Week 15 Reading Response

Last class! I really enjoyed all of the presentations, and thought everyone in class did an excellent job. I hope I get to see everyone in future classes over the next two years here at SLIS.

As far as presentations go, I thought it was fascinating to see the juxtaposition of the big box book store and the urban library groups' presentations. Some of the book store-like changes Steve Coffman suggests in his article seem to directly oppose the recommendations made by the urban library group on how to improve and democratize large public libraries. For example, removing the computers from a library, and the librarians who teach people to use them might save costs, but it would deprive many library patrons of their only means of using the internet. As the urban library presentation pointed out: this would affect more than just individual users, because the person who comes to the library to use a computer is often doing it on the behalf of many members of their community. I tend to agree with the big box group that although in small ways (making the library more comfortable for reading) making a library like a book store is positive, in big picture ways, libraries should keep their traditional role in the community. The urban library group also brought issues to my attention, such as homeless people's use of the library and their particular needs.

Week 14 Reading Response

Second to last class, and the first day of presentations. It seemed that these presentations covered interesting topics, but ones that are slightly less controversial than those that will go on the 15th. The e-reader presentation was interesting, and confirmed my preference for the Barnes and Noble Nook over other readers (I bought one just a few weeks ago). In a similar vein to Week 12's reaction, the group brought to my attention the ability of e-readers to help people with learning and physical disabilities navigate and understand a book. I also like the mention of the difference between what you think your rights are as an e-book purchaser and what they actually are. An e-book can be bought and read, but not lent (at least, not freely under all circumstances) or sold. This seems to reiterate my point from the intellectual property readings a few weeks ago: today's copyright law is not equipped to deal with modern technology.

The other presentation, one city one book, really caught my attention. It does seem to be a good idea, having a whole city read a book, but I'm not sure if the utopian idea is unrealistic: are a majority of people really going to read and have intelligent conversations about a book that a city group suggests to them? The presenting group demonstrated that although considered successful in some cities like Seattle and Chicago, in other cities it fails overall, such as in New York. Also, the goals of the program confused me a little. Yes, a citywide book read might encourage people to consider ideas or viewpoints they might have otherwise. But the goal of promoting literacy seems suspect. Are people with no or limited reading skills going to accept the challenge of plowing through an adult reading-level book? That seems doubtful to me. One city one book is a good idea in some respects, but in terms of promoting literacy, librarians should look to spend their time and money in a more useful way to help illiterate and barely literate adults gain and improve reading skills.

Week 13 Reading Response

There is so much I could discuss about Louise Robbin's book, The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown. Overall, I really liked how Robbins integrated so many different elements and occurrences into a comprehensive narrative. She considers the state of the community of Bartlesville, what was happening in the community and the nation in terms of anticommunism/McCarthyism, racial segregation and racism, and the place of women in the community, and describes how all of these different factors fit into Ruth Brown’s life experience, such as her ability to make more waves after her foster children were on their own. She provides a comprehensive view of the circumstances surrounding Ruth Brown's dismissal so the reader can understand all the various factors that contributed to it.

This reading dovetailed nicely with my group project for this class: book banning and censorship. I really enjoyed the way Robbins illustrated the development of the principle of intellectual freedom in libraries in a specific case such as this. It astonished me to read on page 59 that a library commission recommended that "questionable material" be removed or severely restricted, at least until the opposition died down. It was also around this time, though, that the ALA began to more strenuously support intellectual freedom and condemn censorship. Without the historical circumstances in the mid-twentieth century, the profession of librarianship wouldn't be recognizable today.

Another element of the book that caught my attention was the strong association in many people's minds between communism and racial equality. Both of these movements had the potential to severely disrupt people's every day lives, which many people feared and fought. What worries me, however, is similar associations I see being made by some highly conservative groups today. While in the 1950s, some people believed that racial equality was a threat to American democracy, today it seems some people believe that Islam is a threat to America's (supposed) Christian heritage, or equality of sexual orientation is a threat to American family values. Perhaps these ideas will never reach the magnitude of segregation, or the McCarthy witch trials. But any threat to freedom of speech and choice in this country is worth fighting, no matter how small. Every day, librarians face challenges to the materials they offer, and we must remember to remain strong in our opposition to censorship. Intellectual freedom is now a central value of the library profession, and like Ruth Brown did, I hope to uphold that value no matter the consequences.

Week 12 Reading Response

This week's blog post is less of a reading response than a video response. I haven't yet had the opportunity to take an online class, so I liked having this small introduction to asynchronous learning. The videos also brought up a lot to think about in terms of the present and future roles of the library. The first video, "The Future of the Academic Library" covered a great many topics. I chose to focus on one that coincided with one of the readings for today, "The Library as Place." One of the points made by the presenters in the video was that the role of the library is changing in modern times, and the physical space of the library should change accordingly. Rather than the library as a repository for endless shelves of dusty books, they should be reconfigured as learning commons or "infocommons" in order to serve users' needs.

The article on the physical construction of academic libraries made a similar point. Students and faculty today look at the library as a one-stop place for learning and researching needs. I can vouch for this from experience. I work at the reference desk in Memorial Library, and several times this semester I have answered phone calls during which a student asks where they can find a tutor, or get help writing or formatting a paper. They expect the library to offer these services, but I have to send them to various places across campus. Perhaps it would be better for libraries to become more integrative, and create space for different services besides merely providing access to books.

I can't say that I know what the ideal future library will look like. But it is obvious that libraries are no longer only a storage space for books. In my future career as a librarian, I hope to work with agencies such as the Council on Library and Information Resources, as well as library users of all types, to create a library space which is dynamic, integrative, and service-oriented.

To conclude, I would like to mention the other video. I found the video about the issues surrounding the kindle study to be very thought-provoking. I personally do not have any particular disabilities, and do not know anyone personally who does. It is easy to forget that some people do have disabilities and need differently accessible products, but this course has helped me to remember this issue. As a librarian, I hope to always be aware of the different abilities of my patrons, and to work to provide all the information the library provides to them in an accessible format.

Week 11 Reading Response

I really liked this week's articles on government documents and libraries. Sometimes with the readings we have, I'm left wondering how to connect the information given to librarianship, but with these readings the connection was clear and informative. Two of the articles seemed to promote the traditional library goal of greater access to information. One article, however, seemed took the more interesting stance that government communication could be dangerous.

The first article I read, "Examining the Role of Website Information" was very well laid out, with clear objectives and findings. Basically, the authors, Eschenfelder and Miller, advocated for greater use of textual information on government websites. More than that though, they propose that website information be constructed and evaluated not just on quantity but on type and quality. I agree that it is important not only to have basic information on government policies and actions available to the public, but that there should also be information regarding information behind those policies, how the government came to the solutions it is proposing, and alternative theories and actions that could be taken. This allows for greater citizen involvement in the workings of government, which is essential to a democratic society.

The article "Documents for a Digital Democracy" also emphasized the importance of disseminating government information to the populace in general. This article emphasized the importance of digitizing printed government documents, and the proper management of digitized and born-digital information from government sources. I enjoyed the section that described how librarians should rethink their roles. The role of the modern librarian, in a simple sense, is to provide people with access to information. To do this in the context of government information, librarians must assist with the digitization of records and keeping of digital records, as well as be familiar with all of the varied types of information made available by governments and how users can access them.

I honestly wasn't really sure what to make of the final article, "The Nerves of Government." It had some good elements, but overall it seemed to lean a little on the side of paranoia/conspiracy theory stuff. Generally, government communication with citizens is seen as a positive thing, something that encourages democracy. In this article though, government communication is seen as a propaganda tool, a way of indoctrinating Americans into thinking the way government wants them to think. I can see that sometimes the government uses communication tools in an attempt (that is probably somewhat successful) to influence citizen's opinions. But we can't simply ask the government to stop providing information, as much of it is useful or even essential to functioning in our private lives and as a country. As I said, I'm not sure how to make sense of this article in terms of the other articles assigned or in terms of librarianship in general.

Week 10 Reading Response

Let me begin by saying that I have no background in law whatsoever, and my knowledge of copyright, at least until this week, involved discussions of plagiarism in my undergraduate history classes, and the fear of being caught downloading music I didn't pay for. With this base knowledge, I had mixed feelings about the readings for this week. All of them were interesting, but I probably read them at a pretty basic level, and may not have picked up on the more nuanced aspects of the discussions of copyright.

The first two readings, the excerpts from Shamans, Software, and Spleens and "Cultures and Copyrights" really helped me to understand more about what copyright law is and how it developed. I also thought Michael Brown's analysis of the Bulun Bulun case was very interesting. I find it both fascinating and confusing the many ways that copyright can be used in a modern context, such as in this reading where an aboriginal Australian group used copyright law to assert their rights and autonomy as an indigenous people. The final reading, "Telling Tales out of School," demonstrated another legal argument based on copyright based around academic research and scientific data. After reading it though, I was left wondering how the information contained therein is specifically applicable to librarianship. I look forward to our class discussion on these topics.

The article that I enjoyed reading the most was "Revising Copyright Law for the Information Age," by Jessica Litman. I really couldn't agree more with her assessment that we, as a nation, desperately need to radically revise, if not completely overhaul, our copyright laws. As she points out, today's digital technologies make basing copyright law literally on the right to make copies obsolete. Her discussion of the public's misconception of what copyright is, combined with my own similar misconceptions, make it obvious that copyright laws are so confusing and cumbersome that they are not practical in an age when almost anyone can gain access and easily copy almost any original work. And when people are being sued for millions of dollars for downloading a couple dozen songs from the internet (http://articles.cnn.com/2009-06-18/justice/minnesota.music.download.fine_1_jury-instructions-fined-sheryl-crow?_s=PM:CRIME), its pretty obvious there's something wrong with the system.

I can't pretend that I have the expertise to judge Litman's suggestions on how new copyright law should be constructed, but as an average user of copyrighted materials, her solutions seem viable. I think this is something that I, and all future librarians, should look into in greater detail. If copyright law is actually to be revised for the digital age, librarians should and probably will play a role in its construction, or at least the dialog surrounding the change. We are often the intermediaries between the general public that Litman describes in her article, and the copyrighted works they need access to. I think it's part of our job to help the public gain access to the ideas encompassed in copyrighted works without infringing on the rights of the creators of those works.

Week 9 Reading Response

For me, reading Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt after Skloot's Immortal Life was like watching a freshman communications student give a speech immediately after a motivational speaker. Brandt's book had some interesting material, but the density of the text and the narrow focus of the subject matter was hard to get through after reading Skloot's fast-paced narrative. I felt as though it would have been at least somewhat helpful if I had had any sort of background in literacy studies before approaching this book, because I have no intellectual context in which to place it. Is her perspective of literacy as a resource novel, or standard for the field? Is her use of individual case studies instead of large, anonymous surveys considered less accurate, or innovative? Are her conclusions valid according to others who study literacy? I just think some more general background information in literacy studies would have been helpful for me in contextualizing this book.

One basic premise of Brandt's book that I found noteworthy was her idea of sponsors of literacy. It is easy to think of literacy as an all or nothing thing, a skill taught to you by your grade school teachers that remains the same thereafter. But as Brandt describes, literacy exists on a continuum, and it people's literacy levels are affected by institutions and people they interact with throughout their whole life. Considering literacy in this way, looking at what elements in people's lives that effect and promote their literacy, is essential for the goal of improving people's literacy. No matter how good a child's grade school education is, they will not gain a high level of literacy if the basic places in their life they gain and practice such skills, like in church, are ignored.

Week 8 Reading Response

So, I totally forgot to do my blog post on last week's reading of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Which is especially strange, as it was basically the first reading assignment in this class that I completely enjoyed and finished well ahead of the due date. Please forgive me this lapse in memory.

As I just said, I LOVED this book. Perhaps it's because I am a die-hard fiction reader, and to me this book read like a well-written novel. Actually, I think the flow of the narrative and its accessibility to a wide-range of readers was its greatest asset. The class discussion on this book, understandably, focused on the issues of privacy, autonomy, and ownership that surrounded Henrietta's cells and family. Although I realize these are obviously important issues, I simply can't become excited about them. Rather, what I found to be the most important and basic element of this book was its wide appeal to general readers.

The Immortal Life can be read on a variety of levels, and has several important themes or concentrations. The fact that all of these are brought together in an engaging narrative is its greatest asset, because it allows even a reader with little background knowledge to engage intellectually with issues as wide ranging as scientific cell research, ethical dilemmas of consent and autonomy, historical and modern racial disadvantage, and many others. Sure, Skloot could have written at a more intellectual level, or included more facts and less conversation between her and Deborah Lacks. But to do so would have removed the book from the ability or interest of less-educated readers. People who have higher education backgrounds in those issues have plenty of scholarly material available to them on the topics. But for many lay readers, this book may be the only exposure they've had to issues such as cell research and privacy issues. This book could be a baseline for those readers to find more in-depth information on topics they were previously unaware of. Especially from a librarian's standpoint, I think that the greatest strength of Skloot's book is bringing information and inspiring research in the general public.

Week 7 Reading Response

Three of this week's readings, "Teaching at the Desk," "Towards a User-Centered Information Service," and "Mom and Me" focus on how libraries should serve their users. Specifically, libraries should look at how the user views the world and conducts searches, and center their service strategies around these ideas. I found a couple of points in these articles noteworthy. "Teaching at the Desk" emphasizes that librarians need to shift the way they think about their roles: "As librarians, we are taught that our job is to answer questions. We must unlearn that definition of our job in order to teach at the reference desk." (459). What I think the author Elmborg is saying is that librarians should think of their role as that of assisting patrons in getting connected to the information resources they want. This ultimately means the user finds their own answer, with the librarian's help. I think this is a more effective way of providing library services, because what a librarian might think is a "good" or "correct" answer may not be satisfactory to the user asking the question.

The article "Mom and Me" by Wayne Wiegand also makes this point from a slightly different angle. The highly confusing sentence, "different people use different information differently to make sense of their worlds" is actually highly important for librarians to understand and put into practice. As Wiegand explains in his article, what one person values as an important source of information, as a librarian values books, another person may consider relatively unimportant compared to word-of-mouth information from family and friends. Librarians need to set aside their own assumptions of worth and consider how they can best assist a patron using the patron's valued information sources.

The final article "Museums, Management, Media and Memory: Lessons from the Enola Gay Exhibit" by Elizabeth Yakel stood out from the rest. It describes the controversial exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of the plane that dropped atomic bombs on Japan and information surrounding that event. I could expound on several parts of this article that interested me, but I particularly like the part about how museums have transitioned from only portraying one "accepted truth" in an exhibit to exploring different opinions and sides of an issue. I think this relates to libraries specifically in that libraries used to try to influence their patrons' reading habits by acquiring materials that they considered good or moral. Today, however, libraries are moving towards greater inclusiveness of materials by purchasing books that represent a variety of viewpoints, even those that the librarians themselves might strongly disagree with. I think this is a vital phenomenon in that it supports individuals' freedoms and rights to access of information.

Week 6 Reading Response

Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder

Overall I found David Weinberger's book to be readable and thought-provoking. While it often came off as repetitive, I liked his overall assessment of the internet and its affect on how we organize and use knowledge. I think one of the main reasons I enjoyed this reading so much was that it spelled out the details of the internet age and its effects on knowledge so clearly. At 21, the internet is so ubiquitous in my life, and always has been, that its hard for me to comprehend what a drastic change its been from the past. Its almost the same as how you can't write about history when you're living in it... you need distance to see the connections. I feel like Weinberger helped to give me that distance so that I'm now in a better position to analyze the how the internet has changed how we organize and find information.

While reading, I marked a couple passages in the book that I found compelling and worth more thought. In one of these sections, Weinberger discusses knowledge, saying that in the past there could "be only one knowledge because the world is one way and not any other. But there will always be multiple conversations and thus multiple understandings." (203-204). This resonated with me because I agree that knowledge is not composed of single, static truths; rather it is changeable and understood uniquely in different times by different people. To assume that knowledge is unchangeable hurts both you and the people you interact with. A person who rejects the idea that knowledge is fluid and active won't be able to look at the world in new and valuable ways. Similarly, they will reject people who's conception of knowledge is different from their own. I believe everyone would benefit from conceiving of knowledge the way David Weinberger does, as a means of gaining understanding of the world and the people who occupy it, rather than a set of strict facts and definitions.

Week 5 Reading Response

I found this week's readings particularly fascinating. There seemed to be two different issues at play in the articles assigned: that of the right of individuals to the privacy of their personal information, and that of the right of individuals to dictate the use of their bodily materials. "Access to Online Local Government Public Records" by David S. Byrne dealt with what I felt was a more straightforward issue regarding people's rights to privacy. The issue in the article was mainly that local and state governments have to figure out how to maintain the privacy of individuals while still providing access to public records and maintaining transparency in government. While this article focused on governmental organizations, this is also an issue that librarians must deal with. What type of information regarding library patrons, if any, should be made available to the public? From what I've learned so far this semester, most libraries err on the side of privacy, and do not divulge any personal information about their patrons. This was evidenced in the section in This Book is Overdue, which told the story of the librarians who refused to provide information to the FBI on their patron's internet use.

The other two articles, in my opinion, brought up issues that are much more complex and do not seem to have any relatively easy solutions. They dealt with the use of human tissue in medical research. In such cases, the issue is not basic privacy; both articles describe how there is a general agreement that donors of tissues have the right to maintain anonymity. The bigger issue here, it seems, is autonomy, meaning whether or not individual donors have the right to decide the specific uses of their tissues after they are removed. I feel as though I lack the proper knowledge of law and property issues to take a very firm stance on this issue. As the article "Body of Research" by R. Alta Charo indicates, both sides have strengths and weaknesses. I do think that people should have the right to determine how their donated tissues are used. However, it would be problematic to label one's body as personal property. As Charo describes, doing so would possibly prevent the use of long-deceased cadavers in scientific research because they would become the property of their ancestors. I look forward to the discussion on this topic, because I'm sure I will hear many points of view that I haven't even considered.

Week 4 Reading Response

I found "The Company of Readers" by Catherine Ross was a very interesting way of looking at the role of libraries in people's lives. I think that focusing on readers is important, because the ultimate goal of a library is to serve its users. Knowing what, how, and why people read is especially important in a public library, which is one branch of librarianship I have considered for my future career. As an introductory chapter to a whole book, Ross gives a general overview of different aspects of books and readers. At the end of each section, she lists ways librarians can incorporate the information discussed into their work. I found this especially interesting and helpful. In the short time I have been in library school I have read lots of interesting and important things about librarianship, but they haven't always been directly connected to the practical aspects of the job. I like that Ross linked theory to practice, especially in her suggestions of how librarians can best encourage reading in public libraries.

One particular aspect of Ross's chapter that I found intriguing was her frequent mention of reading advisors. I haven't heard this particular term before, and it confused me a little. Did Ross mean that public librarians form panels through which they decide which books they should recommend to patrons in general? Or did she mean it in an individual way, as each librarian assists a single patron in selecting reading materials? I'd really like to find out more information on that.

State of the Libraries Essay- Pennsylvania

Avon Grove Library: http://www.southernchestercountyweeklies.com/articles/2010/08/26/opinion/doc4c767cb2dede2426202861.txt

University of Pennsylvania Libraries: http://thedp.com/article/library-launches-text-message-service

Athenaeum Library: http://thedp.com/article/library-launches-text-message-service

In searching for newspaper articles about Pennsylvanian libraries, I somewhat predictably found a great number of articles dealing with the budgetary issues of the state’s public libraries. The articles I finally chose, however, dealt with the services provided by a public, academic, and subscription library in Pennsylvania. All of these libraries collect and organize different types of information and serve different library patrons. Each of these articles can be related to the second theme of the course, that of the role of library professionals, who in each of these types of libraries, works to provide information to users.

Chris Barber’s article in the Southern Chester County Weeklies, “Avon Grove Library is a Model for Small Town Success” describes a small public library in Pennsylvania that is experiencing greater success than most similar libraries in the state. This article was refreshing; most of the articles I found on public libraries in PA described severe budget cuts and pending closings. The Avon Grove library, however, actually had increased circulation over the summer, while almost all other libraries in the library had decreased circulation. Although Avon Grove suffered the same budget cuts as other libraries, the librarians vowed to continue providing service to their community. The fundraisers held to support library programs were very successful and contributed to Avon Grove’s ability to thrive in difficult times.

The Daily Pennsylvanian published an article about a year ago about an academic library that I believe is still relevant to the study of libraries in that state. The author of “Library Launches Text-Message Service,” Jared McDonald, reports, as the title indicates, the University of Pennsylvania’s new library text-message service. Through this program, students at Penn can text a reference librarian with their research questions. This is in addition to the instant messaging service already used by Penn libraries. Librarians using the texting service, which had been available for about a month at the time of the article, were receiving about one text a day, which was not considered a bad start. A search of Penn’s library website shows that the texting service is still active, although it gives no information on frequency of use.

The final article I chose, “Athenaeum Library in Philadelphia: Old World and Cutting Edge” by Tom Stoelker, described a more unusual type of library: the subscription library. The article in the Philadelphia Enquirer illustrates how subscription libraries were founded based on the idea that if a large number of people shared the cost of books, more people would be able to enjoy a greater a number of volumes. The library also includes an archive on architecture and an art gallery. The public may tour the library and peruse the archives by appointment, and a $200 fee allows anyone to check out books from the Athenaeum’s circulating collection. Interviewed for the article, director Sandra Tatman hopes to keep the nearly 200-year old library up to date. The library’s dedication to staying modern is obvious when reviewing its digitalized resources and online databases.

I chose to relate these articles to the second theme of the class, which deals with “professional values, responsibilities, and aspirations” (syllabus). Although each of these libraries differs dramatically in type, situation, and users from the next, they all are staffed by librarians dedicated to user service. The article on Avon Grove public library depicts a library staff that understands that community outreach is one of the most important aspects of a public library’s duties. The article indicates that it was in large part the Avon Grove librarians’ dedication to continuing programs and education for the community that contributed to the library’s success in hard times.

The article on Penn’s texting service also deals directly with how information professionals serve their users. In this case, rather than users being community members and their children, Penn’s librarians serve a large academic community. This patron base is reflected in the services they provide, including instant messaging and texting, through which students and faculty can reach the university’s professional reference librarians. That the librarians would dedicate their time to a texting service indicates their commitment to serving the library users in the most effective way possible.

Finally, the Athenaeum library in Philadelphia serves a very different user base than Penn or Avon Grove. Users of the Athenaeum library must pay a subscription fee to gain access to its collections; however, the library contains a large number of rare books not easily found at other libraries, as well as an original archive and art museum. One way in which librarians at this subscription library assist users is by helping them use the Regional Digital Imaging Center, where users can scan, with minimal damage, documents of all sizes. Obviously, the Athenaeum’s users are dissimilar from a public or academic library, but the librarians are just as dedicated to serving those users.

Week 3 Reading Response

The article "Unequal Legacies: Race and Multiculturalism in the LIS Curriculum" by Christine Pawley was fascinating to me for several reasons. First, and probably least importantly, I found her division of the profession of librarians into four categories interesting and helpful because for me it clarified categories of librarianship that I subconsciously was aware of, but hadn't overtly thought about. More importantly, however, Pawley's article brought to my attention issues of race in librarianship that I wasn't previously aware of.

As a history major, I took classes which covered racism both as it occurred in U.S. history and as it relates to the study of history itself. I was aware that the study of history has, until recently, been dominated by white males, which has been reflected in how history has been told over time. It hadn't occurred to me until I read Pawley's article that libraries, in how they relate to different elements of a society, have been subject to the same circumstances.

Awareness, I think, is the first step in combating the issues of racism in librarianship. If people aren't aware of the problem, they can't find solutions to it. Pawley is correct in her assessment that this awareness must begin during LIS education, if not earlier. As a first year student only a few weeks into the semester, I cannot accurately assess how UW-Madison's LIS program addresses issues of racism, but I believe that if not already the case, every course in the LIS curriculum can and should include information on this issue.

Specifically what I found interesting about Pawley's discussion of racism in librarianship is her discussion of the use of the term "services to," indicating that librarians are in possession of a greater amount knowledge or ability than the people they serve, especially racial and other minorities. I think it is important for librarians and LIS studies students to keep a balanced view of their role of helping people find information and be careful not to adopt a "missionary" outlook of their services.

Week 2 Reading Response

In reading "Libraries" by Christine Pawley, I found the last section about the values of libraries very interesting. Today it seems that most librarians share a common creed of promoting free access to information and opposing censorship. However, this set of values obviously has not existed since time immemorial; Pawley gives a brief description of the development in her article.

I agree with the values held by most librarians, that everyone should be able to have access to information, and that librarians are responsible for helping people find what they are looking for. This brings up interesting issues though, of how the principles of librarianship will evolve as the internet becomes ever more ubiquitous. Do libraries have a responsibility to provide access to all web content, even what would be considered explicit? How do librarians provide equal access and help to people who do not have access to online resources? I certainly don't have the answers to these questions, but they are problems librarians will need to come up with solutions for and which we will all be dealing with in our education and career.

Testing...

Just making sure this is going to work. Welcome to my LIS 450 class blog everyone!