Jessamyn C. West

Inspiring collection of "alternative" viewpoints. Like the annoyed librarian but with a social conscious. It felt good to finish it on MLK Day. It took me a long time to finish only because it consisted of many small pieces so I just dipped into it from time to time. Essential reading for those wanting to go to library school. Some of the links are old, but discovering which ones are still alive is part of the joy.

Did I say it was inspiring? It is also depressing in that a lot of negative trends called out within these pages have continued unabated. Particularly,the de facto corporate censorship of library collections by the elimination of local collections, small presses, and minority viewpoints. This is doubly true since the advent of DRM'ed digital content from third party vendors that libraries have embraced. This is an dystopian nightmare the likes of which even the cynics in this book could not have predicted. Or perhaps they did. From the introduction: "Be cyber-skeptic, while art-directed. Reward analog, anomaly, and high concept, high touch, low-cost anything."

Still, this volume has renewed my commitment to libraries, community, free software, an open internet, the elimination of poverty, and workers' rights. It also reminded me of Rory Litwin's indelible contribution to our profession. Rory is still going strong at Library Juice (http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/).… (altro)

This book is full of great practical advise for teaching and troubleshooting “technology” [read: computer and internet] to library patrons. West gives good pointers on how to approach people with no computer experience. Where I work, we have staff that specifically teaches computer classes, but considering most desk time in libraries consists of computer troubleshooting, this book is a valuable tool.

West’s tone is refreshing - far more readable than most howto manuals. This book is also dual use. If you are someone with no computer experience, and have tech anxiety, this book would be a great primer (though if you fall in that category I doubt you would be skimming a review found on an online social network).

On a personal note: years ago I was having computer trouble and in semi-desperation I installed Ubuntu Linux on my PC after seeing a print article about an online video (how quaint) that went viral showing a librarian installing Ubuntu on computers at a cash strapped library. My switch to Linux, a gateway to the world of open source, was a positive transformational experience. I am 98% sure the librarian in question was Jessamyn West. Thanks, Jessamyn.… (altro)