Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide<\/em><\/a>, that addresses the challenges of delivering widespread access to information technology. That problem can be especially acute in Vermont, where many rural areas have very slow internet access or none at all.<\/p>\nWest comes armed with statistics from the Vermont Department of Libraries \u2014 for example, that 19 of the state\u2019s 183 public libraries lack internet access. Though she says she doesn\u2019t believe that web access is the ultimate goal of a library, West would certainly like to enhance all Vermonters\u2019 access to information.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a task she sees as a primary concern of the modern librarian. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to solve the digital divide just by making another website to help people navigate the digital divide,\u201d West says. If a person with zero computer experience is simply plunked down in front of a terminal and told, \u201c\u2018Sign up for health care,\u2019\u201d she adds, \u201cwell, that doesn\u2019t actually solve a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Libraries stand quietly at the forefront of the response to a number of other challenging issues, not the least of which is privacy. West refers to a recent incident in Randolph in which local police, investigating a crime, requested access to library computers. Insisting that their first responsibility was to the privacy of their patrons, librarians insisted the cops get a warrant. The authorities did so, but a minor controversy arose about the relative values of safety and privacy.<\/p>\n
Issues of copyright and digital rights management technologies (designed to limit post-sale access to digital content) get West particularly fired up, especially when, for instance, media companies harass a library for arranging a public showing of a DVD that it legally owns. This is a legal gray area, and West says it frustrates her immensely, but she understands why some libraries don\u2019t try to push the envelope. \u201cFor a public servant, breaking the law \u2014 even a stupid law \u2014 is a path that\u2019s fraught with peril,\u201d says West, who favors what she calls \u201creasonable copyright.\u201d<\/p>\n
For these and other opinions, West is regarded within the library world as a bit of a rabble-rouser. She\u2019s no great fan of the American Library Association, an organization she\u2019s taken to task for what she sees as its inadequate grasp of digital technology. West has also attracted attention for her efforts to fight the USA PATRIOT Act.<\/p>\n
Giant library organizations may not be West\u2019s biggest fans, but local librarians adore her almost as much as she adores them. At RTCC, West leads a variety of computer classes for students of all experience levels. Ruth Durkee, West\u2019s supervisor and the assistant director of adult education at RTCC, describes her classes as \u201chugely popular.\u201d Durkee says of West, \u201cShe will not be quiet if she sees something that she thinks libraries should be doing that they aren\u2019t doing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
West recently wrote about the mapping work she did for her Vermont public library project<\/a> on her blog. We’re hoping she’ll keep posting updates about her library visits and her process for gathering and sharing the information she collects along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This morning, your Hampshire librarians learned about a cool project through our library-oriented social media channels: Jessamyn West, a Vermont-based librarian-technologist, is traveling around her state, documenting each of its 183 public libraries. West, a Hampshire alum, is the community technology librarian at the Randolph Technical Career Center (RTCC). …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":632,"featured_media":1848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37110],"tags":[15986,15964,15987],"class_list":["post-1844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hfj-library","tag-alum","tag-librarians","tag-public_libraries","column","threecol","has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1844"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1849,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844\/revisions\/1849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.hampshire.edu\/theharold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>This morning, your Hampshire librarians learned about a cool project through our library-oriented social media channels: Jessamyn West, a Vermont-based librarian-technologist, is traveling around her state, documenting each of its 183 public libraries.<\/a><\/p>\n