OJS at Oregondigital.org (Oregon State University / University of Oregon)
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My Life in Teen Services: Then and Now
Get PDFFourteen years into my career as a teen services librarian, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on my early years as a fresh-faced librarian and compare those experiences to where I am now, mid-career. I can both laugh a bit at my early naiveté, and feel concerned that I’ve grown too old to connect with my intended audience. Regardless, my dedication to serving the teens in my community has only grown stronger as I move further into my second decade of being “that librarian who came to my school and talked about books!
Our House is on Fire: How Librarians can Help Young Climate Activists
Get PDFMany librarians are inspired by Greta Thunberg and the millions of young people who have begun mobilizing to pressure government and corporate entities to address the climate crisis. During the Global Climate Strike week from September 20 to 27, 2019, it is estimated that over 7.5 million people worldwide joined Thunberg in agitating for change (Global Climate Strike, 2019). Our situation is dire. In June of 2019, scientists at the Permafrost Laboratory at the University of Alaska Fairbanks reported that permafrost melting in the Canadian High Arctic had already exceeded estimates of melting not previously expected to occur until the year 2090 (Farquharson et al., 2019). In response, Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International, stated that “thawing permafrost is one of the tipping points for climate breakdown and it’s happening before our very eyes” (Reuters, 2019). Rapid permafrost thawing would suddenly release enormous quantities of carbon dioxide and methane, initiating a feedback loop that could cause global temperature to rise even more catastrophically (Reuters, 2019). Recently, 400 scientists from 20 different countries released a statement urging mass actions of civil disobedience as the only way to pressure policy makers to act quickly enough in order to avert the worst consequences of climate change (Green, 2019)
State of School Libraries in Oregon: Challenges and Successes
Get PDFThe State Library supports Oregon school libraries in a variety of ways. Data about school library staffing and funding is collected and is often requested by library advocates. The State Library’s Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) allotment contributes to or funds Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB), the statewide databases, and the Oregon School Library Information System, otherwise known as OSLIS. In addition, the Oregon Association of School Libraries (OASL) has benefited from LSTA competitive grants, such as grants they received to develop the Oregon School Library Standards and the related Grade-Level Learning Goals. I work closely with the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), and as I learn about relevant updates and projects at ODE, I keep the library community informed about potential opportunities and connect OASL leadership with appropriate ODE contacts. Much of the support I provide comes in the form of consulting as needs arise.
Additional local support comes from organizations like the Oregon Library Association (OLA) and Oregon Association of School Libraries. For example, as a result of how COVID-19 has affected K-12 education, OASL leadership developed talking points about the value that licensed and paraprofessional staff bring during distance learning. Those organizations can also advocate for school libraries in ways that the State Library, as a state agency, cannot. In the last couple of years, OASL ramped up their advocacy efforts by forming an advocacy committee. They created an advocacy toolkit and worked with the OLA Library Development & Legislation Committee during the last full session of the Oregon Legislature, trying to pass legislation that would require licensed school librarians in elementary schools, among other things, based on momentum from the then-pending Student Success Act. The school library legislation did not advance, and the advocacy committee plans to pursue new legislation again when the time is right. That situation is a reflection of the current state of school libraries in Oregon. Much good work is being done, but efforts to staff, fund, and better utilize school library programs often do not move forward.
In preparation to write this article, I asked OASL members to respond to a survey about successes and challenges. Top challenges surfaced, both through the survey responses and from trends I have noticed in my dozen years at the State Library.
Note: A new version of this article was posted on Nov. 6, 2020, to include the author's updated State Library of Oregon email address
Volume 26 Issue 2 Back Matter
Get PDFNote: A new version of this PDF was posted on Nov. 6, 2020, in the course of updating State Library of Oregon email addresses throughout the issue
Volume 26 Issue 1 Introduction | From the Guest Editor
Get PDFI embarked upon this project because I was curious about how special collections could help forge strong communities, as well as how these community impacts could be effectively communicated and demonstrated. The plethora of articles received has taught me a lot. What stood out the most for me when I read the submissions was the huge variety of communities served by special collections in Oregon. To help me take in all the different types of collections out there, I’ve binned them into broad (and sometimes overlapping) categories.Described by Nancy Hoover, the Center for Volga German Studies is a good example of a collection that serves a scholarly community.Other collections serve enthusiastic hobbyists.Many collections serve to help preserve the history, heritage or contributions of particular communities.There are some notable collections described in this issue that branch out to address unique community needs
Play With Purpose at the Hillsboro Public Library
Get PDFThe Hillsboro Public Library (HPL) has two very active branches that serve the robust youth population of Hillsboro. Our Vision Statement is “Welcoming and inclusive, the Hillsboro Public Library is a world-class system where our entire community gathers, connects, and explores.” Our mission is simply: “For Everyone/Para Todos.” We were ready to live up to our vision of a world-class system for our community. In the spring of 2018, I worked as a practicum student at the HPL-Brookwood main branch as a requirement for my library science degree. I was issued the challenge to create a more playful, engaging experience in the library for the children we serve in the community. The Power of Play states “As libraries continue to compete with television, technology, and commercial endeavors, staying focused on a library’s purpose to develop human potential is our best response. Transforming underutilized public spaces into dynamic early learning places is a great starting point” (Stoltz, Conner & Bradberry, 2015). While we deliver stellar programming that is well-attended, the children’s collection area was ready for an update
Database Promotion at the Intersection of Electronic Resource Management and Outreach
Get PDFDuring the electronic resource management cycle, library staff review, acquire, evaluate, and deactivate databases based on a number of factors that include usage statistics, collection development decisions, and budgetary factors. One aspect of electronic resource management that has increased in the Government Information and Library Services division is our promotion of new, updated, or existing databases to our state employee users.
This article discusses a pilot project designed to promote the use of the Safari database (now known as O’Reilly). It shares the steps we took to plan and implement outreach activities focused on the database, along with how we created goals and measures to evaluate and assess the success of the promotion.
After the pilot database promotion, we gained experience and information to design additional database promotions, which has helped us improve our communications and outreach to state employees.
Note: A new version of this article was posted on Nov. 6, 2020, to include the author's updated State Library of Oregon email address
“El presente perfecto”: la cámara telescópica de Patricio Guzmán en Nostalgia de la luz (2010)
No full textIn this article, I draw on Sara Ahmed’s theorization of “queer phenomenology” to examine the re-orientation of memory discourses in Patricio Guzman’s Nostalgia de la luz (2010). In Nostalgia, the camera produces a metaleptic effect by meticulously framing, in a similar manner to that of a telescope, the background of the official historical narrative: the memory of the natural world. Guzmán’s metaleptic camera teaches us an interconnected “memory of the cosmos.” Yet this re-orientation of memory discourses is articulated from a family home that serves as a gendered orienting device. Following queer phenomenology, I trace the ways in which the documentary’s innovative treatment of memory is hindered by the heteropatriarchal orientation of the family home. I argue that, in Nostalgia, the memory of the heterosexual male subject is the one that is transmitted vertically within the heteropatriarchal family. In doing so, the documentary reproduces the familial and linear tropes that have dominated discourses of intergenerational memory transmission. Queer phenomenology warns us that Guzman’s call to “vivir en el frágil tiempo presente” is not merely a question of having or lacking memory. Memory is a matter of following, and returning, specific lines of orientation, at the expense of others.Pieza clave de la reflexión cinematográfica sobre la memoria histórica del "maestro" del documental chileno, Patricio Guzmán, es su penúltimo documental, Nostalgia de la luz (2010). En este filme los crímenes contra la humanidad cometidos por el régimen de Augusto Pinochet se tornan en escenario para re-pensar el proyecto de memoria histórica chileno desde la innovación estética del género documental. El presente artículo examina Nostalgia como artefacto contemporáneo de la memoria que logra difuminar los límites del medio cinematográfico a través de una gramática audiovisual meta-narrativa que arremete contra la amnesia de la narración historicista. Propongo que, con la centralidad de la metalepsis, Guzmán pone en marcha una aproximación fenomenológica de doble filo que re-orienta el género del documental de la memoria histórica: por un lado, con la fenomenología entre la imagen en movimiento y espectador; por el otro, entre la aparición del cosmos material y cineasta. Mientras que el director codifica una nueva orientación espacio-temporal personal hacia el cosmos material guiada por la escuela de la Gran Historia (Big History), apela a la respuesta afectiva y ética del espectador a la imagen en movimiento. El axis de esta doble maniobra es la meta-narratividad de la metalepsis, articulada a base del dispositivo fílmico que Malin Walhberg acuña como “frame-breaking events”, es decir, eventos que rompen el encuadre/marco. Los tres “frame-breaking events” principales del filme—el paralelismo entre cámara y telescopio, el montaje fotogénico y el desierto de Atacama como cronotopo—funcionan como vehículo para delinear una innovadora “ars poética” sobre el género documental que reformule la política de memoria histórica. Argumento que el enunciado de Nostalgia, es decir, el marco temporal que plantea Guzmán para construir una narración histórica alternativa que re-oriente el “archivo de la memoria" es un “presente perfecto” que se redobla así mismo por el mero acto de ser visto y se perpetúa infinitamente si logra concienciar al espectador
