2016
13
Jan
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35 Comments
The Quest for Diversity in Library Staffing: From Awareness to Action
by Jennifer Vinopal The work of diversity in libraries begins at the crossroad where superiority, inaction, and denial become intolerable. – Sandra Ríos Balderrama, “This Trend Called Diversity” In Brief: Despite our ongoing quest for diversity and a growing number of initiatives to increase it, the demographics of the professional librarian population haven’t changed in... Read More
2015
30
Dec
Editorial: Introductions All Around
In Brief: Over the past year, the Editorial Board has experienced some changes (yay, growing pains!). In this group post, current board members introduce themselves and talk about the types of articles they’d love to see submitted in 2016. We also thank all of our emeritus board members for their hard work shaping In The... Read More
2015
16
Dec
Say what? Exploring “The most interesting place in the city” – the comments section of online news articles
In Brief Online commenting culture can be intriguing. Do people comment on news articles about libraries? What do they say? These are the questions that led us to study public comments in response to news articles about libraries in major U.S. newspapers. Newspaper articles were selected for analysis based on their relevance to libraries and... Read More
In brief The context for this article is Australian libraries and my experience there with cross-cultural provision. However, this article is not about providing library services for any specific group; it’s about cultural competence and whiteness. I begin with my background, so as to make clear how I participate, as a white librarian, in discussions... Read More
2015
18
Nov
Renovation as a Catalyst for Change
Throwback Thursday for November 18, 2015: Take a look at Renovation as a Catalyst for Change by Erin Dorney and Eric Frierson. We may be coming to the end of 2015, but it’s never too late to think about switching things up at your library! By Erin Dorney and Eric Frierson Introduction This Lead Pipe post is about... Read More
In Brief Despite significant gains in representation at the administration level, there is still a disparity between the percentage of women in our profession and women as library leaders. Additionally, even when women attain leadership roles, even top positions in libraries, there are still hurdles in the shape of gendered expectations. This article examines the... Read More
2015
21
Oct
A Critical Take on OER Practices: Interrogating Commercialization, Colonialism, and Content
Photo by Flickr user arbyreed (CC BY NC 2.0) In Brief Both Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Access (OA) are becoming more central to many librarians’ work and the core mission of librarianship, in part because of the perceived relationship between openness and social justice. However, in our excitement about the new opportunities afforded... Read More
In Brief: Whiteness—an ideological practice that can extend beyond notions of racial supremacy to other areas of dominance—has permeated every aspect of librarianship, extending even to the initiatives we claim are committed to increasing diversity. This state of affairs, however, need not remain. This article examines the ways in which whiteness controls diversity initiatives in... Read More
2015
23
Sep
Editorial: Summer Reading 2015
Photo by Flickr user Moyan_Brenn of Moyan Brenn Photography (CC BY 2.0) Editors from In The Library With The Lead Pipe are taking a break from our regular schedule to share our summer reading favs. Tell us what you’ve been reading these last few months in the comments! By Editorial Board, Hugh Rundle, Ellie Collier, Annie Pho, Erin Dorney, Bethany Messersmith, Lindsey... Read More
Photo by Flickr user Jen Kim (CC BY 4.0) In Brief Within our field, and more widely, there is a way of thinking that equates effective teaching with effective entertaining. This way of thinking can be referred to as a “discourse of edutainment.” It underpins some of the publications and conversations that encourage librarians to make their teaching... Read More