Margaret Heller - Community Technology Projects: Making Them Work

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MARGARET HELLER is Digital Services Librarian at Loyola University Chicago. She has been active in library technology communities, serving on numerous planning committees and the LITA Board of Directors. She is the author of many articles and blog posts about topics including open access, web development, digital collections and services, and inclusion issues in library technology.

2019 by Margaret Heller

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs

978-0-8389-1837-1 (paper)

978-0-8389-1858-6 (PDF)

978-0-8389-1860-9 (ePub)

978-0-8389-1861-6 (Kindle)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Heller, Margaret, author.

Title: Community technology projects : making them work / Margaret Heller.

Description: Chicago : ALA Editions, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018059752| ISBN 9780838918371 (print : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780838918586 (pdf) | ISBN 9780838918609 (epub) | ISBN 9780838918616 (kindle)

Subjects: LCSH: LibrariesUnited StatesAutomation. | LibrariesInformation technologyUnited States. | Library cooperationUnited States. | Computer specialists in librariesProfessional relationshipsUnited States. | Library information networksUnited States. | Communication in library scienceUnited States. | LibrariesUnited StatesAutomationCase studies. | Library cooperationUnited StatesCase studies.

Classification: LCC Z678.9 .H436 2019 | DDC 025.00285dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018059752

To my sisters, Elizabeth and Abigail, with whom I formed my first community.

O ne evening in February 2009, I opened the door to a small storefront on the side of a large theater building. The room was filled with a big table, and the walls were lined with shelves of paperbacks and zines. This was my first look at the Chicago Underground Library (now known as the Read/Write Library Chicago), which was founded as a grassroots independent library in 2006 to bring together works by disparate artistic communities in Chicago. I was fresh out of graduate school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, having graduated in May 2008at the same time as a massive economic downturn. After a disheartening job search which had ended in part-time work with bad hours, I was attracted by the idea of a library I could make my own.

During my first volunteer meeting at the Read/Write Library, I got so excited about the project that I agreed to migrate the website to the Drupal content management system to create a new kind of library catalog, which I accomplished over the course of the next year. Over that year and in years following. I kept showing up to perform activities such as staffing the space during open hours, scrubbing the toilets, filling out the IRS paperwork, and developing the website. This work led to new professional opportunities, but more important, it gave me a vision of what a library community could be and the amount of work it takes to make one successful. I remain on the board of directors, even though I am less hands-on these days.

The library is still attractive to new volunteers today precisely because it offers an appealing community experience and showcases the ways in which Chicagostill a city divided by race and classcan come together. Working with the Read/Write Library Chicago helped me feel empowered to bring that same sense of community and do-it-yourself approach to my day jobs and to the other groups with which I have worked throughout my career.

My empowerment has translated well to participating in technology communities, including stints on boards, working groups, local technology meetup groups, and conference planning committees, as well as posting on social media about digital collections. Participating in these many ways has given me firsthand knowledge of how library technology communities work. What I have learned is that the work is done by those people who show up and keep showing up. This is true of library work in general, but specially so for technical projects. Some types of library work have decades (such as MARC cataloging) or centuries (such as bibliography) of consensus on how they should be performed. Consensus is still in the making when dealing with tools or projects that have only existed for a few years. Active engagement in communities that are creating new tools and practices is the only way to stay current and to help shape those tools and practices.

In any type of library and any type of job, library workers rely on rapidly shifting technology. Everyone must be aware of how to get help or give it, ask for changes, and shape best practices. Everyone needs to develop skills to become comfortable engaging with communities, finding appropriate leadership roles, and maintaining sustainable and positive communities. The problem is that for many people, even those who want to be part of the work, it can feel impossible to discover how to get started in technical communities. I wrote this book because I have had many conversations with people who see communities they admire but cannot figure out how or where to get involved.

This book is a guide for people who want to get started with community technology projects, understand what their options are, learn how to find and create communities, and decide which skills to learn. For those who are already engaged with communities, it will be a guide to creating a welcoming community for new people and maintaining a motivated community in challenging times. I want everyone to be inspired to make better library technology communities.

I am very grateful to the Loyola University Libraries for allowing me so much time and latitude to work on this book. Thanks to the many colleagues at Loyola, and in particular Hong Ma, who were understanding about my need to shift projects around to complete the work.

All my communities were essential to this book, both in teaching me how to be a member of a community and by listening to my ideas as I have worked through them over the past few years. My LITA and Code4Lib friends and colleagues who have worked to improve those communities have been especially educational and inspirational. I appreciate that the women of LITA who make up so much of my professional support network never allow me to leave any idea unexamined.

Thanks to my editor Patrick Hogan of ALA Publishing for asking me to write this book and for providing helpful guidance throughout the process. I can hardly thank Chris Martin enough for his help with the book, for reading the manuscript and always being willing to listen.

And last, but certainly not least, thanks to my husband Mike Birnbaum for his many excellent suggestions and forbearance with my challenging schedule. My parents and parents-in-law were instrumental in the process, providing weekend childcare and helpful advice. My children, Ira and Julian, gave up many hours with me so I could work on the book.