The Lighter Side of Wikimediocrity
Wiki content is springing up on the Internet like the gopher mounds in my front yard. When I look out on my lawn of what use to be a flat plain of well-groomed fescue, it is hard to decipher the master plan these gophers have adopted. Where is the planned community? It is evident my gophers’ only mission is to create more playgrounds and kitchens for themselves and their children. It appears to be the same model adopted by the MySpace.com design team.
I wonder if our students’ hunger for content and self-expression often lead them to adopt my gophers’ model. Students will invest days on their MySpace page if they feel it will have an impact on their dating life, but often overlook the connection between the pursuit of knowledge and the eventual lasting contributions they will be able to make to their future family and community. As librarians, we can help build bridges between the tunneling for information and personal success. Our best work may be realized when we work one-on-one with a student and connect the classroom content to this student’s own goals and aspirations. Yet, when we drive home, we wonder why we do not take more time for these types of interactions with our own students, teachers, or even family members.
I propose, as we approach the New Year, we take on a completely upside-down project. I propose we start a CSLA Wiki site of life-changing library career questions. Aren’t most revolutionary ideas born from trying to answer a single question? Imagine a website built entirely of questions! Not Asked Frequently Enough Questions-if you will. This site will be composed of:
Questions we ask ourselves on the way home from work,
Questions that motivate us to surge ahead,
Questions that defy us to move out of our stable career orbit,
Questions that get us to imagine what is important to our students,
Questions that challenge our current models of library service,
Questions that confront us to be smarter at what we do, and
Questions that help move generic libraries to brand-name learning centers.
Here are just 15 questions I have asked myself in traffic to get our Wikicareerprobingquestions.org site launched.
1. What are my students interested in when they are not at school?
2. What is it about my school that seems to make progress move at a glacier pace?
3. Do I have the courage to create global community warming on campus?
4. What do I perceive as my biggest obstacle to building a model library program?
5. How do I make the love of reading a contagious disease?
6. How can I harness all of this student energy around me to light the library?
7. Can I list 10 things that might happen if I got more involved in my students lives?
8. What is using up most of my energy?
9. Is what my critics say about me true?
10. Who matters most to me at work?
11. Am I driving my program or just paying cab fare until I retire?
12. Who needs my help the most?
13. How do I want to be remembered?
14. What will remain of my work when I am no longer here?
15. Do I have the passion to change the world?
I am convinced the gophers in my yard think they are doing a great job. They may even come out of their holes when I am asleep and admire the mounds they have created, but I’m not certain they are asking the right questions. Like, “Do you think the landowner appreciates all of our hard work?”
