Competency 9: Internet

I came across the Progressive Librarians Guild website through Google while searching for my podcast. According to their website, PLG provides a "forum for the open exchange of radical views on library issues."

They also publish a journal called Progressive Librarian, which offers many of its previous articles online in full-text. The PLG website was also very helpful in helping me find other progressive or radical library online resources because their links section is fairly substantial.

I chose this site because, as my focus is progressivism in libraries, this looks like the go-to site for ideas and trends, particularly since they publish an academic journal on progressive trends. The entire website seems like incredibly useful resource for the progressive library field.

Competency 8: Research Visual/Multimedia

This video, called "I'd like to find *BLEEP*," comes from the American Libraries website (which is a part of the ALA). It's a humorous dramatization of what would happen if books were banned from access, and was created specifically for Banned Books Week 2008. Since part of being a radical librarian is defending access to information, I find this short video to be appropriate and informational to the public.

The original video can be found at on this page: http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/banned-books-week-id-find-bleep

Competency 7: Image

I first learned about my subject-area image is from Interlibrary Lush's myspace page, promoting a film screening of Storm Center during Banned Books Week.

Using Google images, I located an image of the movie poster for Storm Center. Set in the McCarthy Era, the movie features Bette Davis as a librarian who refuses to remove a book called The Communist's Dream, and she's fired for failing to comply. Considering how censorship is very much a social justice issue, this movie poster is an extremely relevant image in regards to my subject area, and Bette Davis's character was certainly a radical librarian of her time!

Image from the Yammering Magpie Cinema online catalog. Image link: www.yammeringmagpie.com/catalog/print_catalog.php (Accessed 10/31/08)

Competency 6: Citation Pearl

For this search I decided to first do a search on the book I picket for my librarything competency, Poor People and Library Services. I yielded 8 results, one of which was an article called, "Libraries, class, and the 'Poor people's policy.'" I clicked on this link, then clicked on its sole subject term, LIBRARIES & the poor:

This in turn yielded 28 results. Not all of those results were useful, but there were a few articles that talked about library programs and poverty issues that were particularly of interest to me.

Reflection: I consider this the easiest search to do, but one of the least satisfying. Using more search terms (as with successive fractions) might be a little more confusing, but those searches tend to yield more useful results. I think I would only use this type of search once I've done the others, mostly as a method of browsing.

Competency 6: Successive Fractions

Search topic: Progressive public library programming

Database: Project Muse

Search Strategy:
S1: radical librar* yielded 7653 results
S2: progressive librar* yielded 4283 results
S3: public librar* program* yielded 9226 results

S4: (radical librar*) and (progressive librar*) and (public librar* program*)

Results yielded: 1186

Reflection: The results for this search were excellent! I yielded 1186 results, and they were definitely what I was looking for. There was a mix of library history and speculations on the future of libraries, and as a historian, I definitely appreciated that because they show what has and has not worked so far, and in what contexts. The results were certainly a springboard for ideas on radical librarianship. This one was actually pretty exciting!

Competency 6: Specific Facet Search

Search topic: Progressive public library programming

Database: WorldCat

Search Strategy:
S1: radical librar*
S2: “public library”

Results yielded: 116

Reflection: I had a hard time with this one. I originally tried (progressive librar*) and (public program*), but most of the results were completely irrelevant. I toyed around with my search terms, and ultimately had to go with (radical librar*) and (“public library’). I didn’t think it was ideal, but I did score 116 results that gave me a lot more to work with. The first result would definitely be a useful tool to use for programming, and once I dug a few pages deeper, I found several more results. It wasn't the most ideal search, but it certainly wasn't a waste.

Competency 6: Building Block Search

Search topic: Progressive public library programming

Database: Library Lit

Search Strategy:
S1: progressive OR radical
S2: program* OR activit*
S3: public librar*

Results yielded: 20

Reflection: I'm very satisfied with these results. A few of them weren't very useful, but the majority proved to be filled with information that one could get ideas for when trying to develop progressive programming in their public libraries.