A HyperLink to the Past

Working in a public library will quickly demonstrate to the observer how basic a need the internet is in our modern hyperlinked world. Measured alongside other basic infrastructure, such as water, electricity, and roads, broadband internet stands as an essential for participating in modern society.  Reliable high-speed connectivity determines whether or not students can complete homework, qualified workers can apply for quality jobs, families can make and attend medical appointments, or citizens can understand and contribute to communal civic life.  Ty is a patron that I regularly help at the reference desk. Multiple times per week, Ty stops by to ask what number they are on the holds list for…

One idea from the early modules that immediately stood out to me is participatory service: the belief that quality library services are not something to be bestowed upon library users by knowledgeable, well-connected librarians, but rather are a product of an open and participatory dialogue between that librarian and the constituency she or he serves and cares about. The participatory service model runs parallel to the movement in teacher’s education programs – one of which I participated in in a former life – that is leaving behind the “sage on the stage” archetype of teacher who holds the key to knowledge and pontificates at the head of the classroom in…