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Jessamyn West (librarian)
Encyclopedia
Jessamyn Charity West is an American
librarian
and blog
ger, best known as the creator of librarian.net and for her unconventional views of her profession. She is a former member of the American Library Association
Council, and is a moderator on MetaFilter
.
, where her father, computer engineer Tom West
, worked for RCA
and Data General
. (He was the key figure in the 1981 Tracy Kidder
book The Soul of a New Machine
.) She may be named after the author Jessamyn West
(according to her parents, a "coincidence"), and as a child corresponded
with her. She is also the niece of actor Peter Coyote
.
She graduated from Hampshire College
in Amherst
and moved to Seattle in 1990. In 1995, she went to Cluj-Napoca
in Romania
, where she ran a library for the Freedom Forum
. After returning to the U.S. she completed graduate work at the University of Washington
for a Master of Librarianship degree.
She has lived in Vermont
since 2003. She works as a freelance library consultant, mainly in Orange County, Vermont, focusing on helping libraries with technology. She is a paid employee and moderator for the group blog MetaFilter
, and answers as many as two questions a day on the question-and-answer subforum Ask MetaFilter. She is also an active Wikipedian, working particularly on Vermont and library topics. In June 2011 she joined the Wikimedia Foundation
Advisory Board. She has staffed information desks at Burning Man
and the 1999 WTO protests
, and served as a judge for ThinkQuest.
West briefly signed up as a researcher for Google Answers
, writing about her experience for the journal Searcher. (She resigned after finding she had probably violated her contract by writing about the service.) West believed that "the money factor" skewed the relationship between the researcher and consumer of information, and played a part in the service's later demise.
West is considered an "opinion maker" in the profession and presents frequently at conferences. In 2002, Library Journal
named her among a "mover and shaker" of the library world. She is a self-described anti-capitalist.
West characterizes librarian.net as generally "anti-censorship
, pro-freedom of speech
, pro-porn
(for lack of a better way to explain that we don't find the naked body
shameful), antiglobalization
, anti-outsourcing
, anti-Dr. Laura
, pro-freak
, pro-social responsibility
, and just generally pro-information and in favor of the profession getting a better image."
Wired described her as "on the front lines in battling the USA PATRIOT Act
," particularly the provisions that allow warrantless searches of library records. The act not only prohibits libraries from notifying the subjects of such searches, it prohibits them from disclosing to the public whether any such searches have been made. In protest, West created a number of notices
that libraries can post which she suggests are "technically legal." One of them, for example, reads: "The FBI
has not been here. Watch very closely for the removal of this sign." The Vermont Library Association
provided copies of this sign to every public library in Vermont.
West was one of about three dozen "credentialed blog
gers" at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
, the first time that such an event issued press credentials to bloggers. She indicated in a New York Times feature on the group that her goal was making "the librarian voice in politics stronger and louder." Her first-day quip that the convention was "Burning Man
for Democrats, without the nudity or drugs" was widely reported.
In 2007, West made a YouTube
video of herself installing Ubuntu
on two library computers, which attracted thousands of views and free CDs from Canonical
. DesktopLinux.com
called it a "non-jaded, non-techie look at Ubuntu." Cory Doctorow
, writing on the blog Boing Boing
, dubbed her an "internet folk hero", and brought the video 14,000 views in a day and a half.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
and blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, best known as the creator of librarian.net and for her unconventional views of her profession. She is a former member of the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
Council, and is a moderator on MetaFilter
MetaFilter
MetaFilter, known as MeFi to its members, is a community weblog whose purpose is to share links and discuss content that users have discovered on the web.-Community:MetaFilter was founded by Matthew Haughey in 1999...
.
Early life and career
West grew up in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where her father, computer engineer Tom West
Tom West
Joseph Thomas "Tom" West III was the protagonist of the Pulitzer Prize winning non-fiction book The Soul of a New Machine. West worked for Data General Corporation as a hardware engineer and vice president, retiring as Chief Technologist in 1998. West died at the age of 71 in his Westport,...
, worked for RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
and Data General
Data General
Data General was one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation. Their first product, the Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer...
. (He was the key figure in the 1981 Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder
John Tracy Kidder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation...
book The Soul of a New Machine
The Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder's non-fiction book, The Soul of a New Machine, chronicles the experiences of an engineering team racing to design a next generation computer under a blistering schedule and tremendous pressure. This machine was eventually launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000...
.) She may be named after the author Jessamyn West
Jessamyn West (writer)
Mary Jessamyn West was an American Quaker who wrote numerous stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion ....
(according to her parents, a "coincidence"), and as a child corresponded
Pen pal
Pen pals are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail.-Purposes:A penpal relationship is often used to practice reading and writing in a foreign language, to improve literacy, to learn more about other countries and life-styles, and to make friendships...
with her. She is also the niece of actor Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
.
She graduated from Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
in Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
and moved to Seattle in 1990. In 1995, she went to Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, where she ran a library for the Freedom Forum
Freedom Forum
The Freedom Forum was created in 1991 under the direction of Al Neuharth, former publisher of USA Today newspaper. Funding was provided by a foundation started by publisher Frank E. Gannett in 1935, called the Gannett Foundation...
. After returning to the U.S. she completed graduate work at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
for a Master of Librarianship degree.
She has lived in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
since 2003. She works as a freelance library consultant, mainly in Orange County, Vermont, focusing on helping libraries with technology. She is a paid employee and moderator for the group blog MetaFilter
MetaFilter
MetaFilter, known as MeFi to its members, is a community weblog whose purpose is to share links and discuss content that users have discovered on the web.-Community:MetaFilter was founded by Matthew Haughey in 1999...
, and answers as many as two questions a day on the question-and-answer subforum Ask MetaFilter. She is also an active Wikipedian, working particularly on Vermont and library topics. In June 2011 she joined the Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an American non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
Advisory Board. She has staffed information desks at Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
and the 1999 WTO protests
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...
, and served as a judge for ThinkQuest.
West briefly signed up as a researcher for Google Answers
Google Answers
Google Answers was an online knowledge market offered by Google that allowed users to post bounties for well researched answers to their queries. Asker-accepted answers cost $2 to $200. Google retained 25% of the researcher's reward and a 50 cent fee per question. In addition to the researcher's...
, writing about her experience for the journal Searcher. (She resigned after finding she had probably violated her contract by writing about the service.) West believed that "the money factor" skewed the relationship between the researcher and consumer of information, and played a part in the service's later demise.
West is considered an "opinion maker" in the profession and presents frequently at conferences. In 2002, Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
named her among a "mover and shaker" of the library world. She is a self-described anti-capitalist.
Librarian.net
Librarian.net, which she founded in 1999 after finding the domain name unused, has become a "widely read and cited" resource.West characterizes librarian.net as generally "anti-censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, pro-freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, pro-porn
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
(for lack of a better way to explain that we don't find the naked body
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
shameful), antiglobalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, anti-outsourcing
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
, anti-Dr. Laura
Laura Schlessinger
Laura Catherine Schlessinger is an American talk radio host, socially conservative commentator and author. Her radio program consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal advice and has occasionally featured her short monologues on social and political topics...
, pro-freak
Freak scene
The freak scene was a term used by a slightly post-hippie and pre-punk style of bohemian subculture. It referred to overlaps between politicised pacifist post-hippies, generally non-political progressive rock fans, and non-political Psychedelic music and Psychedelia fans...
, pro-social responsibility
Social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...
, and just generally pro-information and in favor of the profession getting a better image."
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
," particularly the provisions that allow warrantless searches of library records. The act not only prohibits libraries from notifying the subjects of such searches, it prohibits them from disclosing to the public whether any such searches have been made. In protest, West created a number of notices
Warrant canary
A warrant canary is a method used by an Internet service provider to inform their customers that the provider has not been served with a secret government subpoena. Such subpoenas, including those covered under the USA Patriot Act, provide criminal penalties for revealing the warrant to a third...
that libraries can post which she suggests are "technically legal." One of them, for example, reads: "The FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
has not been here. Watch very closely for the removal of this sign." The Vermont Library Association
Vermont Library Association
The Vermont Library Association is a professional organization for Vermont's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Burlington, Vermont. As of 2005, it has approximately 400 members including public, academic, special, and school librarians, library trustees, and library friends...
provided copies of this sign to every public library in Vermont.
West was one of about three dozen "credentialed blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
gers" at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
, the first time that such an event issued press credentials to bloggers. She indicated in a New York Times feature on the group that her goal was making "the librarian voice in politics stronger and louder." Her first-day quip that the convention was "Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
for Democrats, without the nudity or drugs" was widely reported.
In 2007, West made a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video of herself installing Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
on two library computers, which attracted thousands of views and free CDs from Canonical
Canonical Ltd.
Canonical Ltd. is a private company founded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth to market commercial support and related services for Ubuntu Linux and related projects. Canonical is registered in London and employs staff around the world...
. DesktopLinux.com
EWeek
eWeek is a weekly computing business magazine published by Ziff Davis Enterprise.The magazine consists of a print publication and web site covering enterprise topics and is targeted at IT professionals rather than hobbyists.-Audience:The eWeek audience is actively involved in buying enterprise...
called it a "non-jaded, non-techie look at Ubuntu." Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, writing on the blog Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
, dubbed her an "internet folk hero", and brought the video 14,000 views in a day and a half.
Published works
Anthologies- Jessamyn West (ed) (2004) Digital Versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask a Librarian Online and Offline, Haworth Information Press; ISBN 0-7890-2442-X
- Roberto, Katia and Jessamyn West (eds) (2003): Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out, McFarland & Company; ISBN 0-7864-1608-4
-
- The book is a follow-up to the 1972 Revolting Librarians (ISBN 0912932015), and includes new essays by ten of the contributors to the original.
External links
- jessamyn.com - personal site
- jessamyn.info - resumeRésuméA résumé is a document used by individuals to present their background and skillsets. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons but most often to secure new employment. A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education...
site - A Librarian Blogger at the DNC West's article about her experience.