15 Weeks, 15 Slides, 5 Minutes
Symposium
Hello, and welcome to my Virtual Symposium for INFO 287: The Hyperlinked Library instructed by Dr. Michael Stephens with the SJSU iSchool. I styled my presentation after the IgniteTalks public speaking based on the standout concepts from this semester that I think will stick with me as I develop professionally in this program and in my career as a whole. The basic constraints for this project was that it had to be fifteen slides presented in five minutes – so, that’s what I did!
Also, yes, it’s a poem. You can find a transcript of the video below:
So here we are, the end of the course.
I’m here to reinforce some thoughts I’ve had
that really ought to be added to my repertoire
so that in the long term, in reaffirming the things I’ve learned,
I hope I won’t forget.
Let’s start at the beginning, week one and the next,
reading the material that would be underpinning
our projects and the rest of the class.
I amassed some folders in my Google Drive, blogged a short hello
and conceptualized the online archive with Buckland’s Redesigning Manifesto.
The Model itself came week three – what is a “hyperlink”?
Well, it’s more than just a some blue text you see
synced up mid-thinkpiece. It’s a representation of the way we lease
connections across borders and lines and people and nations –
the ceaseless “fearless organization” of mobile, malleable modernity’s measureless gives and takes.
Participatory service came week four, and with it I observed
the Free Range Librarian’s insistence that the User is Not Broken,
that, when put into words and spoken, has since changed me to the core.
Assignment X found its footing in this didactic, fantastic attack on arranging form over function
Culminating in a dramatic reenactment of how I brainstormed a change and solved some nonfiction dysfunction.
A quote from Neil Gaiman, my favorite author and muse
Kicked off week five as we perused how communities are created and maintained
In the online space, transcending barriers and order and finding place
For ideas and their carriers to flourish. The power of suggestion was my takeaway key
As I lamented a BookTok-digestion that I will say, I loved to hate-read.
Enter week six, a choose-your-own-adventure in which
I explored how museums and galleries and archives can center their stuff
In a global conversation, and mentor their patrons through some really tough truths.
Here I reflected on how youths are able to cross transtemporal boundaries
With the storytelling holograms of the National Holocaust Museum.
Back to Participatory Design at the bottom of the seventh,
Learning the innings and outings of technology’s heavens and hells and, well,
how easy it is to get lost in the field when we wield
so many options for how to hit the homerun. If we yield to technolust, effective programming
will get tossed overhead – because we’re all too busy looking at the sun.
Week eight introduced us to New Models of service
and how libraries shouldn’t be nervous to challenge the norm,
to anythink outside the box at mach velocity and to reform what is known and secure –
Says Pam Sandlian, “You can learn anything if you make it playful.”
like bringing in 300 goats earning five weekdays full of pure curiosity:
In the ninth week of class we circle back to some tech
looking forward to how AI might affect the way libraries
engage with information sharing and learning in the future and whatnot,
and hopefully turning predominant thought to see it as a net positive affair
rather than causing stagnation as we scare away change and beware innovation.
The Power of Stories came in like a locomotive machine
a steam-powered lesson in how we can make others be seen and be heard
being conductors for the electric current that somebody’s words can impart
on the heart of a community. How intrinsic it is to want to christen others
with our stories, and how glorious it is to be there to listen.
Let’s not forget my Innovation Strategy & Roadmap design.
Inspired by a library on South Australia’s coastline, I scrapped together
a proposal for my school to make an Unstacked Library website
That would take and display circulation statistics which then might create
An interactive tool for students to learn about a book’s characteristics.
Eleven and twelve were a combined trove of knowledge
Where, struck with inspiration and memory alike,
I designed a reflection about how, childlike, I drove an ice cream truck
To learn about math and money and revenue streams
I know it sounds weird but I promise it’s on-theme.
Finally we come to my Inspiration Report, which I labored over
Because i found my topic too important for it to lack fervor and order:
That is, Reporters Without Borders’s Uncensored Library Minecraft server.
I explored the impact of such a contentious project
And inspected how Minecraft could attract a lasting communal effect.
And so concludes my hyperlinked adventure, INFO 287
I hope that this poem can leaven your day as it summarizes
what has come from our projects and reflections and essays.
So I’ll leave you here with my ultimate hardwon conclusion:
Do not be disillusioned with the hyperlinked library – because it’s not going away.
13 thoughts on “15 Weeks, 15 Slides, 5 Minutes | Symposium”
@gilbertmaryjoy This is so, so, so good! Just brilliant! Absolutely love the narration. A true joy to watch. BRAVA! <3
Thank you so much! I really had a fun making it, so I’m glad it’s just as much fun to watch!
@gilbertmaryjoy This is just so fantastic! I love it so much, especially recapping it all in the form of a poem . So creative!!
@gilbertmaryjoy. Forgot to mention that you have a lovely narrating voice!
@royaflin I was thinking the same thing! @gilbertmaryjoy you have a fantastic voice
@royaflin @cedudley That’s so kind of you both to say, thank you so much! (I feel like I go back and forth between liking my voice and cringing anytime I hear it recorded…)
@gilbertmaryjoy I’m so inspired by this presentation! Thank you for making this : )
This presentation is so creative and entertaining! I love it!
Thank you so much!
@gilbertmaryjoy I loved how you summed up your overall experience into a poetry format combined with narration and visuals! The five minutes past by so fast when I was watching and really felt like I was coming in to sit in for a story time, it was very relaxing to watch and listen to your symposium! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us 🙂
I’m so happy you liked it! I tried my best to summon my inner “Miss Gilbert reading to her students” voice for this one. Glad it translated!
This was like listening to a beautiful and brief audiobook of the semester! Your narration is so great, as are the words you used to sum it all up. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Thank you so much, Savannah!