Think about all we covered during this term in Reference & Instruction. What stands out to you as most valuable for you as you consider your interest in libraries and work (of any kind) you may do in the future? What learning or skills will you take with you as you continue learning and head into a life after Carleton? What was the biggest surprise? What would you have liked to have done if it were a longer term?
Given the foundational role the ACRL’s framework for critical literacy has in the structure of Reference Instruction, I feel obliged to assign that as the standout lesson of the term. Critical information literacy anchors the purpose and mission of reference instruction in ways that allow for both librarians and patrons/students to exercise agency. Properly exercised, there is no blind trust in information, and this means that everyone involved in the research process has to make judgement calls. Additionally, in encouraging the valuation of library resources in the context of the politics of knowledge, nondominant forms of knowledge are given a chance, first of simply being viewed and second of being fairly assessed. Outside the context of libraries, critical information literacy makes it clear that data and the infrastructure that allows for the flow and display of data are not inert, neutral subjects. Data, algorithms, and AI have troubled histories and companies that rely on data harvesting and analytics are troubling even when they’re not monopolistic.
Tied to this have been all the conversations surrounding the proper use of AI, or whatever would fall under the auspices of AI literacy. As the usage of AI, whether passively or with critical awareness, gains ascendancy to the point of inevitable ubiquity, higher education has offered only tepid and uncertain responses. The risk of automation of reference instruction work is very real, and the allure of it for libraries with budgetary constraints means that it is only practical to expect it will lead to job loss for librarians. I do not fancy my chances of entering an oversaturated job market in the midst of universal downsizing. As I consider employment paths after Carleton, the lessons of critical information literacy as they are applied to AI will serve as a guide to my navigation (even if that navigation ends up being pulled by the currents outside my control).
As I evaluate how my personal ethics align with the principles of librarianship, the discursive openness that critical information literacy requires leaves me satisfied with the possibility of libraries as active sites for social justice. Of course, the application of the framework matters more than a token embracing of it, but the fact that it is the standard mode of operations serves as strong encouragement that the field is open to those with my activist tendencies.
On that note of application to future concerns, I will carry the pedagogical insights inherent in the principles of reference instruction over into all of my future learning pursuits. Keeping in mind the social constructivist understanding of knowledge is already an integral part of sociological and anthropological thought, but even so having it reinforced always helps. I expect (or at least hope) that the skills extolled by critical information literacy will inform my informal learning. Especially in the immediate future as confidence in mass media and government reportings is currently taking a 90 degree nose dive.
Shifting to what most surprised me, I was taken aback at the scale of control that corporations like RELX and Reuters have on the information infrastructure that we all, especially those of us in academia, rely on. Even with my minimal faith in government to act against corporate interests, I was astounded at just how much power was ceded to these data analytic conglomerates. Reading Sarah Lamdan’s Data Cartels, the surprise began to wear off and was replaced by anger and disillusionment. Although Lamdan offered ways forward, the optimism in her ideas never reached me.
Carleton’s ten-week term cuts a lot of things short, and this regrettably includes each segment of the Libe internship. I thoroughly enjoyed all the LTC lunches and shadowing during in class lectures, and while I would have loved to continue that, I don’t think that I was contributing much of anything during those times. The readings were always thought provoking and vitally important even when they were discouraging to read. The discussions based on the readings were likewise enjoyable even if they were marked with an air of defeat if not futility. Were I to have more time in reference instruction, I would have liked to continue all these. I would have also liked to have had at least one busy or semi-busy reference desk shift because, despite all that I learned, I do not think that I had nearly enough opportunities to “give back” or put into practice the skills of a reference instruction librarian.