There was homework for this week’s #critlib, a Twitter chat/community (and website) about critical librarianship that I participate in. Without going and finding the actual definition, according to the folks who started it, I’ll say that it seems to me that “critical librarianship” means librarianship (and information science) practiced through…
“We’ve got a pipeline problem, so let’s build a better pipeline.” –Bess Sadler, Code4Lib 2014 Conference (the link goes to the video) I’ve been thinking hard (for two years, judging by the draft date on this post) about how to grow as a programmer, when one is also a librarian.…
An important piece of internet privacy is under attack, and I’m asking for help protecting it. The EFF explains it well, but short version: every domain (the part of a web address that comes after “www” and includes something like “.org” or “.com” — in the case of this blog,…
If you don’t want the responsibility that comes from having power, get off the effing stage. There are so many people who do want it and who will use it well. And if you choose to keep the power, without being responsible, then understand: many of us will turn our backs on you. We won’t come to your talks, follow you on social media, work for your organization, or vote for you when you want to govern our associations—whatever form of power you have been granted, it will fade if you are not responsible. I, for one, am tired of granting power to people who don’t deserve it. I won’t do it anymore, and I hope others will join me in that.
Book stuff I complained on Twitter about The Name of the Wind, which I’ve had sitting in my Audible library for a while and decided to finally listen to, now that I’m finished with Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy (which is fantastic!). TNotW is clever, funny, well-written, and well-performed by the…
I don’t want to go to any more conferences that privilege “liberty” over hospitality. Because I’ve seen that there’s a better way. I get to learn more, from more people, and I also get to teach more at events that are truly inclusive. Why waste my time and money on events that aren’t?
The American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting has got to go. It’s a strain on the organization, where I define “the organization” as both 1) its members and 2) its governance. I’d like to look at both of these facets in this post.
So, here’s a thing I don’t see many people posting about: how and when it’s best to share unpleasant technical information. It seems really relevant today, when most of the web (well, OK, all the stuff I bothered checking) seems to be patched up after Heartbleed (more on that below,…
