August 30, 2009

For my first journal, I am writing about the debate surrounding the website Wikipedia.

This includes the articles by Bennington, Read, and Schiff.

When I first read the list of articles under the course documents, I was surprised to see

several articles regarding Wikipedia. I was confused as to how the website related to the course

content. I thought of LI801 as being a class surrounding the theory behind information

management and the foundation of library science and after reading the other articles I still felt

lost as to how the Wikipedia articles fell into the same category. Therefore my point of view

while reading the articles was that of a high school teacher and Internet user, and not as a student

in SLIM.

As an everyday consumer of the Internet, I felt guilty as I was reading the articles

because I have often had a question about a celebrity or seemingly silly topic and just hopped on

Wikipedia in order to find a quick and easy answer. As a high school teacher, however,

Wikipedia means something different. It becomes one of the teachable moments where I feel the

need to educate my students on the reliability of sources from the Internet. I think as adults and

administrators we are too quick to set up rules and regulations and block websites that with some

amount of education, could be used as great teaching tools. To this effect, I agreed

wholeheartedly with Bennington when he said, “Instead of demonizing Wikipedia as a poor

research tool, academic and school librarians should use it as an occasion to teach information

literacy skills.” (Bennington 47)

It was after reading this line that I realized how much Wikipedia and other websites are

truly relevant to a student of library science. Librarians are no longer in charge of bound

volumes in the stacks, but are also responsible for electronic research. Though it is still

important for students to do their research at the library using hard cover books or journals,

Wikipedia and similar websites are changing the requirements and demands of the information

profession. The website could be used as a tool to find the most up to date information as well as

serve as a jumping off point in finding other sources.

Our job as information professionals is not to censor, but to educate. We need to use

Wikipedia as an example of how to properly search for materials and to appraise the reliability of

the source, whether it be online or print.

September 13, 2009

For my second journal I am writing about the technological growth of information as it

relates to librarians. I will refer to chapter 1 of the Rubin text.

As I watch my almost three year old son play in his room, I wonder about his future. I

wonder what he’ll be like as an adult and where he’ll go to school, but I wonder about the

technologies that will come about as he gets older. One of his favorite toys is his Thomas the

Train laptop that has alphabet games, number games, and songs. He also loves to play on

websites via our home computer. He talks and sends text messages on his pretend cell phone and

is better at playing the Wii than I am. He will never be able to comprehend life without a

computer or cell phone. My point behind my story is this: if we as librarians are going to keep

students in our libraries, it is essential to keep up with and even stay ahead of the technological

trends.

The previous statement is easier said than done, especially when I think of patrons and

librarians alike who are from the generation of my grandparents. On one hand they own a cell

phone, but absolutely refuse to buy a computer or access the Internet. According to Rubin, this

fear is common. I like that he refers to some of the terms by which the information age is called,

“information explosion…the flood of information…bombarded by information” (Rubin 2004).

All of these expressions are perilous, destructive, and upsetting. They sound like terms that

would be used to describe the apocalypse, not new technologies. This anxiety towards

information is something that we as SLIM students must address and try to change. We must

follow the growing trend of being user-focused rather than document-focused. I think there may

be people whose only sources of reference are hardcover textbooks and journals, because they

are too afraid to explore other possibilities. In order to help patrons think outside the box,

librarians must attack the new technology, learn it, and then disseminate the information.

I must also admit that it is not just older people that are hesitant to branch out beyond

their comfort zone. I know that at times I become comfortable in only using the technologies

I’m familiar with. I know that to improve as a teacher and future librarian, I must also be open to

not only learning about new information and technologies, but also putting them into practice

and then teaching others.

September 27, 2009

For my third journal I am writing about the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” from the seminal

video list. When I looked through the seminal video list, this was the first movie that caught my

eye. I had seen it a long time ago and had enjoyed the progressive point of view. I did not,

however, immediately see the connection between the video and our class. After watching the

video a great deal of connections became obvious.

First, I believe this is easily integrated with the 801 content because the teacher is

essentially disseminating information to her art students. I also see examples of information

processes and the information “gap.” She realized that her students already knew about all of the

art pieces, so she had to edit her search. She had to search for other art work they wouldn’t

know. I also think the beginning of the movie (where she is showing the slides from the

syllabus) is applicable because in order to provide the right kind of information, she had to get to

know her users to get them the best information at the right time. If the students had been library

patrons, she could have used neutral questioning techniques to find out what they knew already

and possibly what they would be interested in knowing more about.

Second, I can take what I have learned and apply it to my future as a librarian. One issue

I know I will have to face is that of censorship. There will come a time in my library career

where someone will try and tell me what I can and cannot have in my library. In the movie I saw

this on two occasions. One was when the nurse was fired for providing birth control to a student.

The birth control was a form of information she was trying to give to the students. That

information was very powerful and she was censored, or in this case fired, for bestowing that

information. They say that knowledge and information are power and the administration of that

college was obviously trying to control their population. The other example of censorship was

when the administration was going to allow Miss Watson to return, but only under certain

conditions. They tried to tell her which information she was allowed to present to them and also

the manner in which it could be done. Like a good information professional, she refused to

conform or be censored.

I also saw a lot of myself in Miss Watson. She was a liberal woman in the midst of a

college with traditionalist ideals producing conservative women. I am a very liberal extroverted

woman who at times feels (in the library program) like an outsider. Many of the SLIM students

have similar open-minded views, but most of them are very introverted. When I walked into

orientation I didn’t make a connection with any of the other students and that was difficult. Then

again, I cannot judge the other students for having a different personality style than me, just like

Miss Watson could not judge the girls for having different ideals.

October 12, 2009

For my fourth journal I am writing about building a resource collection and will focus on

Chapter 8 of the Greer text.

As a future librarian, one of my main fears is that I will have no idea what I am doing. I

have some experience working at a reference desk, shelving periodicals, and working with

microforms, but I honestly know nothing about creating a collection of items from scratch. This

is particularly frightening because in one year our high school will have a separate building for

the 9th graders, and I am hoping I will be the librarian at the new building. It will be my

responsibility to decide what materials I do and do not want in my library. First, and most

importantly, I will have to be aware of the needs of the students and teachers that will make up

my clientele.

In regards to the needs of my patron, one line that seemed extremely significant is

“Understanding the needs of the clientele enables the information professional to know current

needs and to anticipate future needs” (Greer, Grover, & Fowler 2007). This has immense

implications because in order to satisfy their needs, I must look ahead and try to predict what

would be useful to my library.

I also agree with the authors’ point of view, especially when dealing with selection. An

information professional cannot simply choose a book because he or she thinks there is a need

for it. It must also have appropriate reviews. While doing research for my ethics case study, I

spoke to our current school librarians about choosing novels for our high school students. One

of them told me they make sure and read all reviews so that if the book is challenged, they can

refer back to the reviews. I also agree that it is important to see what people and organizations

have to say about the material, rather than relying on the publisher who wants you to buy the

book, database, etc.

Within this topic, I do think I have had several assumptions. First, my assumption was

that the majority of my patrons would be students and therefore the function of most of my

materials would be recreational. So many of our high school students do not like to read, or

think they don’t, and so part of my job is going to be trying to reach these students through books

they would read for pleasure. I must also consider the fact that students will enter my library not

only for recreational purposes, but also to do research. In order to test these assumptions I will

need to work closely with our current librarians and assess the needs of my patrons when I am

working in my own library to see whether or not these assumptions are accurate.

October 25, 2009

For my fifth journal, I am focusing on Andrew Abbott’s Professionalism and the Future

of Librarianship, one of the articles from the seminal reading list.

This article is intricately tied to our course content. As new individuals to the library

profession, it is up to us to bring with us the new and changing ideas to librarianship. This

article focused on the future of librarians and that future is indeed SLIM students. To me, this

means I must be adaptable and open to change. One line that stuck out to me was “when new

knowledge transforms the nature of its work, other occupations take parts of its work away”

(Abbott). This means that my job may very well overlap with other professions and I will have

to learn to work with other professionals and understand where the line is drawn.

I did not, however, agree necessarily with the aforementioned quotation, especially in

regards to new technologies. I don’t see any occupations taking away what I will do as a

librarian. If anything else, it will be information professionals learning to navigate the new

technologies and will therefore be the ones taking on more responsibility and possibly the work

of others. For example, if I am a librarian who is specialized in sociology, I may be encroaching

upon the work of a sociologist or specialist also in that field.

For some librarians, working with others under overlapping conditions may be

uncomfortable, especially when, according to Abbot, “The system of professions is thus a world

of pushing and shoving, of contests won and lost… they are all simply expert occupations

finding work to do and doing it when they can.”

I recently read that many librarians choose introverted personality qualities when taking

the Myers-Briggs test. This may become a problem if someone from another profession is taking

away from his or her line of work. The information professional may not feel comfortable

speaking up and eventually be out of a job for lack of responsibility. It is difficult for me to

picture many of my classmates “skirmishing” with other professionals. Personally, I score as an

extrovert and feel very comfortable working with others and standing up for what I believe. As a

librarian I think I could come across as bossy, so I have tried to be aware and reflect upon my

interactions with my colleagues. I also believe my time as a teacher has taught me how to be

firm and stand my ground while at the same time remaining professional.

I agree with the author in his point of view that new technologies will not replace

librarians. He gave the example of the introduction of microfilm, and how many believed people

would stop coming to the library because they would all have readers in their homes. I imagine

many have this fear about the Internet and many online databases. I think those professionals

afraid of change will be replaced by professionals who are not afraid; not by the new

technologies. Information users may have more opportunities and more resources from which to

search, but they will always have information gaps needing to be filled. Information

professionals must follow in the footsteps of the librarians before them: adapt and welcome

change, know your users, and always do your best to provide for the user. If we do this, we will

always be a profession.

November 8, 2009

For my last reflective journal, I will be focusing on the Diamond and Dragich article:

“Professionalism in Librarianship: Shifting the Focus from Malpractice to Good Practice.” Like

many of my previous journals, I choose this article because it stuck out in my mind. Never in a

million years did I think it possible for an information professional to be held liable or get sued

by an information user. My definition of malpractice has always been when a physician or

medical person made a mistake or did something wrong and his or her patient took legal action

against them.

I agree with the article in that librarians have struggled to be seen as a profession and that

by developing core standards we can be one step closer. However, part of me fails to see how

malpractice and liability relate to these ideals. The article says that no one has ever filed a suit

against a librarian, and discusses that because librarians simply disseminate information already

created, they cannot be at fault unless they knowingly did not prevent harm of a patron. If I do

some assumption checking, I know that simply because it has never happened before, does not

mean it cannot. After reading the article, I think I assumed that the only reason to address the

malpractice issue would be to prevent them in the future. Then again, if information

professionals are to be seen as genuine specialists in the eyes of the courts, we must address “a

system for discipline of its members for a violation of the code of ethics” (Diamond & Dragich

2001).

There was one part of the article where my thoughts were conflicted. At first, I disagreed

with the line that stated that librarianship does not have an “enforceable ethical code obligation”

(Diamond & Dragich 2001). My 801 group members and I had just spent a month researching

and creating an ethics case where the ALA code of ethics came into play. I also know of many

librarians that use the ALA code of ethics as the basis for many situations and for the explanation

of why they chose a particular course of action. After taking some time to think about the code

of ethics, I do agree that it is difficult to make them enforceable, but I don’t think it would be

impossible.

I think the content in this article will be extremely useful in the future. As the role of the

information professional is growing and changing, it will become more apparent that we are

indeed professionals. On the other hand, there may be increasing lawsuits, especially where the

Internet and Internet sources are concerned. If a woman can sue McDonalds for her coffee being

hot, you never know what someone may accuse a disseminator of information.