Talking in the Library

A Call to Action

Have you heard of the Berlin Declaration? If you're like me, and hadn't, you might guess it has something to do with World War II. While there is a similarly-named document associated with the war, the Declaration I'd like to talk about today involves freedom of information, the internet, and K-State's support of the idea that the internet should be a "functional instrument for a global scientific knowledge base and human reflection".

The Berlin Declaration arose from a 2003 conference (held in - you guessed it - Berlin) organized by the Max Planck Society and the European Cultural Heritage Online (ECHO) project. The declaration asserts that "the Internet has fundamentally changed the practical and economic realities of distributing scientific knowledge and cultural heritage. For the first time ever, the Internet now offers the chance to constitute a global and interactive representation of human knowledge, including cultural heritage and the guarantee of worldwide access."

Recently our provost, Dr. April Mason, put her name to the declaration on behalf of Kansas State University, adding our institution to an international list of some 300 universities, libraries, scientific institutes, and academic associations who pledge support to an open access paradigm. This paradigm asserts that disseminating knowledge is not complete until information is made readily available to society. In real world terms, this means that publishing research in journals that restrict access to only those able to pay increasingly high subscription rates is not enough; that same research must be made available freely and openly to everyone, regardless of their institutional affiliation or ability to pay.

The declaration outlines steps that the signatories intend to take towards ensuring open access, which include:

• encouraging researchers/grant recipients to publish their work according to the principles of the open access paradigm.
• encouraging the holders of cultural heritage to support open access by providing their resources on the Internet.
• developing means and ways to evaluate open access contributions and online-journals in order to maintain the standards of quality assurance and good scientific practice.
• advocating that open access publication be recognized in promotion and tenure evaluation.
• advocating the intrinsic merit of contributions to an open access infrastructure by software tool development, content provision, metadata creation, or the publication of individual articles.

You can read the full text of the Berlin Declaration online, of course. For such a powerful and challenging document, it's surprisingly short, and I've actually reproduced much of it in this post. Take a look today; it will help you understand the future of access to information.

What's the theme?

People always ask me what librarians do. If you're a librarian like me, you spend most of the day wowing folks with your awesome mind and clever words.  But that's not all we do. We're also good at organizing stuff and helping people find  it. Or we find stuff and then organize it.  It's a vicious librarian circle and we're not ashamed to admit it.

One way for us to be awesomely organized and to cleverly help you find things is by having a theme we talk about each week. I bet our loyal followers figured that out a long time ago. Can you guess what our theme was this week? Here is some of what we said:

• Scholars with awesome accents talk open access & why one of them is like a Babylonian who <3s his clay tablet. http://owl.li/73YBX
• Free your data! A cute short video in honor of #oaweek http://owl.li/73ZuG
• Why #KState undergraduates should care about open access & the academic publishing process. http://owl.li/73YUa

Did you guess? I'll reveal the answer for you next week. The video below is a clue to our theme next week.

Whatever could it be?

Another year, another MacArthur snub

This will doubtless not surprise anyone, but once again the list of MacArthur Geniuses was released WITHOUT my name on it. I'll give you a moment to absorb that. It took me a few days, but I'm sure you'll get past it faster.

As with every other year that I've lamented my exclusion, I find it hard to maintain any level of outrage. I read every profile, watch the interviews and a little of the tension and worry I feel dissipates because truly, the world is a better place with theses geniuses in it. And the beauty of the MacArthur Fellowship (the boring name that everyone disregards in favor of the much more accurate "genius") is that it recognizes the existing awesomeness and says, "Here's a some money. Keep doing what you are doing. In fact, do more of it. Rock on."

Who are these geniuses, what is the awesomesauce they bring to the world's banquet? Here's a sample:

Jad Abumrad--I listen to Jad Abumrad all the time! Really. He created an amazing radio show called RadioLab with co-host Robert Krulwich that makes any listener a genius. How does time work? What is memory? But rather than hearing the most boring lecture imaginable, Abumrad creates a concert out of interviews and stories. A favorite episode of mine is Sound As Touch. Jump forward about 17 minutes in and listen to how he aurally illustrates the neuronal response to dissonance.

Tiya Miles is a historian (an historian?) who has focused her research on exploring and teasing out the realities of how colonial African Americans and the Cherokee people lived and interacted in the South. 

From the video, "And I feel it is just so important to bring meaningful stories of the past into the present, into today and to allow people to engage with them and to connect them back to their own lives, to think about ways in which they associate with others in their communities, to think about their civic engagement, and to try to use these stories of the past to invigorate the ways in which they connect with other people in the present."

Want to read more? We have her book the Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom and it's just waiting for you!

Matthew Nock, a clinical psychologist, wants to understand "Why people do things to purposely hurt themselves." As with anything, the more we know about how and why, the more we can do to predict and prevent suicide and self-injury.

There are 19 other geniuses in all fields (parasitology, economics, poetry, developmental biology). And a wide span of ages (29-67, this year). It takes all kinds of geniuses to make the world go around. I'm pretty sure there's room for you and me. Rock on.

 

Want to read my previous lamentations? Here you go:

2006--I want to be a genius

2007--It's 2007 and I'm still not a MacArthur Genius

2008 -- the disappointment must have overwhelmed me so much that I couldn't bear to write a post. Still the geniuses were pretty genius in 2008.

2009--2009 MacArthur Geniuses announced--I'm still not one

2010--Some little girls dream of being Miss America. I want to be a MacArthur Genius

How much would researchers pay for scholarly database access?

In the July 26th Chronicle of Higher Education, the ProfHacker column asks independent researchers how much they would pay for access to scholarly databases (off-campus K-Staters, try this link). That made us wonder, too. What dollar value do researchers place on access to databases? Researchers associated with an institution like K-State have access to thousands of articles, ebooks, streaming audio and video, and other resources (including the campus-wide subscription to the online Chronicle).  And, because K-State is a public and land grant institution, anyone who walks into Hale Library can access the vast majority of those databases and resources. AND, through the State Library of Kansas and a statewide consortium, anyone in the state of Kansas can currently access this set of databases.

But what if you didn't have this access (or maybe you don't)? How much would you, or could you, pay to access a database in order to continue your current research? How many databases do you consult when you conduct your research? Would you pay the same for each of them?

We need your help setting the mood: What's your favorite quote about quiet?

We are transforming Hale's entire 3rd floor to a quiet study space for the fall semester and we'd love your help setting the mood. What are your favorite quotes about quiet, contemplation, reflection, etc... anything that sets the stage for quiet, individual study? We'll take as many quotes as we can and turn them into posters to hang all around the 3rd floor.

We want to give credit where it's due, so if you could tell us who said the amazing thing, that will help us a lot.

I'll offer a few, just to get us started:

"I love tranquil solitude
And such society
As is quiet, wise, and good"  Percy Bysshe Shelley

"it's. oh. so quiet
it's. oh. so still" Betty Hutton (also sung by Bjork)

"The world is quiet here." Lemony Snicket
— quotes tagged as quiet on Goodreads.)

"Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can't you understand" Depeche Mode (ok, that was offered up by Tara the Cool.)

Accordions and Guitars Make Beautiful Music Together

As was recently Tweeted, June is Accordion Awareness Month, and according to Tom Torriglia we can blame the rise of the guitar for the decline of the squeezebox.  But let's not be hasty - I think these two can get along.  Finnish band Korpiklaani (which translates roughly to mean "forest clan") started off as a folk band using traditional instruments like the accordion and jouhikko.  Then one day frontman Jonne Järvelä was talking with Finntroll's Katla Jämsen and they came to the conclusion that rock music was "okay" but they had a fever and the only prescription was more accordion.  Okay, they probably didn't say that.  Still, the results:

 

 

Voila.  Guitar and accordion sharing the stage.

My library bucket list

As you may have heard, it's National Library Week. National Library Week means I get to talk about libraries all the time. In fact, since it's National Library Week, I kind of have to talk about libraries all of the time. I think I signed an oath to do so sometime, somewhere.

I love talking about libraries. I love thinking about libraries. I love entering libraries. I even have a library bucket list--those libraries I want to enter before I die. Wait, not just enter, but take the top-secret-librarian-handshake-required tour. I discovered these tours beyond doors marked "Staff Only" in library school. My classmates worked in libraries and archives scattered throughout the Washington, D.C. area and our professors worked in places like the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. Sometimes our classrooms were in these institutions, allowing us to wear snazzy name badges and to input the code to the staff doors. And there's nothing like getting to see cold storage in the National Archives because a guy working there recognized a friend/classmate from a party the weekend before.

So my bucket list:

The Bodlein. If the Library of Congress is our library mothership in the U.S., the Bodlein holds that title for the U.K.

CIA and FBI libraries--I went to library school in DC because I kind of wanted to work with secret agents. Still haven't been in either library, although I walked past the FBI Hoover building numerous times.

Library of Congress -- Check. Been in the stacks. Saw the conveyor belt. Stood 5 ft from contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets when he was shot, as they awaited repairs to their display case in the conservation lab. Stood same distance from George Washington's daily journals, awaiting rebinding (which was good, becuase the paisley covers they were sporting were a) not original and b) garish). Studied in the reading room. I'd go back for more.

LucasFilms Library. This is a holdover from my love of Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  It's a beautiful library with lots of wood and stained glass out on Skywalker Ranch. After the prequel debacles, it moved a bit further down my list. But, my acquisition of The Sounds of Star Wars has returned some of my affection for all things Star Wars.

Marsh's Library in Dublin, Ireland--Check. Home to  Johnathan Swift's death mask and also the first public library in Ireland. Do you see those ornate doorways behind the people? Those are actual doors with actual locks that actual librarians used to lock actual reseachers in with the rare books so the books wouldn't be stolen.

National Archives and Records Administration -- Check. Both the building down on the Mall and the newer one (with cold storage) in Maryland. And, yes, I'd go back for more.

National Geographic Film Library -- Check. A classmate worked there. She even offered me a job, which I was too clueless to accept. The offices in DC hosted rotating exhibits, including a Peruvian mummy, who they stored in her film storage vaults for the cooler temperatures. Did you know that they had librarians who watched all of their productions and cataloged them scene by scene? So if there's a shot of an elk in the winter time, they have this list of words they attach with that 15 seconds--elk, bull elk, conifers, snow, daytime..... And then when someone wants footage of say, snow, someone could just type that into a database and find all of the scenes with snow in them. 

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Library -- Check. It's hard to know what to say about the USHMM Library, given the millions of deaths it's committed to remembering.  The resources are awesome in a gut-wrenching way. Amazing people worked there when I was a student.

New York Public Library--the one with the lions. Check out their old school stacks! Oh, hey! If I can get there in May, it looks like I could do a scavenger hunt! "18 miles of underground stacks." And you thought our stacks were confusing. You could almost hold a marathon in theirs.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History National Anthropological Archive -- Check. Took a photographic archives class there on Saturdays one summer. One day the air conditioning was on the fritz, I swear the whole building smelled like the big elephant at the entrance. I learned about cyanotype photographs in that class.

 

National Public Radio (NPR) Library--frankly, just the fact that their shows include librarians in the credits is reason enough for me to visit. Rock on, NPR.

Trinity College Library, Dublin--partial check. I've seen the Book of Kells, but only as a total tourist. There must be more in a top-secret librarians only tour.

White House Library--I'm dying to know: policy papers? Presidential biographies? Nora Roberts? I should point out that I don't mean the room you can see on a tour of the White House, but a real working library. I'm fairly certain that a classmate interviewed the librarian for some class project. Anybody have more information to help me on my library bucket list quest?

Keith Richard's library--come on, you know you want to know what he has stashed in his library. too!

 

And of course, any library that has stacks with wrought iron book shelves, dim lighting, warrens of rooms with floors that don't match up, possible glass floors (more glass floors), or the high potential that you may expire before finding your way out or to the bathroom.

 

What other libraries should I add to my bucket list?

Why Do Legislative Advocacy?

At a recent Library All-Staff meeting Dr. Sue Peterson, Director of Governmental Relations for Kansas State University described the importance of being involved in the legislative process.  Why? Many legislative issues impact universities, and decisions are often made by individuals who may know very little about higher education in general or academic libraries in particular. 

For example, the passage of legislation mandating the online availability of literature produced from taxpayer-funded research (and the current effort to expand that mandate) directly benefits students and researchers using our libraries.  Work by many academic librarians across the country ensured the success of that legislation.   Current legislative efforts to improve access to “orphan works” (literature whose rights status may be unknown) will ultimately benefit library users.   Finally, in challenging budgetary times, it is important that our legislators understand our funding needs and the good work that is accomplished with that funding.

As legislative advocate for the Libraries, I strive to create among our faculty and staff an awareness of issues impacting academic libraries.  I also maintain contact with our legislators to ensure that they understand our important mission and continue to see academic libraries as valuable assets. 

Following a recent conversation that I had with Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, she formally praised the work of K-State Libraries as she recognized National Library Week in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Building working relationships with legislators and keeping them informed (while following university guidelines) helps them do a better job of representing us and ultimately leads to better legislation.

Congresswoman Jenkins:
“From April 10th to April 16th our nation is celebrating National Library Week.  This one week each year we take time to honor and thank our nation’s libraries and their dedicated staff for the vital role they play in our communities.

Today, I rise to support the work at the Library at Kansas State University.  As part of the land-grant mission, the Library at Kansas State University serves not only the campus and students at K-State, but the good folks of Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth and many other communities in the 2nd District and across Kansas.  Whether it is internet access, academic research, or just finding a good book, the Library at Kansas State serves our friends and neighbors in an important way. I am proud to represent them in Congress and humbled to honor them today.”

~Daryl Youngman

One day I walked into a library

...with my kindergarten class. We walked all the way over from our school dressed in our hip, 70's duds. The library was huuuuuuge, two stories high at least, and we had to walk up stairs to get to the children's section. The librarians read us stories and there was a puppet show. That was the first day I knew that a library could be magical.

One day, within a year or two of this, I saw my older brother (who must have been all of 8 at the time), walking home from the library on our tiny Army post. His haul was tucked under his arm, but they weren't books, they were records. And not just records, but the Rolling Stones, or maybe Van Halen, or Kiss. Those were records that I saw the big kids and soldiers take home. I had no idea librarians would let little kids like us check out records, let alone the Rolling Stones! That was the first day I realized that libraries could be radical.

 

Every day, someone walks in to a library for the first time. Or maybe they walk back in, and it's like the first time. Just like every library is full of stories, the people who walk in the doors are full of stories, too. And this is National Library Week, so it's the perfect time to share these stories about libraries.

The Library Card as a Pop-Culture Fiend's Ticket to Geek Paradise -- and it's free!

Librarians are awesome -- and so is Wil Wheaton

So, give it up--what's your library story?

Lost Dr. King Audio Coming Home To K-State

The photos shown in this video are housed in the Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections in Hale Library. If you would like to see more or have any questions, please contact contact Anthony Crawford, University Archivist.