Well, in September 2020, in response to the global Black Lives Matter movement and drawing on the aforementioned slogan Stanford Libraries created the Say Their Names – No More Names exhibit that asks viewers to “Know Justice, Know Peace.” As Librarians, we are all committed to Information Literacy, which plays an essential role in society’s progress toward a more peaceful existence. Libraries are uniquely qualified to disseminate knowledge to information seekers who will be empowered to build a more just community. However, as an African American Librarian, I feel the awesome responsibility of a being keeper of the light and protector of our shared memories. I believe that before we as a society can “Know Justice” we must interrogate the racial injustices and atone for the destruction caused by white supremacy, before we can ever “Know Peace.”
The marathon continues, so now, in September 2021, Stanford Libraries entreat you to “KNOW Systemic Racism.”
I am thrilled to announce that in my new role as the Inaugural Racial Justice and Social Equity Librarian, I have begun working full-time on our KNOW Systemic Racism(KSR) endeavor. This incredibly ambitious project was previously referred to as the Systemic Racism Tracker (SRT). This tool will enable users to discover factual data about interconnected systems that pose threats to people of African descent in the United States that have been shaped by racist policies and practices of institutions across centuries. It will also help people take action against these threats by knowing their rights and identifying government agencies and community groups that address systemic racism.
KNOW Systemic Racism (KSR) will be unique in its focus on interconnections of discriminatory systems that impact different areas of people’s lives.
We are dedicated to modeling Anti-Racist practices as we build this tool and conduct collection management tasks. We plan to center Black scholarship and try to avoid the problems caused by peer-review publishers’ gatekeeping which results in racial inequity for Black authors.
Source: Stanford Libraries
[Clip]
Stanford Libraries is supporting the mission of individuals working to end systemic racism by creating a searchable database—called KNOW Systemic Racism (KSR)—that helps people at Stanford and beyond to:
Discover and critically evaluate data regarding systemic racism against people of African descent across U.S. institutions,
Trace the historical formation and interconnections of institutional discrimination,
Take action by (a) knowing their rights and (b) identifying and connecting with government agencies, non-profit organizations, and grassroots groups that address racism.
The KNOW Systemic Racism (KSR) tool will collect, digitize and archive data that is evidence of systemic racism, oral histories and personal narratives documenting discrimination for use in racial and social justice research. The KSR will also cultivate a local network of Stanford scholars and community organizers to identify ways to ameliorate racial discriminatory practices in the Bay Area.
Freely accessible to the general public, the KSR database will have a user-friendly web interface that is tailored to people with different needs and skill levels—from faculty to community activists, from individual citizens to classroom users. The intricate work of collecting, curating, and preserving data will be done by librarians, in concert with faculty advisors and our counterpart academic librarians at other institutions. The KSR’s Police Training Manual collection is currently being duplicated by Howard University’s Law Library which is just one of our partners at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). These manuals include important policies such as Use of Force and/or Chokeholds.
Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.
From ArchDaily: As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. Foundational in creating opportunities for learning, as well as supporting literacy and education, the resources ...
From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were ...
Full Text of ALA Statement (6/24): In response to the alarming increase in acts of aggression toward library workers and patrons as reported by press across the country, the American ...
FCC and IMLS Sign Agreement to Promote Broadband Access More Than Fifty Libraries and Library Systems Live on EBSCO FOLIO Library Services Platform NIST Releases New Guidance and Resources on ...
From the Associated Press (via Times of Israel): Pope Francis orders the online publication of 170 volumes of its Jewish files from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, the ...
From NYPL: The virtual branch— a custom designed interactive AR (Augmented Reality) Effect accessible via Instagram Reels is the centerpiece of #NYPLSummerBookshelf, a new initiative to spark a love of ...
CLIR Invites Proposals for Pocket Burgundy Series (via Council on Library and Information Resources) Oregon’s State Library added to National Register of Historic Places (via Oregon Capital Chronicle)
From GCN: An address-level, interactive broadband map will help officials in New York explore statewide high-speed internet availability, assess connectivity needs and better allocate state and federal funding. The map ...
The article linked below was recently published by Information Technology and Libraries. Title Rarely Analyzed: The Relationship Between Digital and Physical Rare Books Collections Authors Allison McCormack University of Utah ...
From The Pratt Institute: The Mellon Foundation has awarded the Pratt Institute School of Information $600,000 to support the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network (DPOE-N) in collaboration with the ...
From a DPLA Announcement: DPLA’s ebook work is a key part of our mission to advance digital access to knowledge for all. Earlier this month, The Palace Project app and platform ...
From an AUPresses Announcement: Charles Watkinson, director of the University of Michigan Press, has stepped into the presidency of the Association of University Presses. Watkinson, who also serves as associate ...