I’ve been telling myself for ages and ages that I should do a blog. Or rather, I’ve been coming up with material on and off for several years that led me to say things like, “If I would only get off my [tail] and set up a blog, I’d have a place to put/say/think about/noodle around with that” or “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could share that idea/notion/crack-pot scheme with others to hear what they think?”
So enough’s enough, right?
Welcome to my blog. I’ve stripped it down and now I’m still tuning it up, design-wise (including the need to update the default graphic at the top) and function-wise. But the heart of it is running, so I’ll dive in and blog while finishing up the other work.
Cybernetick Inkwell is primarily a place for me to examine the practices and the theories of librarianship, with a general concentration on what is sometimes (if rarely) called heritage librarianship. I’d call it “museum librarianship,” because I’m a museum librarian at heart, but I’d rather thinking beyond the walls of any one sort of institution.
At a macro level, what gets my blood pumping is solving the mystery of how it is that people connect with the information that most interests them; at a (more) micro level, I find myself wondering how it is they connect with information about, information from, and information by cultural and natural heritage entities–museums, parks, historic sites, libraries, archives, and so on.
Here are some of the topics likely to find their meandering ways here:
- Museum informatics. In my professional position, after all, I focus on “web services,” meaning that I am charged with figuring out the best ways to help people connect to information in an online environment. There’s an endless world here, with a lot of connections to other digital humanities-related efforts.
- The relationship between libraries, archives, and museums. I am not one of those who thinks these are three words that actually mean the same thing, but there are some exciting possibilities where the sets overlap in the Venn diagram. And important distinctions where they don’t.
- Storytelling in heritage institutions. My path has taken me from history to museum education to librarianship, and all three share perhaps the most powerful way to convey information: the narrative. Freeman Tilden once laid out as the first of his six rules of heritage interpetation: “Any interpretation that does not somehow relate what is being displayed or described to something within the personality or experience of the visitor will be sterile.” Tell stories.
- Information management across the institution. Heritage institutions are remarkably siloed places–lots of people with information expertise in specific areas who don’t talk much to others who have their own areas of expertise. It is a fascinating Gordian knot.
- Technology and information management in small institutions. I have worked in museums and at parks large and small, and one of the great levelers between the two is technology. But it’s got its own particular challenges (and opportunities) in small institutions.
Other areas less directly related to heritage librarianship but sure to find their way here:
- Libraries as places of hospitality. I firmly believe that libraries would do well to think of themselves as places of hospitality every bit as much as does a restaurant or hotel–or even more significantly, a private home. The only significant difference is that the food we’re providing is intellectual rather than physical. I wrote a paper on this; I promise it’s true.
- Information ecology and information ecosystems. “Ecosystem” is a useful model for understanding how we relate to the sphere of information and how its elements interact with one another.
- Serendipity as a route to information discovery. It’s one of the fundamentally fascinating topics that got me into librarianship in the first place. Can it ever be captured? Can it be reproduced in an online environment?
- Information use and information seeking in creative settings. Another question that got me into librarianship. How and when do creative people use information? How can information be “structured” to help creative individuals and creative groups?
- Library history. Hey, what can I say. I’ve been a historian longer than I’ve been a librarian. Library history is a natural extension.
And, of course, whatever else seems to fit.
More on me, soon. Best place for details will be in the About section. But by way of quick introduction and background, I’ll say: I earned my BA in History at the College of William & Mary, my MA in U.S. History from George Mason University, and my MS in Library and Information Studies from Florida State.
I’ve worked in various capacities at the following places, among others: two Smithsonian Institutions (the National Zoological Park and the National Museum of American History); Valentine Riverside historic park at Tredegar Ironworks; the Library of Virginia; the university library and the career library at the University of Richmond; and Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. I may “do” web-based technology, but I think of myself primarily as a reference librarian that focuses on the online environment.
I’m looking forward to exploring all this and more. With or without you, I suppose–but I’d much prefer with.
Ad astra!
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