An edition of Responsible Librarianship (2008)

Responsible Librarianship

Library Policies for Unreliable Systems

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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 16, 2019 | History
An edition of Responsible Librarianship (2008)

Responsible Librarianship

Library Policies for Unreliable Systems

  • 1 Want to read

The three papers in this volume (two previously published short papers and one unpublished long paper) were written in the wake of a single policy decision at the Library of Congress: the decision to cease the practice of distinguishing and collating series through the use of distinctive headings maintained in an authority file. Because of the interconnectedness of technical systems in libraries and library networks, local policies, organizational structures, work flows, and personnel everywhere are designed, implemented and managed with certain assumptions about that system, what it requires and what it provides. A single decision, such as LC's decision on series authority records, can have repercussions throughout these systems. As long as individual institutions are aware of the different goals and practices among the institutions providing input to the system, accomodation of and adaptation to that variety can be a constant local preoccupation of policy and practice. This activity presupposes local control (autonomy), clarity of institutional purpose, flexible staffing and financial support. Yet these are precisely the elements which the growth of the technical system makes it possible for library managers to eliminate on the grounds of efficiencies in labor, productivity and cost.

These papers examine library policies and organizational structures in light of the literature of ergonomics, high reliability organizations, joint cognitive systems and integrational linguistics. Bade argues that many policies and structures have been designed and implemented on the basis of assumptions about technical possibilities, ignoring entirely the political dimensions of local determination of goals and purposes as well as the lessons from ergonomics, such as the recognition that people are the primary agents of reliability in all technical systems. Because libraries are understood to be loci of human interaction and communication rather than purely technical systems at the disposal of an abstract user, Bade insists on looking at problems of meaning and communication in the construction and use of the library catalog. Looking at various policies for metadata creation and the results of those policies forces the question: is there a responsible human being behind the library web site and catalog, or have we abandoned the responsibilities of thinking and judgment in favor of procedures, algorithms and machines?

David Bade is a Senior Librarian at the University of Chicago’s Joseph Regenstein Library where he is responsible for the cataloguing of Eastern European publications. He studied linguistics (minor in Arabic) and librarianship at the University of Illinois. His present research is focused on the processes of misunderstanding, mystifying and mythologizing technologies and how this allows a technocratic elite to turn convivial tools into tools for control and exploitation. The communicative and linguistic aspects of this process—from managerial rhetoric to spamming—are the subjects of work in press and in progress.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
192

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Responsible Librarianship
Responsible Librarianship: Library Policies for Unreliable Systems
February 1, 2008, Library Juice Press
Paperback in English

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Book Details


Classifications

Library of Congress
Z699.35.Q35 B33 2007

The Physical Object

Format
Paperback
Number of pages
192
Dimensions
8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
Weight
8.8 ounces

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL11835752M
Internet Archive
responsiblelibra0000bade
ISBN 10
0977861767, 1936117258
ISBN 13
9780977861767, 9781936117253
LCCN
2007046351
OCLC/WorldCat
182552863
Library Thing
4809854
Goodreads
2785934

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July 16, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
December 21, 2010 Edited by Nathan Bronk Edited without comment.
December 4, 2010 Edited by Nathan Bronk merge authors
November 23, 2010 Edited by Nathan Bronk Edited without comment.
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page