Reflection: Hyperlinked Communities
I was first exposed to the world wide web in a faculty multimedia lab in the early 1990s. Netscape and HTML were brand new and the revolution of visual navigation and hyperlinking was a very cool thing. The technical innovation was apparent and fore-fronted for so many of us that it was easy to miss that hyperlinks are connections – and that connection happens between people – that it encapsulates an exchange. Exchange of information and experience – that connection implies reciprocity. Reciprocity of access and opportunity – reciprocity of feeling. There was an optimism in the internal dynamic – where will this link take me, reveal to me… perhaps even a dread. This was before we understood the effect that interactivity has on dopamine and the hacking of our attention via social media, of course, so there was an innocence and excitement to it.
Writing in “Wholehearted Librarianship” Professor Michael Stephens described the tension between priorities often felt when determining budget priorities, especially when there seems to be explicit choice between people and technology. Fortunately, the internet remains undefeated and there are thousands of connected communities using technology to inculcate, support, and grow their human connections. I wrote about the Audio Drama Fan community for Professor Stephens’ Information Communities course, and I discovered and experienced that community through hyperlinks. A distributed, connected, generous community of people sharing and encouraging.
Perhaps the best course forward for libraries is to not invest heavily in new or “bespoke” systems of connection but to tap into existing communities that are already thriving. The question might be how to hyperlink the library to these communities? This would need to be in novel ways that likely include computer stations and access points but also creating programs and opportunities to bring the focus of that community to the library. I have written about audio drama listening programs [link] and Professor Stephens highlights programs of of many kinds – e.g. knitters – meeting at the library [lecture] – these can be connected to other in-person groups through simple video conferencing – ideas like virtual conferences can be adapted to clubs and supported in local libraries with very little budget expense.
In a way, the hyperlinked community represents a central challenge and opportunity to the modern library – to be a vital part of the connected community in an organic, people-first way. And as we have been shown – our communities and patrons will tells us how we can do that – and asking them costs us nothing.
