Investigative Exercise 8: CURRENT AWARENESS POST

I found the video on "filter bubbles" to be very interesting. I'm always surprised when my Internet searches retrieve extremely accurate results. The fact that a piece of code is gathering so much information about me that it knows exactly what I want is highly disturbing when I really think about it. The thing is, though, it's really convenient- so convenient that I don't think about it. I just click on the link I want and continue on my way. 

I'm the sort of person that gets easily upset. War, disease, rape, child abuse- these are the sorts of things I don't really want to know about. It's not that I don't have strong feelings about them and wish I could help in some way, because I do. It's just easier sometimes not to know, to live in my safe little Internet bubble of amusing cats, fluffy romances and pretty celebrities. The problem? The stuff I don't want to know about intrudes into these supposedly safe spaces as well. Not every artist, writer or blogger bothers to tag for the stuff that makes me uncomfortable, and the state of tumblr these days means the Benedict Cumberbatch thigh appreciation blog I'm following is probably also filled with social commentary on the ethics of celebrity culture. 

The world probably would be a better place if the Internet allowed us to be challenged by things instead of shielding us from them like an overprotective parent. Maybe then, we could have a long hard think about why these things make us uncomfortable, and what we can do about them. 

We need someone to come along with a pin and pop the bubble. We need to have our view of the world shaken up a few times, otherwise how can we grow as human beings, and more than that, as a subculture? 

Investigative Exercise 7: Podcasts

A podcast is a digital audio file that can be uploaded to and downloaded from an Internet file sharing program onto a computer or portable music device. It's usually available as a series, such as a weekly radio program, a chapter of an audiobook, or a series of university lectures. 

FUN FACT: The word "podcast" is a mix between the words "iPod" and "broadcast."

The Power of Hair in Chinese Society

I found this podcast on the National Library of Australia website. It's a lecture by Dr Chi Kong Lai, looking at hair as a tool of communication and status symbol. Hairstyles in China have traditionally been used to express identity, and each hairstyle has a different meaning. They can tell you a lot about  a person, such as their religion, marriage status, occupation and class. The state can control the populace by dictating how they are allowed to wear their hair. At the same time, hair can be used as a form of rebellion and non-conformism. 

Investigative Exercise 6: Social Bookmarking

Reviews help you work out whether a book you're interested in might be worth reading. Most booksellers have review sections on their websites- why not libraries? Many times I've borrowed a book that, from the blurb alone, seemed pretty good- only to run across something I'm uncomfortable with three chapters in and have to return it. Reviews save you time, and they're a good way of gathering information about a resource. They're also a good way for libraries to track the popularity of items and genres and make decisions about the collection.

P.S. Yes, Kogarah library does allow me to rate and review items in their catalogue. 

Investigative Exercise 5: Social Networking

Here's why I think libraries should use social media:

• To reach a wider section of the community

• To share ideas and discuss current issues with other librarians across the globe

• To market themselves

• To make people aware of new collections and events 

• To promote the values of librarianship

• To receive feedback from members about what they like and don't like about the library and suggestions for new programs and acquisitions 

• To encourage open and in-depth discussion 

• To establish ties in the community

• To engage adolescents and introverts on their own turf

• To keep up to date with current information technologies (librarians are purveyors of information after all)

• And finally- and I don't usually say this- because everyone else is doing it!! 

Investigative Exercise 4 : Youtube

Investigative Exercise 3 : Photo sharing and Flickr

For this exercise I chose to look at the Mafra Palace Library in Portugal. It was built of limestone, in the Baroque and Italianised-Neoclassical styles, and served as a monastry until 1834. It's home to about 40,000 books, 92 church bells and a colony of very small bats. They live behind the bookcases and help keep the population of insects down.

Investigative Exercise 2: Blogs

For this exercise, I chose to discuss this post by The Librarian in Black. I apologise that it has little to do with libraries, but I was told to write about something that interested me, and this did.

Reading about Sarah's experiences with sexual harassment in the workplace got me thinking about how social media can be a powerful tool in the (fairly limited) arsenal of sexual assault victims.

Since 2012 there has been a spate of accusations against almost two dozen prominent YouTubers, sparking public outcry across social media platforms. Friends and associates of the accused encouraged victims to come forward and share their stories. Many prominent YouTubers responded by starting campaigns to combat sexual abuse in their community, such as the This is Abuse campaign and Laci Green's open letter to Sam Pepper, and Laci Green, Charlie McDonald and Rhiannon McGavin (among others) posted videos in response to the scandals.

Their actions led to many of the accused having their accounts taken down and being dropped by their record companies. Even though most of these cases never went to trial, this is an astoundingly positive result- but will it be enough to reduce the incidence of YouTube-related sexual assaults in the future?

On the one hand, giving people the power to call out these incidences through social media has led to much more awareness in the online community about abuse and misogyny. On the other hand, the roots of these problems go deep. I could write a whole other post about socialisation and institutionalised sexism, but I'm not going to.

One of the problems with YouTube is that it's a reflection of the real world. The people with the most fame and influence are white men- and then there's everyone else. There's also the problem of celebrity culture and poorly regulated YouTube conventions that make it easy for abuse to happen.

In my opinion, if change is going to happen, it has to happen at an institutional and cultural level, and it'll take time and effort and it'll be hard. Before that, we have to admit there's a problem first in the first place. I think maybe talking about it on social media is the first step towards that.