The Library of Forking Paths

What is the idea? The Memory Lab is a digitization and storytelling initiative designed to support rural and suburban public library users, particularly older adults and those invested in local or family history, by offering tools and guidance to preserve their analog memories in digital form. This includes converting VHS tapes, photographs, slides, and audio cassettes into digital files that can be stored, shared, and archived. At its heart, the Memory Lab is not just a preservation station but a participatory platform for community storytelling. Drawing on the principles outlined in @michael‘s “Taming Technolust”, our Memory Lab is not about chasing the latest tools but about responding to genuine user…

When the NMC Horizon Report: 2017 Library Edition was published, it offered a snapshot of emerging technologies and shifting priorities poised to reshape academic and research libraries. Now, nearly a decade later, it’s fascinating to revisit its predictions not just to evaluate their accuracy, but to better understand the ongoing evolution of library identity. What strikes me most is how many of the report’s themes remain not only relevant, but urgent. Yet the pace of adoption has varied, with some transformations thriving, others stalling, and a few morphing into entirely new trajectories.  One of the most prescient trends identified in the report was the rise of patrons as creators. The…

In February I had the opportunity to visit the Central Library in Seattle, which like some of the Scandinavian libraries we have been exploring stands out as a marvel of architecture and innovation. In reflecting on the design and mission of the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library, I’ve been considering how it exemplifies the principles for the Hyperlinked Library we are developing in this class. Additionally, I want to refer to the IFLA’s Public Library Service Guidelines, particularly the first chapter on the purpose of the public library that frames the library as a democratic, innovative, and user-centered space. The guidelines emphasize that “the modern library is much more than…

For this unit’s reflection, I wanted to investigate the term “communities of practice”, and how it can be used to enhance our understanding of community-building within the library. The term was coined by Jean Lave, a social anthropologist, and her student, Étienne Wenger, an educational theorist, in their 1991 book “Situated Learning”. The idea was inspired by work they completed in Africa observing apprenticeships among traditional tailors, where they developed the theory of “situated learning”. Situated learning is a social theory of education that focuses on the relationship between learning and the social environment where takes place, specifically one in which the skill is learned in the same place in…

Like others in the class, I was particularly inspired by the model of “participatory service”, and how it can be used to reinvigorate the connection between patrons and the library. Although “Library 2.0” and the Hyperlinked Service model have a basis in Web technology, in “Wholehearted Librarianship” Professor Stephens argued that Library 2.0 is about creating a meeting place that is “online or in the real world” – Hyperlinked Service isn’t hyperlinked in that it takes place exclusively online, but is hyperlinked in the sense that it is non-hierarchical and linked peer-to-peer. The challenge is, then, to design systems for delivering library services that create the possibility for and encourage…

Hello everybody! My name is Ian Tighe, and although I was born and raised in Half Moon Bay, California, I am currently located in Jackson County in Southern Oregon where I work for our local library system. This is my third semester in the MLIS program, and I hope to graduate in the fall before potentially moving back to the Bay Area, or somewhere new entirely. My academic history beforehand was a little bit scatter-shot as I started out studying electrical engineering before considering an English degree and finally deciding to study cognitive science, which allowed me to take courses in psychology, linguistics, computer science, and biology in addition to…