Jun 20 2007
I feel less prepared then normal for this trip even though I have handouts for two poster sessions, table tents for the Showcase, Google Gears installed, and all my feeds ready to be read offline. I think that this ALA is going to be fabulous. Safe travels everyone.
–Jane, off to get some sleep before bedtime.
Jun 20 2007
All of the recent Gorman discussion smacks of the elite feeling scared that the peasants are gaining control of the system. (and no, I will not link to the tripe that Gorman wrote) I think the authorities had the same things to say about Gutenberg as Gorman has to say about the internet.We all know how well that argument went.
As an explanation, and example, of oppression by the ruling classes, here is a woman, Dennis, and King Arthur, of the Britons:
WOMAN: Order, eh — who does he think he is?
ARTHUR: I am your king!
WOMAN: Well, I didn’t vote for you.
ARTHUR: You don’t vote for kings.
WOMAN: Well, ‘ow did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake, [angels sing] her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. [singing stops] That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen — strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well you can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: I mean, if I went around sayin’ I was an Emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!
ARTHUR: Shut up! Will you shut up!
DENNIS: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! HELP! HELP! I’m being repressed!
ARTHUR: Bloody peasant!
DENNIS: Oh, what a give away! Did you here that, did you here that, eh? That’s what I’m on about — did you see him repressing me, you saw it didn’t you?
–Jane, ALA is the tart that gave Michael Gorman a sword
Jun 13 2007
A thoughtful “column” from The Eclectic Librarian who was actually at the NASIG presentation I discussed in my previous post.
Today has been bursting with interwebs hilarity. I was only sorry to be away for most of the middle part of the day and miss some of the fun.
–Jane, still smilin’
Jun 13 2007
Either way, you look like an ass hat.
On Being a Hypocrite
Two things recently popped up that make my want to wash my hands of the constant hand wringing and “I am better then the common man” librarianship that seems to be the common backlash against innovation and free thought. One involves me personally.
I believe Michael Gorman was sad that we were not talking about him anymore and thus wrote the most ridiculous thing he could imagine. Jason Griffey firmly slams many of Gorman’s arguments. I would only add two things.
There is this sentence:
The task before us is to extend into the digital world the virtues of authenticity, expertise, and scholarly apparatus that have evolved over the 500 years of print, virtues often absent in the manuscript age that preceded print.
It made me wonder if Mr. Gorman ever studied coterie writing and if he found that too to be lacking. I wonder if all of the minority scholars, many of them unable to publish for years because of their gender or race, are less valuable because they were not readily accepted into the Authority of Print.
Secondly, Mr. Gorman managed to insult my belief structure as well as lambaste a form of communication which he himself used to publish this ridiculous tripe. Good Job.
On Taking Things Out of Context to Make a Scholarly Point and Thus Making Yourself Look Less Than Scholarly
This bothers me more because I was used as an example of why blogs are bad at the most recent NASIG conference. In a presentation at NASIG, the speaker was bashing blogs because of our trivial writing and cited, of all things, this post I wrote after CiL.
Updated: Here is the link to the presentation summary from NASIG. And another. (thanks to kgs and Kathryn).
I find it amusing that the speaker would use me as an example at all. There are more trivial blogs out there. My blog is semi-professional to begin with and I never claim to have any authority except over myself. But for a scholar, to use that post, instead of this one, or this, or this, in a presentation at a national conference to say that all librarian bloggers are trivial is harmful and wrong. A lie one might say.
Taking things out of context and making them more important than they truly are does nothing to prove your point. That CiL post was trivial. I wrote it that way and I do not claim to have any authority because of it. What it does prove is that you are afraid.
You are afraid that I have been given a voice. You are afraid that people actually read what I have to say. You are afraid because I am young and do not buy into your pedagogy of librarianship. You are afraid that I am stealing some power you believe you hold. You are afraid of change and the turning of the seasons. You are made of fear and you think that your fear can hurt me.
I am not afraid. You can not take away my ability to write what I choose and give it voice in a place where people can read it and respond. Your fear is what gives me authority.
–Jane, “I will not be moved.”
Jun 12 2007
Over the next couple of days, I am going to be playing with the themes and upgrading. Pardon the mess.
–Jane, something new
Jun 08 2007
My friend was reading The Chronicle of Higher Education today and came across my name. He alerted me to the fact and my response was OMGPONIES. As well it should be.
–Jane, see librarians are fun, well, and geeky, ok, ok, mostly geeky
Jun 08 2007
Jason and Karen have already posted their thoughts on why we, BIGWIG leadership, chose to plan a program for ALA Annual outside of the normal operating procedure. It all started over pizza and beer the last night of ALA Midwinter.
Program planning that requires a topic set a year in advance automatically ensures that the technology presented will be old news. It is impossible to present on any cutting edge topic, technology related or not, with this structure. There is no way to plan a session that can be responsive to the needs of engaged professionals if you have to plan it a year in advance.
In order to get around this, BIGWIG reserved a “Discussion Time” at Annual, which only requires that your organization promise to use the room for something. I know that there are many groups that do this in order to create a program with less red tape. Discussion times exist outside of the realm of the normal program planning committee structure.
We wanted to create something that was engaging and allowed participation from “off site.” We decided that we should have an online conference and made a list of people we thought would enjoy participating in something off the radar, people who loved technology, and people we trusted to be creative. We gave our presenters free reign to talk about almost anything they wanted in regards to technology. We asked them to talk about something totally new or a novel way to use something “old.”
We also told the speakers their “presentation” could look however they wished. In a couple of emails, I told them they could make a screencast, record an MP3, make a collage, write a poem, draw a picture, or sing a song. We trusted our presenters to do something fun and convey whatever information they deemed important. It is all about trust.
The timeline we have is very short. I am not sure, even at this time, exactly what topic all of the presenters have chosen. I am not sure what kind of formats we are going to receive from them. We did not ask for their final content until June 11th, a mere 8 working days until ALA. We want them to have time to change their minds at the last minute should they so choose. They are adults, who are smart, creative, and fun and we trust them as such.
A lot of this project is about trust. Who we trust and who we do not. We do not trust ALA to provide official channels that can be responsive to our needs, so we created our own. We, BIGWIG, trust each other to pull this together. BIGWIG trusts the people we have asked to contribute to give us thought provoking work.
I trust that you, dear readers (if you are an ALA member or not), will find this content delivery enticing and exciting. I am trusting that at least some of you will come and talk to our presenters in person on Saturday, June 23rd from 1:30-2:30 in the Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room or on the Social Software Showcase wiki in the talk pages.
Come help us try something new in ALA.
–Jane, a brave new world
Jun 07 2007
And now what you have all been wondering about:
LITA BIGWIG (Blogs, Wikis, and Social Software IG) is pleased to present the first ever online, unconference at ALA Annual 2007. The Social Software Showcase will be occuring around and during Annual. We have gathered eleven librarians and leaders in the field to present on cutting edge technology and social software. Regardless of where you are in the world, you will have the opportunity to view and discuss the presentations on the official Social Software Showcase Wiki.
BIGWIG wanted to do something different. Something that could spark conversations between people and would not be limited to a finite time and space. Something fun. We also wanted to devise a program for ALA that could be responsive to new technology. Current ALA planning procedures are not responsive to emerging technologies. In fact, at least two of the technologies that will be discussed are less then 4 months old!
Come and see what all the commotion is about. We have presentations by:
We will also be having a face to face roundtable discussion with some of our presenters at ALA Annual in Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 23rd, from 1:30-2:30 in the Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room. If you are in D.C. please come and join us for an hour of informal conversation.
Not coming to ALA? That will in no way inhibit you from enjoying the presentations! We want people who are not able to attend ALA to be able to engage in the conversation. Our content will be open and available starting the week of ALA for everyone and anyone who wants to discuss emerging and changing technologies.
We will have a Twitter feed, which you can follow here (once the presentations go up).
Questions? Please contact the BIGWIG group at bigwig.showcase@gmail.com.
Thanks!
Michelle Boule
Karen Coombs
Jason Griffey
The BIGWIG Team
–Snip–
There is, of course, a great story behind this that I will gladly tell over a couple drinks sometime. For now, please enjoy this fun little project!
–Jane, see, boys and girls, subversion is fun
Jun 06 2007
My TechSource post is up. It is long but meaty. Enjoy!
–Jane, two things down, one Emerging Leader project and one TBA Project to go!
Jun 06 2007
If you were wondering why I have not written anything substantial for this space in a few days (I mean ponies and coffee?), it is because I have been working on a couple other writing projects.
Today, I am a guest poster over at ACRLog. I talk about the Serious Games movement and how a shift in game content can help libraries. ACRLog has been trying to expand their offerings and I think that they are doing a fine job. I was very pleased to be asked.
I have also been working on the second installment of the Unsucking Online Education series at TechSource which should be coming up soon.
Lastly, I have been working on a couple ALA projects. One, I am extremely excited about and will tell all details… tomorrow. Here is a teaser:
What happens when a group of determined individuals gets told no? We find a way to create something fun, different, and as inclusive as possible. What am I talking about? Well wouldn’t you like to know…
–Jane, stay tuned
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