93rd chat, Tuesday November 14 2017: Radical Reference
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

moderated by @mauraweb @Audrey_Sage_ @NicoleG_Haus
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Radical Reference is a collective of library workers and information workers who believe in and work towards social justice and equity (http://radicalreference.info/about). In the past RadRef provided online reference services to activists, journalists and researchers who requested help looking for information and resources, and supported protests and other street actions. The NYC chapter has recently reactivated, and we’d like to host a chat to think on and discuss what RadRef could be in these times.

Suggested resources:

• Morrone, Melissa and Lia Friedman. 2009. Radical Reference: Socially responsible librarianship collaborating with community. The Reference Librarian 50, no. 4: 371-396.
• Friedman, Lia G. 2014. Radical Reference, Who Cares? In Informed Agitation: Library and Information Skills in Social Justice Movements and Beyond, edited by Melissa Morrone. Library Juice Press.
• Radical Reference presentations

Discussion questions:

92nd chat, Monday October 23 2017: radical empathy in archival practice
11am Pacific / noon Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern

moderated by @dinahhandel & @kellywooten
Storify (pdf, html) by @lizahar

Suggested resources:

• Caswell, Michelle and Cifor, Marika. From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in the Archives. Archivaria, May 2016.
• Radical Empathy in Archival Practice Tumblr

Radical Empathy (from the Caswell and Cifor article) is “a willingness to be affected, to be shaped by another’s experience, without blurring the lines between the self and the other.” Caswell and Cifor’s radical empathy posits that, “subjects are embodied, that we are inextricably bound to one another through relationships, that we live in complex relations to each other infused with power differences and inequities, and that we care about each other’s well-being. This emphasis on empathy takes bodies and the bodily into account.”

Caswell and Cifor propose that a feminist ethic of radical empathy shifts four key archival relationships: relationships between the archivist and the records creator, the archivist and records subject, the archivist and user, and the archivist and larger communities. Participants in a “Radical Empathy in Archival Practice” panel at the 2017 SAA meeting proposed a fifth responsibility, that of the archivist to the archivist.

Discussion questions:

• Q1. Reflect on the 4 relationships discussed in the article and share your experience with any that resonated with you. #critlib
• Q2. How can we remain emotionally open and vulnerable yet remain grounded? Can we be both affective and effective archivists? #critlib
• Q3. When do the tenets of our profession complicate or uplift our capacity to be radically empathetic? #critlib
• Q4. How do we create a radically empathetic 5th relationship between archivists? How can we facilitate spaces for emotional education/actions? #critlib
• Q5. How can we navigate conflicting responsibilities between all of our affective relationships? Which relationships do we prioritize? #critlib

91st chat, Tuesday October 3 2017: open educational resources (OER) 
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

moderated by @zoh_zoh @aliversluis @eriksation @SarahEHare
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Suggested resources:

• New Directions in Open Education by Mike Caulfield (October 2016)
• A Critical Take on OER Practices by Sarah Crissinger, In the Library with the Leadpipe (October 2015)

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What critical questions and ideas are missing from current conversations about OER? #critlib
• Q2. How does privilege intersect with making and using OER? #critlib
• Q3. Are there any commonalities between critical information literacy and open pedagogy? #critlib
• Q4. How is it harmful to frame OER as a simple solution to complex issues (educational, economic, etc.)? Have you seen this framing? #critlib
• Q5. How does OER labor get rewarded (or not)? How does this differ across groups (librarians, instructional technologists, faculty)? #critlib

90th chat, Monday September 18 2017: spatial justice: white supremacy in public art and architecture
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern*
*note special evening Monday time

moderated by @a_meeksie & @vin_alyssa
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Definitions:

• spatial justice: Spatial justice brings together social justice and space. How space is organized (what and who occupies any given space) is a crucial dimension of human societies, reflecting social realities and (in)justices while also influencing social relations (Henri Lefebrve, 1968, 1972). This concept can be used as a guiding tool to understand and reflect on solutions to social injustices that are embedded in both space and society.
• public art: art in any media that has been planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all.

Suggested resources:

• Brook, Freeda, Dave Ellenwood, and Althea Eannace Lazzaro. “In pursuit of antiracist social justice: denaturalizing whiteness in the academic library.” Library Trends 64.2 (2015): 246-284. (especially section on “The racialized space of the academic library” pdf)

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What is the function of public art and architecture where you work/live? #critlib
• Q2. What narratives/whose history is dominant in and around lib*/archives in your community? #critlib
• Q3. If lib* take an antiracist approach to cultivating culturally responsive spaces, what do we need to examine first and why? #critlib
• Q4. How can we can work to counteract & subvert oppressive spatial elements, such as monuments that function as microaggressions? #critlib
• Q5. What barriers might we encounter in trying to do this work in our profession & how can we overcome those barriers? #critlib

Additional resources:

• S.F.’s monuments to male supremacy: the city’s public art by Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle (June 13 2017)
• Confederate Statues Are the Easy Part by Clay Risen, New York Times (August 18 2017)
• Certain campus building names cause controversy by Erin Dose, The Daily Barometer (March 6 2017)
• Things to Think About When Taking Down Statues by Steve Coll, The New Yorker (August 31 2017)
• Oregon State University LibGuide on history of OSU buildings
• All monuments must fall: a syllabus. Crowd-sourced list of resources “relating to Confederate and other racist monuments to white supremacy; the history and theory of these monuments and monuments in general; and monument struggles worldwide” (site is down Sept 18: alternate version available via Antioch College LibGuide)

89th chat, Tuesday September 5 2017: the weight and worth of professionalism
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

moderated by @TheGnarrator
Storify (pdf, html) by @lisahubbell

Suggested resources:

• You Call It Professionalism: I Call It Oppression in a Three-Piece Suit by Carmen Rios (February 15 2015). Everyday Feminism.
• I’m Leaving the Archival Profession: It’s Better This Way by Jarrett M. Drake (June 26 2017). Medium.
• Librarianship Doesn’t Need Professionals by Madison Sullivan (January 19 2016). ACRLog.
• Professionalism: Value and Ideology [pdf] by Julia Evetts (March 12 2013). Sociopedia.isa. DOI: 10.1177/205684601231

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What is the culture of professionalism in your workplace? In your area of librarianship?
• Q2. How do definitions of professionalism differ from the democratic and social values advocated by librarianship?
• Q3. What are ways that professionalism is oppressive?
• Q4. How can we cultivate acceptance of different attitudes towards professionalism/redefine professionalism to be more inclusive and accommodating of different experiences/identities?
• Q5. How do you represent yourself authentically in the workplace or as a job seeker while navigating organizational expectations?

moderated by @zoh_zoh
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Suggested readings:

• ALA Mentoring Programs (more recently updated link here)
• Lunden, I. (2017, August 3). LinkedIn is rolling out a free Tinder-style service to pair users with mentors. TechCrunch.
• Broder-Singer, R. (2011). Why mentoring matters. BusinessMiami.
• Lacy, M., & Copeland, A. J. (2013). The role of mentorship programs in LIS education and in professional development. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 135-146. (pdf)

Definitions:

• mentor: generally an experienced colleague who provides guidance and advice
• mentee: the person being mentored
• library workers: anyone who works in libraries in any capacity, including contingent/adjunct/part-time/classified labor
• formal mentorship programs: mentorship programs organized by an employer, professional association, school/university, non-profit, or other institution
• informal mentorship: mentoring relationships that are not administered by any outside organization

Discussion questions:

• Q1. How do you define success in a mentoring relationship?
• Q2. Have you ever participated in, or do you currently participate in, a formal mentorship program? If so, what is/was it? What was your experience?
• Q3. What are some informal ways you have mentored, or been mentored by, other library workers?
• Q4. What are some examples of strong mentorship programs outside of libraries? What can we adapt/change in library mentorship programs?
• Q5. How can mentorship help surface and transform power structures in library professions?

87th chat, Tuesday August 8 2017: Hip Hop Librarian Consortium
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

moderated by @KaiAlexisSmith @NicestLibrarian @maxmacias
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Hip Hop pedagogy is “an examination of the way hip-hop constructs discourse, the way it produces rhetorical meaning through its complex method of digital sampling, and how such a rhetoric functions within the scope of argumentation.” (Jeff Rice, “The 1963 Hip-Hop Machine: Hip-Hop Pedagogy as Composition”, College Composition and Communication (2003), p. 454. Available at: jstor.org/stable/3594173)

Suggested resources:

• Hip Hop Librarian Consortium. Hip hop librarianship: leaders of the new school : a comprehensive bibliography (2017). Free download available: hiphoplibrarianship.wordpress.com
• WhoSampled.com : exploring the DNA of music. Available at: whosampled.com
• Arthur, Craig and Alyssa Archer. Keep it Wild Style: Hip Hop Pedagogy & Library Instruction [bibliography]. Available at: tinyurl.com/WILUWildStyle
• Macias, Max. Information diffusion and hip hop, Lowrider Librarian blog (2015). Available at: lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/03/information-diffusion-and-hip-hop.html
• Hip Hop and Activism LibGuide, California State Polytechnic University Pomona Library (2017). Available at: libguides.library.cpp.edu/hiphopandact
• Piskor, Ed. Hip hop family tree (2013). [Four-volume set.] WorldCat.org record: worldcat.org/title/hip-hop-family-tree/oclc/861324827
• ACRL Hip Hop Librarian Consortium Discussion Group email list. Information at: ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/discussiongroups/acr-dghiphop, direct link: lists.ala.org/sympa/info/acr-hiphop

86th chat, Monday July 24 2017: net neutrality
11am Pacific / noon Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern

moderated by @mfgaede @bembrarian
Storify (pdf, html) by @mfgaede

This chat is based around net neutrality, primarily focusing on the context of recent governmental decisions/stances and organizational responses regarding net neutrality laws, with net neutrality literacy and net neutrality education being primary themes/talking points. The goal of this chat is to show what libraries are actively doing and thinking now, and what next steps are needed to follow-up on these issues.

As an extension of December 2015’s “Privacy Education in Libraries” #critlib chat, we will also continue to gauge where libraries stand on privacy education, patron data, and vendor/technology relationships (and their transparency or lack thereof).

Suggested resources:

• Net Neutrality Overview, Vox, May 21 2015
• The FCC’s new net neutrality rules, explained in 172 seconds Vox, February 26, 2015 (3 minute video)
• A Timeline of Net Neutrality
• Join the Fast Lane
• ALA Statement on Net Neutrality

Discussion questions:

• Q1. How does net neutrality relate to equity and how is it a social justice issue? #critlib
• Q2. What is/should be libraries/library workers’ role(s) in the conversation about net neutrality? #critlib
• Q3. What are effective resources for exploring/explaining net neutrality that have you have successfully shared in your library? #critlib
• Q4. How do you balance providing service, using patron data for better service, and protecting users’ privacy? #critlib
• Q5. How is data valued at your library? Do you know what your vendors do with your data? Do these factors affect vendor choice? #critlib

Additional resources:

• Mozilla’s statement on Net Neutrality
• A Brief, Strange History of Net Neutrality. Los Angeles Times, May 3 2017.
• Public Knowledge on Net Neutrality
• The Battle for the Net
• #critlib on Privacy Education in Libraries (December 2015)

85th chat, Tuesday July 11 2017: privilege in the library job search process
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @kevinseeber @catladylib @ForgetTheMaine @modbrarian @christinemmoe
Storify (pdf, html) by @kevinseeber

Jargon/concepts/shorthand to know ahead of time:

• MPOW = “my place of work”
• FPOW = “former place of work”
• CV = “curriculum vitae”; these are frequently required for academic library positions in place of a resume.
• cover letter = document to accompany to resume/CV that speaks to specific parts of the job listing.
• job talk = also known as a “candidate presentation,” this is a common part of the interview process in which the person interviewing has to give a presentation to a room full of people.

Suggested readings:

• Berlant, Lauren. (2006). “Cruel Optimism.” Differences, 17(3): 20-36. http://differences.dukejournals.org/content/17/3/20.full.pdf
• Galvan, Angela. (2015). “Soliciting Performance, Hiding Bias: Whiteness and Librarianship.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/soliciting-performance-hiding-bias-whiteness-and-librarianship/
• Rios, Carmen. “You Call It Professionalism; I call It Oppression in a Three-Piece Suit.” everyday feminism. http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/02/professionalism-and-oppression/

Discussion questions:

• Q1. How does the library job search process and hiring for “fit” reinforce hegemonic cultural expectations? #critlib
• Q2. What should search committees/hiring authorities be doing differently when recruiting, interviewing, & hiring library workers? #critlib
• Q3. Job searching involves lots of emotions. How can we address them in a healthy way, esp. given pessimism in the larger field? #critlib
• Q4. What can experienced library workers do to help job seekers with less library experience? #critlib
• Q5. If you started a new job in the last year, what advice can you offer job seekers looking for their first position? #critlib

84th chat, Monday June 19 2017: relevance of MLIS to 21st century librarianship
11am Pacific / noon Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern

Moderated by @mohamedberray

Note: Using “MLIS” for any information/library master’s degree (MLS, MSIS, etc.) for brevity’s sake.

Suggested readings:

• White, Philip Bradley (2016). Realizable value of the MLIS: insights from a new professional, The Bottom Line, vol. 29 issue: 3, pages 142-150. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/BL-05-2016-0019
• Mayer, Jennifer and Terrill, Lori J. (2005). Academic librarians’ attitudes about advanced-subject degrees. College & Research Libraries, 66.1, pages 59-73. http://repository.uwyo.edu/libraries_facpub/5/
• Gunby, Matthew (2013). Evaluating the MLIS degree. https://hacklibraryschool.com/2013/06/18/evaluating-the-mlis-degree-2/

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What are the most valuable applications of an MLIS degree to librarian practice? #critlib
• Q2. What aspects of librarianship can be performed without the need for an MLIS? #critlib
• Q3. What alternatives to a full two+ year MLIS degree could provide an entry to the profession?  #critlib
• Q4. What changes could be made to MLIS programs to make them more relevant/worthwhile? #critlib
• Q5. How can library workers & library schools work together to ensure the value of MLIS programs? #critlib