Some obstacles that come to mind for libraries’ settings would be not having enough resources to aid those who are completely blind, deaf, or those who are both. I can see obstacles arising on not being able to use the computers, librarians having trouble finding resources that are affordable and good quality, and having people with these conditions not being able to benefit from the sources that the libraries have to offer. One repercussion of this would be that those who have a disability would not be able to gain much from going to their nearest library and would have to go out of their way to find one that offers resources for their disability. Another repercussion would be having lawsuits against libraries because they do not meet the needs of every patron they serve in that community.
One highlight of attending the Minitext Technical Services Symposium was watching the documentary “Change the Subject” because it informed me of how politics played and keeps playing a role in the not changing of the subject heading of “illegal aliens” to “undocumented immigrants.” Another highlight was listening to the first keynote speaker talked about how it is unfair having to pay a high price to OCLC and that determining if one is able to appear in WorldCat. This was interesting to me because this then isolates an institution form either finding books that their patrons need or other libraries finding out that the certain institution has a certain book. The third highlight of the symposium was hearing the talk about “Conscious Mentoring and Foreign Librarians” because in a way this presentation brought to my attention to what it means to be a good mentor. I can use this information not only in an academic setting but also in a professional and personal setting.
A reading that really interested me these past two weeks would have to be that of, “Fundamentals of Government: Mining, Finding, Evaluating, and Using Government Resources.” This one interested me because it talked about how a lot of government documents are beginning to move online rather than having a physical copy sent to the libraries. One would then have to think about the way that the documents are being saved online and if a certain format will still be available for future versions of the software that we currently have in our computers. With updates coming in often, one would think that the best form of saving a document would be saving it as a PDF. As I worked with Katie, I noticed that some of the documents that were being offered online either brought us to a separate website or provided a pdf version of the document. PDF is a good way to archive documents as far as we have seen.
Thank you for your reflection, Valerie! I agree that providing equitable access for patrons of all abilities is challenge that libraries continue to face. Check out the great work that one library in New York City is doing to provide access for blind or visually impaired patrons: https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/heiskell
I would recommend reading more in the Rubin book, maybe chapter 7, which would provide more aspects of how libraries are thinking about providing equitable access for all.
I also found the Change the Subject film very educational and inspiring and will be looking for ways to improve this situation both locally and nationally.
Valerie–thank you so much for a fantastic fall term in T.S.! We have so enjoyed having you and look forward to seeing you around the library next term!!