Organizing Ideas

Organizing Ideas

By Organizing Ideas PodcastSociety & Culture
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Organizing Ideas episodes

  • Ep 15 - Catalyzing a Community Led Future at the Free Library of Philadelphia with Andrea Lemoins

    Andrea Lemoins, Community Organizer at the Free Library of Philadelphia, talks about her work with community, professionalization, library school, Afrofuturism, Yusef Omowale’s article “We Already Are”, community archives, and an upcoming Memory Lab project.


    Follow Andrea on twitter @ALemoins

    The reading list from the Community Archives and Digital Cultural Memory class at the Rare Book School: (https://rarebookschool.org/courses/library/l115/reading-list/)

    The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.

    Read along with the transcript.

    The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.

    You can reach us at:
    • Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
    • Twitter: @OrganizingPod
    • Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/

    52 min
  • Ep 14 - Navigation, Resistance, and Rebellion with Sarah Dupont and Amy Perreault

    In this episode we sit down with two amazing Métis librarians and information professionals at the University of British Columbia. Sarah Dupont is the Head of Xwi7xwa Library, and Amy Perreault is Senior Strategist for Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT). Sarah and Amy talk about Indigenous engagement, the importance of elders and finding community, and some of the projects that they’re working on.


    Some links to things mentioned (more in the transcript):

    • UBC Indigenous strategic plan: https://aboriginal.ubc.ca/indigenous-strategic-plan/

    • UBC library strategic framework: https://about.library.ubc.ca/about-us/strategic-framework/
    • TRC calls to action: http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
    • MMIWG report: https://mmiwg-ffada.ca/
    • UNDRIP: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
    • FNCC: https://slais.ubc.ca/programs/specializations/fncc/
    • Indigitization: http://www.indigitization.ca/
    • Indigenous Foundations: https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/
    • Xwi7xwa Library Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xwi7xwa
    • Xwi7xwa Library Twitter: https://twitter.com/Xwi7xwaLibrary
    • Sarah’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dupontsarah
    • Indigitzation Twitter: https://twitter.com/indigitization

    The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.

    Read along with the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/t33duyv

    You can reach us at:


    • Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
    • Twitter: @OrganizingPod
    • Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/


    47 min
  • Ep 13 - Recap and Looking Forward to 2020 (ft. voice messages)

    This pod is winding down for the end of 2019! In this episode we reflect on what we’ve learned over the past few months, play some audio clips from listeners, share what we’re hoping and planning for in 2020, and talk a little bit about how we make the podcast and how you can get involved!


    The transcript is available here.

    The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.

    You can reach us at:
    • Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
    • Twitter: @OrganizingPod
    • Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/

    35 min
  • Ep 12 - 2019 Reading Highlights with Allison and Karen

    Allison and Karen get together to discuss their reading highlights as our home planet completes another arbitrary circuit around the sun.


    Books mentioned:

    > Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui

    > Starlight by Richard Wagamese
    > The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai
    > Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom
    > Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
    > Disappearing Moon Cafe by SKY Lee
    > Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
    > Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
    > Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole
    > The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadura
    > Rebent Sinner by Ivan Coyote
    > Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante (illustrated by Onjana Yawnghwe) - Read this and join Allison for a book club discussion in January at Burnaby Public Library! Details here.
    > All That Matters by Wayson Choy

    We also talk about: 


    > VPL's "What Do I Read Next?" and BPL's "Find Your Next Fiction Read" services
    > BookRiot's 2019 Read Harder Challenge
    > VPL's 2019 Book Bingo

    The transcript is available here.

    The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.


    You can reach us at:
    > Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
    > Twitter: @OrganizingPod
    > Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/


    40 min
  • Ep 11 - Trans Inclusivity in Libraries and Research with Shelby Miller

    Shelby Miller, a student in the MLIS program at UBC’s iSchool and an employee at Vancouver Public Library, joins us for a conversation about working at VPL as a non-binary trans employee, what’s wrong with the liberal utopian idea of intellectual freedom, and her thesis project on the information seeking habits of transgender individuals.

    Shelby recently participated (with Allison, Hazel Jane Plante, Leah Tottenham, and syr) in a roundtable discussion for the BCLA Connect newsletter called “Not Cis in LIS: A Roundtable Discussion about Being Trans in Libraries,” and we were very glad to build on this conversation in person!

    Read the transcript here.

    The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.

    You can reach us at:

    • Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
    • Twitter: @OrganizingPod
    • Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/
      • 35 min
    • Ep 10 - TPL and Transphobia (round 2) with Niko Stratis

      Allison chats with Niko Stratis, who has been heavily involved in responding to Meghan Murphy’s event at Toronto Public Library, about this event, the impact it has had on trans people, how libraries might rethink “intellectual freedom” if we’re committed to being trans inclusive, and the failures of media coverage of the event. Read their piece, “Someone Tell The Media That Trans Folks Were At The Meghan Murphy Protests, Too” and check out their Twitter feed to learn more about their work. 


      Read the transcript here. 

      The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic. You can reach us at:
      > Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
      > Twitter: @OrganizingPod@organizingpod
      > Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/

      30 min
    • Ep 9 - Rare Books and Manuscripts Section 2019 Conference
      Karen Ng shares a letter written after the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section “Response and Responsibility: Special Collections and Climate Change” conference in Baltimore in June 2019. This episode includes written statements and a voice recording from Ayoola White, Aramis Sanchez, and Marielle Stockton.
      Read along with the transcript here.
      The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.
      You can reach us at:
      • Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
      • Twitter: @OrganizingPod
      • Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/
      26 min
    • Ep 8 - Queer and Radical Knowledge Organization with Avi Grundner
      This episode we got to sit down with Avi Grundner, a MLIS/MAS student at UBC who is working on a Queer Subject Heading Thesaurus for Out on the Shelves Library. We talk about queer and radical knowledge organization and the power of seeing yourself represented in these systems. 
      Read along with the transcript here. The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.
      People and resources mentioned this episode:
      Avi Grundner and Out on the Shelves
      Emily Drabinski’s article Queering the Catalog: Queer Theory and the Politics of Correction
      Out on the Shelves Tag Cloud
      Out on the Shelves Catalogue
      Out on the Shelves Classification System
      LOC cataloguer Netanel Ganin
      An Archive of Our Own Wrangling Guidelines
      Library of Congress Subject Headings, including Two-Spirit People and Gender Non-Conforming People (we also recommend Xwi7xwa Library’s guide on Two-Spirit & Indigenous Queer Studies)
      Academic resources Avi recommends:
      Drabinski, E. (2013). Queering the Catalog: Queer Theory and the Politics of Correction. The Library Quarterly, 83(2), 94-111. doi:10.1086/669547
      Bates, J., & Rowley, J. (2011). Social reproduction and exclusion in subject indexing. Journal of Documentation, 67(3), 431-448. doi:10.1108/00220411111124532
      Mai, J. E. (2011). Folksonomies and the New Order: Authority in the Digital Disorder. Knowledge Organization, 38(2).
      You can reach us at:
      Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com
      Twitter: @OrganizingPod
      Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/
      47 min
    • Ep 7 - Public Programming and Professionalization with Y Vy Truong

      In this episode we got to sit down with Y Vy Truong, who is the librarian for joss paper library based in Vancouver’s Chinatown. We got to talk about public programming, professionalization, and what it means to build both collections and communities.


      Read along with the transcript here.

      Things mentioned this episode:
      > Y Vy Truong: @YVyTruong

      > joss paper library: @josspaperlib

      > ARL Fellowship for Digital and Inclusive Excellence

      > American Library Association and accreditation

      > Loretta Ross

      > Vocational awe

      > Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection

      > Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies program


      The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic.

      You can reach us at:

      > Email: organizingideaspod [at] gmail [dot] com

      > Twitter: @OrganizingPod

      > Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/

      53 min
    • Ep 6 - Toronto Public Library and Transphobia

      In the wake of Toronto Public Library’s room booking to Meghan Murphy, we sit down to talk with Alicia Elliott, an incredible Tuscarora author from Six Nations of the Grand River, and one of the original signatories on a petition called “Stop Hate Speech from Being Spread at the Toronto Public Library.” This episode also includes statements from a number of trans community members and library workers about the impacts of this event, including Niko Stratis, John Fink, and Leanna Jantzi. 


      Numerous resources and folks to follow if you’d like to learn more about this situation are linked in the episode transcript. Read along here. 

      The cover art is done by our friend Andrea Lukic. You can reach us at:

      > Twitter: @OrganizingPod

      > Website: https://organizingideaspod.wordpress.com/

      48 min

    About Organizing Ideas

    From the publisher's feed

    Because libraries and archives are never neutral.