Session Hosts: Lauren Britton Smedley and Rory Solomon<\/p>\n
Participants:
\nAmy Ryan, Debbie Walter, Amy Radermacher, Jorge Schement, Jeanine Finn, Jessica Smith, Jen Gilomen, Khara Whitney-Marsh, Dana Walker, Katie Ingersoll, Eileen McAdam, Michelle Fellows, Kevin O’Kelly, Karen Perry, Tom Lowenhaupt, Alan Inouye, Denise L McIver, Jack Brighton<\/p>\n
Questions:
\n1.) How do you define public: Internet not strong public space, non-commercial space and civic space analog on cyber space as citizen, right to exist
\n2.) How to provide access to a truly public space? Harness the unique public-ness of public libraries
\n3.) How can collaboration foster access for different people in community? How can we come together to provide access? Challenge to go out in community and engage<\/p>\n
Does the internet and new media allow for more equitable access to create\/consume?
\nNicholas Carr: what is reliable information
\nBias of medium moving in a different direction, there is an inherent bias. We have seen a change from linear to multi directional–not one path: web structure.<\/p>\n
Unique perspectives and what can come out of creation: databroadcaster.com, similar to flicker but for audio stories: public access to stories<\/p>\n
Journalist and librarians talking about access
\nFunctional access:<\/p>\n
Context Example: *Prairienet* (webhosting, providing computers, bringing things to people instead of making them come to library), provide training partnership between community, library, school
\nOwnership: to be functional requires *social contract* — participants need to understand and agree to terms, not static, evolve over time
\nKnowing how to use the tools not just providing them-how did past models succeed?<\/p>\n
Natural partnerships
\nHard to maintain public access, a million models of doing the \u2018good work\u2019 to do well in a sustainable way and truly get your target demographic: challenging for public libraries to maintain public access
\nLooking at systems 100Million in stimulus.: digital literacy, computers\u2014is there a way to capitalize on what\u2019s already here to create new engagement and create new business models to create sustainability
\nIs there a way to push back against corporations\/facebook in defence of public space?<\/p>\n
Restrictions based on economic interests: what is a public library
\nRenegotiating the social contract of public libraries: libraries are underfunded, not level-funding.
\nOutcry comes from small groups people who want to keep library as it always has been. Amy from BPL: Frequently hear \u201cin the past\u201d & \u201cwhen my kids were young\u201d have not allowed ourselves to expand our thinking of public libraries. Nostalgia is our biggest enemy: engage the next generation
\nHow do we foster the \u2018curl up and read\u2019 with new technologies: how do we build a 21st century library?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re here because we care about the present and future of democracy. Democracy functions best when there is constant exchange of information. Many institutions have developed to allow for exchange of information but only two still functioning that visualized the user as a consumer\u2014libraries and journalism. The alternative model, exchange networks, are thriving. What can we learn from them?<\/p>\n
A library as a place to create enabling people to engage\/ access just the beginning, it is the start of a conversation
\n*Key isn\u2019t library but librarians!!* Information navigators\u2014help facilitate civic engagement, get community to come together to teach each other\u2014*not just a gatekeeper librarian but a coach, a navigator*.
\nIs there a way that journalists can come in to teach basic civic journalism, create stories<\/p>\n
FCC: Future of Media Report recommended to include (won\u2019t be in final report however):idea to develop a set of guidelines for libraries taking a stronger role in news in communities.
\nlibrary has newspapers on shelf, can you go to a public library and get a list of local blogs\u2014a \u201cplace about place\u201d, here is a place to get all the information about your community
\ndifferent levels depending on library\u2014list everything or go further and include public notices, next step to take listing and to add academic rigor
\nprovide assessment regarding the caliber of the reporting not the thought
\nteach to use info skills. The next step is media\/news generation but we aren\u2019t doing the first one yet.
\nLibrarians are experts in their community and they aren\u2019t expanding this knowledge. A lot of library myth and there is a gap: stepping more broadly into community news and information<\/p>\n
LOCAL!! find gaps that provide perspective: do we have the right news\/information: gap in local accountability relating to news.<\/p>\n
look at the community news outlets in area that are already providing service.
\nThe Knight Commission published a toolkit for evaluating information ecology.
\nPerhaps librarians and local journalists should review together.<\/p>\n
Another case \/ example
\nRemember the video about the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse from Peter Shane’s “Information Stories” videos yesterday? (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/InfoStories#p\/u\/10\/QuKyUCQdg8A)
\nIn this example, the community journalists pulled in images from flickr: what do people think about this? For example as it relates to ownership? Posting images becomes point of source\/record\u2014library as public repository, host in a public way
\npersistence of access
\nwikimedia commons<\/p>\n
What is sustainable?<\/p>\n
Boston library uses flickr as hosting site for images, but keeps source images<\/p>\n
Internet not public space, more like a mall: option for debate
\nDigital Library of America: what does access mean? what does public mean?<\/p>\n
Not just making something new: getting people to use tools\u2014there are tools available, must be infrastructure, money required to sustain access
\nExamine unexplored space<\/p>\n
Summary:<\/p>\n
(1) We did not quite reach a consensus about the public vs. private commons question. Especially as it relates to sustainability. What can we count on? Can we factor in open standards and open source tools here? What about things like wikimedia commons and etc<\/p>\n
(2) Can pubic access go further? To support and expand communities. New notions of literacy including digital media, which implies the ability to create as well as to consume. Local, community, accountability.<\/p>\n
Citation<\/cite><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Session Hosts: Lauren Britton Smedley and Rory Solomon Participants: Amy Ryan, Debbie Walter, Amy Radermacher, Jorge Schement, Jeanine Finn, Jessica Smith, Jen Gilomen, Khara Whitney-Marsh, Dana Walker, Katie Ingersoll, Eileen McAdam, Michelle Fellows, Kevin O’Kelly, Karen Perry, Tom Lowenhaupt, Alan … Continue reading