Xoya's Hyperlinked Voyage

The concept of stories makes me reflect on the 4 years I spent practicing and studying Irish Paganism. Irish paganism is a reconstruction of Draíocht (Druidism) in pre-Christian Ireland. The very backbone of reconstructed paganism revolves around lore, mythological cycles and storytelling. In an Irish pagan storytelling circle, poets, such as the bard and filí oversee the story telling. The bard is a type of poet who focuses on satire, eulogies and stories of the day-to-day life of average people, sometimes in the form of a song.  The filí is a poet who is considered to have the most elite role and tells stories that represent prophecy or divine knowledge (I.E., 2024). These are just two examples of storytelling roles, but the source of the stories always come from a place of Imbas Forosnaí meaning (Illuminated Inspiration) in old Irish (Kenna, 2021). In Irish paganism, storytelling provides support for most rituals, sabbats and rites. This is the power of story telling in action, because the stories are what energize the experience and connections between people and the event.

The circles of storytelling in Irish paganism include people from diverse backgrounds interacting with native Irish people. In Office Hours: The Power of Stories Part 2, Michael Stephens points out that, “Story-based experiences of all kinds can increase listeners’ understanding of diverse groups, demonstrate the value of everyone’s experience, and remind listeners of their shared humanity.” To encourage the best aspects of this shared humanity and understanding of diverse groups, the storytellers lead by example by keeping cultural competence in balance with cultural humility. The University of Oregon has created a toolkit, which is a helpful way to process the concept of this practice. Cultural competence involves having knowledge about a culture and cultural humility involves the ability to self-reflect and discern whether an adjustment in attitude or perspective in oneself is needed to understand another’s culture (Cultural Humility Toolkit, uoregon.edu). When these mindsets are balanced, cultural differences can have a positive impact rather than a negative one, inequalities can be addressed, and collaboration becomes more enjoyable. In a storytelling circle, this collaboration can bring about thought-provoking discussions, epiphanies and bonding.

References:

(IrishMyths.com), I. E. (2024, October 3). What’s the difference between a bard, a vate, and a Druid? Irish Myths. https://irishmyths.com/2022/05/27/bards-vs-vates-vs-druids/

Stephens, M. (2020, April 9). Office hours: The Power of Stories Part 2. INFO 287 – The Hyperlinked Library. https://287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/office-hours-the-power-of-stories-part-2/

Kenna, S. (2021, February 17). Seer – fáidh, Filí, Fílidh, Fénnidi, Ollamh, poets. Bean Feasa. https://beanfeasa9.wordpress.com/fili/

Division of Equity and Inclusion menu. Cultural Humility Toolkit | Division of Equity and Inclusion. (n.d.). https://inclusion.uoregon.edu/cultural-humility-toolkit

In some cultural and educational spaces, there is a mindset that evokes this idea that the old ways of doing things are more majestic than modern practices. Sometimes people see story telling and libraries as spaces like this.  This mindset suggests that libraries should prioritize tradition over innovation. This leads to a notion that an ambience of information screens, high tech graphics and smart use of space is not as desirable as an ambience of physical books and well-organized clutter radiating with the smells of dust and petrichor. Why can’t we have both? In a 2017 interview with Matt Finch, Finch says that he is fascinated by the idea of the library as a place which lets you step inside a story, a world of fiction or non-fiction, and then participate in that world as you choose and that storytelling in a library means capturing the initial spark of inspiration. Finch then goes on to point out this spark of inspiration and can be ignited by in-person and digital experiences (Paraschiv and Finch, 2017).

Library experience can provide a sense of balance between traditional experiences as well as modernized experiences both in-person and virtual. It’s important to understand that while virtual experiences cannot fully take the place of in person experiences, it can provide more people with opportunities to experience a place. Michael McShane points out that not all people have access to renowned works of art or Historical artifacts, and that research shows that any experience, including virtual experience, with these things enhance critical thinking skills, and empathy (McShane, 2018). Contemporary libraries now have options to integrate nostalgia with modern technology in all types of library experiences. The library is also capable of allowing users the convenient options of emerging technology, such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). One could call this practice of virtual “vellichor.” Vellichor is a useful term that I just learned from Google AI Overview. I found the official definition from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Arguably, we do not yet have virtual technology that can provide us with authentic vellichor experience, but with the right imagery and inspiration, it can evoke a feeling of it.

References:

Finch , M., & Paraschiv, P. (2021, November 23). 3 essential elements to consider when creating a voice for the library – interview with Matt Finch. Princh . https://princh.com/blog-elements-to-consider-when-creating-a-voice-for-the-library-matt-finch/#.XHWm6qB7mUm

McShane, M. (2024, March 4). Is virtual reality the future of field trips?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemcshane/2018/06/13/is-virtual-reality-the-future-of-field-trips/#626ae5d91809

https://www.thedictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/word/vellichor#:~:text=n.,vel%2Duh%2Dkawr.%E2%80%9D

Hello everyone!

I decided to create a Farm to Fork theme for my Innovation Strategy & Roadmap project. The city where I live, Sacramento, CA, is often referred to the Farm to Fork capital of the world. I decided to create a series of networking events that would take place in the regions libraries and museums (that would decide to participate). The idea is that this network of information sharing and collaboration would compliment the existing Farm to Fork community and help it thrive even more.

I created a Google Slides presentation, so you will need to open the link to view the presentation.

Please click the link below to view my presentation:

F2F Symposium

 

The year is 2025, and many human experiences, which used to be conducted in person, have been converted to digital experiences. These digitized experiences may take the form of teleconferencing, virtual reality (VR) augmented reality (AR), virtual tours or other interactive web-based experiences. This practice has had many praises and criticisms. Criticisms often relate to the idea that the digital experience is less authentic, isolating and limiting. Praises include the fact that digitization decreases traffic, reduces spread of diseases and is convenient. In the case of museum experience, offering digitized options would help the museum’s sustainability, provide many people who normally wouldn’t have the means to visit a chance to experience their collections, and increase their revenue in many ways.

Museums have been working with VR applications for a long time but have only been visibly mainstream with this since the 2020s. As early as 2016, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) undertook a series of experiments in producing Virtual Reality (VR) applications, to gain hands-on experience with the technologies involved, and to increase the museum staff’s firsthand knowledge of the medium (Snyder, 2018). Over the years, SAAM observed that in the early days, issues that hindered virtual museum experience included uncomfortable or heavy VR headsets and reliance on computers. In recent years, VR headsets have become lightweight and do not need to be tethered to computers. VR technology is improving rapidly and will likely become more prevalent in more museums as time moves on.

In more recent years, museums have mostly adopted AR and VR technology into their visitors’ experience. For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made the decision to digitalize over 380,000 images from its collection to make its collection accessible to more users. In 2019, the Prado Museum in Madrid introduced its first innovative 360-degree immersive VR experience, which allows users to get a closer look at the artworks and artefacts than they would in person (Charr. 2020).

Overall, the advantages of AR and VR are starting to outweigh the disadvantages for museums and visitors. While the virtual experience cannot replace in-person experiences, it can make experiences accessible for more users and increase sustainability for the museum.

References:

Snyder, S. (2018, January 15). Possibilities and constraints for virtual visits: Experimental approaches to VR at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. MW18 Museums and the Web 2018. https://mw18.mwconf.org/paper/possibilities-and-constraints-for-virtual-visits-experimental-approaches-to-vr-at-the-smithsonian-american-art-museum/

Richardson, J. (2025, January 3). How technology is bringing museums back to life. MuseumNext. https://www.museumnext.com/article/how-technology-is-bringing-museums-back-to-life/

The library is emerging as a hangout for people of many different communities to socialize and network. This is especially true in the 2020s post Covid-19 world, that has changed the way most people socialize and network. The library is a place to connect with others, but it is far less intimidating than a dance club, bar or professional organization. It is a place where people are more likely to feel safe and comfortable. In fact, libraries tend to be very calm and gentle environments, which foster both wellness and community connection. Most modern libraries also strive to be judgment free zones and support diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), which create a safe space for people to connect with others.

In the article, ‘Free, non-judgemental, accessible’: How your local library is a sanctuary of health and wellness, by Tareq Nurul Hasan, scenarios are described where libraries serve as a sanctuary and a catalyst for making unique connections. Examples range from the library serving as a place to find lost family members to being a place to alleviate loneliness. Hasan cites the webpage, Libraries Chane Lives as a place where one can read inspiring stories about connections like this (https://librarieschangelives.org.au/). The key point made by Hasan about libraries is libraries are home to more than just books, libraries are safe spaces can help people fight loneliness and find new friends and a recent survey shows 92 per cent of the people think of libraries as a safe place (Hasan, 2022).

On the website, Libraries Change Lives, as suggested by Hasan, there are countless stories and information about how this library campaign in Victoria, Australia serves various communities with an emphasis on creating spaces that foster health and wellbeing. In addition to supporting health and wellness, the campaign also supports culture and creativity within information community spaces. The overall goal of this program is to provide inclusive and well-designed spaces to bring various information communities together at libraries in Victoria (https://librarieschangelives.org.au/learn-more/).

To facilitate connections within these communities, it is important to have a model for spaces that serve as a place for these connections. The University of Copenhagen has developed a 4 Spaces Model, which helps to facilitate these connections and provide guidance. These 4 spaces are: the inspiration space, the learning space, the meeting space and the performative space. The model has been created on the basis of the researchers’ visits to libraries and interviews with library managers in Denmark, Norway and the USA, among other countries. (Skot-Hansen, 2017).  Having spaces in the library that are designed to enhance well-being and creativity, the library becomes the hangout that people use to connect with others and network.

References:

Hasan, T. N. (2022, October 22). “free, non-judgemental, accessible”: How your local library is a sanctuary of health and Wellness. SBS Language. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/bangla/en/article/free-nonjudgmental-and-accessible-how-your-local-library-is-a-sanctuary-of-health-and-wellness/t15blzsi9

Skot-Hansen, D. (2016, August 15). Library development: From collection to connection. https://humanities.ku.dk/collaboration/impact/library-development/

Libraries change lives campaign. Libraries Change Lives. (2020, January 20). https://librarieschangelives.org.au/

 

Empathy is a topic explored by the Library and Information Services (LIS) profession often these days. For this blog, let’s understand empathy as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another” (Merriam-Webster). For this discussion, I will focus on how empathy relates to participatory culture. A library succeeds at participatory culture when it goes above and beyond being a place to consume information and literature by inviting the community to be actively involved in creative processes. The Hyperlinked Library Model describes a participatory institution as one that welcomes user input and creativity and is built on human connections and conversations (Stephens, 2011). In this sense, empathy serves as a powerful tool and support system for a library’s culture of content and idea sharing.

In Michael Casey’s 2011 article, Revisiting Participatory Service in Trying Times – a TTW Guest Post by Michael Casey, Casey emphasizes the importance of engaging library users on social media platforms. The article points out that when libraries use social media solely for announcements and event notifications with no interactions with the users, they miss out on valuable community engagement opportunities. According to Casey, Facebook’s overall user base has increased from 50 million in late 2007 to 800 million by 2011 and the tools for social engagement have also improved. Casey suggests that some library staff should be trained to use available social media tools to engage users. While empathy is not specifically mentioned in this article, the concept of empathy is intertwined with Casey’s suggestions.

In the 2019 article by Casey O’Brien, How San Francisco’s public libraries are embracing their changing role, it becomes clear the library is changing its approach to participatory library services. Like the prior article, there is emphasis on community, but the focus is on in-person participation in a specific program at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) known as “The Mix.” In the prior article by Casey, there was focus on improving engagement with users on social media. In this article written years later by O’Brien, the public library is attempting to strengthen in person engagement while expressing concerns that online services are deterring users from in-person services. By making services free and allowing for direct community input, this program has become successful with bringing people in person at the SFPL. The Mix serves as a safe space and is open to the sharing of ideas, information and content. This program serves an example of empathy being a successful part of in-person community engagement.

By the 2020s many library programs mention empathy as part of their strategic planning. In the 2023 article, Practicing and Marketing with Empathy in Libraries, by Wren Daniel Ambroise, this trend of empathy is discussed as part of the library’s mission for participatory culture. Wren points out that while practices of empathy have always been intertwined with the development of libraries, it hasn’t been as widely discussed in the past (Ambroise, 2023). Now this topic is being explored in almost all aspects of librarianship and shows great promise in the areas of marketing, engagement and outreach. This article explores studies which have examined the impact of empathy on strategic plans and practices of various marketing campaigns. Long story short, approaching strategic plans and practices with empathy improved results and increased user participation in library services.

As libraries adapt to emerging technology, participatory culture is improving in both physical space and virtual space. In Michael Stephens’s article, The Hyperlinked Library: A TTW White Paper, we learned about participatory practices in the Hyperlinked Library model. The Hyperlinked Library model encourages use of web 2.0 applications and emerging technology in the library, but Stephens points out that, “the model is broader than just online communication and collaboration. It encompasses both physical and virtual space, as well as many types of libraries” (Stephens, 2011). The Hyperlinked Library model isn’t here to replace the physical library, but rather to expand the library’s services and create meaningful connections with users in all types of library spaces. The Hyperlinked Library model approaches library participation with empathy by welcoming user input and creativity.

References:

Stephens, M. (2011, February 21). The Hyperlinked Library: A TTW White Paper. Tame the Web. https://tametheweb.com/2011/02/21/hyperlinkedlibrary2011/

Casey, M. (2011, October 20). Revisiting participatory service in trying times – a TTW guest post by Michael Casey. Tame the Web. https://tametheweb.com/2011/10/20/revisiting-participatory-service-in-trying-times-a-ttw-guest-post-by-michael-casey/

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Empathy definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy

O’Brien, C. (2019, June 24). How San Francisco’s public libraries are embracing their changing role. Shareable. https://www.shareable.net/how-san-francisco-public-libraries-are-embracing-their-changing-role/

Ambroise, W. D. (n.d.). Practicing and marketing with empathy in libraries. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=15509&context=libphilprac

 

Hello, my name is Kristine Spencer, I am from Sacramento, CA. Xoya is a nickname of mine that I have had for many years, and I have been using it as my Blizzard battle tag since about 2013. As you can guess, one of my hobbies is video games, even though I rarely have time to devote to gaming these days. I also like to create art and do creative things, which I hope that I will eventually be able to incorporate into my work in this class. It can be difficult to find time for my creative outlets, because I am also a full time legal caseworker and mother of 3 kids and a cat.

I look forward to this class, as I feel it will touch upon many of my favorite things in information science, such as emerging technology, social media and networking. I look forward to getting to know everyone and hope that my posts get more interesting as I explore this site. I have used Word Press before, but it has been a while. Improving my blogging skills is high on my priority list as far as professional skills go, so I am grateful for this opportunity to explore, practice and learn how to get better.

For fun, here is a photo of my cat, Raven.