Special for Library Journal...Cannabis Literacy

You can read it here: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2018/02/opinion/backtalk/cannabis-literacy-backtalk/

Hello. I'm a Turd.

[I was just informed this 'review' was taken down by Amazon because of racism.]

A recent Amazon.com reviewer of the book I co-edited--Librarians With Spines--took the opportunity to degrade me in public and to even try to humiliate be because I don't speak Spanish.

I'm publishing this hear because this is a perfect example of of librarians of color are harassed by anonymous flamers.

By stellabooon October 19, 2017

This is an unnecessary book. I am a MLS librarian with years of experience. I cry for my profession when new librarians trip over themselves trying to out-radicalize each other. Trust me: ALL librarians believe in intellectual freedom and collection development policies that promote alternative views. That is as old as libraries.

Max Macias, the editor, is considered a kind of joke we tolerate in Oregon. A POC quien no habla Espanol. I welcome new library minds that push our profession forward. Unless you are truly radicalized and want to destroy libraries for all people, this book has zero value.

Listen Stella--I'm fine with criticism of our book, but don't try to criticize my culture and who I am.  

I am not your 'mexican.' 

I am no joke.

I am a Chicano.  

Y-que.  

Thanks for showing how close-minded and racist librarians can really be.  You gave me the perfect example!  Who died and made Stella the grand-poo-bah of libraries, or the definer of ethnicity in Oregon?  This is the kind of environment I exist within.  People don't realize they can't define my ethnicity and also don't define who I am and my worth.  This is a good example of how someone with an MLS can be a close-minded turd.  There are many great librarians her in the PNW.  This just happens to NOT be one of them.

Link to review 

Love, 

Max

LIbrarians with Spines T-shirts Available Now!

 

To order a t-shirt, tote or sticker--follow this link:https://goo.gl/lZsjAS 

It isn't just getting people the MLS, or MLIS

It isn't just getting people the MLS, or MLIS.  I've had mine since 2009 and it hasn't done me much good.  Libraries, the ALA and Education is not really interested in equity, inclusion or diversity,  If they were, then they would put their money where there mouths are and make it a priority.  I have been working in libraries since 1987 and personally have not seen a change in representation.  I also have numbers that prove the field has become less diverse.  

I think working together is the way to go, but I also think acknowledging "whiteness" and the privileges that go with it is an important step toward working together.  I'm not even White and I benefit from these privileges because of my lighter skin. I know I have more opportunities (generally) than my darker brothers and sisters. And god forbid they have an accent.  It isn't that hard to acknowledge the privilege--yet people constantly fight this acknowledgement.  

We all benefit from the slavery, land-theft and genocide that occured and continues to occur in the Americas.  Even the poorest people in our culture have a higher standard of living because of the slavery, land-theft and genocide that has happened and is still ongoing.  It isn't hard to see this and acknowledgement is the answer.  Nobody wants anybody to feel bad, but we want acknowledgement.  I liken it to an alcoholic who is in deep denial.  Things won't ever get better until one can acknowledge one has a problem.

Free Speech Should be for Librarians Too

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 knowledgeable librarian to be on the panel.  However, the librarian's director told them that they could not be part of the session.  I found this interesting--especially since the state of Oregon has legalized cannabis for recreational and medical consumption.

Censored and Self-censored 

Anyway, the fact the librarians are scared to speak about certain issues, or to let their staff speak about certain issues because if might offend their constituencies is incredibly offensive to the notion of free speech AND intellectual freedom.  It would be wiser to create a campaign on intellectual freedom and free speech than to censor librarians, or to self-censor--which is the most usual case.  

Librarians should never be scared to talk about issues.  We should never be wary of pointing users to legitimate information sources, not matter what the subject and we should never self-censor.

It is chilling to me to hear so many people who are fearful of speaking out, speaking up or bringing up topics that might make others feel uncomfortable.  One of the main issues with our country is that it avoids issues that are uncomfortable.  This leads to anger, violence and other social issues.  

As librarians, we should feel free to speak our minds, be ready to defend our free speech rights and use, be ready to defend free speech for others and access to information that some may feel should be restricted.  

I have suffered the ramifications of free speech.  In fact, one of the heads of an academic diversity in libraries program recently told me to,  "Never contact me again.  Your rhetoric is weak, and your arguments are unconvincing."

If he doesn't like my arguments, then attack the arguments--don't cut me off from you and your program.  

When things like this happen, and even worse--when they happen in public, these ramifications serve as a model of punishment.  This model informs others of what can happen to them if they speak out, or don't reinforce the status quo.

If we self-censor, how can we ever hope to achieve promote free access to materials, and the free speech of ourselves and others?

#EthnicBullies and #GateKeepers in Academia and Education

On a web site I frequent someone recently posted a photo from an article on the san Francisco police giving some books to children.  Here is the link to the article: Article

I commented on the site that “I hope they gave the kids some books on how to survive a confrontation with the pigs.”  I said this in all seriousness because the police routinely kill people of color in the US.  In fact, citizen survival tactics during interactions with police should be programming in libraries. Using the term pig is English in origin and has also been used to describe police since 1851.

Apart from the police brutality based on race there was also some POC on POC bullying going on in this exchange on the board.

Immediately, the person who posted the article (a professional in the same profession as me) told me that I should act professional--”Aren’t you a professional Max--we should behave as professionals!”

I’m used to getting the “professional” ad hominem from discussions with White people who will attack me with this when I say something that challenges the established White-supremacist system.  Most often, these White people are ‘liberals,’ who claim to be on my side and to not be prejudiced.  #microaggressions

This comment was more insidious though.  This comment made me realize that this person is a gatekeeper/driver.  I use these terms because people who have benefited from Affirmative Action in the past--most of them older, mentors to the newer generations--are used as gate keepers and drivers.  

Slave Driver

They discourage and actively fight against advancement of those who could create change that would challenge the White racist power structure.  This is threatening to those who have achieved ‘professional’ positions, whose expertise would no longer be needed if the White-supremacist educational/professional system were dismantled and replaced with something civilized.  .  

These drivers I describe teach young people how to be successful in the current system that is dominated by outright racists and unconsciously biased people of all colors.  They also chastise, blackball and otherwise condemn those who don’t conform to the racist system of education.  #SlaveDrivers

Locked in a box of no opportunities

One reason there has not been any progress in education, economics and against the school to prison pipeline is insidious.  It isn't because of White racists alone.  It is because people who benefited from Affirmative Action are too scared and comfortable to create the needed change for those who were left behind in the barrio and ghettos.  They are in denial about the system and their place in the system of oppression.

These gatekeepers will focus on ‘civility’ and ‘professionalism.’  They will say a POC is uncivil if they speak in a manner that challenges the White-racist power structure.  Somewhere along the line, being civil and being professional became synonyms for servility, obedience, subservience and getting along within the status quo.  

Rome

This is not the definition of civil.  The English Word Civil comes from the Latin word civi--or city--being civil is the ability to get along and live with a variety of people, opinions, attitudes, etc...that come with living in the city.  It is the set of skills that allows one to live among the diversity of characters in the city.

These gatekeepers are guilty of complicity and abetting the White racist power structure.  They are also guilty or ruining good people’s chances at creating real change.  I say this because these drivers cut people out of the mix when it comes to opportunity.  They also help label good people as “angry,” “unprofessional,” and “uncivil.”  This keeps them out of professional positions, where they could create some real change.  

Not being angry, being professional and being civil are all requirements of a job in academia and anywhere else for that matter.  This is a main reason why we have not had any change as a result of affirmative action.  We are training people to be successful cogs in a system that despises us, is uncivil in a myriad of ways toward us, and murders us on a regular basis.  We need to train them and educate them to be leaders for change NOT leaders within this pathological system.  

Destroy the Ivory Tower!

Education should be liberating.  It shouldn't just lead to a comfortable life, jet-setting around the country and the world to conferences for intellectual posturing that creates no real change.  So, don’t lecture me about being professional--you all should be professional and challenge the system that oppresses your people so violently and so openly.  But then again, you may live up in the hills somewhere where you don’t have to deal with harassment by the police, or worse--violence-- like most of your people do.  When people work in the system of the status quo, they need to remember where they came from and that their attainment means much more than material success.

Hackers Have a Stronger Sharing Ethic than Librarians

The dysfunctional model of Librarians, who already have great jobs as librarians--writing books for ALA, or other publishers who will then pimp their information out to libraries who can afford the price to these publications. Most often, these publications are on essential library best practices and technology implementations. To put up a barrier to this librarian created information is ethically and morally wrong. It goes against the librarian principle of sharing information.

This information should be made freely available to libraries who can't afford the new ALA techSource title, or to small rural libraries who can't afford to attend the 350.00 pre-conference.

Shit--I have learned more from Hackers for free than I have learned from librarians sharing their vital information.

This site needs to be hackerfied--meaning--it should be converted to an information sharing site:

http://www.alatechsource.org

When I was first introduced to computers and the internet I had a friend who was a hacker. He turned me onto a group of White Hat Hackers who dedicated their lives to sharing information.

Much of what they did was illegal, but it was not malicious. It was about sharing. These people would spend hours and hours creating tutorials for users--this is where I learned about ports, scanning, FTP and more--all for FREE.

This sharing ethic made such a huge impression on me that I wondered why more people don't share information so freely.

Then I became a librarian and was so excited by the purported ethic of sharing information with those who are in need. Once I became a librarian, I quickly realized that this was not the case. What I mean by that is that in order to serve your patrons well, then you will have to cough up the money (most often) to get that information in the form of a pre-conference, a publication or a trainer. BIG bucks paid to librarians, whose ethics are supposed to include sharing information--even with those who have nothing. There is something wrong when our profession sells information.

One of my academic friends on FB told me that it is a tenure issue--"...people need to publish in the antiquated system in order to be recognized professionally."


While, this is indeed the case for academic librarians, we ALL need to be pushing the envelope on the publishing platform issue. Blogs and other related platforms can and should be used by academia to publish their work and get critiques from colleagues and a wider breadth of readership than simply publishing your article in one journal. Blogging to a wider audience can inject a healthy dose of transparency, information diffusion and a diversity of ideas into Academia. Academia is in dire need of these things at the moment.

Librarians should set up a virtual publishing center and publish their work there. It should be Be freely available to anyone who needs the information and should also include multimedia production and storage capabilities.

I should note here that many library related publications that are written by librarians and sold by publishers do not pay a dime. However, the publishers make money if the book sells through library related channels.

The Information Transfer Process in Hip-Hop: A New Academic Field Emerges

"Breakdance oldschool". Licensed under FAL via Wikimedia Commons.

[I wrote this in 2008-09]

Introduction

The current emphasis of Information Science is on knowledge— specifically knowledge processing—that is to say, the production and use of knowledge.  Whereas before the emphasis was on providing information, now Information Science seeks to help users understand and make use of this information thereby creating new knowledge and utilizations.  An interdisciplinary perspective and the primacy of the user are distinguished as necessary prerequisites for the successful implantation of information systems today (Oluic-Vukovic, 2001 p. 55)

Hip-Hop is a relatively new cultural phenomenon.  This paper is not concerned with the history of Hip-Hop, or even a definition so I will only touch on some fundamental aspects of Hip-Hop.  It really began in the 1970’s and has roots in African American culture.  There are at least three distinct aspects of Hip-Hop culture:  Music, Dance, and Art.  The music developed out of a mashup of Caribbean dj music and African American soul and funk.  The lyrics of the music—called rap can be traced to Toasting, and other African American lyrical legacies.  It is important to remember that this new musical innovation did not come from a record company, or the music industry. These musical innovations came from people, who for the most part, lived in poverty, and had little to no tools.

In the past twenty years or so academics have taken to writing about Hip-Hop and creating new knowledge out of the intellectual information generated by various dissemination venues ranging from the creation of new Hip-Hop beats and songs to popular magazine articles to MTV to radio interviews, to essays and articles by sociologists, philosophers, cultural critics, etc…

This paper seeks to analyze the creation of new knowledge in the area of Hip-Hop studies through various disciplines and public knowledge.  Public knowledge is very

important in Hip-Hop as it is where, for the most part, innovation and creation come from.  I say for the most part because many Hip-Hop artists and critics are well rounded and draw influences in their work from various areas including literature and history as well as cultural studies.

The model used for analysis is that defined by Achleitner as the information transfer process (Achleitner,  p. 143).  The information transfer process is composed of four different aspects: creation which involves research, dissemination, which involves distribution, diffusion, which involves teaching and learning, and utilization which involves application and service.  I will also include preservation in this paper as it is required.   The information transfer process exists in a milieu which includes culture, technology, economics, and policy (Achleitner,  p. 143).  All of these aspects have an impact on the Information transfer process.

Creation

New knowledge creation is dependent on research.  Research in new Hip-Hop information is conducted on many levels.  One aspect of research that can not be underestimated is the lone experimenter in their bedroom or basement creating new beats and lyrical styles.  I won’t focus on this aspect because this paper is too short to go into this in detail—suffice it to say this is important for, in the end, these new open-source creations impact knowledge at the university level.

Books are written on Hip-Hop from a serious academic viewpoint as illustrated by such books as the Hip Hop Reader, Black Noise, Holler if You Hear Me, among many others.  These books take Hip-Hop seriously and use academic analysis and vigorous investigations into the social and historical legacies of the artists, innovations, and tragedies of Hip-Hop music.

Academics use different forms of analysis to create knowledge about Hip-Hop. Several of these are:  Feminist interpretation, Capitalist--value based analysis (Machlup,

1979, p. 449), to critical forms from sources of Public Knowledge like Bill Cosby’s critical writings on Hip-Hop culture (Cosby).

Dissemination

In this essay I am using Hip-Hop to articulate Information Transfer aspects to people using preferred language, information that is timely, that users can adapt to their own needs of trying to understand the new paradigm.  These are all qualities that, according to Owens in their report on dissemination, states are facilitators to effective dissemination strategies (Owens, 2001, pg. 2).

Books written on Hip-Hop culture, History, Dance, Art, and more are increasingly important in contributing to academic as well as public knowledge. Some important authors on Hip-Hop Culture are Michael Eric Dyson, Tricia Rose, Jeff Chang, and many more.  Histories of Hip-Hop are being written—one of the most important written by the latter author on the list above.  There are several readers out among them are The Hip- Hop Reader, and That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader.  There is also at least

one book on the best articles in Hip-Hop Journalism called:  And It Don't Stop

The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years Edited by Raquel Cepeda.

Papers are presented at conferences introducing new ideas to large audiences around the country.  The audiences are often comprised of people from many different disciplines and contribute largely to dissemination of information to academia and the public.

Videos—Youtube is a great source of new information on Hip-Hop.  You can see lectures, and interviews with intellectuals and academics discussing new knowledge on Hip-Hop.  Films critiquing Hip-Hop culture such as Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes disseminate new knowledge about Hip-Hop to students and the general public.  Apart from Youtube there is a plethora of videos Hip-Hop culture ranging from Dance to Freestyle.

Radio interviews Michael Eric Dyson does a plethora of interviews on the radio explaining the cultural importance of Hip-Hop, and imparts this knowledge as new information to his listeners.  These interviews help communicate new knowledge to the general public.

Television segments and  interviews play an important role in disseminating knowledge.  Since Television has such a huge audience, it is an efficient method of dissemination.   Michael Eric Dyson, again—is a tireless advocate of Hip-Hop culture. He often does television interviews in which he explains the importance of Hip-Hop and its impact on American culture.

Magazines articles and interviews are important as they spread new knowledge to the general public as well as throughout academic disciplines.  Magazines such as  Vibe, XXL, etc… There are tons of blogs and web sites disseminating new Hip-Hop knowledge among other things every minute of the day.  Social Network communities also serve as agents of dissemination.  Sites like Digg, Delicious, and Hip-Hop specific social communities spread information and new knowledge quickly and effectively.  Scholarly journal articles serve as effective dissemination tools to other academics.  These articles appear in many different disciplines from dance, to psychology.

Organization

Classification schemes perform a direct and critical function—they provide the basis for the physical arrangement of library materials (Rubin, 2004, p. 221).  Not only is this true, but it they also provide a means of accessing information on the web as well. Information Science is no longer just concerned with the physical space of the library, but also with the virtual space.

Libraries usually classify knowledge by the Dewey Decimal System or the Library of Congress Classification System.   782.421649 is the call number for Hip-Hop culture in according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system.  ML3531 is the call number for Hip-Hop culture in the Library of Congress classification system.  Both these classification systems have Hip-Hop culture peppered throughout the other disciplines as Hip-Hop culture is fundamentally interdisciplinary.  This brings about the need for new methods of classification that arise out the ability for users to tag their information.

It is readily apparent that these classification schemes need to be updated.  Hip- Hop needs much broader categories of classification—I would also argue that the music sections in general should be updated frequently.  Tagging on the Internet and in Library catalogs is a rapidly developing phenomenon.  Perhaps a fusion of both metadata tags from users and one of the classification systems above would do better.
Diffusion

“Diffusion ifs the process by which innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system.  It is a special type of communication, in that the messages are concerned with new ideas (Rogers, 2003, p. 3)

Increasingly classes are taught on aspects of Hip-Hop culture.  According to an News Release from UC Berkeley News the number of Hip-Hop scholars is growing, but the amount of classes taught across the disciplines is still far behind the need (Anwar,

2007).  There are lesson plans based around Hip-Hop knowledge, and using Hip-Hop to teach other concepts.  One example is the Flocabulary web site: http://www.flocabulary.com/teacher/research.html.

Seminars—there is a seminar at our school that is being hosted at the Women’s Resource Center.  It will be based around a film called Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.  This film critiques Hip-Hop Culture through the lens of misogyny and critical media theory.  After the film there will be a facilitated discussion.  This discussion will lead  to diffusion by creating understanding among many of the participants.  There are many seminars similar to this creating diffusion of new Hip-Hop knowledge.

Eric Michael Dyson’s newest book on Hip-Hop, Know What I Mean? Is a great example of an academic who, through research has come to understand and create new knowledge on Hip-Hop.  His book of interviews takes Hip-Hop concepts like Sampling, Remixing, the intro and outro seriously and incorporates them into his work.  He thereby creates a new sub-genre of interview books (Dyson, 2007).

Authors and researchers write essays and articles for journals and magazines and create new knowledge on Hip-Hop at an increasing rate.  I am currently writing an article on the similarities between Concepts in Hip-Hop and concepts of the new Information Paradigm that can be illustrated by many new so-called web 2.0 applications.  These articles analyze, and explicate the relationships of Hip-Hop concepts to general developments in society.  This new direction of rigorous analysis and questioning may lead to fields in several academic disciplines.

Utilization

New knowledge in the areas of Hip-Hop Cultural studies and Hip-Hop studies in general is used in various contexts and new creations.  This new knowledge can be used to interest children in music.  It can be linked to such wide-ranging topics as information science and web design.  The knowledge that Information Science and Hip-Hop have conceptual as well as nominal similarities can be pointed out by elucidating the concept of remixing and sampling in the context of the web 2.0 environment.  The fact that remixing concepts in utilizations such as mashups and open source developments based on sampling others previous work and building on that are fine examples, analogies and sometimes metaphors for helping people from the fields of Hip-Hop and Information Science understand one another.

This new knowledge also creates new genres of American, as well as world Musical, Dance and Art history.  New fields are arising in several disciplines surrounding the study of Hip-Hop culture.  Another example that of utilization is that of the above mentioned web site flocabulary—its lesson plans which use Hip-Hop to teach are an example of the utilization of Hip-Hop knowledge.

Preservation

The preservation of Hip-Hop knowledge is a concern primarily of academic libraries.  The digitization of documents also makes it likely there will be copies of important documents stored around the world.  There is also now an official Hip-Hop Archive:   http://www.hiphoparchive.org/about/.  With these organizations involved important Hip-Hop documents will survive.

Conclusion

There is a proliferation of Hip-Hop knowledge today.  It will continue to grow as this cultural influence is recognized and analyzed.

References

Anwar, Yasmin, Hip-hop scholars push for recognition, UC Berkeley News Press Release, 09 January 2007 Retrieved 11/4/07 from: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/01/09_hiphop.shtml

Chang, Jeff, Can't stop, won't stop: a history of the hip-hop generation Publisher

New York: Picador, 2006 Edition 1st Picador ed

Dyson, Michael Eric, Know what I mean? : reflections on hip-hop, Imprint New

York: Basic Civitas; London: Perseus Running [distributor], 2007.

Hurt, Byron Hip-hop: beyond beats and rhymes  produced, Imprint Northampton, MA : Media Education Foundation, [2006]

Machlup, Fritz, Uses, Value, and Benefits of Knowledge, , Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization, 1979 Vol. 14 No. 4 June 1993 448-46

Neal, Mark Anthony & Murray Forman eds., That's the joint! : the hip-hop studies reader  New York : Routledge, 2004

Oluic-Vukovic, V. (2001). From information to knowledge. Journal of the

American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(1) 54-61.

Owens, Thomas. (2001). Dissemination: a key element of the ATE program. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from:

http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/ate/ATEpapers/dissemes.pdf

Rogers, Everett. (2003). Elements of Diffusion. In Diffusion of Innovation (pp.1-

37). New York: Free Press

Rubin, Richard, Foundations of library and information science  Publisher New

York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, c2004 Edition 2nd ed

Walker, Carol Hip-Hop Culture Crosses Social Barriers,  Us Department of state: Retrieved 11/1/07http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2006/May/12-522164.html