Tag Archives: 75 days

Yesterday I said I was going to talk about the Government Information Online project as yet another example of how government information librarians can work together across geography and institutional lines. In a nutshell, since February 11, 2008, about 26 libraries (private, public, academic and state libraries) have been using OCLC's questionpoint software to answer email questions and host chat sessions from the public. In fact, I am going to be on chat duty in about 45 minutes from now. Here are some preliminary figures: Total number of sessions registered on the system for emails and chats: 6,121. This averages about 500 sessions per month. Total for emails: 3,713 Total for chats: 2,408 February: 693 390: emails 303: chats March: 573 315: emails 258: chats April: 612 353: emails 259: chats May: 492 314: emails 178: chats June: 512 295: emails 217: chats July: 460 281: emails 179: chats August: 411 272: emails 139: chats September: 596 382: emails 214: chats October: 787 495: emails 292: chats November: 586 389: emails 197: chats December: 399 227: emails 172: chats I think in terms of numbers and quality of service, this project stands as an excellent example of how librarians from a multitude of institutions can reach out to the public. The response, and support from the institutions and GPO, have been excellent. I will speak a bit more about the service implications of this kind of model tomorrow. Continue reading →

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The next few months are important for libraries to take advantage of the civic optimism unleashed by the recent national elections. Promoting government information in new (and not so new) ways ought to become the priority for our institutions and associations. I have already mentioned a couple of possibilities -- Talking Back to Democracy and working closely with your congressional district offices to reach out to parts of the community not directly participating in the life of the institution that is responsible for a depository. Or even working with the several depositories that might be part of a congressional district. The point is, I suppose, is to get back to some things that librarians have always done well and transcend both the traditional practices of paper-based government information service and the whiz-bang possibilities of using the web. The heart of our local practice, if not our theory, is that we explain complicated processes and events. Here again, examples from journalism might shed some light. The Chicago Tribune recently published a graphic that explains the rather baroque steps involved in order to impeach a governor. I think this is a graphic style/narrative librarians have touched upon in the past -- remember those different kinds of graphics that show how a bill becomes a law. From another point of explaining, there are two excellent examples from the New York Review Books -- one that describes a rather complicated case of libel in England and the other that discusses the role of pharmaceutical companies in the promotion of useless drugs -- that demonstrate the classic strengths of what are essentially bibliographic essays. Another way we reach out to our communities is through information/reference services. Tomorrow I will talk about the the success of the Government Information Online project and the promise it might offer. See you on day 5. Continue reading →

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In one week we will be free from the current regime of government information command and control. This time next Tuesday, a new president will begin work with a new Congress to address a multiplicity of problems that challenge this country at home and abroad. But, as the old rock and roll anthem once put it The change, it had to come We knew it all along We were liberated from the fold, that's all And the world looks just the same And history ain't changed 'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war There's nothing in the streets Looks any different to me And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye And the parting on the left Are now parting on the right And the beards have all grown longer overnight I'll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again ... I think -- to put it in a very blunt fashion -- libraries are all about not getting "fooled again." In my last posting, one of the points I made was that somehow (someway) Librarians, their institutions, and other like-minded cultural organizations will have to come to terms about what their future roles might be in respect to this unfolding democratic revolution of change in a digital age. Especially librarians and libraries that choose to participate in the civic conversation that makes the remarkable democratic moments of next Tuesday possible. The globe's other two major powers, as pointed out in today's New York Times opinion piece, remain mired in other governing models that do not demand a comparable kind of mutual openness and transparency between the governors and the governed. The one and true thing about America's civic electoral revolutions, for the most part, is that they play out with a minimum of bloodshed and deception. This bloodless change is especially true if the people are truly engaged in the civic mechanisms (more than just voting in elections) -- which seem to happen last year. Now, the big question is, can they sustain this engagement. Certainly, with two wars overseas (and dozens of other armed conflicts), economic crises at home, environmental damage and ruin around the globe -- all of these "engage" our communities in significant ways. However, this sense of mutual purpose, for the most part remains disconnected and unorganized. People realize they are living through strange and difficult times -- but there is often a huge disconnect between a community and the elected/public officials they send to the halls of government. I live in Illinois and this disconnect is apparent everyday as we watch the latest debacle unravel the results of the last free and open election. Obama promises to mend this break, and demonstrated the community organizer's instinct to build a common cause amongst a vast number of people from different backgrounds and circumstances. But it will be very interesting to see if he can sustain this civic bonding once he is lashed to the obligations of office and the political horse-trading that still dominates our politics. Already news reports, and Obama's own words, caution us that everything promised during the elections will be off the tables until the economic crisis somehow brought to some kind of path to resolution. I think this means librarians in general, and government information librarians in particular, can not expect quick responses to their calls or advocacy change of how government information must (or can) be used more effectively by our public officials. But, if we do not make our arguments because of this lack of quick response, then we got "fooled again." Our revolution, unlike the one from November last year, will continue to be incremental and deliberative. Now is the time to consolidate the nearly thirty years of advocacy we have been accumulating, as pointed out in my earlier posts, and work our arguments into something that can win a pragmatic plan to addressing our many concerns -- everything from bibliographic control to preservation. It will involve changing laws; it will involve changing regulations; it will involve enforcing laws and regulation, it will involve money -- maybe more money, or perhaps, doing something different with the money we have. One way to sustain this effort for the long haul, which I will discuss in my next post, is to use our organizations to keep the civic conversation going in our communities. Seven days to liberation -- then the real work will begin. See you on Day 6 Continue reading →

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Daniel and Jim raise several good points. I will break from the possession obsession and move on to some other issues I think will impact the future success of government information services in our bibliographic institutions and with our communities. And Daniel is right, this time of change and upheaval is also an opportunity to take an advantage of putting some emphasis in our message about civic engagement and librarianship(speaking as a poor citizen from Illinois who has, perhaps, experienced enough political revolution -- from triumph, to tragedy and now to a pathetic comedy of ego and errors.) Specifically -- how do those of us responsible for government information in library institutions take advantage of the public's need to figure out what is going happening out there? In the Gutenberg traditions, we did with our collections, bibliographic tools/structures, and a hard-won pragmatic expertise on helping people find information and/or knowledge to their questions. How do we do it in a world of civic information transformed by digital technology? There are four ways we can do this, and I will discuss each (with a specific suggestion or two of how to approach the problem) over the next ten days. 1. How do we work within our professional associations. and with other advocacy groups, on how to better understand and collaborate with the public/non-governmental institutions responsible for creating and the several layers of civic information content and infrastructure? 2. How do we establish some kind of clear understanding of what our institutional role should be/might be in the preservation of the vast number of digital and tangible formats now used by these public institutions? 3. Can we agree on clear guidelines and expectations of what it means to effectively (and actively) promote the access and use of civic information within our communities? 4. In terms of education and professional knowledge -- what are the essential skills, outlook, tools necessary to support a librarian who specializes in government information services? I figure these points will keep us well occupied long after liberation day. See you on Day 10. Continue reading →

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Good to be back on the grid. My unexepected time away gave me a chance to gather some more threads together and plan for a post-liberation effort -- in other words, once we reach January 20, the new President joins the new Congress, what happens next? Well, just a few days after the swearing-in ceremony on the Hill, we are going into a season of library association meetings -- ALA in Denver, ACRL in Seatlle, and the Federal Depository Library council in Tampa -- in four short months. If these aren't opportunities to discuss and debate and organize about the future of government information services and civic engagement, then what are we doing with our time? In the meantime, in a brief response to Jim Jacobs thoughtful piece in response to my koan "Can there be librarians without libraries" -- don't confuse the lack of control over information with the inability to do anything positive or proactive about how public information is distributed through a democratic society. My ideal of librarians and their institutions in this changed environment does not suggest either of Jim's arguments that we will become travel agents or proto-business managers with responsibilities to manage the content management rights for a specific set of users. My argument lies less with what we will be doing in a digital world, and more with the notion that this library activity will not spring from possession (which is the same as control in Jim's argument I think), and more from mediation, context and praxis. Why is this? Even though Jim argues otherwise, the digital production and distribution of information/knowledge has upset the traditional relationships formed and exploited by librarians, users, and producers of information. Just check out the recent stories about publishers, bookstores, and other cultural institutions that aggregate (i.e. possess) information on behalf of their communities. But more on this in subsequent posts along that road to liberation and beyond. I missed you all and can't wait to get back into the thick of things. Continue reading →

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