#critlib Chat April 22, 2014
This is my first Storify, so apologies if anything is missed. I'm going to try to keep conversations together and organize responses by topic versus straight chronological order, since that helps me. I'll also admit to cutting a few things, mostly "I agree"-type responses.
- This week's #critlib was moderated by the one and only Annie Pho.
- As always, information on each chat is available in the Google Doc: tinyurl.com/critlibx
- After introduction, we get our first question:
How do we take our students identities into account when teaching?
- Not making assumptions and taking the time to learn about your students was key to a lot of answers
Q1 #critlib like @catladylib said, I try not to make assumptions, talk to them, get to know what they are interested in, and their skill lvl
@JessicaCritten yep - ain't no such thing.- Doing this in a one-shot session can take some work
- Best typo ever
- Gaining trust from your students and building relatinonships was a big issue that came up
- @catladylib Sometimes I find that helps, because we aren't (generally) giving them a grade. When a prof leaves my class, students share more
- Which naturally transitioned to what our relationship should be with students
.@catladylib This. I have a follow up Q that I wrestle w/ in own practice: What should our relationship *be* w/ students in #critlib frame?
@donnarosemary I see us as facilitating conversation, and asking them more questions to get them to crit. think abt info. #critlib- @donnarosemary of course, it's not always that easy. Some classes are easier than others.
- .@catladylib Was thinking more day to day--1st name basis? what's our "title"? intro ourselves w/1st names? what's appropriate? #critlib
- @donnarosemary Ohh yeah. Too personal can be weird if you're younger looking. Been asked out at the desk before. :(
@ifrank @donnarosemary @catladylib Also use first name, but am old enough for that not to be weird :-)
I feel strong institutional culture pressure 2 use Prof not my first name, feels uncomfortable. #critlib @ifrank @donnarosemary @catladylib
@mauraweb @ifrank @donnarosemary @catladylib Maybe that's right sometimes. Paying attention to your culture is important. #critlib
.@mauraweb @ifrank @donnarosemary @catladylib I use 1st name, but students not all comfortable #critlib
@EvelineLH I also use 1st name, then let students call me "Prof," "Mr," etc as they like. Esp. flexible w returning/older students #critlib- Again the problem of the one shot reared its head
@JessicaCritten @donnarosemary @catladylib Not sure what's possible beyond tool instruction in a 1-shot...
@edrabinski @JessicaCritten @donnarosemary @catladylib word, had a successful discussion once, but couldn't really get too deep w/ it- Tackling identity in an online environment can also be problematic
- Broader student population is also important for understanding student identities
@SeerGenius Mostly white, mostly rural/small town, but with more and more Latinos, and about 10% international students, mostly from China- @SeerGenius in some ways, the rural/urban divide comes up most explicitly, and can be an in to discuss other identity issues.
- @SeerGenius it is also something many students are comfortable talking about, when they may balk at talking about race or class.
- @SeerGenius which means it is a way to ease in, but also means we don't always get past it into those other areas. One shots...are limiting.
- @SeerGenius 3/4 women, maj African American, strong intl presence, 65 1st languages, maj test into basic writing/math.
- @SeerGenius Dunno how that changes what I teach, honestly, teach mostly 1-shots, everybody gets truncation.
- Annie also brought up a reading relating to Q1
- Related to Q1, check out what @DrShaniByard shared earlier this week: Colorblindness is a Real Problem http://bit.ly/1hmDXsF #critlib
- After a great and long conversation on Q1, we move to Q2: How do you deal with students who are resistant to social justice issues?
- @catladylib Some might not change their minds at the moment we wish - but maybe later they will! We gotta be patient #critlib
- Some had a context where social justice is explicitly part of the school's mission
- @callingamy Same here re: social justic mission -- it helps! but also distances sj as something outside self, "mission of school" #critlib
- @callingamy as a follow up, have you had students who were still resistant to SJ or just completely not understand the issues? #critlib
- .@catladylib I haven't encountered much resistance yet, but as a nooblibrarian, my boss has been giving me gentle classes/supportive profs
- @catladylib @callingamy oh, for sure. They see young, often facing issues for the first time, struggling to not break family loyalties.
- Which still doesn't mean there won't be room to expand
@catladylib Good point. May help to call attention to injustices that students have encountered. @callingamy #critlib A2- @jacobsberg @catladylib @callingamy or look @ examples others dealt w/ (eg. microaggressions photo series) if no one wants to share #critlib
- Question 3: What does critical pedagogy for info lit. look like in nonacademic settings? How can we promote in other spaces? In addition, there was also Q3.5: what #critlib looks like outside of instruction/reference?
- @foureyedsoul reminds me, we need to be mindful of adjunctificaton, working conditions of faculty #critlib
- Critlib should also include staff
- Scholarly communications is also big, such as Open Access
- A3 I think #openaccess convos w/faculty/admins can be #critlib -bed.
- But OA isn't the Alpha and Omega of scholarly communications
@catladylib @edrabinski http://pubstylescience.com/2013/09/09/wrapping-up-scimom-and-announcing-glamgame-for-sept-10-2013/ … this came to head n needs 2 b part of convo #critlib- @SeerGenius @catladylib Yep. #oa certainly doesn't equal access, period. It's one kind of access. That matters, I care about it, not enuf.
- @edrabinski that's a big beef. #oa like it bothers me when u say "oh rad teach is oa" passive like as if u didn't sleep 4 2 wks workn on it.
- @SeerGenius Yep. I wrote about the work of it, that's what I talk about when I talk about it. And the feminization of the labor. Bananas.
- @edrabinski @SeerGenius whole lotta labor donated to closed access.
- @SeerGenius @edrabinski oh yeah, it's work, but it's all work. Work plus open better than work in the dark .
- @SeerGenius @edrabinski Not all OA is author pays and corporate. My students graduate, I dont want to cut them off.
- @SeerGenius @edrabinski if not readers and scholars, it's a scam. But I benefit daily because I can get stuff for my curiosity.
- @bfister @edrabinski do them readers and scholars look like you and me or just you? And the rest of us getting scammed?
- @SeerGenius @edrabinski all get scammed when scholarship is locked up .
- @bfister @edrabinski so I am suppose to buy into a system that still leaves my community out?
- @SeerGenius @edrabinski this is a big question for all acad libs, no? Are we instruments of exclusion?
- @SeerGenius @bfister @edrabinski #critlib Many levels of exclusion, cost, jargon, unwritten conventions. Needs work on OA & other barriers
- And OA can be subject to critique as well
- @SeerGenius @edrabinski what's the downside of OA?
- @bfister @edrabinski that like most tech it creates a wider disparity among communities.
- @edrabinski @bfister so now I gotta be clear that I am pro oa bc I introduce a critique that's often overlooked? Ok.
- @edrabinski @bfister I get all red rooster bc like Emily pointed out critiques on oa to oa folk can b a poking at the chest. Myself included
- @SeerGenius Am also disturbed @ individualist vibe of much oa rhetoric. Like it's me my individual problem that scholarship is paywalled.
- What we collect and how we make it accessible should also be part of critlib
- @catladylib A3.5 There is a col dev budget for social justice materials, I order for edu, I went in and tried to add more titles related SJ
@catladylib now is good time to engage w/SJ primary sources-digitally avail. SpecColl in original not always practical 4 undergrads #critlib- At Barnard: zines, lesbian & LGBTQ-YA. Yay! MT @catladylib A3.5 ...there's collection dev. & special coll. What mat'ls support SJ? #critlib
- Design was also brought in
@donnarosemary @katieldh Design in this way didn't come for mind to me with this Q but I'm interested. Do you have an example?- Also radical cataloging
- A3.5 I believe @jacobsberg mentioned radical cataloging as an answer to seeing #critlib outside of ref and instruction.
- @catladylib Indeed. That's the title of a book from Library Juice. @edrabinski contributed. #critlib A3.5
- Since Radical Cataloging was a topic of conversation on #critlib last night, here's my review of it: http://beerbrarian.blogspot.com/2012/06/libraries-and-postmodernity-review-of.html …
- @catladylib A4: Yell into the void, steal ideas, support & be supported by like-minded folk. #critlib
- A4 agreed w/@pumpedlibrarian. 1 chat dedicated to a reading, 1 chat dedicated to practice. #critlib
- .@edrabinski #critlib A4 would think that was essential, no? Read wide and deep
- Just like how critical librarianship is more than ref and instruction, #critlib is more than just a once every other week chat
- A4 I love idea of 2x/mo #critlib here on Twitter, possibly extended further w/ Google Doc, maybe Tumblr (already lots of #Tumblarian folks)?
- .@catladylib Critical PRIMO! #critlib
- Finally, the pitch!
- My #critlib pitch is for the Braverman Awards: MLIS students, submit yer papers abt the social aspects of libraries! http://www.progressivelibrariansguild.org/content/award.shtml …
- #critlib pitch! This is the book @jacobsberg mentioned earlier on Radical Cataloging: http://bit.ly/1mBN0h4
- #critlib pitch re-sharing this article I caught earlier today on bias in hiring (diversity) http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/e-mails-ignored-meetings-denied-bias-at-the-search-stage-limits-diversity/ … +check out @LibWardrobe!
- Reminder for #critlib folks, Gender & Sexuality in Info Studies colloq CFP, abstracts due May 1! http://litwinbooks.com/2014colloquium.php …
- And thus we end, thanking Annie for her great work
- Thanks to @catladylib for moderating another thought-provoking #critlib. You can moderate in the future, the link is on the cheatsheet!
- Thanks #critlib people and @catladylib for another great chat! Looking forward 2 next 1, & all the in-between things that hopefully pop up.
- Don't forget that you too can propose and moderate a chat
- If you're interested in moderating a #critlib chat, fill out this form: http://tinyurl.com/critlibmod . It's pretty fun!
- And we're already continuing the conversation
- Since Radical Cataloging was a topic of conversation on #critlib last night, here's my review of it: http://beerbrarian.blogspot.com/2012/06/libraries-and-postmodernity-review-of.html …
