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Personal Reflection

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the Archives and Manuscripts course I took as part of the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree program at San José State University this semester, as I found it very interesting. I especially liked the diverse range of assignments we had to complete, such as visiting an archives, creating a finding aid and a “historic timeline” (Lawrimore, 2017a). Also, not initially knowing much about archives to begin with, I certainly learned a lot. I must admit that I now have a new appreciation for what archivists do, particularly regarding processing a collection. Thus, I didn’t have any idea about the huge amount of work that can potentially go into that, especially creating a finding aid and the components it consists of. In addition, I didn’t know there were such funding issues with a lot of archives. This surprised me because you would think that the preservation of our society’s history would be valued by more people.

Aspects about the class that surprised me were the finding aid assignments, involving the Ted Carlson papers. This were a real eye-opening experience for me, mainly because I didn’t realize how interesting but time consuming these assignments would be. I thought it was terrific that we got a good idea of what it would be like work to with a real collection but I certainly wasn’t expecting the assignments to involve analyzing so many files! Nevertheless, reading about Carlson’s life was fascinating, mainly because of the World War II era that most of the assignments’ collection is set in. I especially enjoyed reading the letters between Carlson and his parents because I felt like I got to know the type of person he was. However, reading the handwritten letters got frustrating at times, due to writing that wasn’t legible, mostly in a few of the letters from one of Carlson’s friends. Despite the latter, I very much enjoyed the assignments, particularly putting the puzzle of those years of Carlson’s life together and organizing the collection appropriately, so that researchers would get an accurate picture of what went on in Carlson’s life during the time period the collection covered. I was pleasantly surprised that I did well with this because I’ve never done any kind of archival work before these assignments, so this made me think maybe I should consider applying for archival jobs in the future.

A couple of examples of topics that we learned about in the course that I would like to explore in more detail are preservation and conservation, in terms of hands-on experience. Hence, they’re both very important in the protection of archival material, which is often rare and sometimes very valuable. I would especially like to have practical experience in some aspects of digital preservation, which due to the rapid rate that technology is updated, archives are doing more and more as time goes on, (if their budgets allow it). During the course, we learned the fundamentals of preservation and conservation theoretically but if I was asked to convert an audiovisual tape into a digital format, I wouldn’t be able to do it, so it would be great to get some practical experience, which I realize is a challenge in an online, introductory course to archives.

In terms of my new knowledge of archival practice, I think it will benefit me in several ways in my future Library and Information Science career, even though I’m not exactly sure what that will look like yet. I know that I would like to work in either a special or academic library. However, I believe some of the things I learned in the Archives and Manuscripts course will be useful no matter which direction my career heads in, such as learning about “public relations and public programming,” (Lawrimore, 2017b) and how to effectively handle difficult situations, (our ethics assignment was very useful concerning the latter), as well the very valuable organizational skills I gained from the finding aid assignments and learning how to effectively navigate new technology in the “Timeline” assignment (Lawrimore, 2017a).

Finally, a change in the archival profession that I see as being important is digital community collaboration. An example of this is the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), who sought “grant funding to provide a platform that…[would] allow users to tag, contextualize, and comment on archival records, essentially…enabling…[SAADA] to share archival descriptive authority with…[their] community of users” (Caswell, 2014, p. 34). I think archives being open to some form of digital collaboration with their users is important because let’s face it, we are living in a Digital World, where many of us are used to and enjoy expressing ourselves online. Therefore, I believe a lot of archives would attract more users if they tried this out. However, they would have to carefully choose the appropriate digital environment that would meet their users’ needs.

References

Caswell, M. L. (2014). Seeing yourself in history: Community archives in the fight against symbolic annihilation. The Public Historian. 36(4), 34. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9gc14537

Lawrimore, E. (2017a). Assignments. Retrieved from: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/assignments

Lawrimore, E. (2017b). Unit 5-b: Public relations and public programming. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-5-b-public-relations-and-public-programming?module_item_id=9113395

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Exploring an Ethical Dilemma

“You are an archivist at an academic library, and you are offered a body of papers of a prominent individual. You know that a substantial segment of these papers is already housed in another archives. Do you accept that donation?”

This ethical dilemma is a complicated situation, which doesn’t have a right or wrong answer, as it really depends on the situation. I firstly want to discuss how the Society of American Archivists’ (SAA) (2012) Code of Ethics addresses this dilemma, which is initially illustrated under the heading of “Professional Relationships.” Thus, the first sentence reads, “archivists cooperate and collaborate with other archivists, and respect them and their institutions’ missions and collecting policies” (SAA, 2012). In answering my dilemma’s question just with the latter statement in mind, I wouldn’t accept the donation, seeing as a large portion of the papers is already housed in another archives, as it would be disrespectful and uncooperative towards the “other…[archivist or archivists that work at the other organization, and it would be disrespectful towards the other organization’s] missions and collecting policies” (SAA, 2012). The SAA (2012) Code of Ethics’ paragraph about “judgement” also addresses the dilemma. Hence, it states, “archivists exercise professional judgment in…acquiring…materials to ensure the…diversity, and lasting cultural and historical value of their collections” (SAA, 2012). If I was to answer my dilemma’s question only with this in mind, I probably wouldn’t accept the donation. Firstly, if I was to accept the donation, my archives would own some of the same papers that another archives already has, which obviously isn’t exercising “professional judgement,” nor would my archives possession of the collection be illustrating “diversity” (SAA, 2012). In addition, the papers wouldn’t be as valuable culturally or historically (SAA, 2012). However, there are other important factors to consider regarding all of this, which I’ll discuss later in a description of my thought process in dealing with this dilemma.

A legal issue associated with this dilemma could be problems related to “ownership of copyright[,]…[as] most repositories ask donors to give their copyrights to the repository” (Lawrimore, 2017b). My reasoning behind the latter is if another archives already has a large portion of the papers, they could potentially own the copyright to those papers. Therefore, if my archives was being offered copies of the papers and we decided that we wanted to acquire them, in order to make sure it’s legal to keep them, we would have to ask the other archives if they owned the copyright. If they did, we should be obtaining permission from them to have copies of the papers and outline to them exactly how we want to use the papers (Lawrimore, 2017b). In addition, we should be continuing to seek their permission if we wanted to use the papers for reasons other than “fair use,” such as if we wanted to publish a portion or all the papers (Lawrimore, 2017b). Finally, before trying to publish anything of this nature, it would be essential for my archives to obtain advice from “legal specialists in the development of reproduction and publication policies” (Lawrimore, 2017b).

Keeping all of this in mind, the thought process I would go through in addressing this dilemma is that I would firstly thank the donor and let them know that I was very grateful for the donation offer but I would ask them if they wouldn’t mind waiting a few days for my decision in accepting the donation. I would tell them the reason for the delay is because I would need to refer to my archives’ Collection Development Policy (Lawrimore, 2017a), as well as discuss the decision with other staff at my workplace (SAA, 2012). In assuming most donors would be okay with waiting for a decision, I would then refer to my institution’s Collection Development Policy, so that I would be certain about what my archives does in these types of situations before I spoke with anyone else about the matter, such as my Supervisor. Like I previously explained, the SAA (2012) Code of Ethics make it fairly clear that it wouldn’t be appropriate to accept the donation. If my archives’ Collection Development Policy provided explicit instructions on how to proceed, I would then confirm it with my Supervisor just to be 100 percent sure, considering the donation’s papers are about a prominent individual. Also, the final sentence of the SAA (2012) Code of Ethics’ “Judgement” paragraph states, “archivists are encouraged to consult with colleagues, relevant professionals, and communities of interest to ensure that diverse perspectives inform their actions and decisions.” I would then proceed with whatever my Supervisor wanted me to do, respectfully discussing with them the SAA Code of Ethics (Lawrimore, n.d.) and the copyright issue I raised earlier if necessary. Following this, I would obviously contact the donor with my archives’ decision.

However, if my archives’ Collection Development Policy didn’t explain what to do when faced with this type of dilemma and the decision was left up to me, I would still initially be influenced by the SAA Code of Ethics. Hence, they point out that their document ought to be viewed as standards archivists aim for (SAA, 2012). I would also find out what other academic institutions are doing to make my decision, which can be easily done by reading through different collection development policies on the Internet. Therefore, once again I would be taking the advice of the last sentence of the SAA (2012) Code of Ethics’ “Judgement” paragraph. An example of a collection development policy that I like is Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives’ (CUPNMUA) policy. Hence, their “Cooperative Agreements and Understandings” states:

to work cooperatively with all private and public organizations engaged…[with] historical primary sources.  The Archives will refer donors…with collections that do not fit within the guidelines of this collection policy to a more appropriate repository. Exceptions will be made for collections of significant historical value that cannot be accepted or maintained adequately by a more appropriate repository. This decision will be made jointly by the archivist and a representative of the alternate repository. (CUPNMUA, 2017)

I think I would use the latter example as a guide, as it clearly illustrates the SAA (2012) Code of Ethics’ “Professional Relationships” paragraph. Consequently, I would contact the archives that already has a substantial segment of the papers and I would firstly ask them if they would be interested in acquiring additional papers about the individual. If they agreed, I would then ask them if they would be okay with my archives keeping the papers they already have, providing that they meet the requirements of my collection development policy. (If they didn’t, I would try to find another archives that were interested in the papers) (CUPNMUA, 2017). If the other archives agreed with my archives owning the remainder of the papers and they were the copyright owners, we would obviously have to come to an agreement concerning copyright. If the other archives couldn’t accept or sufficiently maintain the papers and they fit in with my archives’ collection development policy, I would accept the donation (CUPNMUA, 2017). On the other hand, if the papers weren’t appropriate for my archives, I would try to find other archives that may be interested (CUPNMUA, 2017). Finally, I would keep the donor regularly updated about the situation and let them know if I was able to locate a suitable home within a few days.

References

Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives. (2017). Collection development policy and procedures. Retrieved from https://www.nmu.edu/archives/collection-development-policy-and-procedures

Lawrimore, E. (n.d.). Module 6: Archival Management and ethics [Panopto recording]. Retrieved from https://sjsu-ischool.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=60daf24e-4bbf-4543-bc36-580dc489cd2d

Lawrimore, E. (2017a). Unit 2-c: Appraisal at a collecting archives. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-2-c-appraisal-at-a-collecting-archives?module_item_id=9113365

Lawrimore, E. (2017b). Unit 6-b: Copyright and archives. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-6-b-copyright-and-archives?module_item_id=9113403

Society of American Archivists. (2012, January). SAA core values statement and code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics

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A Historic Timeline of Beatrix Potter (1866 - 1943)

My Timeline: 

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1Klkrzr6am7ZbwSaM4RT_QYLf2u9cPjYmvsKgumDfjxA&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650

Reflection

The key theme of my timeline is the life of the children’s author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter, which I chose because I grew up reading her books and I absolutely love her work! Therefore, the timeline would clearly be aimed at researchers and fans of Potter and children’s literature. In order to portray a balanced perspective of Potter’s life, in my timeline I tried to choose the most important parts of both Potter’s literary career and her personal life. Thus the headings, Paid Work, The Tale of Peter Rabbit is Born!, Signed on by Frederick Warne, More Publications, Hill Top Brings Literary Success and The Tale of Little Pig Robinson all illustrate Potter’s career. Whereas the remainder are to do with other parts of her life. Regarding the images, I obviously selected ones which displayed Potter’s work for the headings connected to her literary career and for the others, apart from the heading, “Art Education,” I chose photographs of people to do with the associated contents. I wanted there to be a variety of images to make it as appealing and informative as I could for an archives’ audience.

I found a majority of the materials that I used in my timeline by simply performing a Google search of Beatrix Potter biography. However, I had to search for several of the images I used further. Hence, I used Google Images to search for Beatrix ‘s letter which has The Tale of Peter Rabbit in it, as well as Norman Warne, Hill Top Farm and Potter pictured with William Heelis. The latter were all straightforward searches. Also, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website was fantastic for several of my images, particularly the ones showing Potter’s work, in which I used the website’s search bar. It was very easy to use; for example, I was able to find the image that I used for the heading, Signed on by Frederick Warne, by typing Beatrix Potter author Peter Rabbit 1902 in the search bar. One important point I want to make when selecting these websites, was that I always made sure that I could trust the information. For instance, I would check the “About Us” type pages and find out who created the websites, as well looking carefully at the content for accuracy, the language in terms of spelling and grammar, and if the websites were well maintained. In addition, one other source I used for my timeline was the book titled, A History of the Writings of Beatrix Potter including Unpublished Work, by Potter researcher and collector, Leslie Linder (Giaimo, 2017), which I own. The book was very helpful in terms of checking the accuracy of my internet sources for dates of when titles were published. It was also useful for extra details, such as the amount of “copies” that Potter “privately printed” of the first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Linder, 1971, p. 420).

I think the main challenge I faced regarding my timeline’s creation was how long it took putting everything together, as there were so many steps in the process, such as transferring my timeline’s information from a word document to the Google spreadsheet. Also, a lot of proofreading and editing took place. Finally, a few technical challenges I had with Timeline JS were initially working out what information goes where on the spreadsheet, two of my images didn’t work out, so I had to change them, and I wasn’t able to embed the timeline on this blog. However, despite all of this, I really enjoyed this assignment and I certainly learned a great deal!

References

Bailey, M. (2016). Beatrix Potter’s life in photos. NY Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/beatrix-potter-life-photos-gallery-1.2511344?pmSlide=1.2511332

Biography.com. (2017). Beatrix Potter Biography.com: Author (1866-1943). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/beatrix-potter-9445208

Geni. (2017). Norman Dalziel Warne. Retrieved from https://www.geni.com/people/Norman-Warne/6000000052700373772

Giaimo, C. (2017). Beatrix Potter’s greatest work was a secret, coded journal she kept as a teen. In Atlas Obscura. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/beatrix-potter-secret-journal-code-leslie-linder

Linder, L. (1971). Contents, 3: The Peter Rabbit books, Appendices. In A history of the writings of Beatrix Potter including unpublished work. (2nd ed.). (pp. vi, 256, 420-421). London: Frederick Warne & Co LTD.

Linning, S. (2015, November 4). The Lake District estate where Beatrix Potter first imagined Peter Rabbit nibbling Mr McGregor’s lettuce is renovated in a million-pound labor of love. Daily Mail.Com. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3303913/The-Lake-District-estate-Beatrix-Potter-imagined-Peter-Rabbit-nibbling-Mr-McGregor-s-lettuce-renovated-million-pound-labour-love.html

Penguin Books Limited. (2017). Beatrix Potter. Retrieved from https://www.peterrabbit.com/about-beatrix-potter/

Quotabelle. (2017). Beatrix Potter: Author + illustrator. Retrieved from http://www.quotabelle.com/author/beatrix-potter

The Beatrix Potter Society. (2017). About Beatrix Potter. Retrieved from https://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/about-beatrix/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2016). Biography of Beatrix Potter. Retrieved from http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/biography-beatrix-potter/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2017a). A happy pair. Retrieved from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1267019/a-happy-pair-drawing-potter-beatrix/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2017b). Drawing. Retrieved from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1243948/drawing-potter-beatrix/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2017c). Sidmouth. Retrieved from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1341749/sidmouth-drawing-potter-beatrix/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2017d). Squirrel in a wood. Retrieved from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1241347/squirrel-in-a-wood-drawing-potter-beatrix/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2017e). Study for the cover of The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck. Retrieved from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1326611/study-for-the-cover-of-drawing-potter-beatrix/

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Describing Archives in “Plain” Words

An archivist works in an establishment called an archives, which can be an individual organization, which is the case for a lot of historical societies. Archives can also be found within another institution, such as in a university’s library. An archives houses many records that contain significant information, which is of “value” to researchers (Lawrimore, 2017a). Records can be in a variety of formats, such as paper, audio and video recordings, an email, webpage, photographs, etcetera. Structured sets of archival records are called archival collections. An archives’ collections could be about the establishment itself, which happens in a number of universities. These are called institutional archives, so the records would be produced from anyone associated with the institution. On the other hand, there are also archives that consist of collections about things separate to their organization, which once again is common in historical societies, such as the history of their local communities. These records could be produced by “individuals, families, or other organizations” (Lawrimore, 2017b). The latter are called collecting archives. However, one can also come across an archives that includes both of these types of information.

Archivists have many important tasks, which can vary, depending on the type of organization they work in. If someone wants to donate something to an archives, it’s the archivist’s job to decide if they think it’s appropriate for the purpose of their establishment. For example; if an archives’ collections are just to do with information related to a war, they wouldn’t be interested in formation that someone brought in about a current, local football team. In addition, the donation needs to contain information which would be worthy enough to be housed in an archives. Furthermore, a vital point is just because an archives acquires something, it doesn’t mean they need to always keep it. In fact, it’s a good idea for an archivist to reassess their collections once a year.

An archivist needs to relocate the collection to their organization, once a decision has been made to acquire it from a donor. When this occurs, it’s important that the collection remains in its original order, which I’ll explain later. In addition, so the collection doesn’t get damaged, it needs to be packed appropriately before it’s moved. A formal “agreement” also needs to take place between the archives and donor of the collection, in terms of any restrictions when making the collection available to the public and the fact that the archives now have ownership of the collection (Lawrimore, 2017c).

Archivists need to process a collection, so that it’s adequate for researchers to use. This could be possibly done at a minimum level at first, so that the collection is at least able to be accessed by a researcher. One of the processing steps is repairing and/or making adjustments to any records if necessary, so that they’ll last longer, which is called preservation. In terms of repairing a record, it may be something as simple as restoring a tear in a paper document. Preservation adjustments to a record could be taking out metal staples from a paper document, which some archivists choose to do, as metal staples rust over time (Greene & Meissner, 2005, p. 251). Another part of processing is organizing the collection appropriately. This may be quite a simple task if a collection is donated in its original order. However, if the collection is disorganized, this can be time consuming and challenging. When organizing a collection, if possible, the records must remain in their original groups. Also, the records from one person or establishment ought to stay with that collection. This is called provenance, which is vital, so that both archivists and researchers get an accurate picture of the collection. As well as this, archivists need to document what the collection is about and how it’s ordered, they do this by producing a finding aid. The main components of an archival finding aid are an abstract, biographical note, scope and content note, as well as a container list. The abstract provides a brief overview of the collection and the format of the records within it. The biographical note is a summary of the person’s life in relation to the collection. The scope and content note is a summary of each part of the collection, (depending how the archivist has decided to group it). The different parts of a collection are called series, which can be broken down further into subseries. The scope and content note summarizes each series of the collection, including time period/s, record format/s, important location/s and a description of what each series is about. Lastly, the container list is a description of how the collection is physically arranged. A majority of the time, the description includes each series’ and folders’ number and title. If subseries exist, they include a letter and title. Also, most times it includes the containers’ numbers. The finding aid would be uploaded to the archives’ computers and in some cases, it’s uploaded to the Internet, which is especially useful for researchers because they would be able to then view what’s in an archives’ collection, without having to visit the archives in person. Processing also obviously involves archivists boxing and labelling the collection appropriately, so that it will be easy to find, placing it in a suitable location or locations. (On a side note, archivists are normally assisted by other staff members if available with these kinds of simpler tasks). In some cases, an extra step in processing is the digitization of records, which means to convert “information into a…computer-readable…format” (Wikipedia, 2017).  For instance, a “digital copy” of a paper document could be produced by scanning it (Wikipedia, 2017). It also may be necessary to digitally preserve records, which “means to maintain…[them] over a long period of time,” (Wikipedia, 2017). This could be converting a video tape to a DVD, as doing this would obviously preserve the information longer because a DVD represents current technology but a video tape is old technology. This kind of thing has presented a problem for many archivists, as it can be tough to locate the old technology needed to play old formats of information (Elliot, 2017). Digitizing records can also be extremely expensive, so a lot of archivists have had to apply for grants to be able to have enough funds to do this (Elliot, 2017).

Some of the most significant tasks carried out by an archivist are reference services, as they directly assist the archives’ users. This consists of a first interview, in which the archivist mainly establishes what the researcher is trying to find out, by asking them several questions. The archivist would also assist the researcher in searching for the information. This could be by performing a few key word searches on a computer. In addition, the archivist would retrieve the information for the researcher. Sometime in the first interview, the archivist should also ask the researcher if they’re available for an exit interview. After the first interview, the researcher could have more search related questions for the archivist, once they’re studying the information. In addition, they could require help with other things, such as “deciphering handwriting” (Lawrimore, 2017d). The final step in reference services is an exit interview, which doesn’t often occur, as it depends if the researcher feels it’s necessary or that they’re available for it. In an exit interview, the archivist mainly follows up with the researcher if they were satisfied with the information. Another important point about the reference interview process is that as well as it taking place in person, it could be also be through “email and chat” services on the Internet, or a researcher may phone an archives (Lawrimore, 2017e). Obviously, these reference services would differ to what’s provided in person, due to the different formats.

Another key aspect of archival work is the supervision of researchers. This is essential, especially because some records in an archives could be quite valuable. The reading room is the area which is likely to get the most supervision in an archives because that’s where the researchers study information from collections. Therefore, part of an archivist’s job may be sitting at a desk in the reading room, facing the researchers and making sure that no one is defacing records, attempting to steal something, etcetera.

In conclusion, one of the reasons why archival work is important is to preserve history but not just major events and famous people but also everyday happenings, so that society is able to get an accurate picture of our world. This leads me to my next point of the main reason why the work of archivists is significant, which is so researchers can use the information in some way, whether it be to add to their own knowledge, contribute to others’ by publishing a piece of work with the inclusion of the new information they acquired and so on. After all, what’s the point of archives storing valuable information if it’s not being used?

References

Elliott, J. K. (2017, October 13). $2m grant to save massive music archive that is ‘falling off the tape.’ Retrieved from http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/2m-grant-to-save-massive-music-archive-that-is-falling-off-the-tape-1.3629498

Greene, M. A., & Meissner, D. (2005). More product, less process: Revamping traditional archival processing. The American Archivist: Fall/Winter, 68, 251. https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.68.2.c741823776k65863

Lawrimore, E. (2017a). Unit 1-a: What is an archival record? Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-1-a-what-is-an-archival-record?module_item_id=9113351

Lawrimore, E. (2017b). Unit 1-b: What are archives? Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-1-b-what-are-archives?module_item_id=9113352

Lawrimore, E. (2017c). Unit 2-f: Accessioning archival collections. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-2-f-accessioning-archival-collections?module_item_id=9113368

Lawrimore, E. (2017d). Unit 4-b: The reference interview process. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-4-b-the-reference-interview-process?module_item_id=9113385

Wikipedia Digitization. (2017). Retrieved October 22, 2017 from the Wikipedia Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitization

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The Ted Carlson Papers

Scope and Content Note

The Ted Carlson Papers date from 1944-1947 (bulk 1944-1946). Most of the collection consists of personal correspondence. Other formats include formal correspondence, official documents and a professional publication. The papers mainly illustrate Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s work with World War II’s Manhattan Project, his service in the United States Army and his academic studies.

Series I: Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Personal Correspondence, 1944-1947, contains letters written by Carlson, his parents and his friends. It consists of two subseries. Subseries A contains letters by Carlson to his parents, dating from 1944-1946. A lot of the letters were written when Carlson lived in Detroit, Michigan. Other prominent locations are Dayton, Ohio and Ames, Iowa. Many of them depict Carlson’s life in the Army. His involvement with the Manhattan Project is also described, as well as his views related to it. However, he states that he can’t discuss his work concerning the project. Some letters illustrate other aspects of Carlson’s life, such as his girlfriend, Jean and his postsecondary studies. Subseries B contains letters to Carlson, from his parents and friends, dating from 1944-1947. Several of the letters are from Connecticut, where Carlson’s parents lived. There are also a few from friends in New York and Ames, Iowa. The authors mainly describe what’s occurring in their lives and some of them comment on Carlson’s career.

Series II: Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Military Papers, 1944-1946, contains various papers relating to Carlson’s service in the Army. It consists of three subseries. Subseries A contains letters between Carlson and the Army, dating from 1945-1946. The main topics covered are Carlson’s Adjusted Service Rating, his discharge from the Army and employment with the Monsanto Chemical Company. Subseries B dates from 1944-1946. It contains official military documents relating to Carlson, consisting of his preinduction and induction papers into the Army, special orders, as well as an Army roster and schedule for those who were being discharged. Subseries C contains Carlson’s Army issued access cards, from 1945 and 1946.

Series III: Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Academic Papers, 1944, contains documents concerning two of the academic institutions that Carlson attended, Wesleyan University and Iowa State College. It consists of two subseries. Subseries A contains letters to Carlson from Wesleyan University, which are mostly about him graduating with a High Distinction in Chemistry. Subseries B pertains to Iowa State College, consisting of a letter to Carlson, which answers questions about his studies, as well as Carlson’s Iowa State College’s time and identification cards.

Series IV: The Dayton Scientist Publication, 1946, just contains Volume One, Number Three of the “Bulletin of the Dayton Association of Scientists,” which Carlson coedited, after his was discharged from the Army and working for the Monsanto Chemical Company. A couple of the bulletin’s topics are “atomic energy legislation” and “local society activities.”

Container List Description

The Ted Carlson Papers would be arranged into four series:

The first series, Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Personal Correspondence, 1944-1947, would be organized into two subseries, Subseries A, Letters by Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson, which would contain letters written by Carlson to his parents and Subseries B, Letters to Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson, which would contain letters written by Carlson’s parents and friends to Carlson. Both subseries would be arranged chronologically, based on the dates of the letters, consisting of a separate folder for each year that exists.

The second series, Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Military Papers, 1944-1946, would be organized into three subseries, Subseries A, Correspondence between Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson and the United States Army, Subseries B, Official Documents and Subseries C, Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Army Issued Access Cards. The first two subseries would be arranged chronologically, based on their dates, consisting of a separate folder for each year that exists. Subseries C would be arranged alphabetically, based on the titles of the cards.

The third series, Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson’s Academic Papers, 1944, would contain documents connected to two of the academic institutions that Carlson studied at, Wesleyan University and Iowa State College. It would be organized into two subseries, Subseries A, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut and Subseries B, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. Both would be arranged chronologically, based on the dates of the documents. However, the record titled, “250404: The Iowa State College Identification Card,” isn’t dated, so that would be located after the last dated item.

The fourth series, The Dayton Scientist Publication, 1946, would contain a single item, being Volume One, Number Three of the “Bulletin of The Dayton Association of Scientists,” of which Carlson was one of the editors.

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The Ted Carlson Papers

Abstract

The Ted Carlson Papers document a few years of the life of Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson. The papers focus on Carlson’s career in the United States Army and his work with World War II’s Manhattan Project, as well as his postsecondary studies in the sciences. Dating from 1944 to 1947, a majority of the papers are personal letters, written by Carlson, his parents and friends, and the remainder are mostly letters and official documents connected to the military and academic institutions.

Biographical Note

Eric Theodore (Ted) Carlson of Middleton, Connecticut, United States was born August 22, 1923. In February 1944, he completed a Bachelor of the Arts in Chemistry, from Wesleyan University, Middleton, CT, who awarded him with a High Distinction. After a short time, Carlson also studied at Iowa State College, majoring in Organic Chemistry.

On August 1, 1944, Carlson was inducted into the U. S. Army, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Shortly following this, he started working as a Laboratory Engineer for the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Michigan and was reassigned to the Enlisted Reserve Corps not long after he began. Carlson was involved in the Manhattan Project at the Chrysler Corporation, which produced World War II’s atomic bombs.

On October 15, 1945, Carlson was recalled to active duty at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Following some basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Carlson was transferred to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he was appointed to the Monsanto Chemical Company, in Dayton, Ohio. The latter offered Carlson a Research Assistant Chemist job on March 7, 1946, provided he was discharged from the U. S. Army. Carlson ended up being discharged on April 7, 1946. He then went on to work for the Monsanto Chemical Company. However not long after this, Carlson was accepted by Cornell University, so he moved to New York in August of 1946, where he studied medicine.

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My Tour of California Polytechnic State University’s Archives

On the fifth of September, 2017, I was fortunate to be able to go on a tour of Robert E. Kennedy Library’s (REKL’s) (2017) “University Archives,” at California Polytechnic State University (CPSU), in San Luis Obispo. The “University Archives” are obviously part of two larger institutions, being an important resource in one of REKL’s departments (“Special Collections and Archives”), as well as a part of CPSU (REKL, 2017). According to REKL (2017), “Special Collections and Archives” consist of “Special Collections” (“Manuscript Collections,”) which are made up of “California Architectural Collections,” the “California History Collection” and “San Luis Obispo Environmental Archives.” There are also the “University Archives,” which I’ll discuss in more detail later, as well as “Fine Printing and Graphic Arts,” which consist of “Artists’ Books” and the “Moore Collection of Underground Comix,” that previously belonged to “comic book publisher and collector[,] Michael Moore” (REKL, 2017).

My tour guide was Jessica Holada, who’s been the “Director of ‘Special Collections and Archives’ since 2014” (personal communication, September 5, 2017). There are currently “five people” in the “Special Collections and Archives” department (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). Holada is in charge of Pamela Bleisch, who’s the “Digital Commons Coordinator,” Berlin Loa, who’s the “Archivist and Project Coordinator,” Laura Sorvetti, who’s the “Reference, Outreach, and Instruction Services Specialist,” and Zach Vowell, who’s the “Digital Archivist” (personal communication, September 5, 2017). Everyone except for Bleisch works with the “‘University Archives,’” (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). Also, Holada mentioned that Loa “is about to hire a student to work with her” (personal communication, September 5, 2017).

The “Special Collections and Archives” department “as it is now was founded in 1969” (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). Holada explained to me that the department came about due to one of CPSU’s “former Presidents, Robert E. Kennedy,” (hence, the name of the library), who saw a need “to preserve [CPSU’s] history” (personal communication, September 5, 2017). This makes sense, as CPSU’s archives are “institutional archives[,which] exist to document the organization that created them” (Lawrimore, 2017).

The public areas of the “University Archives” (REKL, 2017) include a gallery space for exhibits, which has a few display cases. There’s also a large, open area with chairs and several desks on wheels for easy mobility, which are mainly used by classes for projects and presentations (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). This area also contains some large filing cabinets for storing flat files. As well as this near this space is a useful work area, especially for architectural projects, as it contains quite a sizeable desk (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017).

The behind-the-scenes areas include a few staff spaces, consisting of offices and two storage areas. One storage area is a small room, located near the public areas, on the same floor. It contains about “half of the ‘University Archives,’ [including] newspapers, photos and vertical subject files,” mainly in boxes and filing cabinets (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017).  There’s also a medium sized room, called “the vault,” located on another floor to the “Special Collections and Archives” department which contains a number of stacks, with some “unprocessed archives and supplies, [as well as] special collections” (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017).

The main audiences of the “University Archives” are “history students and faculty, [who mostly access the archives to work on a variety of innovative,] thematic projects, using both physical and digital records (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). The archives also serve as a helpful “introduction to primary sources [for] students,” especially “undergraduates” (J. Holada & L. Sorvetti, personal communication, September 5, 2017). In addition, “marketing [staff, other] staff, alumni and community members” use the archives at times for a range of reasons (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017).   For example; “alumni [have accessed the archives for their] senior projects [and] community members [have accessed the archives to find certain information about] local and regional history” (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017).

I think the department’s mission supports the archives’ largely academic audience. Thus, it states, “Special Collections and Archives acquires, organizes, describes, preserves, interprets, and provides access to primary research materials in their original formats to support discovery, education, and research at all levels and across disciplines” (REKL, 2017).

Holada pointed out that “Special Collections and Archives” mostly acquire their archives through donations from the community and they also receive a lot of “transfers from the [university’s] President’s office” (personal communication, September 5, 2017). In addition, a little “low grade solicitation” occurs to assist in building the collections (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). For example; on the “University Archives” web page, it has a whole section titled, “Interested in donating materials to University Archives?” which includes detailed information about “what to donate” (REKL, 2017). Holada also explained that the department’s staff are “responsive to people contacting them” about possible archival donations (personal communication, September 5, 2017).

The “University Archives” contain records from 1903, (about two years after CPSU was first established) to current times (REKL, 2017). The archives include information concerning CPSU’s “history, growth and development” (REKL, 2017). REKL (2017) points out that “types of records include master plans of the campus, annual reports, reports and speeches from the President’s Office, Academic Senate agendas and minutes, ASI records, college magazines and newsletters, office files of colleges and departments, and correspondence.” Most of the materials that the staff collects for the “‘University Archives,’ [are] paper and photograph” records (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). They also collect a very small percentage of “audio-visual and born-digital records” (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5 & 6, 2017).

It’s evident that REKL’s “Special Collections and Archives” department is very “passionate, [about their work, particularly when it comes to] making connections with students” (J. Holada, personal communication, September 5, 2017). I really enjoyed my tour and I learned a great deal.

A few of the archives’ public areas:

References

Lawrimore, E. (2017). Unit 1-G: Where can you find archives? Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1245910/pages/unit-1-g-where-can-you-find-archives?module_item_id=9113357

Robert E. Kennedy Library (2017). Special Collections and Archives. Retrieved from http://lib.calpoly.edu/search-and-find/collections-and-archives/

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The Future of Social Media in Libraries

With more people using the Internet, social media applications and smart phones, I believe that the use of social media in libraries will increase in the future. Libraries that don’t use social media or only use one application, need to start embracing it because it’s a prominent part of many people’s lives. Therefore if libraries fail to understand the significance of it, they may have to eventually shut down, as they probably won’t be attracting enough patrons.

Basyouney (2015) shows evidence of growth in the “digital world” from January, 2014 – January, 2015. 

Like with most things, I think the more libraries use social media, the better they will be at it. However according to Taylor & Francis Group (2014) library staff need to be willing to be trained with new “skills”, particularly in the field of “media”, such as “advertising”. Additionally King (2015) points out that “visual” social media applications, such as Vine and Instagram are becoming more popular. Consequently King (2015) explains that libraries must also look at revising “policies” and “how to act in front of a camera”:

Another point that Taylor & Francis Group (2014) raise is that they foresee a social media feature being added to “all information dissemination activities”, such as “OPAC, Acquisitions, Counter transaction, publishing activity (for rating and sharing), new products and services, evaluation of services, etc.” This is already a reality for some libraries concerning a few of these “activities”, like the OPAC and “evaluation of services”. Therefore I can definitely see social media being integrated with “all information dissemination activities” in the future.

California’s Peninsula Library System’s “new online catalog” includes social media.

Finally I believe the “Internet of Things” (IoT) will certainly affect the future of social media in libraries. Hinks (2015) states that the IoT is “the growing network of objects that can communicate with each other and complete tasks without any human involvement having to take place” (1. What is it? section, para. 1). At the end of 2014, OCLC (2015) organized a survey concerning “the IoT and related technologies” with over one hundred librarians (Librarians and the IoT: Survey results section). According to OCLC (2015), a few of the survey’s positive findings were “mobile reference”, “smart books”, “gaming and augmented reality” (What’s promising about IoT technologies for libraries? section). Whereas OCLC (2015) states that librarians were most worried about “privacy, security and hacking” (Areas of concern section).

References

Could the Internet of Everything save the French economy? (2014, April 28). [Web log comment]. Retrieved from

http://www.rudebaguette.com/2014/04/28/internet-everything-save-french-economy/

  Basyouney, A. (2015, February 24). History and future of social media. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/ahmedbasyouney1/history-and-future-for-social-media-by-ahmedbasyouney

  The Batavian. (2014, April 30). Film crew in Batavia for documentary on the 'Queen of Modern Libraries in China'. The Batavian. Retrieved from

http://www.thebatavian.com/howard-owens/film-crew-batavia-documentary-queen-modern-libraries-china/42499

  Hinks, J. (2015, April 5). Six things you should know about the Internet of Things. Retrieved from

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/future-tech/six-things-you-should-know-about-the-internet-of-things-1289157

  King, D. L. (2015, April 23). Emerging trends in libraries for 2015. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/davidleeking/emerging-trends-in-libraries-for-2015

  OCLC. (2015, February 15). Libraries and the Internet of Things. Next Space. (24). Retrieved from

https://www.oclc.org/publications/nextspace/articles/issue24/librariesandtheinternetofthings.en.html

  Peninsula Library System. (n.d.) Welcome to your library’s new catalog page. Retrieved from

https://catalog.plsinfo.org/

  Taylor & Francis Group. (2014). A white paper from Taylor & Francis: What is the future for social media in the library? Retrieved from

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/access/white-paper-infographic-social-media-future.pdf

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Some of the Best and Worst Uses of Social Media in Libraries

With the constant challenge of libraries trying to keep up with the latest technology, social media is now being used by a great deal of libraries in many parts of the world. A lot of libraries use it really well, while others don’t.

 A few helpful hints of what libraries should be doing are:

1. Provide buttons for social media applications on your library’s website and link all social media accounts to one another as well as your website. According to Costill (2014), providing visible social media buttons on your website is useful (para. 12). Thus the public can find out which social media applications you use and they can instantly start “following” you. Linking all of your social media accounts to one another and your website is not only convenient for the public’s use but also for you, in terms of potentially gaining a larger audience.

Best use example: Cleveland Public Library’s website’s homepage, which features its social media buttons next to their “Catalog” “Search” box. This is an ideal location because a lot of people would go to a library’s website to search for an item, which means many people would notice the buttons.

2. Use high quality images and/or videos in as many posts as you can. Costill (2014) states that graphics are “easily sharable” and are “60,000 times” quicker for us to comprehend in comparison to written content (para. 29).

Multnomah County Library’s Twitter post below received a fair amount of engagement, with 14 “Retweets” and 16 “Favorites”. I don’t think the post would have been as successful without the image, as it “puts a face to the name”.

Best Use example

Whereas the following Twitter post by Madison County Public Library doesn’t include an image or even a link for that matter. I think this post would have received some engagement if it had an image, such as children eating lunch.

Worst use example

Always proofread your work before posting it on social media. Spelling and grammar errors make you look very unprofessional. To avoid the latter, Costill (2014) advises that you should “double-check” your work (para. 6).

Worst use example: Zimmerman’s cartoon is so true, as it illustrates that people are likely to comment on a spelling error in social media. These types of errors could potentially ruin your reputation. Thus as discussed by Enriquez (2013), our use of the Internet creates “electronic tattoos” and “electronic tattoos…shout!”

 References

Cleveland Public Library. (2010). Cleveland Public Library. Retrieved from

http://cpl.org/

Costill, A. (2014, June 14). Social media 101: 30 things you should avoid doing on social media. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media-101-30-things-avoid-social-media/109392/

  Enriquez, J. (2013, February).Juan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo. Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_how_to_think_about_digital_tattoos?language=en#t-106273

  Madison County Public Library. (2014, June 11) Message posted to

https://twitter.com/madisonkylib/

  Multnomah County Library. (2015, July 24). Message posted to

https://twitter.com/multcolib

  Zimmerman, S. (2013). Social media engagement. Retrieved from

http://unearthedcomics.com/comics/social-media-engagement/

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Tracking a Library’s Engagement Metrics on Facebook

Engagement metrics are an important part of measuring the effectiveness of social media applications that libraries use. For example, in regards to the social network application, Facebook, David Lee King (2015) explains that engagement metrics would mean tracking what your users do on your page, such as commenting on, liking or “sharing a post” or selecting a post’s link (p.30).

This post from San Francisco Public Library’s Facebook page shows a high level of engagement, with 70 likes, 28 shares and 4 comments.

King (2015) points out that his library measures “monthly engaged users” (p.30). I think tracking engagement metrics on a monthly basis is a good idea because I know that several of the public libraries in Jackson, Mississippi, deal with a lot of their statistics, such as the number of reference questions, programs and program attendees on a monthly basis, so it would make sense to be consistent.

I agree with King (2015) that the best way to obtain “monthly engagement metrics” from Facebook is by downloading the Excel document of “Facebook Insights Data” (p. 30). King (2015) explains that if you just go to the “Engagement” section of Facebook’s “Insights” page, there is a lot of “detailed” data and Facebook mainly displays this on a weekly basis (p.30). Therefore exporting the Excel document is the way to go, as it enables you to access the necessary data and choose whatever timeframe you want, (providing it doesn’t exceed 180 days). In order to download the Excel document, you must firstly click on “Engagement” from Facebook’s “Insights” page:

Following this, select “Export”, which is at the top of the page then under “Data Type”, make sure you select “Page data”:

Concerning the Excel document, King (2015) states to work out his library’s engagement metrics each month, he uses the “Daily Page Engaged Users number” (p.30). King (2015) explains, he just totals those numbers and then he has his “monthly engagement metrics” (p.30).

Consequently if your library is using Facebook and is wanting an effective, easy and reasonably quick way of tracking engagement metrics, I think Facebook’s “Insights” page is a great way to collect the data you require. It’s also free, so that’s another terrific incentive for libraries to use this valuable tool!

 References

Facebook. (2015). Excel (2003) [Software]. Available from

https://www.facebook.com/pentimentobooks/insights/?section=navReach&target=engagement

 Facebook. (2015). Insights. Retrieved from

https://www.facebook.com/pentimentobooks/insights/

 King, D. L. (2015). Analytics, Goals, and Strategy for Social Media. Library Technology Reports, 51(1), 30. Retrieved from

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100279062&site=ehost-live

 San Francisco Public Library. (2015, July 16). Message posted to

https://www.facebook.com/sfpl.org

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How Should Libraries Market Their Social Media Tools?

There are a number of ways that libraries should market the social media tools they use. I will be discussing a few of the key ways in which libraries can successfully achieve this.

According to David Lee King (2015), to begin with you need to “Set Up the Channel” (p.33). King (2015) points out that you will require “a small square badge image to represent your library” (p.33). For instance, the Jackson Hinds Library System, in Mississippi, uses the same eye catching logo that appears on their website on their two social media tools, Facebook and Twitter:

King (2015) explains that for a few social media tools, such as “Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus” you also need to have a bigger cover picture on the social media tool’s homepage (p.33). King (2015) advises to either use a picture that illustrates something about your library’s mission or it can simply be a “fun” picture (p.33).

This is the JHLS’s (2015, July 16) Facebook account’s “cover photo”, which clearly illustrates their aim to deliver “quality service” (About Jackson Hinds Library System section, para.1).

Another helpful recommendation King (2015) makes is that you should have links to all of your social media tools on your website and your social media tools’ pages (p.33).

This is the top of NOPL’s webpage. They include visible links to their FB, Pinterest, Twitter and Tumblr accounts.

An additional way libraries should market their social media tools is by targeting their customer demographic/s. King (2015) points out that libraries should also find out the user demographics for their social media tools (p.33). For example, Jennifer Jumba (2015, June 14) states that the demographics of Instagram are “younger adults” and “urban-dwellers” (p.17). Therefore in regards to an effective marketing strategy for Instagram, you should firstly come up with appropriate programs, resources and information that would appeal to “younger adults” that live in the city. Consequently when it comes to creating the posts, you’ll be more prepared with suitable content, which will attract that demographic. According to Jumba (2015, June 14), Instagram is a “photosharing” and “videosharing” tool (p.16). Clearly in order for libraries to have a large Instagram following, the content of the photos and videos should not only engage “followers” but they should also be of high quality.

Franklin Park Public Library in Illinois has the right idea with attracting the “younger adult/urban-dweller” demographic.

References

Franklin Park Public Library. (2015). Fppldteens. Retrieved from

https://instagram.com/fppldteens/

 Jackson Hinds Library system. (2015, July 16). About Jackson Hinds Library System. Retrieved from

http://www.jhlibrary.com/about-library-system.php

 Jackson Hinds Library System. (2015, July 16). Jackson Hinds Library System. Retrieved from

http://jhlibrary.org/#

 Jackson Hinds Library System. (2015). Jackson Hinds Library System Community. Retrieved from

https://www.facebook.com/JacksonHindsLibrarySystem

 Jumba, Jennifer. (2015, June 14). Week 3 top 10 [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

http://hanakoa.sjsu.edu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=e46382ec-93c3-4848-98e7-61f7774a3f8e

 King, D. L. (2015). What to Do from Start to Finish. Library Technology Reports, 51(1), 33. Retrieved from

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100279063&site=ehost-live

 New Orleans Public Library. (2015, July 16). New Orleans Public Library: Speaking volumes. Retrieved from

http://www.neworleanspubliclibrary.org/

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How Libraries Maintain Privacy and Still Connect in the Era of Social Media

Libraries face some large challenges when it comes to maintaining privacy for their customers but at the same time, keeping up with the latest rapid Internet advancements, such as social media applications. I think the most important way that libraries can preserve privacy, yet still connect in our constantly changing digital world, is by informing, educating and providing outreach services to customers and library staff. In order to achieve this, all libraries should have an accessible privacy website page, firstly consisting of their privacy policy. Library Subject Specialist, Magi (2013) advises to “adopt the American Library Association Code of Ethics and Library Bill of Rights as policy” and to “write and adopt a library privacy policy”, which guarantees that you’ll abide by state law and safeguard users (p. 39). The webpage should also have links leading to useful web privacy tools and resources. An excellent privacy resource is the American Library Association’s (2015) “Choose Privacy Week” website. According to ALA (2015), “the campaign gives libraries the tools they need to educate and engage users” during this Web 2.0 era (Privacy Week section, para. 1):

Also Head Librarian, de Souza (2014) points out a few useful “alternative search engines” that place an importance on privacy for their users, a couple of them being Ixquick and DuckDuckGo (p. 20). de Souza (2014) states that “these alternative search engines claim not to store IP addresses or use tracking cookies” (p.20). Hence links to the latter would be valuable for many users. Finally providing it’s not a library for younger school students, there needs to be guidelines on the webpage regarding how to safely use at least the major Social Media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin for instance.

Not only would it be helpful for library staff and customers to have access to privacy policies, tools, resources and guidelines on a library’s privacy webpage but it would also be very useful to create handouts, displays and signs, as well as host regular library classes, educating people about them.

In conclusion I believe that it’s vital that MLIS programs continue offering classes such as Web 2.0 and Social Media. After all the students in these programs are the librarians of the future and it’s necessary they have the knowledge and skills to protect the public’s privacy but still remain connected in this era of social media.

References

American Library Association. (2015). Home and Privacy week. Retrieved from

https://chooseprivacyweek.org/

de Souza, Y. y. (2014). Not Just Data: Privacy in the Digital Age. Feliciter, 60(5), 20. Retrieved from

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=98909048&site=ehost-live

Magi, T. t. (2013). A Fresh Look at Privacy-Why Does It Matter, Who Cares, and What Should Librarians Do about It?. Indiana Libraries 32(1), 39. Retrieved from

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=90442643&site=ehost-live

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How Education Has Changed With Web 2.0 and Social Media

Education has changed tremendously with the rapid rise of Web 2.0 and Social Media. As a result of this, education has been presented with both advantages and challenges.

Currently being an online student, I’ve experienced a few of the positives of Web 2.0 and Social Media, such as the flexibility, which I love. Thus online learning gives me the freedom to do my work anytime and anyplace, (providing it has Internet access). Also when using online discussion boards, you’re given time to formulate an answer and I feel that my work is of higher quality when I have the opportunity to do that, as opposed to trying to come up with something in a face-to-face environment, on the spare of the moment. Finally, I enjoy providing thoughtful comments, questions and answers to peers in this type of forum.

Despite the positives of online learning, there are a few challenges. One example that I’ve experienced is that most of the time you can’t get answers to your questions immediately because unless you’re having a Blackboard Collaborate session or you’ve organized a phone appointment with your teacher, you have to rely on email and discussion boards. Due to this, I have felt a little lost on occasions.

New Web Content

An advantage of how education has changed with Web 2.0 and Social Media, is that a vast amount of new web content have been introduced at a rapid rate. Some of these new additions have been fantastic, such as Khan Academy, Livemocha and Pinterest, just name a few.

However the huge challenge that presents itself with so much web content is information overload. It’s the librarians’ enormous task of trying to keep up with this, as quite often students are very overwhelmed. I agree with Liyana and Noorhidawati (2014) in regards to “information seekers”, particularly the “Millennial generation” are “satisficing” when searching for information. In other words, “information quality is normally compromised in favor of the most convenient method”, such as settling for Google (p.3). However despite this challenge, I strongly believe that it’s the librarians’ responsibility to accept and stay on top of this constantly changing environment and therefore, be prepared to educate students in finding, assessing and using information effectively, whether it be from an online scholarly journal article or Wikipedia for that matter. These are exciting times, so librarians need to take it and run with it!

References 

Liyana, S. l., & Noorhidawati, A. n. (2014). How graduate students seek for information: Convenience or guaranteed result?. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 19(2), 3. Retrieved from

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=98392258&site=ehost-live

 Our Lady of Mercy Academy (n.d.) Online learning. Retrieved from

http://www.olma.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=195722&type=d

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How Libraries Use Social Media

Social Media has had a huge impact on the library world. The reason why libraries use social media applications are because they’re excellent tools to connect with their patrons and colleagues. According to Public Library Digital Services Director, David Lee King, the main social media applications that libraries presently use, are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, Google Plus and Flickr (King, 2015, pp.10-13). For the purposes of this blog, I’ll be focusing on what I’ve observed to be a few of the more widely used social media applications from King’s findings:

Facebook

King (2015) points out that libraries use Facebook for “library news”, in other words, “what’s happening at the library, what will happen and what recently happened”, as well as “fun stuff”, such as “light-hearted or humorous posts” (p.10). The Jackson Hinds Public Library System, in Mississippi uses Facebook regularly, mainly to inform their patrons and staff of “library news”. An example of this is:

Every so often Mississippi’s Madison County Public Library System includes a “fun stuff” post on their Facebook page. I think these types of posts would do especially well in connecting with the local community. As you can see, this post has been reasonably popular, with its 18 “likes”:

Twitter

King (2015) discusses that a lot of libraries use Twitter to “share current information and news about their library” and what’s going on in the world (p.11). From my own observations I’ve also noticed that Twitter posts or “tweets” tend to have a fairly casual and sometimes fun tone, which assists in connecting with the audience. The David L. Rice Library, (which supports the University of Southern Indiana,) does a wonderful job of this with both students and staff but particularly with its students, as this post illustrates:

This post has been “retweeted” 3 times and “favorited” 4 times.

YouTube

In regards to YouTube, King (2015) states that libraries put up existing videos for “reference and entertainment” (p.11). He also explains that libraries create their own YouTube videos, teaching patrons and staff about the library (King, 2015, p.11). Lastly according to King (2015), libraries use YouTube for “social content”, as it gives people the opportunity of following and responding to the videos (p.11). The University of Bristol Library, located in England has a number of effective instructional YouTube videos. I think this one would be useful for both students and staff:

References

David L. Rice Library. (2015, April 30). Message posted to

https://twitter.com/RiceLib

Jackson Hinds Library System. (2015, June 24). Message posted to

https://www.facebook.com/JacksonHindsLibrarySystem

  King, D. L. (2015).  Landscape of Social Media for Libraries. Library Technology Reports, 51(1), 10-13. Retrieved from

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100279059&site=ehost-live

  Madison County Library System. (2015, March 18). Message posted to

https://www.facebook.com/MCLSlibraries

University of Bristol Library. (2014, October 13). Library Services: Where are the Libraries? Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djFc00sI73E

[sunshynebuckarma]

I think Google Apps are also great tools. I’ve mainly used Google+ in the book store I work in, which I like. I find the Google+ Share feature is similar to posting on Facebook. I’ve also looked at Google+ Hangout a little and I think it’s a very good tool. It would be especially useful for a book club in a public library. Finally I’ve used Google Docs a bit when I was studying in the past, which is really helpful because it saves so much time, with all the updates just being made to the one document.

The first thing I thought of when prompted for a tool I use as a professional is Google. Google has a bank of “Google Apps” that allow individuals to collaborate with a large number of people. These apps include Google+, Google Docs, Google Hangout, Google Calendar, and Google Photos. After you...

[sunshynebuckarma]

Hi Rochelle, I agree with your point that if you’re posting on social media professionally, you need to abide by the rules your work place has implemented. When I used to work in the children’s area of a public library, I had to do the Facebook posts for Story Time. One of the rules of that library’s Facebook policy was getting the parents or caregivers of the participating children to sign a release form, giving us permission to post their children’s photos on Facebook. The library’s administration were worried we could potentially get sued if we didn’t all do this.

The majority of the time I spend on social media, I’m on one of three sites: Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube. While I’ve grown to dislike Facebook, I still keep mine around because I use it mainly to keep in touch with friends and family that live out of state. When I don’t have the opportunity...

[sunshynebuckarma]

My Personal and Professional Use of Social Media

My personal use of social media is reasonably limited. I mainly use it to communicate with my family and friends on Facebook but even then I’m not one to constantly post comments and photos on my “Timeline”, as I’m a relatively private person. I mostly use the messaging feature on Facebook, as I find it’s an easy and effective way of keeping in touch with people on a regular basis, particularly my family in South Australia. Apart from Facebook, the only other social media applications I occasionally use in my personal life are Amazon, when searching for gifts and YouTube, when looking up music.

I think a major reason why I don’t use social media much personally compared to many other people I know, is because I don’t own, nor do I presently have the desire or need for a smartphone. My current phone is a Samsung Net10 Prepaid Pay-as-you-go. In fact a pet peeve of mine is when smartphones dominate people’s lives. I totally agree with technology specialist’s, Sherry Turkle’s view in regards to this type of “addiction”, as reported by Janet H. Cho, in The Plain Dealer (2015, para. 1). Thus Cho points out that Turkle believes that smartphone dependency causes people to “want to talk less” (2015, para. 1), which I think is really sad. For example, I can’t stand it when I see a family at a restaurant and no one is talking because they all have their smartphones out!

This is my humble phone – no threat of nomophobia for me!

In comparison to my personal life, social media plays quite a large role for me professionally, in regards to both my schooling and my part-time job. As far as my schooling goes, I’m pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree program, so I’m going to be dealing a lot with social media in this field. However compared to using social media for my personal needs, such as keeping in contact with people, as well as for convenience and leisure, for my career I’ll be using social media in order to put out and access information to help others. In regards to my job, (working in a rare bookstore), similar to my future career, I’m putting information onto social media applications, (in this instance, I’m posting announcements and book reviews on Facebook and Google+), to assist the public in obtaining the information they need.

References

Cho, J. H. (2015, May 19). Tech expert Sherry Turkle says smartphone addiction makes us want to talk less. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved from

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/04/how_smartphones_make_us_flee_from_conversations_and_want_to_talk_less_according_to_technology_expert_sherry_turkle.html