Twitter for Organizations Right now you're probably thinking, "Oh, no, not ANOTHER Twitter® tutorial!" Well, yes, this IS a Twitter® tutorial, but we're going to dig a little deeper. We'll cover the basics, then move on to organizational uses and searching. I'm hoping to impart some ideas and enthusiasm to friends in the library community as well as anyone else who might benefit. This tutorial takes for granted that the reader is already familiar with Twitter® and has a user account. For those who are not, and don't, a cheat sheet follows. The site address is http://Twitter.com/ . Sign up for an account. Why use Twitter® at all? Twitter® creates a constant stream of updates from important sources. Twitter® is like RSS on steroids, or like having multiple (both local and international) television news reports open all at once, or like having your best friend’s opinions in combination with world famous experts' opinions—all available for questions a...
Librarians and Self-censorship Free speech for librarians comes with unspoken conditions I encounter many (often young) librarians in real life and online. One of the most frequent things people tell me is, "How come you are so free with your speech? I could never talk about those things--I would get fired." or more often, "...I would never land a job!" It is striking that librarians consider themselves defenders of free speech and intellectual freedom, but that the above sentiment is held by so many librarians. Why are librarians scared to speak about important issues? I understand about library constituencies, but I'm not talking about library directors here--I'm speaking about regular librarians, or librarians searching for a job. Last month, I had a session at the Oregon Library Association Conference. My session was on cannabis resources for librarians. The session consisted of a panel. I had invited another kn...
[This is an unusually long blog post—sorry.] BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) are in an abusive relationship with the colonial culture. We are constantly told to assimilate, act 'professional,' be perfect, be natural and authentic...I could go on, won't. The point is, the abuser—colonial culture knows that we, BIPOC, can never really assimilate, act ‘professional’, be perfect, be natural and authentic—and we might as well add smile 24 hours a day. The aforementioned ‘professional’ refers to colonial culturally indoctrinated people demanding BIPOC act, read, write and be white to be ‘professional.’ All the while knowing that we cannot—because the colonial culture will not accept us as such--no matter how we behave. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) are put into a double bind constantly in the US. This happens from the time we enter elementary school at age 5 into our professional c...
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