Organize, Organize, Organize!

     Messiness as a Virtue was one of the most relatable sections I have had within this course.  As future information professionals, it is one of our duties to learn and practice the use of classification systems.  I am very meticulous when it comes to organization, both at home, school, and professionally.  Two messes I have at home that I try organizing on a regular basis are my clothing and my photographs.  I am a shutterbug and have been for several years, so the amount of photographs I have accumulated over the years is a bit ridiculous.  I have tried several methods of storing my printed photographs including as Weinberger mentioned the miscellaneous photos in shoeboxes.  I initially began trying to clump them by certain events such as birthdays, homecoming dances, football games, and anniversaries.  Each box had a clearly marked label containing one of those particular subjects; however, I learned right away that this would not be particularly useful because looking for one person’s birthday photos is in the midst of a chaotic shoebox entitled “birthdays”.  While the label helped me narrow down the boxes, it did not help me sift through hundreds of photos to select the one where my dog sneaks a piece of my mom’s cake.  Currently, I consider my photographs to be in a state of “chaotic order” whereas one person may find it easy to navigate; the next might be utterly disturbed by the lack of labeling within a shoebox.  As for the photographs on my hard drive, I have tried over and over again to figure out a technique in which locating a photograph would be easiest.  Right now, I am devoting most of my time to making folders with dates and then subfolders with subjects.  Due to my passion of photography, organizing these photos is both tedious and overwhelming but at the same time it moves me to organize which has helped me down the road.  I have always looked up fellow photographs ways of organizing and have found some great websites and blogs containing their idea of how one should organize.  Some websites I have checked into include and are not limited to: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/how-to-organize-photos.htm, http://www.pinterest.com/fotobridge/photo-organizing-and-tips/, https://www.clickinmoms.com/blog/tips-for-organizing-and-printing-your-personal-photos-by-beira-brown/, and one of my personal favorites http://blog.delightfulorder.com/2013/02/february-challenge-organizing-photos_19.html.
McCallum’s diagram popped out at me as being very useful even in a non-business related environment.      
     When it comes to my closet I think that I can apply the first four of the five items.  In my opinion, my closet is simple, uniform, has a place, and a system—I cannot necessarily say explicit because what I may see as a clear, obvious choice another person might think it is in the wrong place.  I have to say, I am a bit OCD when it comes to organizing my clothes.  When I was younger, I tried organizing by color so black clothes on the far left, white clothes to the far right with everything else in between.  Now, I am a bit more practical and have my closet organized by jackets, sweatshirts, blouses, etc. and within those categories I have still managed to organize a bit with the colors such as black jackets, blue jackets, and many more.  There is always room for improvement in organization, whether it is in my closet, in shoeboxes, or in the library.  Classification and organization is changing daily, and I think that my yearning to be organized is a major attribute as to why I am in this field of study.  I am always willing to learn new methods and techniques to better organize because as Weinberger’s book is so perfectly titled, Everything is Miscellaneous.

The Implicit versus the Explicit

     Weinberger discusses context as both explicit and implicit but I find a lot of gray area between the two.  I understand implicit as being implied and not expressed in a plain matter while explicit is the complete opposite and is stated clearly and understandably.  The examples he provided made a lot of sense especially when he was referring to traffic signs; however, the example regarding the Planet of the Apes DVD set was not only a realization of how implicit something may be but it also shed light on what someone may find wholeheartedly explicit may be considered implicit to another.  One example of an implicit contextual message found in libraries to the stereotypical nationwide assumption to “Shhh! Be quiet.”  While it might not be expressed physically on a sign, it is assumed that patrons know to be quiet and courteous to fellow patrons within the library.  This example is implicit because while it may not be in plain sight, it is implied that when you walk into a library one should keep their volume to a bare minimum.  Another example of an implicit contextual message found in libraries is the “Drop Box” where it is implied that you place your returned books.  Although it states it is a “Drop Box” some people are not sure what a drop box is for because it does not say “Drop Box for Returned Books and Materials”.  Sadly yet still comical, I had a friend working at our local Cleveland Public Library who was in charge of shelving returned books and was completely caught off guard that someone had put their stamped mail within the library’s drop box.  I have to laugh because most patrons understand that the “Drop Box” is for books and not for sending mail; however, this is the perfect example as to why it is considered implied because it does not express in full detail that it is for checked out materials from the library.
     An example of explicit contextual message found in libraries is the sign directly over the front desk clearly stating “Check Out Books”.  I think that this is different than the drop box because going to a library you know that you must check out your books.  The sign is usually in bold, easily seen, and directs the patron exactly to where they must go to check out their books.  One other example I have personally came across regarding an explicit message is on the ninth floor on Kent’s Main Library.  There is a library cart with a sign on it that tells patrons to place their books on the cart so that the library staff may shelve it themselves opposed to the students.  Usually, there are books already on the cart which may make the student look at the cart more carefully where they will see the sign indicating what it is there for.  There is a blog written by Bonnie Swoger where she actually discusses how to make the implicit more explicit in science education and information literacy.  Her blog can be found at: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/information-culture/2012/11/29/making-implicit-knowledge-and-skills-more-explicit-in-science-education/.  I have now found myself debating what is implicit versus what is explicit.  Weinberger’s examples of both the implicit and explicit could possibly be argued on both sides as can the examples I have provided.

Is Neutrality a Possibility?

Weinberger’s analysis of Wikipedia’s definition of neutrality seems at first to be very black and white.  When Weinberger spoke to Wales, as I can imagine after watching his TedTalk a few weeks ago, he most likely gave a somewhat snarky response by saying “I’m not all that interested in French Philosophy”.  He then makes a very basic yet thought-provoking statement about neutrality by saying, “An article is neutral when people have stopped changing it”.  The truth is, as humans it is in our nature to challenge things we disagree with and as we have probably all witnessed through Wikipedia and other like sites, there always seems to be room for improvement or changes.  The example that Weinberger provides us about John Kerry’s Vietnam war record made me recall how much of a media hype that was due to the buzz surrounding what types of medals he actually earned.  Wikipedia provides an opportunity to discuss what changes they believe should be made, and until there are no more changes the article according to Wales will not be considered neutral.  After reading about this example, I chose to look up President Barack Obama and read through his extensive Wiki page.  I shortly realized that there was not a general forum to have any type of discussion regarding this page and the changes people would like to have edited.  Whether or not his wiki page’s discussion board was taken down because of the backlash of the government shutdown or just because as a President there is already a lot of “vandalizing” of such pages, this halts any user’s ability to make changes to what they may consider a very bias page.  Weinberger states that “neutrality is a tough term” and I have to agree in terms of not being able to adjust a wiki article until it is no longer changed around; however, it is my belief that there will always be changes, always evolving, always deepening of opinions, and much more.  

The definition of neutrality and how tough it is goes hand in hand with the library profession particularly in the banning of books.  While neutrality is difficult to obtain, as information professionals we must cater to the needs and desires of our patrons.  Unfortunately for us, while we may disagree with a person’s desire to have a book banned, we must try to adhere to their wants but without violating another patron’s rights to that book.  This is a very hot button issue in the field of librarianship which is why the American Library Association produces a publication every three years containing ways to help librarians and other information professionals to recognize and support the First Amendment.  This is the link that gives a brief synopsis about what this publication does for librarians when it comes to banning books and the overall theme of censorship and the difficult nature of neutrality--http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2931.  The fact is, Wales gave the most honest answer by saying we cannot be neutral until we stop changing things.   In my opinion, it is nearly impossible that in the sense of banning books it is difficult to remain neutral and unbiased with this subject especially when I feel so strongly about it.  Although I understand Weinberger’s analysis of Wales’ definition, it still leaves me wondering if there truly and honestly is such a thing as being neutral in such an information obsessed world.

(Below is a screenshot showing the President's closed general forum page)

Limitless Possibilities

David Remsen’s uBio Project enables users to contribute various classifications to species and does not neglect or refuse any “oddball” descriptions.  I can see why some scientists may not fully appreciate this project because instead of having a method of devising concrete subjects, uBio goes against this and lets people list what to seems to be limitless possibilities.  Scientists similar to mathematicians are about having a stable, black or white, concrete answer; however, Remsen’s project dismembers this theory and continues to build on layer after layer resulting in the ever daunting gray area.  While investigating uBio’s website, I typed in the search bar “shark” and came up with four scientific matches and 733 other matches which allows you to understand the immeasurable amount of results coming from such a basic search.  I think that between uBio and ZooBank, which Weinberger illustrated as a complete opposite project, shows how information is tailored in two different ways.  ZooBank, which is sponsored by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, instead of allowing numerous types of descriptions, devises a method in which they meticulously select and choose.  When I typed the word “shark” into this information resource it gave me six authors, 488 publications, and 81 nomenclature acts that were relevant to my search.  Although I still find these results to be large and impressive, as a biologist this may limit my research on this particular project whereas uBio may have more information to look up such as a different word used for a shark.  

There are several other information resources that use this type of model including Wikipedia.  Wikipedia does not limit the amount of information by specifically picking and choosing what they like.  Remsen similar to the creator of Wikipedia understands and recognizes that it is nearly impossible for people to agree on one particular subject.  Both of these information resources use collaboration as a strategy to tackle the tough issue of the miscellaneous.  Another great information resource, which I use frequently, is www.imdb.com, similar to Wikipedia and uBio it allows users as Weinberger noted about Remsen’s idea to, “not deliver the single right answer but to provide the maximum potential knowledge”.  Imdb.com has a list of editing policies, provided below that discuss even though they accept contributors, there are always guidelines to follow so that the information may be credible.  There is always going to be an argument about how a subject is classified such as the genre “comedy” which may include a movie or television show that someone may find to be considered in the genre “family”.   I think that these three information resources provide options and the ability to provide our own topics, ideas or further descriptions.  

Personally, I think that information resources similar to the ones I have discussed might help us see many different connections in the digital age by providing opportunity.  Our knowledge is limitless and the potential is growing so our need to see connections is an important issue especially in the field of librarianship and how it is and will further be affected by the digital age.  Remsen provided us with a structure that includes the importance of sharing and collaborating.  I recently was introduced to a website http://www.lirn.net/ which in my opinion is a good building block to institutions providing information resources.  While the structure of the site seems a little outdated, I still think that libraries can use this as a way to offer access to a plethora of resourceful sites that may help patrons, fellow librarians, and researchers in the digital age.