About the book
Human Operators: A Critical Oral History of Technology in Libraries will be a collective oral history covering many of the issues in technology in librarianship in the early 21st century. Via edited and compiled interview transcripts, readers will get to “hear” the voices of librarians and archivists discussing tech topics from perspectives that are critical, social justice-oriented, feminist, anti-racist, and ecologically-minded.
Objective
This readable, conversational book will bring out specific critiques of technology as well as more inspiring aspects of what's going on in the instructional, open source, free culture, and maker worlds in the field. The book will be less about the technology per se and more about critical thinking around technology and how it actually works in people’s lives.
The stories that this book intends to capture may have been documented in blog posts, Twitter conversations, and academic articles, but this “oral history” will be an opportunity for them to live on in printed book form.
Target audiences
· Librarians and archivists who want to hear about use cases, organizational impacts, and generally how people (staff and library users alike) are affected by technology in libraries.
· Technologists who want to better understand how ideas are sparked, decisions are made, and hardware and software are deployed in libraries.
· Other readers who think about technology and society.
About the editor
Melissa Morrone is a librarian at Brooklyn Public Library and manages the Shelby White and Leon Levy Information Commons there. She is a non-technologist who has long been involved in technology (writing CMS documentation; developing and conducting training on her organization’s ILS, Internet filters, and digital privacy; giving online research workshops for activists; doing everyday public library reference and computer support) at work and elsewhere.
How to participate
Email informed.agitation@gmail.com by July 31, 2016, if you’re interested in setting up an online interview to discuss your work around one or more of the following topics:
· open source ILSs and other FOSS software
· library cataloging and automation
· ebooks, DRM, and related issues
· makerspaces and digital media labs
· privacy, security, and surveillance
· technology instruction and digital literacy
· digital humanities
· digital archives
· digital reader’s advisory
· continuing education, conference codes of conduct, and other professional activities
Bring your stories, your critical librarianship, and your sociopolitical analysis to technology in libraries, and let’s talk.
