Session Name: Librarianship as an Intellectual Craft

Session Facilitator: Jonathan Cope

Session Time: 11:40 am - 12:40 am

Session Location: Multipurpose Room

Session Notes

• librarians scurrying around not really tackling things the way we should
• what is information, what did it mean in the past, what does it mean now, what will it mean in 20 years
• Patriot Act and librarians
• we're afraid of jeopardizing funding or reputation by taking stands
• craft: theoretical and applied aspect to that
• access to information to have an informed public in a democratic society
• two distinct trends in this conversation:
  • philosophical/conceptual background of librarianship as a profession
  • tendency to politicize our activies
• but you can't come up with a philosophy of information without touching on political issues
• if we could dispense with institutional politics, that would be great
• trying to protect patron privacy puts us in an inherent political debate
• If you look at why we believe in freedom of access to information, it's political in nature.
• is library science a "science"?
• the word science is unfortunate; we don't even rise the level of science in "political science"
  • we don't have training
• Why is our professional not even slightly historically minded?
  • Jesse Shera bemoaned in 1960s lack of a philosophy of librarianship
  • Why is our profession not so willing to look into its own past?
• Explore why we do the things we do
  • qualitative data instead of quantitative dataWe have to stand up and say what's important
• The Darien Statement on the Library and Librarians
  • http://www.blyberg.net/2009/04/03/the-darien-statements-on-the-library-and-librarians/
• Public librarians not expected to present/publish. Academic librarians are expected to do so.
• Brooklyn PL is trying to make ongoing learning a part of the day for staff. But there isn't yet a culture of that.
• Benefit of training for keeping up.
• Keeping up with x, y, z is not the end of it though. We should be more than just reactive.
• To what extent is it reasonable to have a discussion about what is foundational in librarianship. Things are in flux.
• Maybe what we need learning programs similar to 23 Things (which focuses on web 2.0 technologies) that focus on intellectual issues in librarianship. What venues/discussions are going on now that we can tap into?
• We need to deinstitutionalize the conversations about foundations/fundamentals

addtional notes:

• What is value/dangers of neutrality as library and information professionals?
• shift from library as building to library as concept
• librarians and libraries must have theoretical foundations to guide their relationships with their communities
• libraries are undervalued whent hey are viewedas cultural rather than educational institutions
• information behavior research provides some interesting critical spring boards into thinking critically about professional practice
• need for more collaboration between academics in all departments, especially LIS, and practicing librarians
• Do all library/patron relationships follow student/teacher model? Is the rigid role division outdated? Can we be tour guides rather than "teachers"?
• Maybe there is value in considering librarianship and libraries as social constructs and questioning them the way academia/society questions other social constructions? Analogies to critical pedagogy and progressive educational theory.

Draft of notes created in EtherPad