[Publib] Darien Revisited
Karen Schneider
kgschneider at gmail.com
Sun Apr 12 08:36:38 EDT 2009
Kathleen, no, this is another grump. I assume it's the population-density
rule--we certainly have enough in LibraryLand to fill a space shuttle. If we
can put a man on the moon...
Karen (also writing on her own behalf)
On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 11:23 PM, <kmccook at tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> Pushmata,
> Is this from that library journal blog that doesn't like libraries?
> --Kathleen
>
> Union Librarian: Kathleen de la Peña McCook
> http://unionlibrarian.blogspot.com/
> ===
>
> On 11 Apr 2009 at 22:49, Backwage at aol.com wrote:
>
> >
> > A quick gloss on the Darien Statements; a fuller analysis will follow,
> > meaning that I'm going to write it over again, but only after a couple of
> > drinks tonight. If this were an assignment in a college class, I'd fail
> the
> > writers for lack of imagination, very poor writing and not having
> demonstrated
> > any particular thesis whatever. My remarks in brackets.
> > M. McGrorty
> > -----------------------------
> > The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians
> > Written and endorsed by John Blyberg, Kathryn Greenhill, and Cindi
> Trainor
> > The Purpose of the Library
> > The purpose of the Library is to preserve the integrity of civilization.
> > [Somebody has been drinking. Though the authors attempt in advance to
> > excuse this sort of verbiage by saying their statement is "grand," it is
> > actually grandiose, and inaccurate. Civilization, by which most people
> mean the
> > accumulation of culture and learning, has neither integrity in the sense
> > of reputation nor integrity in the sense of undefiled wholeness.]
> > The Library has a moral obligation to adhere to its purpose despite
> > social, economic, environmental, or political influences. The purpose of
> the
> > Library will never change.
> > [Only individuals have moral obligations. Otherwise, a library could
> be
> > immoral by failing in its obligation. Institutions can´t have
> obligations;
> > they can have generally accepted roles. The Catholic Church doesn't
> have a
> > moral obligation--its priests and worshippers do.]
> > The Library is infinite in its capacity to contain, connect and
> > disseminate knowledge; librarians are human and ephemeral, therefore we
> must work
> > together to ensure the Library´s permanence.
> > [Hardly. Were that true, the library would be about the size of the
> solar
> > system. If the authors were thinking of the capacity of the internet as
> a
> > component of the library, then they ought to refer to that-and the
> internet
> > is not the library any more than publishing is. The library is
> dependent
> > upon both, controls neither and at best has some operational
> relationship
> > to both. Librarians are human; there´s a surprise. They are
> ephemeral;
> > who knew? Really, did anybody assume otherwise? And if we must work
> > together, it is not because we all die, nor because we are human, but
> because our
> > systems operate optimally through cooperation.]
> > Individual libraries serve the mission of their parent institution or
> > governing body, but the purpose of the Library overrides that mission
> when the
> > two come into conflict.
> > [Most definitely not so. The purpose of the library as an institution
> is
> > debated and debatable, and there is not a library system in existence
> which
> > perceives that its parts or branches owe allegiance to any set of rules
> in
> > opposition to those put out for the whole. Nor do those sub-parts
> > subscribe to that. This statement is not only untrue, but there aren´t
> half a
> > dozen librarians on earth who would accept that the branches need to
> "preserve
> > the integrity of civilization" at the expense of any plan or design in
> > competition to their rules and regulations.]
> > Why we do things will not change, but how we do them will.
> > [Sure our reasons for doing things will change. Always have changed.
> > The role of the library expands, and contains our reasons for doing
> things
> > for different reasons. An astonishingly naïve statement.]
> > A clear understanding of the Library´s purpose, its role, and the role
> of
> > librarians is essential to the preservation of the Library.
> > [Nice thought, and I wouldn´t alter that, though it´s not true. The
> > library has limped along for a century or more though many librarians
> can´t now
> > and might not ever have been able to recite precisely why the place
> ought
> > to exist, and even though their reasons might have been radically
> different
> > from one another. Besides, the public, who writes the check for all
> > this, has only a vague feel-good idea of what the library is for, and
> they
> > consistently support the institution.]
> > The Role of the Library
> > The Library:
> > * Provides the opportunity for personal enlightenment.
> > * Encourages the love of learning.
> > * Empowers people to fulfill their civic duty. [duties, unless
> you
> > think there´s only one]
> > * Facilitates human connections. [I will leave that alone for now
> > though it is the worst sort of vague jargon]
> > * Preserves and provides materials. [That´s the best we can say?]
> > * Expands capacity for creative expression. [more anon]
> > * Inspires and perpetuates hope. ["perpetuates" is not true, and
> can
> > ´t be. And hope-just hope? For what?]
> >
> > The Role of Librarians
> > Librarians:
> > * Are stewards of the Library. [do what, serve drinks?]
> > * Connect people with accurate information. [And inaccurate
> > information-that´s part of the role.]
> > * Assist people in the creation of their human and information
> > networks. [Winner of worst jargon award for this hour, in tough
> competition.
> > Also meaningless.]
> > * Select, organize and facilitate creation of content. ["content"
> > means happy. Libraries have contents-material and otherwise. Try
> > again.]
> > * Protect access to content and preserve freedom of information
> and
> > expression. [Try `materials´]
> > * Anticipate, identify and meet the needs of the Library´s
> > community. [Their communities, and no, I don´t grant you leeway for a
> first draft
> > that´s been posted on the internet]
> >
> > The Preservation of the Library
> > Our [Whose? Those three authors´ methods? And what would those be?]
> > methods need to rapidly change to address the profound impact of
> information
> > technology on the nature of human connection and the transmission and
> > consumption of knowledge.
> > If the Library is to fulfill its purpose in the future, librarians must
> > commit to a culture of continuous operational change, accept risk and
> > uncertainty as key properties of the profession, and uphold service to
> the user as
> > our most valuable directive.
> > [Whose methods would those be? Those of the three authors? And what
> > methods would those be that are so outdated that they need to be rapidly
> > changed? The next sentence is really bad, the worst sort of
> tech-speak.]
> > As librarians, we must:
> > * Promote openness, kindness, and transparency among libraries and
> > users.
> > [Kindness. Say it to yourself and try not to snicker. Blessed are the
> > librarians, for they promote kindness among users.]
> > * Eliminate barriers to cooperation between the Library and any
> > person, institution, or entity within or outside the Library.
> > ["Any person, institution or entity . . ." Reads like an ordinance.
> And
> > what exactly would that mean, in English?]
> > * Choose wisely what to stop doing.
> > [First, stop putting together stuff like this which weakly replicates
> the
> > Library Bill of Rights without any rigor in analysis.]
> > * Preserve and foster the connections between users and the
> Library.
> > [Excellent.]
> > * Harness distributed expertise to serve the needs of the local
> and
> > global community.
> > [Dude, there is not nor will there ever be a phrase such as "distributed
> > expertise," I don´t care how many times you´ve heard it in library tech
> > conferences or over ale at the local brewpub.]
> > * Help individuals to learn and to use new tools to create a more
> > robust path to knowledge.
> > ["Robust." Isn´t that one of those hot descriptive terms whose best
> > substitute is nothing?]
> > * Engage in activism on behalf of the Library if its integrity is
> > externally threatened.
> > [I thought the point of this exercise was to demonstrate that the `
> > integrity´ of the library was in fact externally threatened.]
> > * Endorse procedures only if they guide librarians or users to
> > excellence.
> > [And of course, working librarians so often are asked for their
> > endorsement of policies or procedures. And the use of `excellence´ here
> is exactly
> > as valueless as when the right-wingers used to invoke the term in their
> own
> > exhortations, as "In Pursuit of Excellence."
> > * Identify and implement the most humane and efficient methods,
> > tools, standards and practices.
> > [Humane. We are apparently euthanizing pets here. Bad use.]
> > * Adopt technology that keeps data open and free, abandon
> technology
> > that does not.
> > [Wow. They ended a sentence with `not.´ I would have bet nobody would
> do
> > that. Not.]
> > * Be willing and have the expertise to make frequent radical
> > changes.
> > [Three major grammar errors in a short sentence. Breathtaking.]
> > * Hire the best people and let them do their job; remove staff who
> > cannot or will not.
> > [Who hire? Remove by what rationale? Oh sure, why not. Just say
> > whatever comes to mind. Let´s have some more wine.]
> > * Trust each other and trust the users.
> > [So spectacularly vague it makes the previous "content" look like an
> > honors thesis.]
>
>
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--
--
| Karen G. Schneider
| Community Librarian
| Equinox Software Inc. "The Evergreen Experts"
| Toll-free: 1.877.Open.ILS (1.877.673.6457) x712
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