83rd chat, Tuesday June 6 2017: queer communities in academic libraries
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @infinity_dots & @brinepond
Storify (pdf, html) by @infinity_dots

Queer – we’re using the term queer as an umbrella term for anyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+.

Suggested readings:

• Chronicle of Higher Education. ‘Ask Me’: What LGBTQ Students Want Their Professors to Know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnbnF8QAnsY
• Ettarh, Fobazi. Black or Queer? Life at the Intersection. Hack Library School: https://hacklibraryschool.com/2013/11/19/black-or-queer-life-at-the-intersection/
• Stewart, Dafina-Lazarus. Language of Appeasement. Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/03/30/colleges-need-language-shift-not-one-you-think-essay

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What do you do (or plan to do) to support queer communities on your campus? #critlib
• Q2. Looking @ Q1 who’s being left out? (due to race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, non-trad students, +) #critlib
• Q3. What can librarians do to show support for transgender students, fac, staff in particular? #critlib
• Q4. Has anyone surveyed students, fac, staff to determine queer needs on campus?#critlib
• Q5. Moving forward what do you consider to be a primary need for the queer communities on your campuses? #critlib

Moderated by @brandontlocke & @worldcatlady
Storify (pdf, html) by @elotroalex

Endangered Data is data that is at risk of deletion, repression, mishandling, or lost, or data for which broad access is difficult or impossible.

Suggested readings:

• Endangered Data Week website: http://endangereddataweek.org/
• The Federal Government’s Social And Economic Data Is In Danger. The Daily Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/17/1644595/-The-Federal-Government-s-Social-And-Economic-Data-Is-In-Danger

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What are some ways in which you are impacted by the collection & use of federal data? #critlib
• Q2. What can we as information professionals do to preserve access to #endangereddata? #critlib
• Q3. How do you define data literacy? #critlib
• Q4. What skills & literacies are required for engagement w/ open data & data-driven news and policies? #critlib
• Q5. Do you teach infolit in a civic/social justice context (civic hackathons, ‘Fake News’)? #critlib

81st chat, Tuesday April 4 2017: the future of ALA
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @MaxRenewals @bembrarian @violetbfox
Storify (pdf, html) by @elwags

Just a reminder that if you’re an ALA member, elections end Wednesday April 5th. Please vote!

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What’s your ALA story? How do you feel about ALA and how has your journey caused those feelings?
• Q2. Do you feel participation in ALA is a/an (explicit or implicit) requirement for library professionals? Should it be?
• Q3. How could ALA be made more valuable for non-MLIS-holding library workers?
• Q4. What would you like to see ALA do that it’s not doing now?

80th chat, Tuesday March 21 2017: open access & the politics of knowledge sharing
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @ashleydfarley & @bree_uw
Storify (pdf, html) by @ashleydfarley

Discussion questions

• Q1. Do you agree or disagree that scientific research should be freely available? Include your reasoning. #critlib
• Q2. Do librarians have a clear role in the open access movement? Why or why not? #critlib
• Q3. Share a story where open access to research articles has impacted your personal or professional life. #critlib
• Q4. Does your library support Open Access? If so, how? #critlib
• Q5. Do you think librarians can become the sole disseminators of research? Should they be? #critlib

Suggested readings

• Shockey, N., Eisen, J., & Cham, J. (2012, October 25). Open Access Explained! (Video)
• Belluz, J., Plumer, B., & Resnick, B. (2016, September 7). The 7 biggest problems facing science, according to 270 scientists. Vox
• The Right to Research Coalition. (n.d.) Why Open Access?
• Tay, A. (2014, August 14). How academic libraries may change when Open Access becomes the norm. Musings about librarianship.

Moderated by @esquetee & @Kirsten_Clair
Storify (pdf, html) by @Kirsten_Clair

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What do you think your role in the classroom is for preparing students beyond one-shot classes/assignments? #critlib
• Q2. Are we preparing students to be lifelong learners? Why or why not? #critlib
• Q3. Do you ever teach resources that are outside those provided by your institution? How could this change your teaching approach? #critlib
• Q4. What is one thing would you change about your library instruction if you had a magic wand? Would you change anything? #critlib

78th chat, Monday February 27 2017: critlib chat on business, professional, medical, health, & STEM education programs
11am Pacific / noon Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern

Moderated by @librarianilana @kennygarciamlis @CaitlanMaxwell @JessicaJerrit
Storify (pdf, html) by @kennygarciamlis

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What education program or discipline do you work with? What unique challenges do you see in your discipline?
• Q2. How are you using critical pedagogy or critical information literacy in your instruction?
• Q3. Why have you adopted #critlib? How has using or reflection on #critlib affected your work?

77th chat, Tuesday February 7 2017: first-generation library workers in the academy
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @brinepond
Storify (pdf, html) by @aliversluis

Suggested readings:

• Crissinger, Sarah. Still lost in the academy: the importance of #L1S and other first generation initiatives, ACRLog (2015).
• Walker, Cecily. Bridging the experience gap, Cecily.info (2015)
• Fullick, Melonie. It’s time to rethink academic conference funding, University Affairs (2016)
• Johnson, Eric. Micro-barriers loom large for first-generation students, Chronicle of Higher Education (2016)

Discussion questions:

Note: first generation/working class abbreviated as “1G/WC”.

• Q1. What difficulties do 1G/WC library/archive workers experience that others may not? #critlib
• Q2. What things have 1G/WC had to learn that others may take for granted? #critlib
• Q3. What tips/advice would you give to 1G/WC students/future students? #critlib
• Q4. What are ways to address classism in libraries/archives/the academy? #critlib
• Q5. How can we encourage everyone stand in solidarity with 1G/WC people on a tangible level? #critlib

Glossary:

• First generation student: a college student whose parents/guardians have not completed a bachelor’s degree

76th chat, Monday January 23: validity of student evaluations on teaching
11am Pacific / noon Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern

Moderated by @Infinity_Dots
Storify (pdf, html) by @Infinity_Dots

Suggested readings:

• Flaherty, C. (2016, September 21). Zero Correlation Between Evaluations and Learning. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/21/new-study-could-be-another-nail-coffin-validity-student-evaluations-teaching
• Harlow, R. (2003). “Race Doesn’t Matter, but…”: The Effect of Race on Professors’ Experiences and Emotion Management in the Undergraduate College Classroom. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(4), 348-363. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1519834

Discussion questions:

• Q1. In information literacy settings do you perceive any bias towards you or coworkers? (either in student evals or in students’ reactions in the classroom)
• Q2. How does this bias affect you or a coworker personally and professionally?
• Q3. What emotional management (or self-care) strategies, if any, do you employ to cope with bias?
• Q4. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of your IL instruction? How do you mitigate bias?
• Q5. What forms of evaluation would you like us to further embrace as a profession?

75th chat, Thursday January 12: sexual harassment of library workers
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @overcastallen, @RobinDesmeules, @CharissaAPowell, @dejah_thoris
Storify (pdf, html) by @publibchat

This joint chat was presented in partnership with @publibchat (a new chat dedicated to topics pertaining to public libraries). Thank you to the moderators and the librarians behind publibchat for making this chat happen!

Suggested readings:

• Find large list of resources at the publibchat website

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What measures are in place your work to protect you? Support you? Are they adequate?
• Q2. Are incidences of sexual harassment openly discussed at your work? What would you like to change?
• Q3. If/when you raised a concern, how was it handled?
• Q4. How do you support your colleagues?