Catching up...

I'm back in Darwin now. I haven't blogged much, for a number of reasons - firstly because I've been quite busy in Adelaide, often not connected, I've often not had much to say when I was connected (other than day-to-day drivel), and also because when I have had a lot to say in more recent days, it's related to events that I'm very angry about, and would rather than I've had a bit of time to mull things over before rashly blogging, and regretting the consequences.

But...

Firstly - reflections from Adelaide.

1. Dr Michael Stephens.
I had the pleasure of both attending Michael Stephens' seminar on The Hyperlinked Library (and, conversely, the honour of having him attend my show at the Adelaide Fringe). Most of what he had to say was nothing new, but a lot of the points that he'd made were things that I'd been passionate about a year ago, and had been weathered away through demoralising bureacracy and "brick walls" in the industry. Dr Stephens' presentation reinvigorated a passion that I had for the industry, and reminded me exactly why I wanted to end up in the industry.

Furthermore, two points struck home:
a. Web 2.0 isn't rocket science. In fact, you don't need to know much at all about technology - all you need to bring is the right attitude, and encourage your users to play and interact.

Which brings be to:

b. in order to make this possibly, you need to TRUST YOUR USERS. Sure, set limitations, such as "Respect yourself, respect others, and respect the space." but having rules that treat users like potential criminals from the moment they walk in the door is just going to breed a relationship of mistrust, and discourage people from using the library. No, they are not going to break your computer, and if they can do it at the local internet cafe, then chances are that they can do it at the library with the minimum of potential system damage.

On a similar note, I'm starting to notice that some youth see the library as a "place of rules" and, as such, go there because they like to antagonise staff who have a preconceived notion that youths who have "nothing better to do" are obviously "up to no good".

But really, it's not so much "what's wrong with our users" but rather "what's wrong with our service"? We shouldn't make rules to fix the users, we should fix our services to meet our users needs.

So, that's what I took away from Dr Stephens' presentation. As I said, not so much groundbreaking, but more a re-affirmation that librarians should probably take more often (but I'm overgeneralising - I hope).

2. Comments on the blog.
There was one abusive comment on my blog, in regards to my show. It was duly noted, deleted, and used as an introduction to my show. Apologies to those who confused my show with a US publisher's promotional programme Librarian Idol, but firstly, the program hardly existed a year ago when I first conceived the show, secondly, whilst the titles are the same, that's about all that they have in common, and finally, my intention was certainly not to cash in on the ENORMOUS international commercial success that was Librarian Idol (America). So sue me.

However, I got some interesting comments in recent entries that I'd like to respond to - specifically from "Anne R."

Have a question regarding use of language in young adult novels. "Joel and Cat" has Cat's younger brother saying: "Whatever, Trevor". I'd never heard that said before. In the last few months, though, it's popped up in several conversations. Which came first the book or the saying? Could a young adult novel create 'sayings' or 'lingo' with the same force as a movie can? (I'm thinking of 'Clueless' and "like", "whatever". 'Meangirls' and "plastics" or "fugly") Any thoughts?

My unqualified opinion is that it's hard enough to get many youth to read, without introducing language that they can't relate to. I'm also more than aware that, despite only being a mere 10 years from school-age, youth are already living in a COMPLETELY different world to me - and I wasn't even cool with the "lingo". I believe in those days we were supposed to say things like "radical" and "gnarly" (or maybe they were just overgrown teen turtles trained in ninjitsu.) Therefore, I'm going to trust that young adult authors have done their homework on "what kids are saying these days". Considering that, on a level of coolness amongst teens, books are very much (unfortunately) in the negatives, I'd say that the saying came before the book.

The exception being Harry Potter - I've been known to use phrases such as "alohomora" or "crucio" in public (but I suspect that kids might get beaten up in the schoolyard for that level of nerdiness).

I think children should be actively encouraged to embrace foreign films/world movies. This breeds lifelong 'culture vultures' who respect difference and appreciate diversity. Children/youth who have been exposed to media products outside the 'mainstream' are probably more likely to grown into tolerant, well-travelled and compassionate adults. Shouldn't this be the goal of any government creating a 'global' citizen body?

As an aside: the public library I work for begins each storytime with the Swahili chant 'Funga Alafia'. In a predominantly English-speaking anglo-saxon community we also house a pre-school collection which features bilingual story books. I am proud of this and of our role in promoting cultural awarenesses. I strongly believe that one of the most important things a public library can do is open up the world to its users, of all ages.

Hell yes. I was being sarcastic, regarding an action in the "Intervention" last year that would ban World Movies because it apparently encouraged domestic violence and sexual assaults. Bring on the diversity, I say!

You make a valid point about the ability of an un/other qualified professional to perform a librarian's job. However, as a new grad with six years library experience, I do feel this sort of hiring practice can be discouraging. A costly degree such as Library/Info Management can seem worthless if it is not considered a "must" by employers. You've made parallels between librarianship and medicine. I ask, would an unqualified doctor be acceptable to you? Just a thought...

Personally, I entirely agree with you. However, there are many who don't. An argument that was put to me was that, in the context of being a librarian, a mistake won't cost lives or a huge financial drain, or stuff up a person's day. Therefore, somebody with a lot more experience in customer service, might be more appropriate that a qualified librarian with no work experience.

That's all well and good, until you end up with a team of librarians, half of whom are qualified, and, surprise surprise, guess who's gonna be looking for a job where their qualification is actually recognised and appreciated. Yup - the qualified ones. A guaranteed brain-drain for your organisation.

And then we wonder why academic and corporate librarians look down on public librarians...

And finally...
If you're in Melbourne, it looks like I'm going to be bringing my show Librarian Idol to Melbourne in early May (seeing as I'll be there for the CBCA conference) at the luxurious surrounds of The Butterfly Club, so keep an eye out for that.

Enjoy the Easter Break, and be good to one another. :)