Social Knowing

NOTE: I am late on this assignment but I still want to post. I only have short periods of time in which I can post so I’ll make this main entry and then update it as I have time over the next few hours.

1. Comment on Weinberger's analysis of Wikipedia's definition of neutrality - p. 136. Does this definition work for the library profession,say for example in the book banning situation? Why or why not?

The more I hear of Jimmy Wales, the more I like him and what he stands for. I didn’t have a bad opinion of him before taking this course, but I only knew his name because of the banner ad-like appeals for money I would see on Wikipedia from time to time. I am impressed with his response to Weinberger’s questioning about neutrality. Philosophically, it is unlikely that people would ever agree about precisely what “neutrality” means – but Wales’ reply is the “good enough” answer, “An article is neutral when people have stopped changing it.”

I’m afraid I’m not personally familiar enough with book banning to feel like I understand exactly how this definition of “neutrality” might be relevant. I regret not starting sooner so I would have had time to clear up my lack of understanding but as it stands, I’ll have to make and educated guess that we see the library’s stance on books as “neutral”.

In that sense, I’m not sure that Wikipedia’s definition of neutrality is especially relevant. I see libraries and librarians as “neutral” more like how Switzerland is “neutral” and less like how a Wikipedia article is neutral. It seems to me that those who want to ban certain books and those who fight against banning books (and sometimes the same people switch sides depending on the book in question) are judging the merit or value of a book based on its content. As a librarian, I feel less inclined to judge based on content but upon whether the content exists or not. I prefer to remain professionally neutral about content and actually somewhat enjoy the tension between opposing parties, not in a sadistic way but because I feel like tension provides opportunity for growth, learning, and greater understanding.

Using Wikipedia’s definition of neutrality, we might say that our library collection is “neutral” when no one is complaining about any of our books AND when no one is complaining that we *don’t* have certain books. I really don’t mean to cause trouble for trouble’s sake, but I hope we never become so narrow with our collection that no one ever complains about what we have or don’t have in the collection.

2. On p. 143 Weinberger writes "Deciding what to believe is now our burden" as opposed to being
"passive knowers" who trust what we read in authoritative resources such as the Encyclopedia Britannica. Use Schedroff's model of Understanding to describe how your knowledge of a particular topic was affected by the new understanding of authority that Weinberger articulates in the last paragraph of the section on Authority and Truth, p. 143. Schedroff's Model of Understanding was first presented in the Module 3 lecture on "The Information Age" and again in the Module 5 lecture on "ASK and Environmental Scanning".

I still owe a blog post about Reddit that told Dr. Roland I would do. I’m embarrassed it has taken this long and I’ll have to leave it for another time. Spending time interacting with people on Reddit (redditors) has affected my knowledge of particular topics in a pattern like Shedroff's model suggests. Specifically, my understanding of Christian groups such as Quakers and Eastern Orthodox is due in large part because of observing and/or participating in discussions on Reddit. Reddit is completely unfiltered but like in the Wikipedia community, if you pay attention you can quickly learn who you can trust. The most helpful comments will include external links where information seekers can find more information. I had very little exposure to Eastern Orthodoxy but I was fascinated by the input of some Orthodox redditors on a variety of theological topics, some of which I have never found the typical western, evangelical view to be appealing. These discussions opened my mind to hearing more about these and other topics. Over a period of years, my knowledge of Orthodox Christianity was growing… first from data points (e.g. seeing Orthodox churches in movies) and then connecting the data into organized thoughts. This knowledge was acquired primarily from conversations, storytelling, and integration as Shedroff’s model suggests. I am still trying to gain more knowledge but am spending time in contemplation, evaluation, interpretation, and retrospection in an attempt to produce some measure of wisdom about what I’ve learned.

3. Comment on the last paragraph of the chapter and incorporate what you have learned about how you learn through the course. Again, relate to Schedroff's model and remember that context is everything.

I’m not convinced that Weinberger is proposing something revolutionary here by elevating social knowing as the place and means of building knowledge throughout humanity.

From my own reading of history, I would suggest social knowing is nothing new at all and that humanity has always learned socially although technologies have increased the speed of transmission and the reach of the information.

As I have mentioned before on this blog (because others mentioned it in lectures first), oral learning is full-duplex and highly social – if not the most social of activities. I used to believe ancient texts such as the Bible were possibly unreliable due to the fact that the stories would have been passed down orally for hundreds of years (possibly) before being written down. I came to learn that most of the variances are more likely a result of inaccurate copying or intentional additions during copying rather than changes made during the period that the accounts were shared orally. Those on the cutting edge of church planting movements have realized that the most effective way to transmit information about Christianity is through stories – both telling and listening. Previously, it was more common to send translation teams to a people to learn the language and translate the Bible so it could be put in printed form but now the storytellers are the first on the scene.

Reading books and reading blogs are social activities too. We have been interacting with Weinberger’s ideas through his book. I know the possibility exists to interact with him on Twitter, too, but I haven’t thought of any questions or comments yet. We are interacting with our classmates via their blog posts. I missed the Wimba Chat but that was a full duplex opportunity. I found that one of my favorite videos to watch (actually I listened as I scurried about our library troubleshooting computer systems before the first day of school) was the one that was a recording of a 2 hour classroom session. This was the first course that left me feeling like the online version was less helpful than meeting in person might have been. I think it is based on my own learning preferences and personality and not the content of the course or even the potential for interaction with other students via twitter and blogs. I really enjoyed the questions and answers and general banter of that recorded classroom session. I would have liked to have been there and I would have liked even more to have gone for coffee/lunch after the class to continue the conversation. I have enjoyed reading my colleagues blog posts and the articles they have linked to but I always want to think and reflect before I comment and oftentimes too much time passes and I never go back and comment. I personally prefer time to think and reflect before forming an opinion, but I probably grow more from being forced to articulate an opinion before it is fully formed like what can happen during oral conversations.

In many ways, the context for this course (and perhaps for my entire SLIS program) for me has been less about data and basic information and more about filling in information gaps to increase knowledge and generate some wisdom about how to succeed at running or helping to run a K-12 international school library. I came to the profession and started my schooling because I discerned that the data pointed to this being an exciting time to be a librarian. The convergence of technology with the traditional missions of libraries has brought me here because 2 things that I am passionate about have now merged together to forge a new vision for what libraries can do and provide and be.