Caribbean libraries as facilitators in the governance process

This post is based on my own local experience, from which I draw lessons for libraries, but mainly for libraries in developing countries. This post attempts to address 2 questions:

1. How national libraries can demonstrate their value nationally and in a relevant way to a nation's governance process especially in informing and educating citizens about national issues?
2. How national and public libraries can use Facebook and other social media to engage their citizens in education on national issues?

Recently in Jamaica, there has been a debate about a proposal regarding the development of some islands belonging to the state (If you are interested in this subject see the news reports from Jamaica Gleaner on the subject). Since most of the information that I have been getting on the islands was from the mass media, I began to think it would be nice for me to see pictures of the islands under discussion, the Goat islands, that were not filtered by the mass media. Unfortunately, I was unable to access adequate images of the islands involved using Google Search, Pinterest or even Flickr. Unlike other parts of Jamaica, the Great and Little Goat islands are not well known sites and do not seem to be very well documented via photographs. Even the Wikipedia entry on the subjects at the writing of this post reveals very little information (See entry for Great and Little Goat island). This is where I began to wish for my public library and national library to step into the national dialogue.

I imagined that if my libraries (public or National) would post on Facebook or other social media (blogs, Flickr, Twitter) pictures and information sources (or quotes from them) in order to help people be better educated about these islands, this would be very useful in helping the nation be more informed to participate in the debate. So on August 28, 2013, I inquired of  National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) on its Facebook page if the NLJ could post a photo of the islands with accompanying information. On the 29th of August 2013, the NLJ obliged me by posting this photograph of a map of the goat islands on its Facebook page as well as a historical fact. But it did not stop there. By September 1, 2013, the Jamaica Observer, one Jamaica's leading printing press published some historical facts compiled by the NLJ in the article "The legend of Goat Islands". Then on September 3, 2013 the National Library posted on its Facebook page a current photograph from the Jamaica Gleaner along with another historical fact.


The event narrated here is an important illustration of how Caribbean national and public libraries can play a role of providing neutral and historical information for democracy and in the interest of the public to inform the national debate. Already, just glimpsing at the Facebook page comments on the photos shared by NLJ, I see many Jamaicans conducting information seeking, asking other questions as well as attempting to process the value of the islands. This is a clear example of what Benjamin Franklin stated about libraries in his autobiography:

libraries have improved the general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges. (Nix, 2012).

Only that this time, substitute "Americans" with "Jamaicans" and "colonies" with "nation". Another aspect to this, is the use of social media by libraries to engage citizens and provide this information to the public as well as facilitate this conversation in this social virtual information space.


Reference:

Nix, L. T. (2012). The Library Company of Philadelphia. The Library History Buff. Retrieved from http://www.libraryhistorybuff.com/librarycompany.htm

The legend of Goat Islands (2013, Sep 1). Jamaica Observer. Retrieved from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/search/the-legend-of-goat-islands_14970538

Blogs in the library Catalogue? Feedback from conversations

So I showcased my poster on "Blogs in the library catalogue?" at the Technology in Education Symposium at Western University last Friday, March 8, 2012. The poster was the collaborative work of three of us in the Sociodigital research lab of which I am a lab member. The title of the presentation read: Blogs in the library catalogue? An investigation into the informational value of blogs for scholars and students


The abstract of which read:

We argue that blogs can be a valuable information source for library users. Blogs can be used to inform the research and academic work of scholars and students.  Despite their informational value, early views were skeptic towards the informational value of blogs because often librarians are more aware of blogs as tools for marketing their libraries or for promoting library resources and services. Currently some libraries have created what are known as catablogs – using blogs to store bibliographic information about their collection. With the exception of law librarians that have found blogs to be useful sources for accessing legal documentation, the current discourse on the value of blogs as information sources by academic librarians is limited and does not take advantage of the full potential that blogs have to offer as information sources. With the proliferation of blog creation by academic scholars and experts as well as institutions, we argue that there are countless reputable blogs that provide current and relevant information to students and scholars on their topic of interest that libraries could make accessible and promote on the library’s website and even its catalogue. We will discuss examples in our poster. Often blogs that are external to the library are not really considered and made accessible in the library’s general collection of resources. In fact, academic libraries should be able to find, acquire and point its academic users to relevant, reputable and credible blogs for information. After all, blogs are perhaps the most current information sources, continuously being updated with the views and interpretations of experts.

I have not included the full arguments here, but just want to reflect and post on the feedback to the idea as presented via poster at the symposium and based on my conversation with the few that engaged me on the topic.


In general, I only conversed about the poster with a handful of persons, but those who stopped by seemed receptive to the idea of blogs as valuable information sources that the library could direct library users to. In essence, I found I was able to defend the idea very well as persons raised their concerns. However, at least, the persons I conversed with all seem to value blogs as information sources, that they did not question its information value, but rather only wondered about the technical and other feasibilities of including blogs in the library catalogue.

• One wanted to know if the catalogue is the appropriate place for them, especially given some of the ephemeral nature of some blogs. I suggested that libraries already have in their catalogue links to e-resources, and for blogs such as the APA Style blog, that already has a printed monograph, we could easily add another link to its blog via its monograph's catalogue entry. 
• Another pondered about the lack of peer review and about quality control. I did discuss with him how librarians could phase in the inclusion of blogs in the catalogue that would take care of that issue. First we could start with the blogs that accompany established publications such as books, magazines and newspapers, and later include those bloggers cited in the literature or recommended by faculty.
• One librarian stopped by and mentioned that she used a library blog for her students, but would think about the issue of recommending blogs to students.
• Some persons also felt that blogs are so ephemeral that they perhaps did not belong, but I did talk about the fact that some magazines cease publication as well, and libraries have to deal with such serial publications already that may start up and disappear after a while.

If anything, I left more persuaded that I need to write a journal or magazine article defending the need for academic libraries to include blogs in their library catalogues.

Blogs as sources of folklore information

I am in the process of researching information for creating a graphic novel based on Rio Cobre and Flat bridge. (I should be preparing for my exams). Nevertheless, I am learning a lot in the process, a lot of it coming back to my proposed thesis about blogs as information sources. This is because I am finding that apart from newspaper sources (as well as the few books, journals, magazines and Websites), another source of information about the legends of say the River Mumma, or the Jamaican mermaid or River Maiden can be discovered in blogs. While I was hoping to find people relating personal experience of seeing the Jamaican mermaid, I have uncovered as many informative pieces on the legends via blogs. These blogs are as informative as the more officially published and documented sources.

To illustrate the informative nature, just see the following blogs:


Curran, B. (2012, July 26). Creature of the month - Duppies. New Page Books [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://newpagebooks.blogspot.ca/2012/07/creature-of-month-duppies-by-dr-bob_26.html


Morris, K. (2010, December 14). Have You Ever Seen a Rivah Mumma? Jamaican Echoes! [Blog post] Retrieved from http://jamaicanechoes.com/2010/12/14/have-you-ever-seen-a-rivah-mumma/

Phantoms & Monsters. (2010, December 2). Mermaids of the Caribbean [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://naturalplane.blogspot.ca/2010/12/mermaids-of-caribbean.html


I am finding that blogs function as a source for finding even information on Jamaican folk stories that may be useful to literary writers and artists seeking to create works of fiction or art. Hence, while contemplating and working on a graphic novel based on Rio Cobre and Flat Bridge, without being able to access Jamaicans in the area for their own stories, I am still able to find actual stories gathered via either blogs or newspaper articles that blogs may also point to.

On a matter of opinion, I am totally convinced that the Caribbean region needs to convert more of our stories including those in our National Pantomime into graphic novels, books or publications so that the world can access our stories about them, and not just our people. Billions of dollars await those who can tell stories, as Hollywood, Disney, and other movie making and animation industries are looking for story ideas and fresh stories to tell. As the animation and movie industries seek fresh materials for storytelling, I have all confidence that the Caribbean possess fresh material that these industries might consider. (See more of what I have written on this matter in the past).

Trickster folkloric characters and my evolving thesis idea

I read an excerpt that I find interesting especially as I consider folkloric characters such as Anansi, Sly Mongoose and Doctorbird as possible options for the AI conversational agent.

"Trickster has particular purposes within cultural stories as educator and teacher. The trickster typically teaches by making mistakes so listeners can hear the stories and learn from the mistakes so they do not have to make them themselves. Trickster typically has some human and some superhuman characteristics and possibly some animal characteristics as well that allow him to get into situations that otherwise would not be possible thus allowing stories to consider complex cultural, emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual domains." (Iseke-Barnes 2009)

Interesting ideas. I never saw it that way. I saw Anasi stories as teaching us the qualities of deception and deceiving other people which I felt ingrained corruption and 'conmanship' in the African diaspora.

My discovery that Native Canadians (or the Indigenous people of Canada) also have trickster stories also makes my thesis idea more relevant to not only Jamaica, but to Canada as well. Hopefully I can establish that AI conversational agents based on one's cultural stories may be effective in the online world in transferring knowledge and information, and in helping people make sense of their activities or world.



Reference:

Iseke-Barnes, J. (2009). Unsettling fictions: Disrupting popular discourses and trickster tales in books for children. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies,