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Marcus Elmore's Page
Marcus Elmore's discussions
Library 2.0 Mixer, June 23rd
Replied Jun. 7, 2007
Library Map Mashup???
Replied Apr. 13, 2007
Library Map Mashup???
Replied Apr. 12, 2007
Profile
- Library:
- I actually work, not in a library, but at Choice, the publishing arm of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
- About Me:
- I'm the project editor for Resources for College Libraries, the new core list developed by the ACRL as a successor to Books for College Libraries, 3rd ed. I also teach in the ILS department at Southern Connecticut State University. In June 2008, I'll be relocating with my family to Boulder, Colorado, where I grew up; I'll continue working for the ACRL, though in a slightly different capacity.
- Website:
- http://www.rclinfo.net
- Interest in Library 2.0
- I'm a skeptic, though willing to be persuaded.
The Library Paradigm
Libraries are special because they are at once communitarian, libertarian,
and models for sustainability.
They are communitarian in the economic sense because they are built on
solidarity. A community pools its resources in order to share them.
Libraries are libertarian in the social/intellectual sense (civil libertarian)
because of the ethic of intellectual freedom, which says that all ideas should
be included and nothing censored.
This combination of economic communitarianism and social/intellectual
libertarianism creates the ideal support system for a democratic society,
because the library provides everyone with access to ideas and provides
access to every idea.
In addition, libraries are models for sustainable systems. By following the
"borrow, don't buy" ethic, libraries provide an alternative to consumerism,
an alternative to environmentally unsound overproduction and spiritually
unsound overconsumption.
And libraries are further exciting because they need to be changed. They tend to leave out alternative or street-level materials; there is presently a
tendency toward privatization of services and functions (with attendant
barriers to access); libraries and library organizations need their
decision-making processes democratized; access to local community
information in libraries needs to be improved; in general, libraries tend
to depart routinely from their founding principles as they struggle for a
handhold in the environment of an increasingly neoliberal political economy
and an increasingly reactionary social climate. We need to advance the
Library Paradigm of information organization, preservation and access, to
freshly propagate the idea of the library in society in terms of its
underlying principles.
Notwithstanding their imperfections, libraries serve as a rare example of
beautiful ideals actually functioning successfully in the world. This
means that libraries should serve as a model for other institutions and
endeavors. We need to spread the Library Spirit across society and teach
it, as a model for positive change beyond the walls of libraries and
throughout all contexts of information, communication, and learning. This
is the Library Paradigm, and we can make it grow.
-- Rory Litwin
and models for sustainability.
They are communitarian in the economic sense because they are built on
solidarity. A community pools its resources in order to share them.
Libraries are libertarian in the social/intellectual sense (civil libertarian)
because of the ethic of intellectual freedom, which says that all ideas should
be included and nothing censored.
This combination of economic communitarianism and social/intellectual
libertarianism creates the ideal support system for a democratic society,
because the library provides everyone with access to ideas and provides
access to every idea.
In addition, libraries are models for sustainable systems. By following the
"borrow, don't buy" ethic, libraries provide an alternative to consumerism,
an alternative to environmentally unsound overproduction and spiritually
unsound overconsumption.
And libraries are further exciting because they need to be changed. They tend to leave out alternative or street-level materials; there is presently a
tendency toward privatization of services and functions (with attendant
barriers to access); libraries and library organizations need their
decision-making processes democratized; access to local community
information in libraries needs to be improved; in general, libraries tend
to depart routinely from their founding principles as they struggle for a
handhold in the environment of an increasingly neoliberal political economy
and an increasingly reactionary social climate. We need to advance the
Library Paradigm of information organization, preservation and access, to
freshly propagate the idea of the library in society in terms of its
underlying principles.
Notwithstanding their imperfections, libraries serve as a rare example of
beautiful ideals actually functioning successfully in the world. This
means that libraries should serve as a model for other institutions and
endeavors. We need to spread the Library Spirit across society and teach
it, as a model for positive change beyond the walls of libraries and
throughout all contexts of information, communication, and learning. This
is the Library Paradigm, and we can make it grow.
-- Rory Litwin
Marcus Elmore's Blog
Chip Ward on the library as leading social indicator
Courtesy the invaluable TomDispatch blog, important observations from Chip Ward (the recently retired Assistant Director of the Salt Lake City Public Library) on the dilemma faced by most urban libraries:
"The belief that we are responsible for each other's social, economic, and political well-being, that we will care for our weakest members compassionately, should be the keystone in the moral architecture of a democratic culture. We will not stand by while our fellow citizens are d… Continue
"The belief that we are responsible for each other's social, economic, and political well-being, that we will care for our weakest members compassionately, should be the keystone in the moral architecture of a democratic culture. We will not stand by while our fellow citizens are d… Continue
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 at 3:44pm —
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