Knowledge Creation and the Conversation

As a Historic Preservationist, specifically the storyteller of historic buildings, I really found the idea that artifacts “are not knowledge but rather things that result from a knowledge activity” very interesting.  I have always believed that artifacts have a story to tell and we, as people, just need to take the time to read the artifact to know the story.  The statement that artifacts are not knowledge pretty much takes this belief that I have had since a child and turns it upside down which I think is a good thing.  I was looking at the knowledge being recorded in the object not in myself.  I like what Dave’s says “knowledge is resident in humans not in inanimate objects.”  It took a specific mind set for a farmer to build his barn and house and because of my knowledge I can see what the farmer was thinking as he built his farm.  The farm does not hold the knowledge the farmer did and I do hold that knowledge and the farm is just an object that helps the farmer speak to me through time.  I like this idea so much better than my original idea that artifacts are story’s waiting to be read.

This new perspective of how knowledge is not held by the artifact by held by the people who hold or talk about the artifact just empowers me even more in my belief that through teaching and talking we, the public, have the power to change trends, outcomes and/or people.  I like how Dave says “grounding libraries in knowledge, we gain an inheritance not of quiet bookishness but of explosive power to shape how people see the world.”  I feel that if I am in the role of Historic Preservationist or Librarian or both at the same time, I am a vehicle for change.

Librarian has a Mission!

I never thought about the field of Librarianship having a mission beyond what the librarian’s library mission was.  I really like the idea of each librarian have a mission that works with the library’s mission to propel the dissemination of information.  My favorite part of this thread was Lankes’s discussion about the importance of a worldview for a librarian’s mission.  My favorite line is “something as abstract as a worldview can “open up a world of possibilities”” (Lankes, 2011) because it is my truth.  I believe the most productive and fair way to make a decision is to understand your goal(s).   If you as a person or a librarian don’t know what defines you, such as a mission, then you will not be able to make the right discussion for you or your library.  Also what Lankes brings up is that these goal(s)/mission need to be able to change or be flexible to a degree in order to serve and flourish.  The Library I work at right now is dealing with what a library once was – disseminating information (as Lankes says “artifacts”) – to what a library is becoming – a place for patrons/users to come to find information whether it be in digital or analog form and a place to gather and share their own information.  Without opening your mind up to the present and the future there will be no possibilities.

Social Networking in libraries

Social Networking tools are great for public relation activities for any organization but for libraries they can be a free life line to their patrons.  I learned at a Computers and Libraries workshop that there are a number of Social Networking tools out in the ether but not all Social Networking tools are best for a library to use.  Each library is different even if you are comparing two public libraries.  Each library can have a different patron basis and each patron base uses or does not use specific tools. 

I personal believe that Social Networking tools are wonderful for promotion, communication, and marketing of any library but making sure a library is using the right tool is primarily decided by what Social Networking tools your patrons are using.  At the library I work at, Scarborough Library, the only Social Networking tool we use is Facebook.   Now Facebook is not the only tool we tried.  We tried Twitter and a Blog like we are doing in this class and neither worked out.  This is due partly because our patrons don’t use blogs or twitter much and that we did not have the staff to properly keep them up to date.

With Social Networking tools it is not just that your patrons use them but do you, the library, have something to say worth saying and does the library have the staff to say it on a somewhat regular basis.  For Scarborough Library Facebook covers all the bases.  Our patrons, mostly 18 to 24 year olds, use Facebook on an hourly base, we have the staff you can use Facebook to promote our activities, and what the library needs to say fits well with Facebook.

About Me, Christy

I am currently working on my MSLIS and my CAS in Digital Libraries.  I have been working as the Library Learning Assistant at Scarborough Library at Shepherd University for 5 years this November 16th. My position as the Library Learning Assistant has changed over the course of 5 years.  Today my position includes developing and managing the library's website and a virtual historic tour of Shepherd's campus, creating and helping Librarians develop Libguides, answering reference questions, helping develop a digital collection and managing the University's archives.  I am an accidental librarian so I am looking forward to being a on purpose Librarian.

I have had a diverse background before becoming an accidental librarian.  I worked for 7 years as a Computer Technician before going back to get my undergraduate and then graduate degrees. My first graduate degree is in Historic Preservation.  I love preserving and researching history.  I really believe my time as Computer Technician and my degree in Historic Preservation lead me to my current position and my desire to be the type of librarian I am developing into, Digital and Preservation Librarian.


Also I am a caregiver for my Mom.  She has early stage Vascular Dementia.  She does really well but can not live alone so she lives with me now.  I have become a strong advocate for Relay for Life (I have known too many people who have cancer or died of cancer) and Alzheimer's Association (Alzheimer's is a form of Dementia).  In my spare time I love to cook, bake, go to the movies, go out to eat (it is great to have someone serve me every once in a while), and take photographs of old buildings.