- Gregory & Higgins’ intro chapter ( http://libraryjuicepress.com/ILSJ-front.pdf …), was the “official” reading for the chat.
The Zotero group has more readings. https://www.zotero.org/groups/critical_library_pedagogy/ … 
I'm Kelly, instruction librarian @UILibraries and I'm the designated moderator for tonight. #critlib- Question 1: Is neutrality an impossible construct, per Toni Samek?
- After a bit of conversation, Kelly modified the question:
Q1 I think everybody has a standpoint, and that's inescapable. We can be equitable, but we can't be neutral. #critlib
@edrabinski Also very difficult since any privilege in our standpoints can easily blind us #critlib- @CarlSHess We can be more and/or less critical about where we might have trouble understanding difference between self/other. #critlib
Q1 Def agree with @edrabinski, like being unbiased, neutrality would be near impossible, but being aware of this is important #critlib- @edrabinski Yes, "normal" is almost another way to describe neutral. #critlib
As long as there are power differences there can be no neutrality. We need to work to eliminate those differences. #critlib- I think we get into trouble when we unwittingly identify our own interests with those of the power structure - to survive in jobs #critlib
- @edrabinski I would term that "open," not "neutral," but semantics. Still, we should not be open to everything. #critlib
A1 'neutrality' in librarianship is also used to silence minority, divergent voices and professional viewpoints #critlib
A1 If "neutrality" is roughly = to "radically inclusive," that's great! But I think more often "neutral" = "unaware of own biases" #critlib
@foureyedsoul - Yes! Radically inclusive! #critlib
A1 To me, claiming "neutrality" is like saying "I'm not racist." Crit. ped. means YOU need to critically reflect on yr own exp. #critlib- @catladylib def or like "I'm not racist, so I don't have to do anything else now," like checking a box off #critlib
- @pumpedlibrarian exactly, you're never done reflecting or considering how to improve your own perspective. #critlib
- . @catladylib Crit. lib. definitely means instructor reflecting on own exp., on assumptions in classroom, on how manage class, etc #critlib
- Q2: In what ways has infolit been co-opted by “corporatist efficiencies and risk management?”
A2 One word: assessment #critlib- @pumpedlibrarian Can you give an example? #critlib
- @pumpedlibrarian I think what and more importantly why you are assessing is the issue here #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @catladylib @pumpedlibrarian This also seems about institutional culture, not nec. inherent to assessment. #critlib
@catladylib @lisalibrarian @pumpedlibrarian (I tweet in the midst of a pilot assessment project in which I plan to do just that :( #critlib)
@pumpedlibrarian is prob cult of assmnt (which seems prof resp to me - are we having impact we intend) or imposed/assumed outcomes? #critlib- @edrabinski @pumpedlibrarian and whether students have learned it (learned as active verb not passive experience) #alignment #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @catladylib @pumpedlibrarian This also seems about institutional culture, not nec. inherent to assessment. #critlib
- @kellymce @lisalibrarian @pumpedlibrarian depends on approach to assessment too. Formative seems a better fit for crit. ped. #critlib
- @catladylib @lisalibrarian @pumpedlibrarian "Anonymize your sample, score their work w/ a rubric, and input means here." #ugh #critlib
- @donnarosemary @catladylib @pumpedlibrarian well, you can often choose your own rubric (I know not all can)? #critlib
@lisalibrarian @catladylib @pumpedlibrarian This. But also: have students describe what *they* are going for & then observe. #critlib- @catladylib @lisalibrarian @pumpedlibrarian I wonder if the problem is imposed methods not intent/goal of assessment? #critlib
A2 Relying on/promoting subscription resources and cultures of assessment immediately come to mind #critlib- @edrabinski "Messily emerge" describes pretty much all the best learning I've ever done. #critlib
- RT @edrabinski Rather than imagining we could be outside of them. #critlib
A2 @edrabinski And how do we educate, but not "prepare souls" for “corporatist efficiencies, et al.?” #critlib- I think we get into trouble when we unwittingly identify our own interests with those of the power structure - to survive in jobs #critlib
- @catladylib We also teach how to use our corporate-made databases and catalogs. Would need radical rethink of lib to avoid #critlib
- @CarlSHess Yeah who owns us and our info man?? #critlib
- @catladylib I like to talk about Google's near-complete monopoly with students, even if just in passing. #critlib
- @jacobsberg @edrabinski @catladylib showing comparable alternatives can be such a simple way to blow minds/critique the empire! #critlib
- @edrabinski @catladylib @kellymce I teach Google, but also what it does, how it works, & alternatives. #critlib A2
- i.e. "Google better" not in terms of better search strings, but in interpreting results more critically & doing iterative process #critlib
@kellymce @jacobsberg @edrabinski @catladylib Show how many trackers are on a page, how different results for different people #critlib- @kellymce @edrabinski @catladylib And it makes for an excellent jumping off point for critiquing other issues in info lit. #critlib
- @aliqaesong Yes. Like there is no bibliographic universe beyond westlaw. #critlib
- @edrabinski Right? Like primary law never existed before digitization. I always highlight the 'value-added' content = $$$$$ #critlib
- @aliqaesong My ref class last night we looked at Web of Science/Scopus/citation dbs. What are you paying for, and is it worth it? #critlib
- @edrabinski I wish I was in your class! Totally missed out on db eval from the 'what are you paying for' angle in libschool #critlib
- A2 I want to teach my students to evaluate sources, navigate a complex info environment, not be shackled to a proprietary platform #critlib
- A2 There aren't many targeted dbs for my field. Scholars ability to identify this, think crit abt info politics, profitability key #critlib
- A2 re: our corporate institutions & @EamonTewell 's tweet abt databases: what if we only taught students the free internet? #critlib
- Relentless needling can be a good thing! Esp. open, often so carelessly thrown around, we shld be ready to define it. #critlib @CarlSHess
- @CarlSHess feel like an "elder" in IL convos recently. so, will take a stab if you can fill in a bit more about "pre-Fall" info lit?
- @lisalibrarian What I meant is the ? is premised on the idea that at some point info lit was not corporate/neoliberal/etc. Not sure if true
- @CarlSHess I'd assert that IL itself is not but IL-as-practiced is ... for variety of reasons #critlib
- @CarlSHess I personally don't believe there was a BI-->IL shift but rather same theory but need to rename to try to reclaim #critlib
- @lisalibrarian See, that's where i want to learn more cause I always hear it described as a conscious shift #critlib
- @CarlSHess tho reclaiming was unsuccessful. think that is what may be happening with new ILframework. another attempt. #critlib
- @CarlSHess I think it was an attempt to shift PRACTICE (TEACHING), not in the underlying learning sought #critlib
- @donnarosemary @CarlSHess that there are a lot of other things impacting practice than just the learning outcomes. #critlib
- @donnarosemary @CarlSHess another way to Q this - why so many "studies" claiming students IL b/c of a one-shot? #impossible! #critlib
@lisalibrarian @donnarosemary @CarlSHess Are there studies saying students become IL through 1 shots? #critlib- @Rudibrarian @donnarosemary @CarlSHess That conclude that+get published? Um, yeah. But evidence that claim is based on-not so much! #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @donnarosemary @CarlSHess I don't think I've ever seen the claim. I'll have to poke around....
- @Rudibrarian @donnarosemary @CarlSHess I'm not sure why you want them? Conclusions d/n follow from evidence. #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @donnarosemary @CarlSHess if claim is made, i'd like to know how they got there. Have to refute bad lit to make best case
- @donnarosemary @CarlSHess well, power structures in libraries - e.g., new librns required to teach sessions from a script #critlib
- @kellymce @bfister @donnarosemary @CarlSHess flippantly I agree. but don't want to dismiss librarians suffering under this in pain #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @kellymce @bfister @donnarosemary @CarlSHess That's awful. Better to invest in training & dev resources for new libs #critlib
- @aliqaesong @kellymce @bfister @donnarosemary @CarlSHess It isn't the new librns that are the problem. #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @kellymce @bfister @donnarosemary @CarlSHess All lib teachers need prof dev support for teaching, agreed. 1/2 #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @kellymce @bfister @donnarosemary @CarlSHess But new libs are vulnerable & need help acquiring good habits 2/2 #critlib
- @donnarosemary @CarlSHess unrealistic financial models - e.g., teach 100 sections of COMP 101 in 3-4 weeks w minimal staffing #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @aliqaesong @kellymce @bfister @donnarosemary @CarlSHess I had to do that at my first job, no good #critlib
- Q3 "What can we do to empower students to raise their critical consciousness of information and how can we inspire them to apply this outlook for fairness and the equality of all people?"
- @CarlSHess Telling of...? #critlib
- An ability to work the system is really useful. #critlib Q3
- A3 Help our communities to "think like a Marxist." ;) Have them ask, always be aware of "who benefits?" #critlib
- .@EamonTewell @kyledenlinger @mswygart Yes to the gay decades assignment! See info as contingent/constructed. #critlib
- @kellymce @EamonTewell @kyledenlinger @mswygart SO GOOD. Used Readers Guide, look up gay info, 1970s/80s/90s/today. Index terms. #critlib
Queer identities decade assignment I presented at LACUNY http://research.library.gsu.edu/qi #critlib- Q3 Many of my students will go work for nonprofits, unions, and we talk abt what they'll have access to and what is publicly avail #critlib
- A3 I think students already are very critical and we need to listen to them more carefully and learn from them more. #critlib
A3: asking students to consider what voices not represented in info resource; what assumptions about audience are made #critlib- @CarlSHess @foureyedsoul I mean, there's not a tonne that suggests oneshots are really good for...much. #critlib
- @edrabinski I agree it can't be taught insofar as the full development occurs on the spot. Introducing ideas and vocabulary can tho #critlib
- @CarlSHess @kellymce @foureyedsoul Except we assume all IL comes from librarians. It doesn't. It's much bigger. #critlib
- @bfister @CarlSHess @kellymce @foureyedsoul This is why in-depth #collaboration w/ fac is 1 of most #radical #critlib practices I know of.
- @edrabinski @lisalibrarian Collaborate, build together? Part of this is language we can use in our institutions. #critlib
- @Rudibrarian @donnarosemary Indepth collab is so constrained by bigger political picture, lack of time, alwys be assessing, etc. #critlib
- @edrabinski right! exactly. That's something they need to determine on their own. Easier for some than others. #critlib
- @edrabinski BUT letting them know that being critical *is an option* is a first step twd empowerment IME. #critlib
- @edrabinski They realize they have the *choice* to turn off autopilot(in their habits/brains)if they choose. I then name benefits. #critlib
- @donnarosemary Dunno if this stuff can be taught didactically. Who knows. I don't have a smart assessment plan in place! #critlib
- @lisalibrarian @edrabinski I mean, it would also be disingenous to pretend we're not teachers, in teacherly roles. #critlib
- Modeling & enacting respect for students! Thank you; gives me something I can always do under constraints. @donnarosemary #critlib
- @foureyedsoul Indeed it's one of the main things that keeps me sane in my role. #critlib
- Q4: How do you teach students to take action?
- #lrt @bfister's article about research as rhetoric has been key to my thinking on this. http://homepages.gac.edu/~fister/rs.html @johnxlibris #critlib
- Have some of these same anxieties. Who am I to know what's right? #critlib @lisalibrarian
- @lisalibrarian If empowerment is an imposition I'm not sure what the word even means then #critlib
@lisalibrarian Yes, as if students have no power/power to be bestowed. Sweet-spot teaching is power-sharing. #critlib- A4 Don't think necessarily awful to try to do this in a 1 shot, sometimes it's ok to just plant a seed if that's all you can do #critlib
@pumpedlibrarian my problem with planting seeds is that I forget to water them and support them. #critlib
So important to remember it's a long process. MT @pumpedlibrarian sometimes it's ok to just plant a seed if that's all you can do #critlib- @pumpedlibrarian Yeah -- letting students know where you're coming from can be a big deal. It meant a lot to me as a student. #critlib
- @pumpedlibrarian Yes - Planting seeds is what happens at a one shot - hopefully there can be follow up when they return later.., #critlib
- A4 I think another #critlib prac we can successfully accomp in 1shots is modeling&enacting respect for students as authorities in own right.
- Feeling sad cuz all my instruction is over for the term & I can't apply all I'm learning in #critlib NOW. There are still #consultations tho
- A4 Also never underestimate power of asking for a student volunteer to record actionable takeaways frm disc on white brd #critlib #lotechftw
- Q5:How do you take your students' gender, sexuality, language, race, class, ability, etc. into account?
- Q5 was not intended to tack intersectionality in at the end, btw... #critlib
- There was no time to discuss this question. Suggestions for future topics were requested.
- Also, if you wanna suggest a topic and/or moderate a future #critlib, we've got a form for you: http://tinyurl.com/critlibmod
- My #critlib pitch is you should read When Who You Are is Off Topic since it relates to the issues of "neutrality" http://geekfeminism.org/2013/07/11/when-who-you-are-is-off-topic/ …
- Finally, thanks and reminder of the next chat.
- Just reminder, #critlib moves to every other Tuesday from here out. So we'll see you back on April 22! When in doubt, check the cheatsheet.
