"When news agencies see their jobs as being primarily about politics, they become more concerned with being directionally right than technically accurate, knowing among other things that their audiences will forgive them for being wrong, so long as they’re wrong about the 'right' targets.
"As a result, many reporters by last summer found …
"When news agencies see their jobs as being primarily about politics, they become more concerned with being directionally right than technically accurate, knowing among other things that their audiences will forgive them for being wrong, so long as they’re wrong about the 'right' targets.
"As a result, many reporters by last summer found themselves navigating newsrooms where they were being discouraged, sometimes openly, from pursuing true stories with the 'wrong' message..."
THIS is why many critical thinkers don't feel good about traditional journalism anymore and highly value what you and others do at Substack. If I want an opinion about the state of journalism from an academic with a PhD in Library Science, I guess I know where to go.
Well, I have one (Phd in librarianship) but please don't imagine we are all the same. I teach about public libraries, and museums and the history of libraries. I do have one librarian concern. I hope the writers for Substack keep file copies in the event something happens to where they are stored. And then make them into a book.
But, but, but, ... did you really NEED a PhD in that subject to do your work or were you adopting credentials? This is a serious question. You teach? Is there something about having a PhD that makes for a better teacher, particularly about libraries, museums, history thereof? I think not.
Teaching and researching are two different things. And I am not really sure that Western Civilization depends on have Librarians (sorry) with PhDs.
Yes, you do need one to teach. The librarian degree is a master's degree. It is really like a law degree that it is a credential on top of your undergrad. So, if you want to work in medical informatics you would have a BA in biology or chemistry, then a library degree. Except now they are called information degrees. Hardly anyone calls them a library degree (but I do because I'm stubborn and proud to be a librarian). So people like me who teach in a master's program do have a PhD. It is a more complicated field than people realize and the PhD in librarianship was first awarded a century ago. Just one example, the man who wrote the Post-War Plan for public libraries that helped establish the complicated library system we have in the U.S.--Carleton B. Joeckel.
So you did not NEED it to teach, in fact. But, apparently, to teach wherever you teach, your institution REQUIRES it. Big difference. And therein the difference describes so much that ails our higher education situation. Joeckel notwithstanding.
I am not trying to trash you or your educational accomplishments. But, in point of fact, library "science" is not rocket science, no matter how adherents to the rubric wish it to be. Glorifying advanced degrees to have individuals become members of a particular guild, including teaching, is part of the larger problem of post-secondary education in the US -- and all that comes with it, especially student debt.
It was once called "Library economy." I needed to know a lot more than I did to teach it than do it. I won't tire you out w/ the standards for accreditation. I also needed to write books etc. and as we moved from card catalogs to OPACS the field became complex. My dissertation was on data archiving transition.
Truly. Plus with all of the archival Winston Smith “revisions” some online mags are making (cough, bon a-petite, cough) I no longer trust the digital medium to stay accurate. I’ve been trying to find every book that the Wokeratti could throw in the burn pile and buy print copies. At this point I no longer trust Amazon Kindle books so I’ve gone to places like Thriftbooks.com and just buying, buying, buying.
Matt, if you are still reading these comments....and speaking of Thriftbooks as K.M. just did...I went there to get Hate, Inc. and the cost of each of two used ones they had, one hard copy, one paperback, was $140.69. Say it isn't so. Where should I get a copy, and I hate to use Amazon. You can answer privately if you like since this has nothing to do with the topic (though your commentators drift all over the place). Rob
Did you ever have one of those amazing adventures like Noah Wyle from that TV show "The Librarians?" Go after the spear of Longinus or something like that?
We do have adventures, but mostly in archives and providing collections for the people who write books or articles. BTW, please acknowledge your librarians and archivists when you write something if we helped you. I became a librarian first and that is what I think I am. The PhD was so I could work with students and teach the history of libraries. Don't let me get started telling you about the MUNDANEUM or I'll keep you all day. You should check it out (librarian joke). http://www.mundaneum.org/en
I was doing some research in the stacks of our local university library and walked in on a couple very far into the process of getting it on. I had always thought of libraries as rated G, but I guess I was wrong.
You DO have your own library at Library Thing, right? (It is free). I did it in case a hurricane. I can look at all my books when I am away from them. https://www.librarything.com/home
Sorry, didn't mean to go full librarian, but you asked.
No, he wasn't but he got taken down in 1905. He was quite the entrepreneur and established the Lake Placid Club and was vocal. Fired as NY State Librarian. It took a long time to rename the top librarian award and his proclivities were long known, but a lot of things are being reassessed. Here is an interesting article: "Jew Attack": The Story behind Melvil Dewey's Resignation as New York State Librarian in 1905.WAYNE A. WIEGAND. American Jewish History. (no link). The system he created is still used to organize books, tho. (he was also a champion of simplified spelling and changed his name from Melville to Melvil).
Vol. 83, No. 3 (September 1995), pp. 359-379 (21 pages)
"When news agencies see their jobs as being primarily about politics, they become more concerned with being directionally right than technically accurate, knowing among other things that their audiences will forgive them for being wrong, so long as they’re wrong about the 'right' targets.
"As a result, many reporters by last summer found themselves navigating newsrooms where they were being discouraged, sometimes openly, from pursuing true stories with the 'wrong' message..."
THIS is why many critical thinkers don't feel good about traditional journalism anymore and highly value what you and others do at Substack. If I want an opinion about the state of journalism from an academic with a PhD in Library Science, I guess I know where to go.
Well, I have one (Phd in librarianship) but please don't imagine we are all the same. I teach about public libraries, and museums and the history of libraries. I do have one librarian concern. I hope the writers for Substack keep file copies in the event something happens to where they are stored. And then make them into a book.
But, but, but, ... did you really NEED a PhD in that subject to do your work or were you adopting credentials? This is a serious question. You teach? Is there something about having a PhD that makes for a better teacher, particularly about libraries, museums, history thereof? I think not.
Teaching and researching are two different things. And I am not really sure that Western Civilization depends on have Librarians (sorry) with PhDs.
But otherwise I am fully with you j Substack.
Yes, you do need one to teach. The librarian degree is a master's degree. It is really like a law degree that it is a credential on top of your undergrad. So, if you want to work in medical informatics you would have a BA in biology or chemistry, then a library degree. Except now they are called information degrees. Hardly anyone calls them a library degree (but I do because I'm stubborn and proud to be a librarian). So people like me who teach in a master's program do have a PhD. It is a more complicated field than people realize and the PhD in librarianship was first awarded a century ago. Just one example, the man who wrote the Post-War Plan for public libraries that helped establish the complicated library system we have in the U.S.--Carleton B. Joeckel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carleton_B._Joeckel
So you did not NEED it to teach, in fact. But, apparently, to teach wherever you teach, your institution REQUIRES it. Big difference. And therein the difference describes so much that ails our higher education situation. Joeckel notwithstanding.
I am not trying to trash you or your educational accomplishments. But, in point of fact, library "science" is not rocket science, no matter how adherents to the rubric wish it to be. Glorifying advanced degrees to have individuals become members of a particular guild, including teaching, is part of the larger problem of post-secondary education in the US -- and all that comes with it, especially student debt.
It was once called "Library economy." I needed to know a lot more than I did to teach it than do it. I won't tire you out w/ the standards for accreditation. I also needed to write books etc. and as we moved from card catalogs to OPACS the field became complex. My dissertation was on data archiving transition.
Truly. Plus with all of the archival Winston Smith “revisions” some online mags are making (cough, bon a-petite, cough) I no longer trust the digital medium to stay accurate. I’ve been trying to find every book that the Wokeratti could throw in the burn pile and buy print copies. At this point I no longer trust Amazon Kindle books so I’ve gone to places like Thriftbooks.com and just buying, buying, buying.
Matt, if you are still reading these comments....and speaking of Thriftbooks as K.M. just did...I went there to get Hate, Inc. and the cost of each of two used ones they had, one hard copy, one paperback, was $140.69. Say it isn't so. Where should I get a copy, and I hate to use Amazon. You can answer privately if you like since this has nothing to do with the topic (though your commentators drift all over the place). Rob
Did you ever have one of those amazing adventures like Noah Wyle from that TV show "The Librarians?" Go after the spear of Longinus or something like that?
We do have adventures, but mostly in archives and providing collections for the people who write books or articles. BTW, please acknowledge your librarians and archivists when you write something if we helped you. I became a librarian first and that is what I think I am. The PhD was so I could work with students and teach the history of libraries. Don't let me get started telling you about the MUNDANEUM or I'll keep you all day. You should check it out (librarian joke). http://www.mundaneum.org/en
Much appreciation to librarians and archivists;)
I was doing some research in the stacks of our local university library and walked in on a couple very far into the process of getting it on. I had always thought of libraries as rated G, but I guess I was wrong.
There is something about books that give people all kinds of ideas.
Amen! Do not assume that everything "on the web" will stay on the web - hard copies!
Would the dewey decimal system be a good tool for organizing Substack for future generations?
Thought you would never ask: https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey.html
But a less corporatized way might be Library Thing's Library cat. https://www.librarycat.org/
You DO have your own library at Library Thing, right? (It is free). I did it in case a hurricane. I can look at all my books when I am away from them. https://www.librarything.com/home
Sorry, didn't mean to go full librarian, but you asked.
Hee hee. My Mom was a librarian. I actually didn't realize ole Dewey made it to the internet age
Well the DDC did, but Melvil the person is now dishonored because he does not represent the “stated fundamental values of ALA [American Library Association] in equity, diversity, and inclusion.”https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/melvil-deweys-name-stripped-top-library-award-180972514/
Say it ain't so Dewey. On the other hand, is he much different from our current and first president?
No, he wasn't but he got taken down in 1905. He was quite the entrepreneur and established the Lake Placid Club and was vocal. Fired as NY State Librarian. It took a long time to rename the top librarian award and his proclivities were long known, but a lot of things are being reassessed. Here is an interesting article: "Jew Attack": The Story behind Melvil Dewey's Resignation as New York State Librarian in 1905.WAYNE A. WIEGAND. American Jewish History. (no link). The system he created is still used to organize books, tho. (he was also a champion of simplified spelling and changed his name from Melville to Melvil).
Vol. 83, No. 3 (September 1995), pp. 359-379 (21 pages)