“So what does the world look like when journalism is everywhere? We are beginning to find out. And while it may be a frightening prospect if you are a traditional media company, there is a lot to be optimistic about if you are just interested in the news. A world where everyone is a journalist may be a bit more chaotic and a bit more complicated than the one we are used to, but it will also be a bit more free, and that is clearly a good thing.”

Paul Nelson is a prolific blogger, adjunct professor, former director and co-author of a new book on managing small public libraries (that he apparently has too much class to openly pimp on his blog).  Should be a series worth watching…  fire up your RSS readers if you somehow aren’t already following the blog.

“The damage to the library’s archives of zines, writings, art, and original works is devastating and irreparable.”

IMO, this is a much larger problem than the destruction of a replaceable book collection, even if that was reprehensible.

When I was at the Wisconsin Library Association’s annual conference a couple weeks ago, I made a choice not to attend a session called “Library as Incubator Project,” and I have come to regret that choice because I have been thinking about libraries as incubators (of various sorts) ever since.  Their session was described:

The Library as Incubator Project seeks to learn how artists (writers, visual artists and performing artists) use libraries in their research, creation and promotion of their artistic work. The presenters are in the process of creating a web resource that highlights artists and projects that have been “incubated,” in part, by library collections, spaces and/or staff. It will also serve as a resource for librarians who want to better serve artists patrons through programming, collections, and partnerships. Laura, Christina and Erinn will discuss their goals for the future of the project.

For me, this connected with something I’ve been thinking about for a while.  If libraries need to redefine their role, incubation could be a cornerstone of that - but not just for writers and artists.  Libraries can leverage both traditional information resources and services as well as tools provided by the social web, to empower people to become creators of all kinds - and to have a space to do it together with other people.

As I was writing an essay response to an exam question I got to thinking about the ongoing sort of brainstorming occurring at the intersection of libraries and journalism.  It occurred to me that libraries could play a big role in incubating (i.e. training and organizing) citizen journalists.  Of course there are problems to be resolved with the public library’s close relationship to local government, but I think that could be worked out.  I helped co-found the citizen media site Main Street Oshkosh, unfortunately not long before I moved away from Oshkosh.  But from that experience, I can see how the library could have helped us build a stronger, more inclusive presence for local news.

Then, a couple days ago, Paul Nelson (Retiring Guy) posted about hacker/maker spaces and libraries.  Another example of an opportunity for libraries to incubate - this time artists of a more technological sort.

And then of course there is the older idea of libraries as business incubators which is not, by the way, necessarily separate from any of the above.

A closing thought…  a lot of this relates to bringing web 2.0 mentalities offline and into the physical sphere.  One reason social media is so powerful in university campus communities is that they have this great shared commons of physical spaces and resources that can be used.  They can organize online and act offline (if they want).  The shared public spaces available to regular communities seem to be fewer and farther between these days, but for many communities the public library has been a fixture of shared space for many decades.  We need to recognize that our digital world makes local libraries more of an asset, not less.

Comments welcome.

Kathleen Dunn from Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM

After ten, Kathleen Dunn’s guest stresses why libraries are vitally important to their communities.

Guest: Roberta Stevens, Immediate Past-President, American Library Association.

If you have ever considered submitting a poster for a “poster session” at a conference/event, you need this guide.

Thanks to Jim Schultz at UWM-SOIS for the link.

…compared with the anti-corporate globalisation and then anti-war movements of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the libraries reflect the “maturity of a movement” that had “been shell-shocked by the whole Bush era” …

Also of interest: ALA has issued a statement expressing “alarm” at the destruction of the OWS library.

For several months, in the back of my mind of have been thinking about what to do with this blog.  I used to blog frequently under a pseudonym as an undergrad but for some odd reason, I clam up when my name’s attached.  Maybe it’s the two years I spent reading articles about what not to do in your job search, including comical examples of words coming back to bite people.

On the other hand, I’m itching to get back in practice.  So, rather than spend a lot of time developing a theme or posting schedule, I’m just going to share what I am thinking and reading, books I am adding to my wishlist, podcasts and radio shows of interest, and anything else that seems appropriate.  When I can, I’ll try to add some commentary rather than just posting things.