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A Genealogy of Refusal : Walking away from crisis and scarcity narratives
Main Menu
Crisis narratives frame our response
Bartleby at the Wall
How can fiction and popular culture inform the way we promulgate or refuse crisis & scarcity narratives in librarianship?
Proud Descendants who "Prefer not to"
Some recent gems from Bartleby's lineage
A Kinship Diagram of Workplace Refusal
Satire is rich
Comedic instances of workplace refusal are especially powerful
Dark side of parody
More Satire
When Expectations Cross the line
Why don't librarians "Just say No"?
Do we prefer to suffer in silence because its a vocation and not "just a job"
Feminized Labour
Saying Yes all the Time
Superhero Librarians
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a librarian!
I am not your hero
Murderbot: the alternate patron saint for librarians
The invocation of crisis narratives is relentless
No individual solution to our problems
Debunking myths that hold us back to enable collective ways of moving forward
What refusal can we take up?
A Cosmic Gift
Manifest NO
Becoming fluent in hearing and saying No
Asset Framing
Bibliography
Works cited, featured, mentioned and consulted for Genealogy of Refusal project
Glossary of Key Concepts
Multiple Paths
A compendium of paths through the Genealogy of Refusal content: a choose-your-own-adventure approach to this companion piece.
Genealogy of Refusal Timeline
We welcome contributions
Learn how to contribute to this project
About the Authors
Natalie K Meyers
4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22
Anna Michelle Martinez-Montavon
1459b2fc55591cd9b08a290af468d31b5dfe46a3
Mikala Narlock
db843c923469f0dadab98d57ee053b00c88a64b1
Kim Stathers
b8f352d1ce6eb714d5242702eaa05362c8eae357
Multimedia project for the The Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship Special Issue on Refusing Crisis Narratives
Office Space Bare Minimum Meme
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media/office-space-2_thumb.jpeg
2021-04-14T13:54:20-07:00
Mikala Narlock
db843c923469f0dadab98d57ee053b00c88a64b1
33948
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If you think the bare minimum is enough, then ok. But some people choose to do more and we encourage that...
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2021-04-17T21:58:57-07:00
Natalie K Meyers
4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22
This page has tags:
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media/dctermstimeline.png
2021-04-12T00:11:25-07:00
Natalie K Meyers
4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22
Genealogy of Refusal Timeline
Natalie K Meyers
36
timeline
2021-09-14T21:36:29-07:00
Natalie K Meyers
4b3948ab8901940da5f2eb884c2cc86b3dc6ac22
Contents of this tag:
1
2021-03-31T12:46:04-07:00
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
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Melville, Herman. 1853. Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11231 "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine. In the story, a Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copies or do any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to".
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2021-04-15T11:19:30-07:00
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2021-03-08T06:54:36-08:00
The League [Kyle Higgins Short film].
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In 1946 the country is introduced to the first ever Superhero Labor Union.
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2021-04-15T14:19:20-07:00
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2021-03-10T15:11:49-08:00
Clerks film clip
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Kevin Smith. 1994. Clerks Movie CLIP - We’re So Advanced.
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2021-03-10T15:18:03-08:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:55-07:00
Beyond books: Librarians on front line of opioid crisis
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County librarians are finding themselves responsible for responding to overdoses
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2021-04-12T13:55:41-07:00
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2021-04-17T23:14:33-07:00
1974 Equal Pay PSA with Batgirl
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Will Batgirl save Batman and Robin from the bomb? Or will she stand for her rights and get the same pay as a man? If they say no to equal pay...bombs away!
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2021-12-08T14:06:24-08:00
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media/COWLMotivation_thumb.png
2021-03-08T07:19:12-08:00
COWL Illustration
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C.O.W.L. The Chicago Organized Workers League C.O.W.L. Principles of Power Chapter 1 Motivation
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2021-04-17T21:53:19-07:00
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2021-04-16T13:49:20-07:00
Librarian Action Figure with cape
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Archie McPhee. 2017 “Librarian Action Figure.” Archie McPhee. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://mcphee.com/products/librarian-action-figure
meta
2021-04-17T23:08:34-07:00
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2021-04-16T14:24:24-07:00
The Starless Sea: A Novel
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Morgenstern, Erin. The Starless Sea. New York: Anchor Books, 2019. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/535366/the-starless-sea-by-erin-morgenstern/.
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2021-04-17T21:13:36-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:00-07:00
Becoming Librarians, Becoming Teachers: Kairos and Professional Identity
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Using kairos as an analytic lens, this article examines debates around the professional role of librarians as teachers as an example of professionalizing discourse.
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2021-03-31T14:19:18-07:00
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2020-12-11T15:18:45-08:00
Walkaway
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Doctorow, Cory. 2017. Walkaway. New York: Tor Books.
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2021-04-17T21:35:56-07:00
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media/office-space-2_thumb.jpeg
2021-04-14T13:54:20-07:00
Office Space Bare Minimum Meme
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If you think the bare minimum is enough, then ok. But some people choose to do more and we encourage that...
plain
2021-04-17T21:58:57-07:00
1
2021-03-31T12:46:02-07:00
A Paradise Built in Hell : The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster
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The most startling thing about disasters, according to award-winning author Rebecca Solnit, is not merely that so many people rise to the occasion, but that they do so with joy. That joy reveals an ordinarily unmet yearning for community, purposefulness, and meaningful work that disaster often provides. A Paradise Built in Hell is an investigation of the moments of altruism, resourcefulness, and generosity that arise amid disaster’s grief and disruption and considers their implications for everyday life. It points to a new vision of what society could become-one that is less authoritarian and fearful, more collaborative and local.
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2021-04-12T14:42:07-07:00
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2021-02-14T14:43:51-08:00
Failure is an Option
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Fall 2020 Jacobin cover
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2021-04-12T14:42:44-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:04-07:00
Black Study, Black Struggle
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Robin D. G. Kelley, “Black Study, Black Struggle,” Text, Boston Review, March 7, 2016, https://bostonreview.net/forum/robin-d-g-kelley-black-study-black-struggle.
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2021-04-20T15:34:28-07:00
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2021-04-17T22:40:44-07:00
YES MANIFESTO
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Ingvartsen, Mette. 2004. “50/50: YES MANIFESTO.” Mette Ingvartsen. 2004. https://www.metteingvartsen.net/performance/5050/
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2021-04-20T15:59:23-07:00
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2021-07-26T14:23:01-07:00
Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It (Audio)
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Music video by Johnny Paycheck performing Take This Job And Shove It (Audio).
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2021-09-14T20:48:48-07:00
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2021-04-17T22:12:27-07:00
All Systems Red
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Wells, Martha. 2017. All Systems Red : The Murderbot Diaries 01 01. https://marthawells.com/murderbot1.htm
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2021-04-17T22:30:10-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:00-07:00
Library workers fight for safer working conditions amid coronavirus pandemic
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Over the last month, the #closethelibraries campaign has called to close library buildings not only to the public but also to library staff.
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2021-04-17T21:58:11-07:00
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2021-03-26T14:01:54-07:00
Feminist Data Manifest-No
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The Manifest-No is a declaration of refusal and commitment. It refuses harmful data regimes and commits to new data futures.
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2021-04-01T14:39:57-07:00
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2020-12-11T14:45:54-08:00
Big U First Edition Cover
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Stephenson, Neal. 1984. The Big U. New York: Vintage. https://www.biblio.com/9780394723624.
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2021-04-17T21:47:24-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:01-07:00
Cory Doctorow on technological immortality, the transporter problem, and fast-moving futures
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Cory Doctorow has made several careers out of thinking about the future, as a journalist and co-editor of Boing Boing, an activist with strong ties to the Creative Commons movement and the...
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2021-04-12T14:27:39-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:02-07:00
Confronting the democratic discourse of librarianship : a Marxist approach
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Popowich, Sam. 2019. Confronting the Democratic Discourse of Librarianship : A Marxist Approach."
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2021-04-17T10:45:33-07:00
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2021-09-14T21:34:47-07:00
'Punk Ass Book Jockeys’: Library Anxiety in Community and Parks & Recreation
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2021-09-14T21:35:27-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:55-07:00
Company to Supply Free Narcan to Libraries
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Emergent BioSolutions, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, announced October 24 that it is offering two free doses of the anti-overdose drug Narcan Nasal Spray (naloxone hydrochloride) to all 16,568 public library locations in the United States.
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2021-04-12T14:28:58-07:00
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2021-04-17T14:47:56-07:00
Nice White Lady
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Leddy, Bruce. 2007. MADTV S12E15 Oscar Special: Nice White Lady. Comedy, Reality-TV, Talk-Show.(Aired 2007-02-24)
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2021-04-17T15:28:18-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:57-07:00
'All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace': Care and the Cybernetic University
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We can trace the histories of our schools, our beliefs and practices about teaching and learning, our disinvestment in public institutions, our investments in technological solutions to discover how and why we got here — to this moment where everything is falling apart and the solution (from certain quarters) is software that sounds like "panopticon." It's that last bit — the histories of our investment in technological solutions (and our faith in technological solutions even when they are obviously so utterly dystopian) — that is really the focus of my work.
meta
2021-04-12T14:04:28-07:00
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2021-04-01T16:57:30-07:00
The No Manifesto, Rainer's declaration in opposition to the dominant forms of dance
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Rainer, Yvonne. "Some Retrospective Notes on a Dance for 10 People and 12 Mattresses Called "Parts of Some Sextets," Performed at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, and Judson Memorial Church, New York, in March, 1965." The Tulane Drama Review 10, no. 2 (1965): 168-78. Accessed April 1, 2021. doi:10.2307/1125242.
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2021-04-17T20:34:15-07:00
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2021-04-18T00:57:38-07:00
Party Girl
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Mayer, Daisy von Scherler. 1995. Party Girl. Comedy. Party Productions.
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2021-04-18T00:58:40-07:00
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2021-04-15T14:50:26-07:00
Cover of This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save us All
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Marilyn Johnson, “This Book Is Overdue!,” HarperCollins, 2010, https://www.harpercollins.com/products/this-book-is-overdue-marilyn-johnson.
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2021-04-20T15:10:01-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:03-07:00
Gendered Expectations for Leadership in Libraries
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Despite significant gains in representation at the administration level, there is still a disparity between the percentage of women in our profession and women as library leaders. Additionally, even when women attain leadership roles, even top positions in libraries, there are still hurdles in the shape of gendered expectations. This article examines the history of gender representation in the field, discusses some recent trends, and then makes some recommendations for creating an environment in which women can succeed and how, more specifically, the profession could become more supportive of women in leadership roles.
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2021-04-12T14:20:44-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:05-07:00
Listening to Refusal: Opening Keynote
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Lanclos, Donna. 2019. “Listening to Refusal: Opening Keynote.” Presented at the APTconf, July 1. https://www.donnalanclos.com/listening-to-refusal-opening-keynote-for-aptconf-2019/.
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2021-04-17T21:40:13-07:00
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2021-02-05T12:49:53-08:00
First Lady Nancy Reagan speaking at a "Just Say No" rally in Los Angeles, 1987
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Photograph of Mrs. Reagan speaking at a "Just Say No" Rally in Los Angeles
meta
2021-02-05T12:54:48-08:00
1
2021-03-31T12:46:01-07:00
Last Library
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Ward Shelley, Brooklyn NY The Last Library August 21 - October 16, 2015 The Last Library is 2 rooms full of about 4,000 (fake) books, books that have not been written. The rooms and the fake books are just supports for the text, but they are not neutral carriers. Apart from what they may individually be about, books and libraries are loaded with meaning in our culture just as symbols, and they represent many things to many people. As such, they add a certain kind of spin to the words we have written on them. You can say a lot with a few words. Where did the titles come from? There was a web page where people could submit titles; from there they were printed out on a book spine and put into the library. Like most creative projects, most of the titles came from a group of interested persons, the artist did a lot of them himself, but was not the most prolific.
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2021-04-12T14:21:24-07:00
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2021-02-20T15:33:13-08:00
Ssssshh Librarian
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Holland, Dean. 2015. “Ron & Jammy.” Deedle-Dee Productions, Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment.
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2021-04-17T22:00:14-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:55-07:00
Living a feminist life
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Showing how feminist theory is generated from everyday life and the ordinary experiences of being a feminist, Sara Ahmed highlights the ties between feminist theory and living a life that sustains it by building on legacies of feminist of color scholarship and discussing the figure of the feminist killjoy.
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2021-04-12T14:25:31-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:59-07:00
Libraries find themselves on the front lines of Michigan’s opioid crisis
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The opioid epidemic reaches every corner of life in our state. That includes libraries, where administrators and staff are figuring out the best response
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2021-04-12T13:56:04-07:00
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2021-03-23T10:04:03-07:00
Common Ground
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Oil on Canvas Painting
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2021-04-17T21:48:57-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:57-07:00
Libraries are an essential service. Give librarians the vaccine now | Opinion
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For America to return to full health, we need institutions like libraries ready to help us connect with who we are and to energize us for what is to come.
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2021-04-12T14:03:48-07:00
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2021-02-27T09:58:19-08:00
Hocus Pocus cover art
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Vonnegut, Kurt. 1990. Hocus Pocus. Putnam.
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2021-04-17T21:55:26-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:57-07:00
Librarians advocate closing campus libraries during coronavirus pandemic
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While many colleges and universities have closed their libraries, others say they can't operate without keeping them open.
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2021-04-12T14:09:12-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:55-07:00
Librarians of the World Unite!
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How the pandemic manifested labor solidarity at a rapid pace in one library system.
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2021-04-17T21:57:26-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:03-07:00
Most Libraries Are Closed. Some Librarians Still Have to Go In.
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Though many public libraries in the U.S. are completely shut, employees at some are concerned that they have been asked to continue showing up for work.
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2021-04-12T14:09:40-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:58-07:00
Fictional Labor Unions in Science Fiction
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Organized labor makes science fiction writers nervous.
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2021-04-17T21:43:40-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:02-07:00
No more heroes : grassroots challenges to the savior mentality
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Jordan Flaherty, No More Heroes : Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality, 2017.
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2021-04-20T15:36:36-07:00
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2021-04-16T15:09:00-07:00
Canada Reads 2021: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
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Hench will be championed by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee on Canada Reads 2021.
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2021-04-16T15:09:01-07:00
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2021-04-17T22:05:53-07:00
The Shock Doctrine : The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
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Klein, Naomi. 2007. The Shock Doctrine : The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Toronto, Canada: AA Knopf. 978-0-676-97800-1. https://naomiklein.org/the-shock-doctrine/
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2021-04-17T22:05:53-07:00
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media/Wellspring_thumb.png
2021-03-23T10:05:54-07:00
Wellspring
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Oil on Canvas Painting
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2021-03-23T10:05:55-07:00
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2021-03-31T12:45:56-07:00
Dismantling the public sphere : situating and sustaining librarianship in the age of the new public philosophy
1
This work presents a thorough examination of librarianship and the social and economic contexts in which the profession and its institutions operate. As a basis of analysis, Buschman employs critical education scholarship and the research of German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, whose seminal work on the public sphere—the arena in which the public organizes itself and formulates public opinion—serves as a meta-framework for Buschman's study of librarianship. Buschman asserts that a significant shift has occurred from the library as a contributor to the public good to a model where economic rationality directs policy. He challenges much of the current thinking and assumptions guiding libraries, exploring the circumstances in which librarians and libraries operate and linking the profession back to democratic and public purposes as the core essence of the field.
Chapters include:
• Crisis Culture and the Need for a Defense of Librarianship in the Public Sphere
• The New Public Philosophy and Critical Educational Analysis
• The Public Sphere: Rounding Out the Context of Librarianship
• Studies in Librarianship and the Dismantling of the Public Sphere
• Follow the Money: Library Funding and Information Capitalism
• Follow-the-Leader Library Management and the New Public Philosophy
• On Customer Driven Librarianship
• Drifting Toward the Corporate Model: ALA
• Notes on Postmodern Technology, Technocracy, and Libraries
• The Public Sphere and Democratic Possibility
Highly recommended for courses in policy and librarianship, as well as for academic and public library directors, this work will also be of interest to theorists in the social sciences.
2021-03-31T12:45:56-07:00
1
2021-03-31T12:46:00-07:00
An ode to campus libraries
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Get thee to thy school’s library, where superheroes await, magic unfolds and rare sanctuary can be found
2021-03-31T12:46:00-07:00
1
2020-12-07T14:47:12-08:00
I'm Not Your Hero - The Murderbot Diaries Animatic
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CONTENT WARNINGS: blood, guns, scopophobia, slight body horror and injuries (toned down in comparison to the books) i've watched this so many times that ...
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2020-12-07T14:47:12-08:00
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2021-03-31T12:46:02-07:00
Libraries, Librarians, and the Discourse of Fear
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This article presents examples of representations of libraries and librarians taken from modern popular culture, including popular film, television, and novels. Using Michel Foucault's approach to discourse, we assert that such representations are made possible by, and decoded within, the structures of a discourse of fear, a practice of speech and symbols that equates the control and fear of discourse in fundamental ways. The library as an institution falls squarely into the lived tensions of this discourse, and these tensions are made apparent in the themes of the threshold: the librarian as formidable gatekeeper between order and chaos, the other-worldliness of the library, the library as cathedral, the humiliation of the user, the power of surveillance, and the consequences of disrupting the sacred order of texts. The discourse of fear is a language and a vocabulary. It is a way of speaking about the library and the librarian that transcends any specific image or portrayal. Outside of the discourse of fear, such representations would not be recognizable as libraries or librarians at all.
2021-03-31T12:46:02-07:00
1
2020-12-10T13:06:18-08:00
Todd Rundgren Play Like A Champion Concert: Bang The Drum All Day
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Todd Rundgren's Play Like A Champion Concert featured over 30 Notre Dame undergraduate students performing 18 songs with Todd
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2020-12-10T13:06:18-08:00
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2020-12-11T15:23:34-08:00
Disasters Don’t Have to End in Dystopias: The difference between utopia and dystopia isn't how well everything runs. It's about what happens when everything fails.
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Editorial by Cory Doctorow in WIRED magazine about bout the relationship between the science fiction stories we read and our real-world responses to disasters
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2020-12-11T15:23:34-08:00
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2021-04-11T15:46:34-07:00
A Quirky, Funny and Inspirational Game - SAY NO! MORE Review
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A Quirky, Funny and Inspirational Game - SAY NO! MORE Review SAY NO! MORE is the world's first NPG (NO!-Playing Game). Play as an intern with a burning ...
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2021-04-11T15:46:35-07:00
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2021-04-16T14:02:36-07:00
Librarian Action Figure from Archie McPhee
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The world famous Nancy Pearl Librarian Action Figure with shushing action. https://mcphee.com/products/librarian-action-figure.
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2021-04-16T14:02:36-07:00