Final Presentations of December 15

Public Libraries and Urban Redevelopment

What a cool topic of library research!  Yet, what an overwhelmingly complex topic as well.  This topic is gigantic, and could easily have been an entire semester long course.  I liked the way the group brought in many different facets of urban redevelopment together and introduced us into many current debates and issues.   With the college campus smack downtown, I sometimes forget that Madison is classified as Urban.  Until Laura talked about the new renovations to the central branch downtown, I didn’t really think about how it might affect the homeless population in Madison.   I wonder if security will be tighter, or if they will use that manpower to help staff the library so it can offer help to more people.  This summer when I was in Harlem for a week (I was studying the history of African American culture and observing in successful urban schools to help address the issues of our achievement gap for African American students in Madison) we spent a lot of time in the Harlem Branch of the New York Public Library.   Right across the street was Marcus Garvey Park where a large number of homeless men lived.  I saw them a lot in the library, not just to use the bathrooms, but also to use the computers, stay cool in the hot summer sun, and read books to pass the time.  I actually got into a conversation with one about ‘James and the Giant Peach.’  I wonder what their policies are concerning the use of the library… if the homeless men could get a library card… or do they have to do their reading in the library?  Does their presence affect the rest of the patron population?  Public libraries and urban redevelopment is still a topic that I am fairly new to exploring, but this presentation opened my eyes to the services a library provides to different clientele.   

Banned Books

Most interesting aspect of the presentation for me: the history of banning books.  David’s portion of the presentation was simply fascinating (I think, being a historian himself really helped his base knowledge on the topic and he was able to discuss the topic rather than just report findings… good work!).  The evolution of banning books was never something I really considered before.  Banning books started because “people in charge” didn’t want the public to be exposed to opinions that differed from their own (political, religious, etc).  But over time, banning of books has been moved to protecting children from sex, profanity, and adult themes.  Being a school teacher, I am not stranger to banned books.  It seems to be a hot topic that many people are very adamant about… especially when it comes to the children.  Interesting though, that we then have “Banned Book Week” in schools where we encourage students to read a book that has been banned…  Isn’t this slightly counterproductive?  It almost seems as proponents of banning books realized they have no right to tell adults what to read, but when it comes to protecting children- no one wants to be blamed for providing corrupt materials.  Looking at the history of banned books is something that I think I would like to look more closely at.  The history was an interesting aspect to the presentation… it brought in more than just “people don’t like what books say and so they don’t want others to read them.”  Also, good information for school libraries about the ins-and-outs of banned books in schools… this will probably be something that comes up in my profession. 

Bookstore Model Libraries

Funny that I didn’t even know that this was a topic people were presenting on, since for another class I wrote a 12 page paper on a spin off of this topic!  I thought the presentation brought up many good points, and it seemed as if they group was taking the opinion that a library could NOT run like a bookstore and function at the level at which it is currently operating.  Not saying this is a wrong opinion, but from my research, it seemed that libraries that had done this switch seemed very pleased with their decisions.   For my paper I looked specifically at school libraries, and the idea that some schools have of ditching the Dewey Decimal System in store of a bookstore model.  Personally, I don’t really know where I stand on the issue.  I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing, but I do think that it is a HUGE time and financial commitment that not every library needs to undertake.  Also, I wished they would have discussed a little more in their presentation, the purpose for the library.  One of the things that I found throughout most of my research was that people were opposed to the switch because of the purpose of school libraries.  School libraries are still a classroom where students are learning.  The aim of a school library is not for students to solely browse for books they want.  Instead, they are learning research methods and problem solving skills.  I would be interested to see what the groups take on the purpose of public libraries is as well… are they also institutions of learning, researching, and problem solving?  Or should they cater to the fast pace browsing methods of bookstores?  Lots to be said on the topic, I am sorry we did not have time for questions. 

E-readers

I really, really enjoyed the presentation on E-readers in class on Wednesday.  I have to admit that before the presentation, I did not really know what an E-reader was.  Of course I had heard of them, but I thought of them more as a new, not that necessary, technological toy (kinda how I also feel about things like the iPhone as well…).  However, after the presentation, I saw a lot more depth to the E-reader, the reasons it was created as well as its limitations.  First off, I had no idea that there was different E-ink used in the E-readers.  That actually made me feel a lot better, for the idea of E-readers always made me skeptical in relation to issues with eye strain (I have very bad eyes and I think I am a little over sensitive to the topic of eye strain).  I was very intrigued by this, and also felt a little silly that I did not know about this facet of the technology before.  Additionally, I did not really think about the ways in which an E-reader could benefit someone who is unable to read a traditional codex book.  However, all that being said… I don’t think I will be running out to buy an E-reader any time soon.  I was SUPER turned off of the E-reader when the group discussed how the books can ‘disappear’ after a certain amount of time!  You bought it; you should get to keep it!  I am also a lover of a physical book and reread many of my same favorites over, and over, and over again.  I can’t imagine purchasing it (or the “rights to it”) and then having it disappear later.  It is a cool thought to think about how E-readers will affect libraries though… the idea of checking out a device with preloaded booklists, themed or not, is a neat new way of thinking about library sharing.  Too bad you only get to check it out for about 2 weeks at a time… you probably won’t get through all of the texts on the E-reader.  Very well put together presentation that made me reevaluate my own personal thoughts on E-readers.

The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown

                “The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown” is a very interesting case that I enjoyed reading about.  As I was reading, three main points kept running through my head:

1)      I wish I knew more history about McCarthyism during the 1950s.  I feel I have a good base knowledge of racism, integration, and the struggles of African Americans during this time period.  Because of this, I found Ruth’s involvement extremely interesting.  During the 1950s, her behavior would have created many shockwaves in the community (as obviously documented in the book).  Yet, not knowing a lot about McCarthyism and threat of communism in the United States, I had trouble fully understanding the scope of the accusations again Ruth and the communist magazines.  This book made me wish that I had listened a little harder in 10^th grade American History.

2)      Ruth Brown was one firecracker of a woman.  I was almost laughing aloud at the court hearings where Ruth was being interrogated.  Her short, blunt, almost sarcastic answers were pure entertainment.  While I found enjoyment from them, I couldn’t help but think… “Um, Ruth, you are on trial here.  Maybe you shouldn’t be trying to aggravate the court.”  But then again, that is who Ruth Brown was.  I would have loved to meet her in person.  The way that librarian patrons described her made her seem a little rough around the edges, but extremely good at her job.  The book even alluded to the fact that she was straightforward with adults, but very kind to children.  She obviously had a mission, and was not afraid to follow it.  Her actions in terms of racial integration were considered quite bold for the time period.  To add on top of that, she was a woman, and during this time period, a woman’s “role” in the 1950s is not as it is today.  And even after this whole “issue,” she moved to a new city, and kept on being a librarian for 20 more years.  That shows dedication.

3)      What would be the equivalent of this type of town uproar today?  McCarthyism and racial integration were HUGE topics in the 1950s.  Sixty years from now, I would be interested to hear what HUGE issues were fought for in this day and age.  And also, with the vast accessibility of knowledge and resources in libraries today (both physical and electronic), would this type of prosecution occur in a library today?  Or is that cases such as Ruth Brown’s are more common today and thus less widely covered?

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover, and Don't Judge a Library by Its Structure

“As a ‘temple of scholarship’, the library as a place assumed an almost sanctified role, reflected both in its architecture and its sitting.”  An academic library as a ‘temple of scholarship’?  This is an interesting point to me.  I enjoyed reading Freeman’s article, ”The Library as Place: Changes in Learning Patterns, Collections, Technology, and Use,” as it glorified libraries as these meccas of learning set in gorgeous architecture… yet at the same time, I kept thinking- not all academic libraries are architecturally pleasing.  Sure, I can think of movies where it seems like libraries are more of ball rooms with books that look amazing to study in.  But in reality, is this really how most academic libraries are?  I did my undergrad here at Madison, and spent many, many, many hours in libraries.  I agree with the students quoted in the article that libraries serve as a purpose as a place when you are “getting serious” about your studying.  Through my undergrad, myself and all of my friends would do all of our research at home- rarely stepping into a library to locate materials.  Yet- we did go to libraries all the time- to study, to do class readings, to do homework.  It was kind of a social thing; I could guarantee that I would see somebody I knew at the library on Saturday afternoons (non Badger game days of course) and pretty much all day Sundays.  Even during exams, libraries were the place to be on Friday and Saturday nights.  But the libraries I went to were far from glamorous.  Our favorite library was Steenbock (4^th floor, by the windows, or in a study room), a library which had not been updated since my parents went to school here in the 60s.  It didn’t matter what the inside looked like… in fact, I think the dismal pea green chairs and tables helped us focus on our work.  I must admit, there was a brief period in time when we were enthralled with the beauty of Ebling Library, and would drive there just to study in its beauty.  But, that fad was short lived.  Steenbock had tables, chairs, out-lits for our computers, study rooms, computers on the 1^st floor, and a vending machine.  What else could you need? 

Alright, after reading Leckie and Hopkins’ article, “The Public Place of Central Libraries,” I started to change my tune in thinking about the architecture of a library.  I found this article quite interesting and even briefly thought about taking my next vacation to Canada to visit these libraries.  (Especially the Toronto Research Library that was designed as a ‘veritable tree of knowledge).  Then I got to thinking… why was I so enthralled with these libraries, but could care less about the architecture of academic libraries where I spent my undergrad?  I think I figured it out: in college I felt like I was going to the library no matter what.  I had to study, and in order to do that and focus; I had to go to a library.  Never mind if it was beautiful, or spacious, or looked like a coffee shop… I had work to do.  When I think of public libraries, I have a different mental image.  Just like the elderly man in the article who spent hours upon hours researching Renaissance art in the Vancouver library- going to a public library is more of a choice.  You choose to go there and spend your time there.  Its purpose is more for borrowing materials, picking things up, browsing for enjoyment… and having amazing architecture and comfortable chairs helps too!  As stated in the article as well, central public libraries are a “physical statement about the library as an integral part of civic culture and make visible a symbolic statement about knowledge in society.”  I don’t feel that academic libraries hold that same clout when it comes to knowledge.  Maybe my thoughts are this way because on a campus such as Madison, there are tons of  libraries for students to use, not just one central library.  For some odd reason (which I felt Leckie and Hopkins’ article could not pinpoint exactly either) the public library as a building is held in very high regard.  Representing the knowledge of the community, places want their public libraries to be the best they can offer.  Do you think this mentality still holds true in smaller cities?  Do libraries have the same stigma?  And what about on smaller college campuses?  I could see academic libraries having the opposite affect here too; on a smaller campus there might be one large central library that draws all of its students into one location.  All in all, I enjoyed both articles and began to think a lot about the potential effects the physical structure of a library could play in the success of a library.

Using Technology on College Campuses and the Fate of Academic Libraries

I really enjoyed the lecture concerning the “Challenges to Campus Use of the Kindle.”  When the first speaker from Reed began to talk about how they used the kindle as a pilot I thought the accusations from the DOJ seemed  a little intense.  Especially when Reed explained that they had no blind students at the school, let alone the test pilot.  However, after the speaker from the DOJ began to talk, I began to think about a whole set of issues I never thought to consider before.  I was completely impressed with the passion of the DOJ speaker, and the lengths that his organization would go through to protect the rights and equity of disabled students. 

This lecture got me thinking about the fate of technology and its use on college campuses.  When the representative from Princeton said that they used 50 million pieces of paper a year, I guess I wouldn’t say I was surprised, but it was a shocking number.  Especially since 10 million pieces of paper where used by students who were printing out digitized texts (as I do for all of my grad school classes).  Shockingly, with the use of the kindle, there was a 40% reduction in paper usage!  That is huge!  But then, after listening to the DOJ representative, at what cost to students are we saving this paper?

It sounds like there are alternatives to help students with disabilities receive the services they need; however, these alternatives are not always available when needed.  So I guess the major question that came to my mind was: how can technology continue to integrate itself into college campuses while keeping in mind everyone’s current learning needs?  (Well, I guess I kind of stole this major question from the lecture itself).  Also- if there are not people such as the DOJ keeping tabs on universities, will there be separate and unequal use of technology without campuses realizing it? 

But then again, perhaps we don’t have to worry about this necessarily with the kindle… as mentioned, its major flaws were: you cannot see multiple pages at one  and you cannot write on it.  What college students need is material that is “accessible and annotatable.”  I am curious to know what technological advances will be made that truly be accessible and annotatable.  A point was made in the lecture that it is predicted that by 2015 there will be no more print on college campuses… is this really possible?  Isn’t this suggesting that the print book is not far from extinction?  This seems to open a whole can of worms in terms of preservation and accessibility.  And on a side note… aren’t we worried about our eyes?  One summer I worked in an office creating databases of parts of tools, staring at a computer screen for 9 hours a day.  It also happened to be the Summer Olympics, to which I would return home and watch about 3-4hours of Olympic Coverage.  Needless to say, I ended that summer with terrible eye strain and repeatable headaches.  (Have I made this point before? If not, I have definitely thought about it numerous times).   If we get rid of print all together… are there physical affects to our bodies we should be concerned about?  Lots to think about in this lecture, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

(PS… did anyone else see what was written up on the white board during the presentation??  “You+Thai Food+Wine= Fun”  HA!)

I would like to tie aspects of “The Future of the Academic Library” to the article, “The Library as Place: Changes in Learning Patterns, Collections, Technology, and Use.”  Specifically- the issue of the library as a social place for group study.  One point made in the lecture was that academic libraries should start to resemble a “commons” or “bookstore” model.  They also made the comment that libraries “should look like an Apple store.”  The lecturers were insinuating that the number of print resources in libraries should drop with the use of so many materials becoming digital, and the space should be used to create common areas for students to converse, study, and learn.  They even suggested that it should be the “heart of the academic community.”  Now, I am not suggesting that group study facilities are unnecessary by any means, but to turn a library into something that resembles an Apple store?  To get rid of the majority of print material?  I feel like we are just not there yet.  Yes, computers are necessary.  Yes, group space is necessary.  But, yes… print material is still valuable too.  Perhaps I am just being narrow minded here, but I cannot see print being completely phased out of academic libraries within the next 10 years.  Then again, I don’t spend a heck of a lot of time in academic libraries anymore, so maybe my ideas are outdated by 5 years or so.   

But with this switch to digitization and the structures of libraries in general , I can’t help but wonder… what is the fate of public libraries?  Is this the way that public libraries will go too?  What is the fate of fiction books?  Would anyone really want to read a 700 page Harry Potter book as an ebook?  Or, if materials are downloaded, and then printed… isn’t this hugely wasteful?  (Think back to the previous lecture and the Princeton paper claims).  Would it not be better to have paper copies in libraries and to utilize a highly effective method of inter library loans?  I really don’t know the answers to these questions.  I completely agree that the format of libraries is changing, and the changes are necessary to keep with current technologies; however, I wonder if at some point people are going to think that we are making things more difficult than they used to be?  I find this topic very interesting, yet slightly daunting.  I am very interested to see the directions in which academic libraries head.  I am a huge fan of print copies, and would hate to see them die out completely.  There is something to be said for having a physically having a resource, in terms of usage and preservation.  And if digitization does “take over” what is going to happen to all of the print copies of resources?  Will they just be discarded because they don’t need them anymore?  That seems like a colossal waste as paper and resources.   Just my opinion… I would be interested in hearing others.

(PS What was with all the references to gin in this lecture?  Between this and the white board in the last lecture… I am beginning to wonder what kind of a conference this was!  Just kidding)

A Divided Opinion

                I remember a couple of years ago when the whole Chronic Wasting Disease issue was hot… and of course, living in Wisconsin, it became a hot topic FAST.  My family is not a hunting family, but for some of my best friends – hunting is a way of life.  I knew that they were looking up information on the topic nightly, but I guess I never really thought about where it was coming from it.  I think that Eschenfelder and Miller make many valid arguments in their article “Examining the role of Web site information in facilitating different-government relationships.  Throughout the entirety of the article, I couldn’t help but have this little lingering voice in the back of my head saying, “What is the government hiding from us??”  Now, I am an extremely trusting person, and have never really seriously had these thoughts (I like to think I have faith in our government), but seriously- why not give the people the information!  It was a little disheartening to think there was no consistency within these four states’ websites.  Ideally, the public information should be the same across states (with different specifics) and the websites should be fully inclusive of information.  Yet- apparently this is not the case.  Through this study, it seems that Wisconsin had the “best” website, yet is that just because we had such a highly invested interest in it?  Is the public information concerning bed bugs in Wisconsin as thoroughly covered as it is in New York?  I am aware that there are a bazillion issues that the government “should” report on, and that in reality time and resources are limited; however, with the creation of the Web, shouldn’t this be easier?  I like the point that Eschenfelder and Miller made when they commented on the value of information.  Just because a state puts a ton of information on their website, does not necessarily mean it is better.  More does not equal better.  In fact, oftentimes more information is just a fluffy way of looking like you are making a point, when in reality you could be spinning your wheels.  To reiterate a question made in the conclusion of the study, “Do agencies really seek to use Web sites to change their relationships with citizens, or do they see them as tools to reinforce their positions of information power in policy debate?”

                The next article I read was Yudolf’s “The Nerves of the Government,”  and when I finished, I was even MORE skeptical of the government and their duty of providing information to the public.  But then I started to think: sins of commission, sins of omission… can the government win?  Yes, the use of technology makes it easier to disseminate information, but if this technology was not available, would there as many criticisms of the government’s role of informing public?  History has proved that there definitely were instances of this (Watergate for example), yet, were these suspicions common?  I can’t really answer these questions myself, since my entire informed life I can remember the use of the Web.  But are we just using the Web as an excuse, or is there an increase of expectation that comes along with it?   As stated in the article, “technology is ethically neutral, but unethical leaders seize upon it to advance their interests.”  So what do other people think… the Web… good addition to public information?  Or complicated factor that brings out skeptics in citizens? 

                I must admit, I struggled a little with the Interim Summary of the “Documents of a Digital Democracy” piece… and I am not entirely sure why.    I understood the premise of the piece, explaining the Federal Depository Library, and the issues that have occurred with it in its first year of existence.  From the article, it seems like the FDLP is not thriving as “they” had hoped.  I think my issue was… who exactly is the “they” that planned and first implemented this program?  Ithaka?  Then what was their purpose and WHO were they marketing this article to?  I read it, but really, did not feel I could make a connection with it.  Plus, I am not sure if I agree that everything should eventually be digitized.  (Actually, I am not sure the article suggesting this is the way it SHOULD be, but maybe rather it is just an observed trend?)  Yes, digitization would provide easier of access of materials to people, yet… then I began thinking… should everyone have access to everything?  Can people make use of all the knowledge they have access to?

                Now, I know what you are thinking… I spent the first part of this entry talking about how I was baffled in thinking that the government might be withholding information from public, and now with this final article, I start to wonder if giving people access to “all” information is a good idea?  I think this clearly displays… that I have no idea.  Maybe it’s one of those situations where it is “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”  Or maybe it is just that I had a super busy with parent teacher conferences this week, and I have been battling the flu on and off for over two weeks and my head is just a wee bit in a fog.  Or maybe… a little of both.

Spinning, and spinning, and spinning...

                I don’t think I have gotten my head to stop spinning after doing all of the readings for this week.  Apparently, copyrights and intellectual property debates are not my thing.  Not that I don’t necessarily understand them, but moreover, I just don’t have a good idea of what to do about them.  It seems like at some point in all four of the readings, the authors made a point, and then in the next paragraph went, “However… the exact opposite of my point can be argued as well.” 

                The article I enjoyed the most was Brown’s “Who Owns Native Culture?”  Perhaps the reason for this is that I used to live in Australia and found the subject matter interesting (more than I can say for the scientific debate over poly B).  But also, one thing really stuck out to me in the article:  Bulun’s work was taken and distributed without his consent- that much was agreed upon.  One of Bulun’s arguments against why this was so awful, was because the images were sacred and “has the inside secret meaning of our ceremony, law, and custom… To produce it without strict observance of the law… interferes with the relationship between [the painter], [his] ancestors, and the creator being.”  Then, as the article states- why can the image be reproduced in the book?   It seems as though issues of culture, or religion, are especially touchy when it comes to copyright.  This idea, combined with the ideas that other articles bring up about authorship, lead me to wonder… do ideas of intellectual property hold true for the Bible?  It seems that most issues of ownership of intellectual property only become an issue when there is some monetary profit being made.  Who gets the money for the publications of the Bible?  Who allows t-shirt companies to make shirts with biblical phrases on them?  Does “anyone” actually own the rights to these ideas?  But then again, as stated in Brown’s article, “you can’t copyright an idea, you can only copyright the expression of an idea.”  But… is there a person, or group, that takes “credit” for the Bible? (Disclaimer: I would not consider myself a religious person, so maybe there is a clear cut answer to this question that I don’t really know… feel free to fill me in.)

                The issue in McSherry’s  article, “Telling Tales Out of School” seemed to be a huge headache to me.  Quite frankly, I am glad I was not the judge who had to shift through and decide that case.  Even though I found it overwhelming at times, I still found the dilemma interesting.  Science does seem to be very secretive, and this case brings up interesting points of secrecy and research.  My profession, teaching, is the exact opposite.  We go to huge lengths to share everything!  However, once again, I think some of the secrecy boils down to two simple things: money and prestige.  Pelletier’s entire argument revolved around these two things.   But then I started to think… I have a friend who is a teacher in Colorado.  Her school district moved to merit based pay; that is, teachers get paid on a scale according to how well their students perform.  I think the district thought that this would create incentive for teachers to work hard, and be held accountable for their teaching.  (Disclaimer: I think there is nothing wrong with having teachers being held accountable for their teaching- in fact, I think it is a great thing.  But not in this way, and I will tell you why in my next point.)  However, it seems that this year, the plan is back firing.  Instead of sharing curricular ideas, and helping each other problem solve around students and issues, teachers at her school are becoming very secretive and not sharing their work.  They have adopted the mentality: if I found something that works and helping students perform better, then why would I share it with other teachers so their students excel too?  Oh boy.  Doesn’t that seem like the anti-logic of school?  Anyway, that was a small digression, but I couldn’t help thinking about it as I was reading about the issues of propertization of scientific data in this article.

                Litman’s article, “Revising the Copyright Law for the Informative Age,” seemed to focus once again on the gains for entrepreneurs.  Yet, while reading this article, I did feel that entrepreneurs were getting a little bit of the short end of the stick.  Digital information has changed the way our country operates.  We can get information, basically, whenever we want to.  But who owns all of that information?  I remember learning in high school English classes, that once an idea is deemed “common knowledge” we didn’t need to cite it in our papers.  Thinking back on this, at what point does something become “common knowledge”?  This links back to the previous article and the scientific discoveries too.  We know how that the sky is blue, but do we credit someone with that idea?  And what about mathematical theorems?   My high school math classes are failing me right now, but I know there are theorems with mathematicians names on them (Euclid perhaps?)… they are acceptable as “common knowledge” but still have their discoverer’s name attached to them.   Interesting… very interesting.  Okay, let’s get back to digital information and copyrights.  As Litman states in this article, “works can be altered, undectably, and there is no way for an author to insure that the work being distributed over her name is the version she wrote.”  So ideas could potentially be changed, and changed, and changed again without the author having any idea.  This is almost the reverse of issues of the science article; what if the author’s words get twisted into something they don’t want them to say?  That would be a law suit of another beast.  Copyright…apparently it’s a tricky thing. 

                The last of the four articles I read was Boyle’s “Intellectual Property and the Liberal State.”  However, I wish I would have read this one first.  (I print all of them off in order from the syllabus, which then puts the first article at the bottom of the pile.  Next time, I think I will try to read them in the order they are listed… might be some sense to the order they were recorded.)  This article was a good general umbrella for topics within the other signed articles.  Again, slight head spinning due to wordy sentences and ideas that had no clear answer, but enjoyable to read.  Two different quotations stuck out to me in this reading:

·         “How can we be free and yet secure from other people’s freedoms, secure yet free to do what we want?”  Basically, how can we all do what we want to do, but also be secure in knowing that other people won’t hurt us.   Just food for thought.

·         “Once expressed, it is impossible for [an idea] to remain the author’s property.”  This quote really helped me to conceptualize the debate amongst intellectual property.  It reminded me of a quote my French teacher gave me when I graduated high school “If you have an object and you trade it, you only have one object.  If you have an idea, and you trade it, now you have two ideas.”  (Of course, the quote was given to me in French and took me entirely too long to figure out.)  Once you read something, it is yours to remember.  So, at what point, if ever, can an author loose credit for their works?  Back to that old debate of “property” I guess.  And it sends my head spinning, and spinning once again. 

Keeping Literacy in American Lives

                I have trouble writing my class responses when we have an entire book to read.  (I felt as if my response to Henrietta Lacks did not do it justice.)  As I am reading the book, I always think, “Ah, I’ll talk about this!”  Then I get to the next chapter and I think, “No!  This would be more interesting.”  And this pattern follows until I have finished the book.  Since I don’t want to write a book of my own for my response, I then have to pick and choose what I feel is most important.  (By the way, I like the small group discussions in class as well as whole group.  Gives more people a chance to talk and work through their ideas.)  So, I am going to try to just touch on a few things that I enjoyed about Deborah Brandt’s “Literacy in American Lives.”

·         I really enjoyed the chapter about how four generations of one family learn how to write.  My family is extremely literate (we have been known to have journal writing time around the Christmas table), and I think a lot of that stems from the family members in my past.  My great grandfather was a principal of a high school and valued education very much.  Both my grandfather and grandmother are of a similar age to Sam May.  They both attended college and earned their degrees.  Both of my parents attended college as well, and obviously, here I am as a first grade teacher attending graduate school.  Linking the ideas in this chapter back to the first chapter and the changing economic nature of the state, I found it interesting how literacy needs were viewed over time.   I enjoyed that this study was done in Wisconsin, for I have lived in the state most of my life and could really relate to the changes throughout time.  I can remember in 4^th grade going to ‘The Little Old School House’ where we went to a little one room school house, dressed the part of students of the time and learned as those children did in the late 1800s.  At one point the teacher dismissed about ½ the students, saying it was time for them to go home to help in the farms.  Times have changed now and most students have only one job: to be a student.  They do not need to go home and put in long hours on the farms.  Makes me wonder where the world is going, and how the next shift in literacy views will surface…  I don’t think we can live in a more print-rich environment than we already do.  But who knows, I am not really good at predicting the future.

·         The next chapter concerning the sponsors of African American lives really seemed to resonate with me.  As a white teacher, it is an ongoing goal to try to close the achievement gap in schools between white students and students of color.  I have taken this mission seriously, and last year traveled to Atlanta to attend the “National Black Childhood Development Institute’s” Annual Conference.   I am not going to get into it all now, but it was a very powerful conference.  This summer I traveled to Harlem, New York where I spent a week observing in schools, observing and learning the history and culture of Harlem and looking at ways of bringing success back to Madison for students of color.  Maybe my background on the subject held my interest with this chapter.  The church is very much a staple in African American lives, if not for the religious aspects, for the way music infiltrates life and the sense of strong community between people.   The history in this chapter was very rich as well, describing the civil rights movements and the need for literacy among members of the movement.  I wish the chapter would have delved a little more into African American literacy habits of today- I feel that there were not any younger voices present in the chapter.  Would have been an interesting touch.

·         Perhaps my favorite chapter was the chapter detailing the different views of reading and writing in people’s memories.  How interesting!  In short, Brandt suggests that people have very fond memories of reading: they were read to as children, snuggled up with their parents, they loved books and could recall their favorites that they read over and over again.  But writing was another beast.  People associate writing with laborious tasks and work.  Probably true, as Brandt points out, because that is how they saw their parents using writing.  I started to think about this… and while I do not see this still holding true in schools today, I can see where this mentality came from in the past.  I even thought back to when I was teaching in Australia (summer of 2007… not that long ago) and we would make our students write ‘lines’ about what they promise they will do better in school.  One student had to write “I will not be cheeky to the teacher” 100 times in his notebook.  Talk about not fostering a love for writing!  In our school now there is a strong emphasis on having children view themselves as authors, and actually publishing books.  They write all of their stories in mini book and at the end of each unit they get to pick one to ‘publish’ and we have an Author’s Celebration.  Hopefully, children will have better memories about writing than some of those described in the book.  Also, what was with the emphasis on handwriting??  It seems that when people mentioned ‘writing,’  they  were quick to assume it meant handwriting.  Spending hours and hours in school on handwriting seems a little overkill… however, a lot of stuff kids produce now days could be deemed illegible, so maybe they were on to something.  Okay, I am going to stop know before I make this journal entry longer than my book review. 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

               I must admit, I enjoyed this week’s reading of Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” very much.  With my busy schedule I was thinking “Oh no, not another 300 page book,” yet this one went quick and I found it entertaining.  I had heard of this book from my sister-in-law who had suggested reading it this summer.   I feel like I could write pages and pages in response to this book, with inquires, criticisms, and intrigues… so I will try to keep my thoughts here brief and concise. 

                While reading this book, I just couldn’t help but feeling “bad” about what happened.  Of course I felt “bad” for the Lacks family, and all the suffering that the scientific experimentation caused.  I felt “bad” for the doctors; for I feel that it was not their intention to cause problems.  I even felt “bad” for Skloot as she tried to help the Lacks Family and piece this puzzle together.  It is one of those situations where I can see both sides… and anyway you look at it, the outcomes are unfortunate.  I can’t imagine being part of the Lacks Family, not knowing what is going on, confused by doctors, dealing with their own grief, and spiraling downward.  The portion of the book where Dr. Hsu went back to Henrietta’s descendents to draw blood for further testing really stuck with me.  Can you imagine being Deborah, never knowing your mother- but knowing that a disease killed her; not knowing if you have the same disease and being contacted by doctors after all of these years.  Then to think the family thought that the blood tests were to see if they had cancer!  Talk about a miscommunication.  And then, waiting, and waiting, and not hearing from the doctors… Basically, that seems like torture. 

                Yes, the HeLa cells have helped many, many people through cancer research, but at what cost?  It seems that Henrietta’s “immortality” caused huge strain on the family.  The members of the Lacks family fell apart, and really never recovered.  You can’t put weighted measure on someone’s life- but in some respect I can’t help but think- was it worth it?  Perhaps some of my hesitation comes from my position in life.  I am not a doctor, not a cancer patient, not a member of the Lacks family.  It is obvious that Henrietta’s immediate family was deeply affected by the situation.  But will her grandchildren be as affected?  Her great grandchildren?  At some point, will the direct familial connection to Henrietta Lacks be lost?  After reading the book, I would have really enjoyed seeing Rebecca Skloot when she came to campus.  The amount of trust that was needed from the family to write this book is incredible.  I feel that Skloot did an excellent job of portraying both sides of the situation and including history, emotion, family dynamic, and science discovery.  I would be curious to hear her answer to the question- was it worth it?  There is no going back now and what’s done is done.  And at the time, it didn’t seem like such a big deal.  Kudos to Skloot for her afterward… I thought it summed up the book nicely and brought the issue into a bigger context.  I’m very interested to hear our class discussion concerning the book!

Building Collections, providing services, mediating consumption

              Right away in Elmborg’s article, “Teaching at the Desk: Toward a Reference Pedagogy,” the author relates teaching at a reference desk to teaching writing—it is more teaching the process, not the end product.  Obviously, being a teacher myself, I completely agree with this conclusion.  While students in academic libraries may want librarians to search and find materials for them, it does not help the student learn how to do this for the future.  As I was reading the article and the comparisons to the teaching of writing, I kept thinking of quotes that I have learned in my professional development by Lucy Calkins about the teaching of writing.  Our district has made a push as of late to use her methods to teach writing.  Then- imagine my surprise when I am reading along in this article and the author actually QUOTES Lucy Calkins!  I was shocked, excited, and a little amazed at myself that I made the same connection as the author.  I thought this article was well thought out, to the point, and made a valid point for the need of “teaching” at a reference desk in academic libraries.

                Morris’s “Toward a User-Centered Information Service” took me back a little bit to the overwhelmed-edness I felt last week concerning information.  I started reading this article and all I could think was, “Oh no, more thinking about information.”  I don’t think I have ever  thought so much about information. Yet, as I read along, I found this article easier to grasp.  The constructivist model makes sense to me: “information is not something objective and external, but as something constructed by the user.  Information does not exist in the abstract- it needs to be interpreted.”   I liked Delvin’s “situation-gap-use” metaphor.  That is very much the same mentality we have in teaching.  If someone is not learning, there is a gap in their knowledge- and it is our job to then work to fill that gap.  It makes sense that this metaphor for information also works with learning.  I think ideas in this article also relate to Elmborg’s article, with respect that information needs to be used by the user-not just the librarian.  I did question Morris’ point when she said “one reason why users seem to be generally satisfied with what they find is that, based on cumulative experience with research and with libraries, they have come to expect relatively little.”  Is she referencing “expecting little” from the information?  Or from the librarian?  It seems unclear, and each scenario is suggesting completely different things.  

                Two positive thoughts on Wiegand’s “Mom and Me: A Difference in Information Values…”  (1) Loved that the article was short, to the point, and used an excellent, relatable example to make his point.  People do have different personal information economies that influence the way they look at information and make decisions (2) His mom reminded me a lot of my own grandmother and her decision making antics.  Again, great example that made me smile.

                Opposed to the previous article we read concerning archives, I found Yakel’s article “Museuems, Management, Media, and Memory: Lessons from the Enola Gay Exhibition” quite informative and interesting.  I immediately saw the controversy concerning the exhibition, and I do not know which side I necessarily agree with.  I began to think of museums in general, and realized that I never thought there could be controversy concerning them.  In my mind, museum exhibits are an informative representation of history, science, literature, or a combination of the three.  I think back to the Milwaukee Public Museum (where I spent a lot of time during my youth) and the exhibits they offered.   The huge T-Rex, the Streets of Old Milwaukee, the Native American Pow-Wow, the shrunken heads, the howler monkey in the rainforest… they all seem pretty cut and dry.  However, after reading this article, it makes me wonder—how subjective were the curators when they made these exhibits?  Now granted, these exhibits do not pose the same history/memory relevance as the Enola Gay, but still, they are a representation that a person put together.  To quote Yakel- “Who has the authority to interpret history to the public- indeed who “owns” history?”  I also liked her point that “artifacts do not speak for themselves.”  I feel some artifacts can stand alone and have meaning to patrons, but only if they have prior background knowledge on the topics.  Also she mentions that museums, like libraries, are not meant to represent inclusiveness.   That is very important to remember when you are viewing an exhibition.  One lasting thought – after reading this article, I have more appreciation for museums and their curators.  I love museums—I mean, really love them.  But never before did I actually stop and think about all of the work that goes into making meaningful exhibits for the public.  Next time I am back in Milwaukee, I am going to stop in the museum and revisit the memories of my youth and work my way through the museum with a more appreciative and critical eye.

Oh no... everything is miscellaneous

               I don’t think this was a good week for me to read “Everything Is Miscellaneous.”  I consider myself a pretty organized person and like order and structure in my life.  I would like to say both my classroom and my apartment are organized with some logic behind them.  In fact, I would even go as far as to say that in some aspects, I pride myself on my organization.  So, in my hectic, busy schedule (full time teaching, carnival planning, grad school attending, paper writing, grant writing, cleaning for family coming into town next weekend) I did not need a jolt in the organization of the way my brain functions.  But alas, that is what happened when I read this book.

                I began to second guess all different types of organization in my life, and began to wonder, “Why is this organized this way?”  “Is this the best way to do it, or is it just because it has always been done this way?”  I looked at my files at school.  I looked at the books in my classroom.  I looked at the “organized” piles of mail and stuff on my kitchen table.  I looked in the refrigerator.  I even looked at my files on my computer, and the clothes hanging in my closet.  I feel like this book sort of drove me nuts.  It brought up interesting points, and had many interesting examples… but as I read, I couldn’t help but relate it to my own life (which I guess means I thought it was a good book, right?). 

                I suppose I just can’t grasp the fact that ‘everything is miscellaneous.’  I want there to be a right way to do things, and I want to do it that way.  While reading this book, it became quite clear that information is lumped, classified, split, grouped many different ways… some more popular than others.  Maybe if I would have read this book during the summer I wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed and defeated.  I might have read it and thought, “Interesting… to an extent, everything is miscellaneous.”  But I didn’t leisurely read it during the summer.  I powered through it during one of the busiest times of the school year.   Instead of a quizitive response to the book, I was left with more of a “WHAT???  Everything is miscellaneous??  If this is true… then what is the point in even trying to straighten it up?  It’s a lost cause!”   I’ll be interested to hear what other people have to say about the book tonight in class.  Maybe I just completely over analyzed it and added undue stress to myself.  Or maybe this is just a realization that I might be a tad anal retentive…

Thinking about and Organizing Information

             When I finished reading Buckland’s “Information as a Thing,”  I really only had one thought: What was the point of that article?  In my opinion the article did nothing but state the obvious (information is meant to be informative, anything can be viewed as information, information is situational, copies of information are never as good as the original).  I didn’t disagree with anything in the article, but moreover thought: why does this need to be stated?  In fact, I feel like Buckland even got at that point himself when he said: “If anything is, or might be, informative, then everything is, or might well be, informational.  Calling something information does little or nothing to define it.   If everything is information, then being information is nothing special.”  Then why write an article about it??  Was the purpose of the article to prove that information is nothing special?  From the abstract at the beginning, I do not think that is Buckland’s main point; however, when I read this paragraph on the sixth page, a large part of me wanted to put the article down and not pick it up.  Even the summary is ambiguous and does not offer the reader too much new information.

                Opposed to the previous article, I found Olson’s “The Power to Name: Representation in Library Catalogs” to be surprisingly interesting and informative.  I am currently taking LIS 551: Organization of Information and found the first portion of the article very similar to class.  These topics may be boring or hard to understand to some, but  being in that class helped me understand the differences between Cutter’s classification, Library of Congress Subject Headings, and the Dewey Decimal System.  (Although I admit, if I was not in 551, this article would have been overwhelming, confusing, hard to follow and most likely unenjoyable to read).  I thought that the article was just going to describe these different methods of classification, and give an objective view of all of them by discussing positives and negatives with each system.   Imagine my surprise when all of a sudden a feminist and culturalist viewpoint comes forth in the article.  I thought the examples given were perfect examples of the problems that can happen with classification (over generalizations, random classifications, important facets of the works being left out).  Even more interesting to read, was Olson’s interpretation of potential solutions to these organizational issues.  In 551 we often discuss the oddities (yet norms) of classification systems.  Olson’s closing remarks claim that although it would be time consuming and monetarily costly- a change in classification systems needs to be made to address issues of inequality.   It is a known fact that libraries are designed to provide information to the patrons, and catalogs should be constructed for the “convenience of the public it serves.”  However, I feel like this is easier said than done.  What is convenient to one, is not necessarily convenient to another… which I suppose leads back to the general categorization, and the problems that come along with it. 

Yours, Mine, Ours

After reading Byrne’s article, “Access to Online Local Government Public Records,”  I had only one major thought running through my mind… why are these public records online in the first place?  If there is this concern about the information, then why is it made public in the first place?  Yes, the public records need to be stored, and it makes sense to store them electronically- but why do they have to make their way to the internet?  Who makes these decisions?   It seems apparent from the article that different states have different ways of publishing the public records, but why are these methods not standardized amongst the country?  And another thought… how are public records deleted?  If I am living in Wisconsin, and my public record shows my address and phone number, what would happen if I would move to California?  Who is overseeing the public records to know that my Wisconsin public record who need to be deleted and a new California public record created?  Is there a chance that the public records could be wrong?  Lots of questions I know, but something about the “public record paradox” just doesn’t add up for me.  Is there any beneficial reason for making these public records public via the Internet?

In comparing Byrne’s article with Charo’s “Body of Research- Ownership and Use of Human Tissue,”  I realized that it seems that “property”, whether it be information, tissues, cells, bodies… does not necessarily belong to us as people.  It seems like a simple concept: my phone number is my phone number.  I can give it to whomever I want… but then others can get it if they really want it to.  My bodily tissue is my bodily tissue.  I can give it to whomever I want… but then others can get it if they really want it.  I found it interesting in the article that it stated that there did not need to be consent for research that would pose minimal risks to subjects.  Who gets to decide what “minimal risk to subjects” is?  Again, this just seems a little fishy- and it shouldn’t!  We are talking about our own bodies here!  Apparently “property,” even if we own it- is not entirely ours.

I will admit that I am not up to date on issues of Stem Cell Research.  I know the basis, and that it can be a widely debated hot topic.  Streiffer’s article, “Informed Consent and Federal Funding for Stem Cell Research” made me slightly concerned.  Why are these consent forms so sneaky and cryptic?  Maybe I am wrong, but I feel as though researchers would still be able to get the cells they need if they offered a price for them.  People will do some pretty outrageous things for money… think about the amount of people that cell blood, plasma, or sperm!  Is the reason that researchers want to “trick” people so they will have a diverse cross section of cells to work with?  Again, I just don’t see the benefit of taking cells in this fashion.  These consent forms remind me of the agreements you agree to when you are uploading photos to photo services, or when you buy music online.  The agreements are very long and rarely do I read them all the way through and through.  But, I guess that is what the consent forms are playing on.  I would be interested to see if the donation of cells was clearly stated on the consent form- would people allow their cells to be used?  My guess would be yes.

Market Models and The Middle Layer

I am glad that we are going to be discussing Pawley’s article, “Beyond Market Models and Resistance: Organizations as a Middle Layer in the History of Reading,” because I am not sure I fully understand it.  I understand the distinction between the two models and what each is suggesting… but I feel there is a disconnect between the first descriptions of the models and the rest of the article.  Which is why I purpose -- I don’t understand it.  I think I am missing the relation between the two models and the “organization” that Pawley describes as a middle layer.  Is the “organization” the library?  Pawley discusses that we want to bridge the gap between individual and society… but what is the “organization” that is bridging it?  Then, I think I understand the final section concerning reading, writing, and control.  Many of these topics seem to be ones we have discussed through previous articles.  Somewhere in the midsection of the article, I feel like I lose focus of what Pawley is describing.  As I was reading the last section, I couldn’t help but wonder… do we still have literary elite?  Is there a group that feels they are better than other literate people that decide what constitutes quality literature? I guess some could argue that the literary elite would be educated individuals- perhaps at the collegiate level… but I don’t really know. 

        Another area of slight confusion for me was the metaphor of the “reader as a poacher.”  Is this metaphor suggesting that readers are stealing the ideas of others who wrote them (writers) and filling their heads with this information, opposed to creating their own?  If so, then why would a writer ever write anything down?  Isn’t the point of writing to share your ideas with others?  If that is seen as “poaching,” then I suppose I don’t see why anyone would publish anything.  Again… am I missing the metaphor?  I will be interested to hear others opinions on these issues in hopes of understanding them a little better.

The Company of Readers

                So much to talk about regarding “The Company of Readers,” so little time!  I am not even joking here.  I think we could easily spend 4 or 5 class periods discussing aspects of this chapter.   There was a lot of information, and specifically, a lot of information that I found extremely relevant to my own life.   One of the most important aspects of my job is to teach children how to read.  In fact, that is one of the main reasons I love teaching first grade.  When students enter the school year, they do not know how to read (or at least fluently and proficiently); when they leave most of them are little reading machines.  Yes, it is a long process, and yes, it can be quite frustrating.  But this aspect of teaching may be one of the most rewarding. 

                The chapter discussed how importantly it is for children to enjoy reading.  Every day at school I try to make reading that much more enjoyable for students.  I read aloud to students, they read books, they look at books, we watch animated versions of books, we act out puppets with books, we write our own books using well known characters.  That is exactly what kindergarten and first grade is: exposing children to books and making them want to read.  Not to toot my own horn, but I am pretty much a master at read-alouds.  It is fun to see that when students go to library hour, they often choose books that I have read to the class.  But getting kids excited about reading is really only half the battle, teaching them the nuts and bolts of how to read is another whole beast.

                In this chapter, in section 1.6 “Reading as a Transaction,” they discuss the different models of reading—the “outside-in” model and the “inside-out” model.  To become proficient readers in school, students need a mix of both of these two models.  As in the “outside-in” model, readers do need to be able to decode the physical words on the page.  They need to understand sounds, blends, general phonemic awareness, and quick recall of high frequency words.  However, this alone does not make a proficient reader.  A large part of reading comes from the “inside-out” model where readers make connections to their everyday life or to books they have already read.  The words on the page need to make sense in a context for beginning readers, or they are not going to retain the message of the print.  This is the comprehension piece of reading.  The chapter does not necessarily state that these models do not co-exist, but I am here to tell you that they NEED to co-exist, if they don’t-  the beginning reader is going to have major gaps in their learning.  

                Perhaps the reason I found this chapter so enjoyable to read is because most of it deals specifically with my daily profession (which I happen to love as well).  But oodles of other topics of discussion caught my attention as well.  This entry is getting long enough, but I wanted to point out just a few other tidbits from the chapter that I found intriguing:

·         Can you imagine a time when libraries were trying to curb the amount of fiction being circulated among patrons?  Not ordering new books until 6 months after their publication?  Isn’t this pretty much the basis of an anti-library?  Comparing reading fiction to cholera?  A little extreme to anyone else?

·         94% of Canadians read for pleasure on a daily basis?  I am all for pleasure reading, but this statistic seems rather high.  I LOVE pleasure reading, yet I am also a pretty busy person and would not say I do it on a daily basis.  Is this suggesting Canadians have no life?  (Just kidding… but seriously, doesn’t this seem high to anyone else?)

·         With the stereotype of readers being a “bookworm” I did find it interesting how they characterized readers as highly social people.  It makes sense when you think about all reading leads to… but then where did the “bookworm” image originate?

·         Reflections on reading: what was the first book you remember reading as a child?  I remember reading “Some things Go Together” with my mom, having my older brother read “Treasure Island” to me, and “Pat the Bunny.”  My dad used to make up bedtime stories and I can remember writing them in school.  I also remember my brother and I used to pretend to read the encyclopedia.  We used to make up what the entries were about based on the pictures.  Looking back… that is slightly bizarre.