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jessamyn

Hey!

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Thanks for everything you've done over at Mefi. Do you think we'll ever again see you as a mod?

Just another mefite adding thanks to the pile here!

I will pile on as well. Thanks.

Me too!

Hey hey hey!

Yes, thank you!

Don't think so. I really enjoyed my time there and I still hang out there a lot but it's pretty important to me to be doing "library things" and I couldn't do that and devote the time to modding that the job deserved.

Great interview, I enjoyed your insights into separating out the emotional issues from the technology issues and the challenges that UX / UI issues present.

Thanks -- I feel very strongly that you can't deal with digital divide issues without dealing with people's emotional issues surrounding technology.

Also, everything I learned about teaching tech I feel like I got from Phil Agre.

http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/how-to-help.html

Great, insightful interview. Getting people interested in coming to the library, esp for learning instead of web surfing, is something I wonder about periodically. Local libraries seem to use group activities for young people or rent out conference rooms. One thing going on that you might find interesting is merging libraries with maker spaces. It seems to be getting some results with added benefit of letting people apply their learning in creative, hands-on ways:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/every...

http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces...

What do you think about this development? And have you noticed any other ways libraries are generating interest that aren't one-off in nature?

In smalltown Vermont libraries, we definitely see this as a win-win as long as there is funding for it. The big deal with hackerspaces is making sure they're accessible to everyone (sometimes tricky but a mandate of what a public library needs to do) and inclusive (so not just technically possible for people to use but welcoming to everyone as much as possible).

We've seen people do this well by combining things that are more like toolshops with things that are more like craft and home ec-type spaces (hey it's all about making things) and also recording/video studios. Anything where pooling community resources makes a lot of sense. The big deal is finding the funding and the right people working there to make it all work within library culture as well as within makerspace culture. The two cultures share a lot but there are some non-overlap areas that need to be negotiated well.

In Vermont there are a lot of older people with deep "knowledge of tools" who can find a great slot for them as they may age out of the work-all-day world but can be great mentors to younger folks who might not otherwise have these options. There's also a lot of tech ed where I am, so kids can learn some of this is school which is excellent as well.

Makes me wonder how much cross-pollination there is between HN and MeFi.

Indeed :)

My suspicion? A lot, and most of it from the older Metafilter users who, like me, miss the heyday of the link blog. That's basically what I use HN for.

I feel MeFi is a bit allergic to the politics of HN. For example, the recent Google discussion would have gone over very differently there. (I say this without passing judgement, since I tend to ping-pong back and forth between both sites.)

If you want a taste of MeFi politics, here's a fun one: http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emo...

I do in fact love those kinds of MeFi threads, and I credit them with broadening my understanding of the world and helping me become a better feminist. I think many HN users wouldn't feel comfortable in that sort of discussion, however.

HN always felt like a bit of the agora, with the occasional thunderbolt from dang to shut down flagrant shitposting; MeFi seems more civil. People seem more caring there.

There is, right now, a fairy large (for MeFi - something like 1000+ comments at this point IIRC) discussion on that topic on MeFi. I think the moderators have been hard at it given the contentious nature of the topic.

If it's useful, here's the MeFi post on the same article.

http://www.metafilter.com/153938/No-matter-where-I-am-the-pu...

Thanks from yet another MeFite.

yep, thanks for all the hard work @ mefi

great interview

Another mefite here, participating occasionally and wishing the local moderation would take a bit more of Metafilter's philosophy to heart :)

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