Rebekah Cummings is interviewed by Dave Lankes. Rebekah was chosen to run with Gubernatorial candidate, Brian King. He described Rebekah as:“A mom. A public servant. A librarian. A defender against book banning and censorship. Utahns will be well served by Rebekah’s leadership through her advocacy for intellectual freedom and commitment to empowering families.”Rebekah is the Director of Digital Matters and Associate Librarian at the University of Utah Marriott Library. In 2018 – 2019, Rebekah...
Corrosive AI: Effects On and Expanded Roles Of Libraries and the Information FieldSigh. It’s not enough that our instantly and continually connected information environment has eroded trust everywhere—including in our public institutions. The Internet, World Wide Web, and social media have been super-spreaders for misinformation (unintended misleading or false information) and dis-information (purposeful spreading of lies or deceptive information). But now, there is an even more powerful forc...
TikTok! Used regularly by over half the US population, why do so many either love or loathe TikTok? Is it simply a fun and terrific platform for creating, sharing, and consuming content? Is it an addictive, mental health hazard destroying America’s youth? Is it a major national security threat of Chinese infiltration? Is it all of the above…and more? We first discussed TikTok two years ago in Episode 15 (Feb 2022): Life, the Universe and Everything Social Media. But now it demands a clos...
In this episode, we return to one of our favorite topics– the new AI. But rather than focus on the latest “gee whiz” or OMG capabilities, we turn to the societal implications and impact side of the topic. Dave raised this topic wondering if it’s another case of, “this is why we can't have nice things anymore.” Why is it that for world-changing technologies over the past half-century that held great promise for the betterment of humanity (e.g., personal computers, the Internet, the World Wide ...
What could be less controversial than school libraries? School libraries - dedicated to children and American values. School libraries- keeping school information collections & technology up-to-date and secure. School librarians - seeking to promoting literacy and ensuring that students gain essential information & technology skills. Mom, apple pie, and school libraries, right? Wrong. School libraries are being challenged across the country with politically-motivated, organ...
Information and technology are a ubiquitous part of our lives. We cannot escape. Many of us walk around with multiple devices, receiving hundreds of notifications, emails, alerts, texts each day. Much like the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once we are all navigating a multiverse of devices and information sources. We used to talk about and experience the world in real life (IRL) through our digital presences. But is it now the opposite? Do we experience our lives digitally more...
In this podcast episode, Beth, Mike, and Dave dive into the latest advancements in AI, including ChatGPT, Bing, Dall-E, and others. They acknowledge that the new AI technologies are complex and not simply good or bad, black or white. Instead, they explore the nuanced capabilities of these tools and their potential impact on society. The hosts discuss how these AI advancements can be used to improve various industries, such as healthcare and education, while also acknowledging the potential ri...
Meltdown at Twitter? Advertisers leaving, Apple may delist the Twitter app, many have canceled their Twitter accounts. What does this mean? Is there something more meaningful, valuable, and humane to replace it -perhaps a trustworthy, digital platform for the exchange of information and ideas moderated for credibility and trust? Should librarians seek to shape or support a Twitter replacement? What's a reasonable stance for librarians in the face of free speech versus responsible ...
Episode 19: WHAT?????February 21st. 2022Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergWhat is going on in this world? Librarians in the crosshairs! Book censorship and actual book burnings! Heavy-handed government control of schools, curriculum, higher education, libraries! Handmaid’s Tale-like nightmare in terms of women’s rights! Climate catastrophes! War in Ukraine. Strife - hatred - violence! WTF?????For References & Resources Visit us athttps://1n2.b2c.myftpupload.com/episode-19...
Episode 18: The Censors are Coming! The Censors are Coming!May 2022Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergIt is happening here. Again. There’s a huge increase in efforts to censor what is taught or even discussed in school along with banning, and in some cases even burning books in schools and libraries. In this episode, we delve into the nature of these threats along with ways to counteract them. The same people who profess to champion freedom and rail against cancel culture, woke...
Episode 17: Video Sharing & So Much MoreApril 2022Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergYouTube has more than 2 billion active users collectively viewing over 5 billion videos totaling a combined 1 billion hours of video viewing every day!! Tik Tok is the new kid on the block, just 4 years old worldwide, and already with over 1 billion active users watching 167 million videos every minute! These two entities wield tremendous influence across every demographic. Clearly more than ben...
Episode 16: FACEBOOK: The Good, Bad, and the UglyMarch 2022Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergThis episode continues our conversation about social media. We zero in on the 800 lb gorilla – make that the 1.6 BILLION pound gorilla that dominates social media, FACEBOOK. That’s 1.6 billion because over 1.6 BILLION people (on average) visit Facebook every day. Listen in as we unravel this information age phenomenon.For References & Resources Visit us athttps://1n2.b2c.myftpuplo...
Episode 15: Life, the Universe and Everything Social Media. February 2022Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergThis is the first of a series of episodes about the phenomenon of social media. Social media dominates and affects almost all aspect of life and society, sometimes purposefully and often not. In the series, we hope to inform as well as identify some recommended good practices, and to discuss how libraries can and are helping people to engage effectively and safely. Here in epi...
Episode 14: Info Literacy - Now More Than Ever!January 2022Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergInformation literacy relates to every aspect of human existence – individually or in communities. Almost all human activities and endeavors are information-based, especially in our turbocharged, networked, overloaded info world. In this episode, we explore a range of info literacy issues including information skills, relevance, credibility, mis- and dis-information, bias, technology, media,...
Episode 13: Politics R Us?December, 2021Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergAughhh! The po·lit·i·ci·za·tion of everything! We don’t seem to be able to escape increasing polarization and the division into rival groups identified by politics and worldviews as well as the demonization of the other side. Is this the new normal? Even for libraries and public service? Is everything to be defined or viewed through a political lens? through a political identity? What is the poli...
Episode 12: Truth or Dare: A New Normal in Education and Human Services?Nov 2021Beth Patin, Dave Lankes, & Mike EisenbergStarting this, our second season, we have a huge change to the Libraries Lead podcast. In the last episode (#11) of the first season, Beth Patin, assistant professor at the Syracuse University iSchool joined us. She was fantastic, mind blowing, amazing. The conversation was electric; It sizzled. Beth added so much that it was clear that she needed to be part of every ep...
Episode 11: Emergency! Being Prepared in the New Normal. October 1, 2021Dave Lankes & Mike Eisenberg with Beth PatinUnfortunately, the dire future predictions of crises due to environment and climate change, disease, poverty, and social justice are today’s realities. Across the globe, communities, individuals, and governments are trying to cope with current disasters while putting some plans and infrastructure in place for future catastrophic situations.This new normal requires communitie...
Episode 10: Data to the Rescue? Sept 2021 Dave Lankes & Mike Eisenberg We agree on something “data to protect you" is an oxymoron. Data can be dangerous–particularly in the hands of corporations, governments, hackers, scammers, & even well-intentioned non-profits, public service providers, and even libraries and librarians. Public libraries monitor patrons on social media to market services to better “meet needs.” School libraries create student Google profiles and capture user ...
June 2, 2021Dave Lankes & Mike EisenbergAre we going back to offices and city living or will a new normal emerge? Judging from the articles and posts, it’s not clear at all. That means it’s likely to be a combination of both depending on contexts of nature of activity (e.g., business), geography, and the economics (jobs, commerce, supply chain). With uncertainty prevailing, what should libraries be thinking about and planning for? As an added bonus, our production manager, Yoni Yemini, fr...
May 26, 2021 Dave Lankes & Mike Eisenberg In the last episode, Mike ranted about his frustrations and hours spent in trying to reach a human being for assistance with airline reservations, prescriptions, and insurance. In this episode, we dive deeper into the topic of help and information services of all kinds– human, mediated (telephone, digital), online. What’s going on with consumer help and what’s the status of Q&A, Ask a Librarian, and reference services in library land...