On Mon, 15 Aug 2011, James Weinheimer wrote:
> The moment you leave the US, you discover that many who insist the
> loudest that they want to be "individuals" can be most easily pointed to
> by others as "Americans". There is certainly nothing wrong with being
> immediately seen as an American, a Brit, an Italian, a German, or
> whatever, but the concept of how this relates to "individuality" must be
> reconsidered.
I'd have to agree with that, considering how many *adult* Europeans
(etc.) seem to be rather concerned with the sanity of Americans. I guess
I'd say to the younger, tattooed expatriates: "Have you considered the
fact that your brain is not going to mature for another decade and that
you have a choice of being either the problem or the solution in an
ever-increasingly Orwellian world... without libraries?"
> While I believe that librarians should be active politically as individuals,
> I am very hesitant to suggest that *librarianship as a profession* should
> become political.
The most serious form of deception taking place in modern discourse
(justified by the media, politics, and the legal system) is "deflection",
or "misdirection", or "changing the subject in mid-stream." We're not
talking politics here, we're talking education and delivering an
*understanding* and appreciation of how speech and writing work. Politics
is about labels and taking sides. Librarianship can be about translating
the labels and encouraging folks to evaluate all the "sides"
comparatively.
> The fundamental purpose of librarianship is to help people find the
> information they need.
All I'm suggesting is that we could do more to explain what "information"
is and what effects it can have (positive, if real, but absolutely
destructive if false, sometimes intentionally, albeit subconsciously).
> ... most librarians will probably decide that ... adults ... as
> individuals* are the ones who should decide *for themselves* whether
> some bit of information is the truth or a lie
The issue is not whether they are capable of making those decisions (most
are not, for various reasons) or whether they are faced with "truth or
lies." A lot has changed since "information" first appeared in libraries
and elsewhere, and it is that change which has to be taken into account
and explained. It's that simple.
> and they can use any method they want to determine it: critical
> thinking, skepticism, religion, kabbalah, a ouija board, a dart board,
> listening to Glenn Beck or Noam Chomsky.
Well, then, perhaps we should provide Ouija boards and dart
boards-- and classes in how to make decisions with them. That's not as
silly as it sounds, since it fits perfectly our apparent "responsibility"
of letting the public loose in the stacks and nothing more.
> This is entirely their own affair and the librarian's political opinions
> (and they have them!) absolutely must remain completely irrelevant.
First, the problem we have here is divorcing the concept of teaching
thinking from the concept of expressing political rhetoric. The two are
diametrically opposed. We have to take more responsibility, and we are the
only group that can and have that responsibility (as controllers of the
whole information supply), and we (and the information supply) will become
completely irrelevant (1st, then nonexistant) if we don't.
Right now we are *only* interested in "playing politics" for the sake of
survival (getting budgeted, and, in the process, keeping a low profile).
I realize it is difficult to understand (because it is not obvious,
traditional, or taught), but it is possible for us to address the *nature*
of information without taking any sides, and, in doing so, disarm anyone
who would twist any role (e.g. that of librarian) to threaten or scapegoat
it simply by showing how fear-mongering and scapegoating through
"information" appear and work (and letting patrons decide whether they are
present in what they hear and read), not by becoming defensive or
"opposing" anyone or any group, but by avoiding politics altogether and,
well, standing above the fray instead of tacitly encouraging it.
Cheers!
jgm
John G. Marr
Cataloger
CDS, UL
Univ. of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
jmarr_at_unm.edu
jmarr_at_flash.net
**There are only 2 kinds of thinking: "out of the box" and "outside
the box."
Opinions belong exclusively to the individuals expressing them, but
sharing is permitted.
Received on Mon Aug 15 2011 - 18:14:53 EDT