In this Issue:
SpringyCamp 2016 Facts
- Totally *free* virtual conference for Springshare users.
- 27 guest speakers presented from all over the U.S.
- Over 1,215 Springy users registered for the three-day conference.
- Since 2012, we've had five SpringyCamp virtual conferences.
- Since October, SpringyCamp 2016 recordings have been viewed over 735 times.
What Happened At #SpringyCamp?
SpringyCamp Fall 2016, might be over - but you can still experience the collegial warmth, knowledge-sharing, and most of all virtual s'mores (calories not included)! Even if you weren't able to attend - we're bringing Camp to you.
Join us 'round the campfire while we interview our spotlight presenter Jennifer Ferretti and watch recordings of your favorite Camp presentations.
What made you decide to present at SpringyCamp?
I couldn’t say ‘no’ to the folks at Springshare! I was honored to be asked to present. It was important for me to present what I had created and learned to an audience who also utilizes LibGuides. On a personal note, the presentation I made is my favorite one yet. It gave me room to talk about aspects of Lemonade I hadn’t yet explored publicly. I’ll add yet another personal note that as a woman of color in librarianship, it’s important for me to present whenever the opportunity arises.
For those who weren’t able to attend, quickly summarize your presentation.
SpringyCamp Spotlight Presenter
Jennifer Ferretti
Digital Initiatives Librarian
Maryland Institute of Art
Decker Library
“#Libeyrianship: Using pop culture to promote information literacy through LibGuides” navigates through my thought process for creating the LibGuide Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Information Resources.
Beyonce's Super Bowl 50 performance and the costumes her backup dancers wore got my art and research wheels turning. When ‘Lemonade’ aired, my curiosity about Beyoncé’s artistic decisions and research (not to mention copyright issues) exploded and ended up in the form of a LibGuide. The LibGuide also gave me room to link or note references that may not be picked up on by college freshman or sophomores, for example. The LibGuide gave me a space to expand on particular aspects such as the Malcolm X speech she samples and the women she featured who are mothers of victims of police shootings.
I also delved into how I promoted the guide. I wrote a piece on Medium, which along with the guide I shared widely on social media, interviewed with publications, and conducted a Twitter chat for further discussion. Outreach and promotion is incredibly important for libraries to take part in. We exist for more than those who already know how to find us.
Finally, I went into the criticism I received for the guide from other information professionals. It’s important for me to discuss success, criticism, and any failures I’ve experienced. The criticism I received for the guide was extremely small compared to the positive response it received, but is still something I’d like to address whenever I have the opportunity. I was criticized for using a topic that not everyone will relate to. In other words, not everyone is a Beyoncé fan or will have seen Lemonade. My response to that is there is not one approach that one hundred percent of the population your library serves will relate to - something we should be grateful for and encourage as a matter of diversity.
When ‘Lemonade’ aired, my curiosity about Beyoncé’s artistic decisions and research (not to mention copyright issues) exploded and ended up in the form of a LibGuide.
However, there are ways to talk about information literacy that a large portion of your patron base can relate to and it all depends on you knowing your patrons. When we asked a class of freshman students how many people know who Beyoncé is, 100% of them raised their hands. When asked how many had heard of the Black Panther Party, I would guess 30% said they did. I made this guide as a librarian at a fine art and design college who sees a lot of patrons who ask about interpreting art, finding inspiration, and what they can do with their degrees when they graduate. The guide isn’t for everyone and everything, particularly for other information professionals who haven’t explored it because they can’t get past it being based on a work created by Beyoncé.
Beyoncé is a visual and musical working artist. It is easy to find and hear her work. Lemonade elevated her work through collaborations, literary and artistic references, feminism, and social justice. It touches on many topics and art reflected within MICA’s curriculum.
Your Lemonade LibGuide was a huge hit on social media. Can you tell us about that experience and what made this particular LibGuide so ‘explosive’ compared to the others you’ve created?
I didn’t expect the guide to take off. And to be honest, I didn’t have much time to even have expectations about the guide. Feeling a sense of urgency, I rushed to complete it after talking with my mom and brother about Lemonade (a few days after it aired). I promoted on social media and the response was immediate. It was during that conversation with my family that I realized this was something that could be understood and relate to people who may not be Beyoncé fans as well as those who haven’t even watched the visual album.
Specifically on the social media aspect: I’ve spent a lot of time on Twitter promoting my work and work of others, whether it was when I was a cultural heritage professional, library and information science graduate student in New York, and finally in my position now. I know the impact of social media because it has impacted me in ways I’m unsure could be replicated elsewhere. I’m not going to say social media is everything, but it’s certainly where some of our colleagues are along with a vast number of our patrons. It’s not the only way to promote your work, but it’s a tool I can’t ignore.
I suspect my LibGuide is so popular because it breaks down a work by a popular artist in a way that is unexpected. I also suspect it’s because it is not what is expected from libraries or librarians. I really hope I’m right about that last part because dispelling myths or assumptions about librarianship and librarians is something I’m very passionate about.
Your LibGuide makes use of animated gifs, why?
Do you have any nifty ‘guide building’ tips to share?
Visuals are very important to me and our patrons, whether we’re talking about students, faculty, or staff. This was the first time I added animated gifs to a LibGuide - I was just happy it worked!
I’m in the process of revamping Decker Library’s guides. I created a style guide and new template with references to resources like Michael Schofield’s “LibGuides - How Usable is the Three Column Layout?” and “Reimagining Harvard’s LibGuides,” by Kris M. Markman, Ph.D., Online Learning Librarian at Harvard Library. I would highly recommend that anyone who uses or is thinking of using LibGuides consider creating a style guide and template.
Image: From "Lemonade," by Beyoncé
via Giphy.com
What do you envision as the future of librarianship?
That is a biggie! I can tell you what I envision the future of my librarianship to be: constantly being challenged to learn new tools, having room for experimentation and failures, and fighting for social justice.
For librarianship in general, I hope the future will be more equitable and inclusionary for people of color and for women in positions of power.
I envision student and faculty demand for all library and information science programs to integrate critical librarianship (#critlib) into their curriculum in meaningful ways that touch all students, rather than a few who take particular classes.
I hope the future will consist of libraries adopting design thinking, which focuses on users’ experiences and builds empathy with users through observation behavior(1). One of the outcomes is knowing what the user needs before they do, utilizing user feedback through methods such as surveys, focus groups, observation, etc. A tall order, but this is why failure is built in. The idea is to be open to change a lot more often than we are already.
I envision the future of my librarianship to be: constantly being challenged to learn new tools, having room for experimentation and failures, and fighting for social justice.
(1) Kolko, J. (2015, Sept). Design Thinking Comes of Age. Harvard Business Review. http://www.henleyleadership.com/uploads/pdf/designthinkingcomesofage.pdf