Drop of the "I" and add of the "we"

I went to Boston for ALA Midwinter. It was nicer weather than any of us had the right to expect and I spoke on a panel about the #mashcat movement and the importance of building relationships between metadata creators and library technologists. I was lucky to be able to speak alongside Shana McDanold and Galen Charlton, whose thoughtful comments filled me with Imposter Syndrome about whether I belonged on the stage, too.

I was supposed to give an in-person lightening talk at the #mashcat unconference, but I ended up cutting my trip to Boston short. The lovely unconference coordinators were able to Skype me in so that I could speak--a special shoutout to Christina Harlow for being really gracious about making it all work.

In case you're interested, this is (more or less) what I said. I hope you like it. Or, at the very least, find a piece of it that resonates with you.

**
I've been following the conference tweets and the live stream, and it seems like there are a lot of really amazing conversations happening today. I hope you were serious when you were talking about creating a space for people to fail. The original title of my talk was "The only rule I know of...you've got to be kind," which is a butchering of a line from a Kurt Vonnegut novel. But after hearing what was said at this morning's "Why #mashcat?" panel, I decided to tweak my talk. I guess the more accurate title at this point is "How #mashcat?"

Metadata creators and library technologists have big challenges ahead of us. We have to figure out how to live in a post-MARC world. We also have to figure out how to design systems and structures that reflect our user's lived experiences. And, I would argue, we have to learn to speak with a unified voice when talking with vendors. I'm sure you can think of other big challenges that I haven't. The point is, we've got a lot of work to do.

I was nervous about proposing a talk on kindness, especially with all of the great technical talk. I wasn't sure that there was room for a conversation about feelings, but I would argue that soft skills are as important as technical skills when it comes to building our collective future. One of my favorite quotes is by Brene Brown, who is a professor of Social Work. In her book, The Gifts of Imperfection, she writes:

"Authenticity is a collection of choices we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen." 

I'd like to argue that we should build better relationships between library technologists and metadata creators through authentic connection. And, because every talk needs a hook, I'll give you three C's we can use: Connection, communication, and collaboration.

Connection:
It's easy to organize the world by thinking about how we're different from other people. But that kind of thinking leads to organizational structures that create siloed thinking and barriers. Our daily tasks don't leave us much time to build relationships and competing interests within organizations can lead to an "us vs. them" mentality. But that mentality isn't helpful. You talked this morning about how certain terminology can be divisive: librarian vs. staff, cataloging vs. metadata. When we stop thinking of each other as people, we lose our connection to each other.

Instead of thinking about how metadata creators and library technologists are different, I would suggest that we identify areas of mutual concern. Those areas of mutual concern help us develop common goals and to start a conversation about what we're willing to give up to achieve those goals. For me, our areas of mutual concern are: the future, the user, and the vendor. But you might have different ideas and that's okay.

Communication:
The easiest way to communicate is to be mindful of jargon. We all have places where we use acronyms or other shorthand to communicate about a concept. But, as you discussed this morning, acronym soup can be a barrier to participation. My suggestion is to drop the jargon in order to have more meaningful conversations. Don't assume that the metadata creator you're speaking with knows what you know or that the library technologists is conversant in MARC tags.

It can be easy to assume, too, that being clear and explaining things will insult someone's intelligence. They already know that, we think, and I don't want them to think that I think they're stupid. But chances are that the person you're speaking with doesn't know your shorthand and will be relieved that you've chosen to speak plainly about an issue or a concept so that they don't have to reveal their ignorance.

I would also suggest that library technologists and metadata creators establish regular communication. At my previous job, I worked at an academic library cataloging a private collection. At the same time, developers were working to build a website where digitized version of the cataloged material would live. I was able to work with the developers to ensure that we had the right amount and kind of metadata to do what we wanted to site to do. It was a really great experience and it taught me that metadata creators and library technologists can build better tools by working more closely together during the development process. So start informal conversations with people--ask what they're doing and how you can help.

I also want to acknowledge the fact that "just show up" and "don't wait to be invited" require a certain amount of fearlessness and vulnerability that not everyone has. So if you have a knot in your stomach when someone says that to you, it's okay. I do, too.

Collaborate:
The first piece in collaboration is making sure that the right people are involved. When you begin collaborative projects, be mindful of who you've invited to participate. Do you have the people and the skills to be successful? If you don't, how will you recruit the people who have the skills that you're missing? In some cases, that might mean that a person who is often invited to participate in collaborative projects will have to step away to make room for someone new to participate. I encourage you to be the person who steps away, especially when the person you're making room for is a newer librarian or a person from a group that is traditionally underrepresented in librarianship. Give other people time to shine, and room to grow.

Next, be mindful of the amount (and kind) of work you're asking other people to do. Collaborations between metadata creators and library technologists should be 50/50. We shouldn't ask metadata creators to take on the work of understanding the skills that library technologists possess without also asking library technologists to meet us halfway. Metadata creators have acquired a lot of coding and technology skills in recent years, and I hope that our partners in library technology are willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in collaboration.

And finally, be willing to share your skills. Identify what skills you would like to develop and who has those skills. The #mashcat community has been generous with its time and its talent, but you can also look to your colleagues at your home libraries to help you develop your skills. Skill building also requires that you be willing to teach. It's easy to make a long list of things you want to learn, and it's easy to think that you don't know enough to each someone what you know. But you're definitely an expert in something--you just have to be willing to teach someone else what you know.

A final word:
I have to end with a song lyric, because of course I do. It's my thing. Erin McKeown is my favorite musicians. She ends her song, "Histories," by asking: How do you make community? and answering Drop of the "I" and add of the "we." I think about this song lyric a lot when thinking about how library technologists and metadata creators can build better relationships.

As I said in the beginning of this talk, library technologists and metadata creators have a lot of big challenges to take on. And I think that when we work together, we can build a better future than any of us could build on our own.
**
Stay positive,
Erin

How do you make community? Drop of the "I" and of the "we"

Hello, friends of the Unified Library Scene!

If building stronger relationships between library technologists and metadata creators is something you're interested in or feel strongly about, there is an event happening this morning that you might be interested in following.

From 10:30-11:30 am Eastern, the ALCTS Forum will focus on the #mashcat community. It's a panel discussion featuring Galen Charlton, Shana McDanold, and me.

You can follow the conversation on Twitter using the #mashalcts hashtag. Feel free to submit questions or comments!

Regular blog content resumes tomorrow.

Stay positive,
Erin

Relationships matter: on #mashcat and building the unified library scene

I moderated the second #mashcat Twitter chat last week and it was really fantastic. You can read the Storify of this chat here and poke around the site a little more to learn about the #mashcat movement.

I wanted to talk about building relationships between catalogers and library technologists. Because if you give me the chance to talk about any topic, I will want to talk about building relationships between the major players.

I felt like the conversation was really constructive, but the downside was that I was too busy moderation to answer my own questions. So...I'm going to document them on the blog. 

Q1: What do you see as areas for mutual concern for catalogers and library technologists?

Creating an encoding standard for bibliographic data (by which I mean any data that lives in your ILS) to replace MARC; creating better user experience by building systems that better leverage metadata; finding ways to migrate library-created metadata into the wider world of the Web.

Q2: How can we build consensus in these areas? What stands in our way to building consensus in these areas?

I think that the 'us vs. them' mentality that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago can definitely stand in the way of building consensus. The perceived scarcity of resources can also stand in the way of building consensus.

I think we can build consensus by creating safe spaces to have difficult conversations and to learn from each other. Creating safe spaces often means setting ground rules and creating boundaries about what is (and isn't) acceptable. Becky Yoose pointed people to social rules section of the Hacker School Rules.

Q3: Terminology is often a barrier. How can we move past our specialty’s jargon in conversations with our colleagues? What strategies have you found effective when communicating with your colleagues on the “other side of the house?”

Someone in the chat pointed out that jargon itself isn't the problem. It's the confusion it causes. 

An effective way to eliminate confusion created by jargon is to always offer a definition or explanation of a word or acronym you use in conversation, even if it seems unnecessary or redundant. Don't assume that someone else knows what you know. Even more, don't assume that someone who doesn't know what you know will feel comfortable enough to ask for clarification.

On a related note--check for understanding when you're talking before moving on. Make sure that you're on the same page with the person you're speaking to.

Q4: What technical skills do you think are important for both catalogers and library technologists to possess?

A rudimentary understanding of both cataloging rules and library software; data literacy/data modeling; logical/algorithmic thinking; project management; communication; creating documentation.

Q5: What is the most effective way to share those skills? What would an effective skillshare program look like to you?

I think it would be cool if there was a skill share wiki for people in libraryland. I know that ALA Connect has an Opportunities Exchange, so maybe that's one way to share skills? Anyway, I think it would be cool to have a place where you list what you know and what you want to know. You could find your skill share match. In the absence of that, I think that free or low cost workshops and webinars are a good way to share skills.

Q6: What are the particular challenges for people with feet in the cataloging and library technology worlds? How can the #mashcat community support them? 

I suspect that people with feet in both worlds end up translating the concerns of one side to the other a lot. When it goes well, I suspect it facilitates a lot of productive conversations. When it goes poorly, I suspect it ends up doing nothing to end the 'us vs. them' mentality.

I think we can help support people with feet in both worlds by not pushing back against them and wanting them to be more like us. Instead, let's listen with open minds.

Q7: What do you want to say about building relationships between catalogers and library technologists that I haven’t asked? 

It's hard but important work. We can't build the future of bibliographic description and encoding in silos, which is what I feel like we're doing now.

Stay positive,

Erin