Delay, Distract, Defer: The Saboteur in the Academic Library
August 5, 2020
10:30 am – 1:30pm; FREE Virtual Program
This program will not be recorded.
Registration is now closed
There is no registration cost for this program. Links to join the virtual program will be sent after registration is closed.
Program:
10:30am: Keynote
“Delay, Distract, Defer: The Saboteur in the Academic Library.”
Presented by Erin Pappas and Katie Dohe
12:00 Lunch Break
12:45pm: Afternoon Session
“Challenging the ‘Good Fit’ Narrative: Creating Inclusive recruitment Practices in Academic Libraries.”
Presented by Jennifer Stout and Samantha Guss
Program Description:
Delay, Distract, Defer: Sabotage in the Academic Library
Erin Pappas and Kate Dohe
In 1944, the US Office of Strategic Services released the Simple Sabotage Field Manual. Originally intended to aid the WWII-era citizen saboteur in committing small, undetectable acts of sabotage within an enemy organization, the Field Manual developed a second life on social media after its declassification, as its advice to “make faulty decisions, to adopt an uncooperative attitude, and to induce others to follow suit” echoed the pitfalls of modern office work. Higher education’s hierarchical culture meets professional norms that stress collaborative decision-making and emotional labor in academic libraries, and create an environment ripe for exploitation by those unhappy with the direction of an organization. As workers charged with the stewardship of information infrastructure, and as individuals who create and implement best practices in digital cultural heritage systems, library saboteurs have the potential to derail and impede the fundamental mission of the organization, but also to save it from toxic leadership and mismanagement. In this interactive session, we invite attendees to consider the motives and methods of saboteurs, the power dynamics that underpin sabotage, and how to navigate a sabotaged library—even if the saboteur is you.
Challenging the ‘Good Fit’ Narrative: Creating Inclusive Recruitment Practices in Academic Libraries
Jennifer Stout and Samantha Guss
As a profession, we talk the talk of valuing diversity and inclusion, but do we walk the walk with our hiring practices? The profession stresses the importance of “a good fit” when hiring, but we rarely interrogate the fact that “a good fit” can be a reflection of our implicit biases. Three academic librarians conducted a survey of hiring policies with a focus on the processes (or lack thereof) of recruiting candidates from underrepresented groups. This session will report on their findings and recommend the implementation of specific practices designed to create an inclusive candidate pool and an equitable search process.
More information about our speakers:
Erin Pappas is the Research Librarian for various humanities departments at the University of Virginia. She is the co-editor of the recently published #DLFTeach Toolkit: Lesson Plans for Digital Library Instruction, and for a forthcoming volume on the decolonization of area studies from Library Juice Press.
Kate Dohe is the Manager of the Digital Programs & Initiatives department in the University of Maryland Libraries. Kate’s team oversees day-to-day activities related to digital repository management, digital preservation, research data services, and electronic publishing. Select publications include “Care, Code, and Digital Libraries: Embracing Critical Practice in Digital Library Communities” (In the Library with the Lead Pipe), and “Linked Data, Unlinked Communities” (Lady Science).
Samantha Guss - Social Sciences Librarian, University of Richmond
Jennifer Stout - Teaching & Learning Librarian, Virginia Commonwealth University |
