In this section, I describe what I learned in University of Alabama's School of Library and Information Science's Archival Science M.L.I.S. program. The learning outcomes below are used to determine the student has satisfied all the requirements of the program and to reflect on the development and progress of the student. Below I present examples of the learning outcomes to supplement the collection of coursework on other pages produced over the course of the program.
MLIS Program Learning Outcomes & Links:
I. Technology-mediated access in library and information services.
II. Library and information practices
III. Philosophy, principles, and ethics of library and information science
IV. Principles of social and cultural justice in practice
Technology-mediated access in library and information services.
In LS 501: Information in Communities Dr. Weedle, Spring 2023 we collected technology-based resources to share in our class. I presented 5 resources that have become available to me through online networking and a significant part of my work.
1 LIS email listserv - BlackMemoryWorkers@googlegroup
2. A Peer reviewed journal - Journal of Radical Librarianship
3. A peer-reviewed journal - Urban Library Journal
4. A trade journal - The American Association of Law Libraries Spectrum
5. Social Media page - @ArchiveAtlanta on instagram
5. Social Media page - @ArchiveAtlanta on instagram
The Black Memory Workers listerv is incredibly useful to a student who is just entering the field, someone transitioning to another role or institution, and as a space to share opportunities happening within one’s own institution. As an LIS student I believe this is an incredible resource to help me find ways to share and gather new information. As a professional, I am also interested in the ways it acts as an agent to connect black memory workers across geographical spaces.
The Journal of Radical Librarianship is a peer-reviewed LIS journal found through the ischoolwikis link provided by the instructor of this course. I found the title of the Journal to be very intriguing as it seems to be interested in the same ideas I engage with in my own work. While I understand “radical” is defined by the time and location of its use, I am interested in work that seeks equity across race, class, and gender differences and thinks in terms of resistance to oppressive social orders. The journal was established in 2015 and started with an editor’s letter, a paper on the ways that librarians act as technologists, and 3 reviews.
Urban Library Journal is an open access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal published by the Library Association of the City University of New York. This journal publishes articles related to urban libraries and librarians in relation to city environments. I was drawn to this journal because I work primarily in urban Atlanta and I see the environment having a real impact on my work in terms of who gets access and whose perspectives are valued. Two issues are published per year while essays are accepted year-round. While I understand the editorial board is located in New York City and therefore the issues published in this journal will be issues relevant to the New York City location, I believe Atlanta shares some of the same issues of gentrification, diversity, equity, and homelessness as New Yorkers.
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Spectrum is a bimonthly magazine designed to “further professional development and education within the legal information industry” according to the website. Each issue explores an area of the legal field. It is a digital publication released six times a year. While the magazine is available to members at no cost, the magazine can be purchased by non-members.
Victoria Lemos’s Archive Atlanta instagram account and podcast offers very detailed historical information on sites and places in the Atlanta area. This Instagram account is open to the public and contains pertinent information in an easily accessible way. When I reached out to Lemos to find more information she also generously shared her notes and resources with me. This information would be useful to anyone interested in the history of Georgia, Atlanta, the Southeast, and Civil Rights.
These resources are especially useful to me as an LIS student and archival professional because it shares popular discussions from a radical perspective.
In LS 500– Information Science & Technology, Professor Boulie. we designed Technological Resources for knowledge sharing. This poster presentation expands on Module 1: Information, Information Science & Libraries • Data, Information, and Knowledge (Misinformation, Disinformation, and More) • What is information Science • Information Science & Libraries • Information Profession. I am particularly interested in the distinction disseminated in libraries and archives. I conducted a literature review and a comparative analysis of these two forms of information system.
Library and information practices
In Dr. Sweeney's LS 582:Race, Gender, and Sexuality in LIS I created a A Guide for Working with Underrepresented Communities in the archives and Formal Repositories
The work of my archival project, The Radical Archive of Preservation is an extension of
“The Radical Archive of Performance: From Acts to Archives in Black Preservation”, a
dissertation project that explored issues of the archive and preservation in Black
performance culture. That research project asked: if today’s professional archival and
preservation practices were adequate for the identification, preservation, and
accessibility of Black epistemologies materialized through performance; how strategies
of resistance and improvisation work with or against notions of access and preservation
in archival science; and if Tyler Perry Studios can be considered a radical archive of
Black performance. After Cedric Robinson, Saidiya Hartman, and Fred Moten, and in the
spirit of the Black Radical Tradition, I argued that improvisation, discordance, and
trace as the conceptual reserves of Black epistemologies and demonstrates radical acts
of preservation in performance. This project was conceptualized as a way of thinking
through archival and curatorial challenges when working with Black performance
immateriality and ephemerality. Using archival science, production studies, and
performance theory, I illustrated ways Black production cultures, from art exhibitions
to Film/TV productions, navigate issues of materiality in the archive. In order to
investigate the quality of preservation of Black epistemologies in contemporary Black
performance, I used Tyler Perry Studios production culture as a case study to examine
objects, rituals, and spaces using a Media Industries method.
“The Radical Archive of Performance: From Acts to Archives in Black Preservation”, a
dissertation project that explored issues of the archive and preservation in Black
performance culture. That research project asked: if today’s professional archival and
preservation practices were adequate for the identification, preservation, and
accessibility of Black epistemologies materialized through performance; how strategies
of resistance and improvisation work with or against notions of access and preservation
in archival science; and if Tyler Perry Studios can be considered a radical archive of
Black performance. After Cedric Robinson, Saidiya Hartman, and Fred Moten, and in the
spirit of the Black Radical Tradition, I argued that improvisation, discordance, and
trace as the conceptual reserves of Black epistemologies and demonstrates radical acts
of preservation in performance. This project was conceptualized as a way of thinking
through archival and curatorial challenges when working with Black performance
immateriality and ephemerality. Using archival science, production studies, and
performance theory, I illustrated ways Black production cultures, from art exhibitions
to Film/TV productions, navigate issues of materiality in the archive. In order to
investigate the quality of preservation of Black epistemologies in contemporary Black
performance, I used Tyler Perry Studios production culture as a case study to examine
objects, rituals, and spaces using a Media Industries method.
-In LS 513: Professional Paths we created content analyses for looking for career paths based on our education, interests and the job market. I selected a few positions that I did apply to, but still struggled to find something that met all of my needs and interests. In 2022, I earned a PhD in Film, Media, and Theatre and also a certification in Archival Science. I am currently pursuing a Master’s in Library and Information Science. My research interests are black production culture; issues in preservation; womanist praxis. I seek to attain a position where I can combine my interest in performance and preservation with my research skills and equity concerns. The type of jobs I sought were tenure-track positions in academic libraries. I imagine myself as the Director of a Black Women’s Special Collections Archive with teaching responsibilities.
Philosophy, principles, and ethics of library and information science.
In Dr. Weedle's LS 501: Information in Communities, I designed a project around Protecting Communities in institutional repositories. In general, libraries and archives are theoretically committed to responding to the needs of their communities. According to the American Library Association’s website, librarians core values are: access, confidentiality/Privacy, Democracy, Education and Lifelong Learning, Intellectual Freedom, The Public Good, Preservation, Professionalism, Service, Social Responsibility, and sustainability. Given these principles, it seems that all libraries would be invested in exploring different ways of supporting their respective communities. However, in this paper I would like to focus on two principles - Access and Social Responsibility, as it relates to providing preservation support to underserved communities. While archival institutions continue to expand their tools and practices they continue to miss the mark when it comes respecting community memory-making practices that are different from their institutional practices. In a 2021 Archives and Human Rights Anthology in Routledge’s Approaches to History, essays advocate archivists’ role in defending basic human rights by enabling access to documentation on human rights violations. This recognition positions the archivist as an activist and possibly a whistleblower in relationships between communities and institutions.
These values and principles are important to me because my project is a Black Lives Matter project. I sincerely believe that to say “black lives matter” is to argue that things have to change if we want equity and peace in our society. Until we don’t have to say it any more we have to say it every day. In order to increase equity, I think we need better representation in the archives, libraries, and museums. I believe this because this is the way our nation remembers and honors what we know and who we are. If we are left out of the record we will continue to be ignored, overlooked, diminished and killed.
My archival practice is about life, death, and joy. Joy is central to work because of the ways that it sustains life. I aim to provide people with ways to access joy and other forms of liberation. Therefore, my care-taking designs are amplified and centered in my work. While I believe that people must have hope, I also believe that you can inspired people towards care and liberation.
In LS 555: Introduction to Archival Studies, we wrote Archival Values and Ethics Statements. As an advocate for libraries, I actually agree with and acknowledge all of the core values and ethical principles. However, I understand the challenges with these values and principles come from different interpretations and perspectives. Therefore, I will rephrase the values and principles according to my understanding and aims for my own archival practice.
These values and principles are important to me because my project is a Black Lives Matter project. I sincerely believe that to say “black lives matter” is to argue that things have to change if we want equity and peace in our society. Until we don’t have to say it any more we have to say it every day. In order to increase equity, I think we need better representation in the archives, libraries, and museums. I believe this because this is the way our nation remembers and honors what we know and who we are. If we are left out of the record we will continue to be ignored, overlooked, diminished and killed.
My archival practice is about life, death, and joy. Joy is central to work because of the ways that it sustains life. I aim to provide people with ways to access joy and other forms of liberation. Therefore, my care-taking designs are amplified and centered in my work. While I believe that people must have hope, I also believe that you can inspired people towards care and liberation.
In my practice, I collect memory making practices from all over the world. I am adamant about creating a virtual space that I cannot only learn these practices but also be able to share them with others. Recently, I along with a team of others from The Society of Georgia Archivists and The Radical Archive of Preservation produced an 8 session virtual workshop series called, Rooted in Memory. While this workshop is going well, I am still seeing a division between memory workers attending the workshop and archivists.
I believe spaces like this are important if we are going to recognize all people as valuable and different, but also the same. I am working to make this virtual space global so that people from all over the world can participate. I am learning that even though we are very separated we share alot of the same memory practices. I am curious about technology and colonization.
Today I am studying the memory practices of a local village on the coast of Tanzania called Bagamoyo. In my field study, I learned that there is not a direct way to ask how do you keep your memories? This seems to be a new concept and therefore a new idea. While language has been a barrier, I am relying on the translation of dual langage speakers to communicate. I want to be able to do more outreach to make the virtual community a little bit larger and more engaging.
Principles of social and cultural justice in practice
In Dr. Mehra's Social Justice and Inclusion course, social justice project, I established a community library and archive in the historic village of Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Bagamoyo is very important to the history of Bagamoyo as it has been recognized as a major site of the East African Slave and Ivory trade. Access to books and resources are limited and are only available through the government-run Maktaba (library). While this is considered a public library, it is not free of cost and therefore creates a real barrier to information for locals. This library and archive will provide underserved peoples with access to resources and historical materials that will assist towards their personal and professional development.
Bagamoyo's Maktaba is open daily; located near the coast and the main business area. There are also no steps at the entrance of the building making it physically, as well as, geographically accessible. However, the library struggles with traffic and use. After some preliminary research, I learned that the user-fees create an economic barrier for the local community. Patrons are required to pay a yearly user fee of about 100,000 Tanzanian Shillings, the equivalent of about $40 USD. While this may not seem like a substantial impediment to some, Tanzania's 2022 income per capita was $1200 USD compared to about $65,500 for the United States.
Since 2011, I have been visiting Bagamoyo, Tanzania. My first trip was part of a volunteer program, Cross Cultural Solutions, where I worked with local artisans at the Old Slave Market. I taught conversational English and computer basics. It was there that I established relationships with locals and have maintained connections over the years.
Last year, I established a partnership with Bwagamoyo Africulture, a local dance, drumming, and storytelling group. In this partnership, I have committed to the preservation of this company by establishing some business, administrative, and archival practices. I plan on using this relationship to build a library and archive within this organization for the benefit of the local community.
Tanzania's socialist background and Ujamaa culture cultivates collaborative ways of working together. I am very interested and inpired by these political, social, and cultural concepts.
In addition to working with Bwagamoyo Africulture, I plan to work with the local Maktaba; Taasisi Ya Sanaa Na Utamaduni Bagamoyo (TaSUBa) and the School of Library, Archives, and Documentation Studies (SLADS). These are local organizations that are deeply connected to the community and provide programming to the community. Other partners include Ballethnic Dance Company, in East Point, Georgia, Spelman College, in Atlanta Georgia; and The Radical Archive of Preservation (T.R.A.P). These are companies that I am affiliated with and act as my professional network.
In Dr. Mehra's Applying Diversity Leadership, Theories and Praxis, I examined the offerings of The Society of Georgia Archivists and how they serve black memory workers in and around the City of Atlanta. This page will focus on the geographic and cultural environment of the City of Atlanta, Georgia.
Founded in 1969, the Society of Georgia Archivists (SGA) represents over 200 individuals and 100 repositories that care for historical records. In association with its member archivists, librarians, records managers, museum and historical agency personnel, and educators, the Society of Georgia Archivists is working to preserve the past and the present for the future. Through SGA membership, professionals and volunteers stay current on the latest developments in the records-keeping field, especially with our members-only e-mail list! SGA publishes Provenance, the journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists, and the SGA Newsletter. SGA also offers workshops, scholarships, and an annual meeting. Archivists are guided by a code of professional ethics. For more information, see the Society of American Archivists' Code of Ethics. The Society of Georgia Archivists' core values are community, leadership, diversity, lifelong learning, and sustainability.
While I could not find any statistical data in reference to racial and ethnic identities of the group, I did attend the 2023 Conference at Kennessaw State University. The conference was in-person and over the course of 2 days. I do not think the majority of the membership attended the conference, but there were a few occasions where we could see the group as a whole. The majority of the representation presented as white and female.
