader effort to address the lack of diversity in librarianship.

Recommended reading: On the history and purpose of residency programs as they relate to the diversity of librarianship, we recommend this reading: Brewer, J. (1997). Post-Master’s Residency Programs: Enhancing the Development of New Professionals and Minority Recruitment in Academic and Research Libraries. College & Research Libraries, 58(6), 528–537. http://crl.acrl.org/content/58/6/528

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What does “diversity” mean in context of libraries and librarianship? #critlib
• Q2. What are some barriers preventing librarianship from becoming more inclusive and diverse? #critlib
• Q3. What are some challenges in diversity recruitment? How can we avoid stigmatization? #critlib
• Q4. How does a library residency/fellowship fit in the hierarchy of librarianship? Is this conducive to a diverse and inclusive workforce? #critlib
• Q5. What is needed to diversify librarianship? How might residencies play a role? #critlib

22nd chat, January 13 2015: the critical reference librarian

moderated by @eamontewell
Storify (pdf, html) by @kshockey04

Suggested reading: “Radical Purpose: The Critical Reference Dialogue at a Progressive Urban College” by Kate Adler, and browse the Radical Reference website: radicalreference.info.

Discussion questions:

• Q1. How do you define “critical reference”?
• Q2. What does critical reference look like in practice? What are the characteristics of a critical reference librarian?
• Q3. In what ways are reference services oppressive?
• Q4. Are there reference models that improve upon traditional services in a critical sense? What would a #critlib reference model look like?
• Q5. What actions can we take to encourage a critical approach to reference?