Using social media to address professional issues in LIS

Lauren Smith | @walkyouhome

Using Social Media to Address Professional Issues in LIS

An ‘individual’ perspective on social media rather than

institutional use of social media

What I Do…

• Research Associate, School of Education, The University of Strathclyde: Researching the efficacy of interventions for access to higher education for young people

• Doctoral Researcher, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, The University of Strathclyde: Researching young people’s experiences of political information and the role of critical information literacy in supporting political agency

• Independent Researcher, CILIP ILG Research Bursary: Researching Scottish school librarians’ experiences of supporting pupils’ information needs during the Scottish Independence Referendum and General Election

On Social Media…

• Library advocacy

• Discussing LIS issues

• Tweeting for SLIC

• Source of information

• Being a general pain

• Knitting/sewing

• Cats

Ethical Principles

• Concern for the public good

• Commitment to intellectual freedom

• Commitment to access to information

• Promoting equal opportunities and human rights

• Equitable treatment of users

• Commitment to professional development

Library advocacy is an issue of the

public good

Voices for the Library

• Launched website in September 2010

• Founders met on Twitter

• Supported by CILIP, Unison, The Reading Agency

• Initial sponsorship from Credo Reference,

ExLibris, Encyclopaedia Britannica

• www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk

• @VftL_UK

Voices for the Library aims to provide the

facts about the public library service and the

role of professional librarians in the UK, and

to provide a space for library users to share

their stories about the difference public

libraries have made to their lives.

We also aim to support and provide a

platform for the many public library

campaigns that have sprung up across the

country in defence of the public library

service. We aim to provide a link to these

campaigns and to draw attention to some of

the battles that are being fought.

Options for Local Authorities

• Closures

• Volunteers

• Privatising / outsourcing

• Trusts

• “Efficiencies”

• Cuts to opening hours

• Sometimes connected to broader policy, sometimes reactionary

We use social media…

• To crowdsource our manifesto

• To publicise our site, opinion pieces etc.

• Communicate with campaigners

• Communicate with the press

• Offer a point of contact

• Raise awareness of campaigns and events

• To crowdfund projects like Library A to Z

Materials can be downloaded

from the

Library A to Z website,

including:

• Illustrations• Book (print and e-book)• Greetings cards• Posters - editable Adobe

Illustrator files and sample PDF files

Download the materials from

Dropbox.

The illustrations are also

available on Flickr.

Questioning LIS practice and policy is

necessary for the public good

Radical Librarians Collective

• Talking about:

– LIS qualifications

– Professional divide

– Communicating with users

– Equity of access

– User experience

– Critical pedagogy

– Gender issues

– Users as ‘customers’

Radical Librarians Collective aims to offer a

space to challenge, to provoke, to improve

and develop the communications between

like-minded radicals, to galvanise our

collective solidarity against the marketisation

of libraries and the removal of our agency to

our working worlds and beyond.

Radical Librarians Collective is not owned

by a single group or individual. It is not

centrally run by committee. Anyone can

host or organise a Radical Librarians

Collective event (provided it reflects the

concerns expressed above) and anyone

can contribute to the ongoing discussions.

• Annual gatherings

• Regional groups

• Journal of Radical Librarianship

• Radical research

• Cataloguing parties

• Cryptoparties

• #radlibchat

• @RadicalLibs

#radlibchat

#radlibchat is a monthly online chat about an article or research paper relevant to the principles upon which Radical Librarians

Collective operates. Articles will be Open Access only to ensure everyone can engage whilst also showing support for the Open

Access model.

Collaborative Work

• Radical research - #critlib research interest

matchmaking and #radlibs

• Co-authoring journal articles

• Sharing practical experiences and advice

• Keeping up to date with relevant events

internationally

• Co-authored journal article with Kevin Sanders

and Stuart Lawson

• Collaborated online for planning and writing

• Written in Google Docs

• Published Open Access

Lawson, S, Sanders, K, Smith, L. (2015). Commodification of the Information

Profession: A Critique of Higher Education Under Neoliberalism. Journal of

Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 3(1):eP1182.

http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1182

Filtering in Libraries

• Standardised packages

• Often controlled by central IT

• Theoretically possible to remove

• Complicated policies

• Prevents access to information

• Blocked content includes LGBTQ information

FoI Requests

• To all the local authorities in the UK

(using WhatDoTheyKnow)

• Asking them:

– What filtering software they use

– How much it costs

– What categories/sites it blocks

– What policies are in place for people to request access

– How often people have requested access

Initial Results

• Most authorities use filtering software

• Most (!) were happy to release information

• It’s usually whatever the council uses

• Filters are pre-determined

• People usually have to make specific requests to IT for unblocking

• Few people ask for that

• Data not held about how many times sites have been blocked

Digital privacy is an issue of intellectual

freedom

Library Freedom Project

• Directed by Alison Macrina (@flexlibris)

• Privacy toolkit for librarians

• Online privacy classes

• Digital Rights in Libraries Conference (DRIL)

• Tor exit relays in libraries

Privacy-protecting browser plugins

• Disconnect: blocks malware and tracking

• AdBlock Plus: blocks tracking, malware

domains, banners, pop-ups and video ads

• HTTPS Everywhere: browser extension that

encrypts communications

• Privacy Badger: blocks spying ads and invisible

trackers

Tor is a service that helps you to protect your

anonymity while using the Internet. Tor is

comprised of two parts: software you

can download that allows you to use the

Internet anonymously, and the volunteer

network of computers that makes it possible

for that software to work.

Tor

An exit relay is the final relay that Tor traffic passes through before it reaches its destination. Exit relays advertise their presence to the entire

Tor network, so they can be used by any Tor users. Because Tor traffic exits through these relays, the

IP address of the exit relay is interpreted as the source of the traffic. If a malicious user employs the Tor network to do something that might be

objectionable or illegal, the exit relay may take the blame. People who run exit relays should be prepared to deal with complaints, copyright

takedown notices, and the possibility that their servers may attract the attention of law

enforcement agencies.

Literacy is an issue of human rights

Literacies and Pedagogy

Information literacy

Media literacy

Digital literacy

Literacies and Pedagogy

• Hybrid Pedagogy blog and twitter @HybridPed

• #s from education and LIS conferences

• Thinking about digital pedagogy, implications

of new technology, rationale behind engaging

with it

Supporting our colleagues is an issue of

solidarity

My Network

Image from NodeXL

Online Professional Networks

• Geographically dispersed

– Internationally as well as nationally

• Limited budgets

– Keeping up with conferences and events online

• Niche expertise

– Finding those few people into your stuff too!

Social media is being used for…

• Sharing information

• Engaging in discussions

• Forming opinions

• Making unheard voices heard

• Collaboration

• Upholding professional ethics

Thank You!