Where to Go Next

Yelton, A. (2012). Where to go next. Library Technology Reports, 48(1), 25-34.

Summary: In this 10-page article, Yelton discusses the possibilities of mobile technologies in libraries and aspects of community involvement and content creation are briefly mentioned. Various examples of successful mobile technologies that have been incorporated by libraries are given, such as San Jose Public Library’s Scan Jose walking tour and North Carolina State University’s Wolf Walk photographic guide. Both mobile technologies provide guides complete with historical photographs from each library’s historical collections. These two examples illustrate how local collections can be made available to audiences through innovative technologies. The Chicago Underground Library provides an example of community involvement and the YOUmedia teen space at the Chicago Public Library Harold Washington Library Center is exemplifies a space for content creation.

Yelton then describes a potential community project created through the use of mobile phones and patrons taking photos. This small start can flourish into something larger where community stories can be created and shared via mobile devices. In order to start a project like the examples given above, Yelton recommends building one’s capacity of technology through various means such as exploring the features of a smart phone or other mobile device, learning how to write a program, practice with coding, and other tips. Ensuring that colleagues within an organization are also building their technological capacity is also important and tips are provided on how this can be done.

In the conclusion, Yelton shares an anecdote about an academic librarian who works in a predominantly low-income population where it was observed that iPhones were a popular device owned by many of the librarian’s students. This story ties in to why mobile technologies are being suggested. An iPhone may be seen as an obtainable device that provides online access, a cheaper alternative to owning a desktop or laptop. Thus, it is essential to consider the use of mobile technologies in libraries and library services as a way to reach diverse communities.

Evaluation: Yelton’s article presents an interesting viewpoint on mobile technologies. I found the sections that included examples already implemented by libraries to be intriguing, especially with the inclusion of photographs to illustrate the innovative technologies. Yelton highlighted the use of connecting communities to local collections, which is a lesson that we also discussed in our collection development class, increasing access to collections and connecting users to collections. A collection accessible on mobile phones is an innovative way to reach users. I found Scan Jose and Wolf Walk to be inspirational in its very modern approach to viewing local collections. The suggested project on how to incorporate patrons in the process of making a local collection of narratives was quite encouraging, especially with the provision of tips. I thought that some of the tips were helpful and the idea of creating a patron-based resource to be hopeful, especially with libraries moving toward fostering participatory culture and content creation. The conclusion regarding the move toward mobile technologies was rather convincing, especially with the example of low-income communities who may have more access to mobile smart phones versus a desktop computer. This prompted me to think back on daily interactions I have experienced at the library, with patrons who have ready access to mobile smart phones but come in to utilize the library’s desktop computers. I found this article to be enlightening through its unique take on the possibilities of mobile technologies.

What to Collect? Building a local history reference collection at your library

Johnson, Stacey

 Marquis, Kathy & Waggener, Leslie (July 29, 2015). What To Collect?: Building a local history reference collection at your library. American Libraries Magazine.org. Retrieved from http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2015/07/29/what-to-collect/

• This article covers how to create or expand your library's local history collection. It talks about what type of materials to add and what materials not to add. It also talks about a library policy covering these items and what you might want to have spelled out in that policy.
  
  • This is an excerpt from Local History Reference Collection for Public Libraries, by Kathy Marquis and Leslie Waggener (ALA Editions, 2015).
• I found this article interesting as we have a decent size local history collection, but are always looking to expand it. The article lists different types of material that you might want to add to a collection and material types that might not work well in a library collection (but would work if you want to make an archive collection). It also talked about creating a policy for what materials will be collected and which won’t and how. I think the book would be very interesting to read.

Preserving Cultural Heritage: Considerations for Librarians & Information Professionals

Unger, Amy

Roy, L. l. (2015). Indigenous cultural heritage preservation. IFLA Journal, 41(3), 192-203.

Summary:

Author, Loriene Roy, is herself a member of the White Earth Reservation, a member of the Minnesota (USA) Chipewa Tribe; she is Anishinabe.  Her experience as an Indigenous person contributes to her literature review of  Indigenous cultural heritage preservation, as does her position as faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.  Her review provides summary of the current literature (found to be "still rather sparse and underdeveloped"), albeit still emerging in the field of Library & Information Science, regarding preservation of cultural heritage, as well as statements of the library professional's place in such work; how to attain guidance (such as from IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations); policy documents that are adhered to; and research methodologies/theory.  
Regarding collection development, libraries (as information settings) are recognized as connected to the preservation of cultural heritage from several vantage points:

1. They collect (and house) cultural heritage in its many formats, e.g. print, media, and digital.
2. They create and organize records of cultural heritage, i.e. through the processes of cataloging and classification.
3. They assist and shape a user's understanding of a cultural heritage by providing access to records through specific policies, e.g. employing digitization).
4. They provide location for cultural heritage to be expressed.

Perhaps most interesting is the recognition, noted through review of "Access and control of Indigenous knowledge in libraries and archives: Ownership and future use" (Anderson, 2005) in Correcting Course: Rebalancing copyright for libraries in the national and international arena, out of Columbia University, in light of the paradigm shift occurring in libraries: power is being gained by the people as their voices become heard through the library.  What will this mean for people whom have traditionally been subjected to archives, as they now/soon become able to "gain a recognized voice and question not only status within the archive, but the authority of the archive as a centre of interpretation" (Roy, 2015:193).

It is recommended that an adoption of non-western research methodologies is likely necessary for future successes in preserving cultural heritage; there is a concept of the Cultural Interface - written about by M. Nakata (2002) in IFLA Journal 28(5/6): 281-289 - which is constantly negotiated by Indigenous peoples: the place where their Indigenous lifeways and western viewpoints come together" (Roy, 2015: 197).  And yet, barriers that lie in the means for access to digitization/money/reliable and affordable technologies are as much of concern as the development of sensitivities regarding this work.

The author points to several free online resources that primarily highlight children's and youth collection pieces (this also leads to understanding of the absence in publications of the needs of adult library patrons, and is part of the impetus that led to the US campaign, "We Need Diverse Books" in 2015).  Among the resources are two through the ALA (American Library Association) website, i.e. the TRAILS (2008) notebook, and the Guide to Building Support for Your Tribal Library Toolkit.  One of IFLA's key publications on cultural heritage, the IFLA Disaster Preparedness and Planning manual, is also available for free online.

Roy concludes the literature review with recommendations for further work in preparing librarians to, essentially, be more culturally competent, and prepared - through acquiring knowledge of the specific techniques and processes involved in cultural heritage - for when the Indigenous communities reach out to libraries, archives, and museums "as settings with staff knowledgeable in cultural preservation" (Roy, 2015: 199).

Evaluation:

In addition to my affinity for library experiences of my past, I also look to the future through this reading.  Experiences of my past include visits to exhibits such as that of the State Indian Museum in Sacramento, CA and the Yosemite Museum, which:

has displays that interpret the cultural history of Yosemite's native Miwok and Paiute people from 1850 to the present. Demonstrations of basket-weaving, beadwork, and traditional games are presented. The reconstructed Indian Village of Ahwahnee behind the museum is always open. The art gallery is open periodically and often exhibits pieces from the Yosemite Museum collection.

It is my humble opinion that through explorations such as this, about the care-taking of cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples, I may become a better librarian in service of any, and all, people in the local community that I may serve.  Nonetheless, it is fun, too, to imagine myself as still possibly able to connect with such valuable work as archiving and curating in the second half of my career.  I find it inspiring any time that I see such works going on in public, K-12, special, or academic libraries.  I look forward to this including more of a community's local peoples, and not just authors of published books.