Code4lib 2008 Minority Scholarship

The most meaningful comments about this thread occurred
elsewhere, in the
vein of "that's why I'm not on Web4Lib any
longer." 

As a woman who has worked in one male-dominated profession
and faced the
legion challenges of being a woman in technology (which is a
male-dominated
subfield in librarianship), I will never apologize for being
a feminist, or
for supporting affirmative action with respect to women in
technology. If I
am seen as divisive for objecting to white men complaining
about
scholarships for women and minorities, so be it. 

Yesterday's thread, like so many threads of its ilk, was
started, managed,
and concluded by men. In this case, it's probably not
because women are
unable to defend their positions, but more likely because
the majority of
the women have by and large left the room. The wonder is not
that only two
women actually participated in yesterday's discussion, but
that we even
bothered. Q.V. Caveat Lector:

http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/200
7/12/19/my-shoes-walk-in-them/ 

I'm personally very fond of the Code4Lib community, but I
acknowledge
Dorothea's experience, as well. I hope I conducted myself
with élan at
Code4Lib, where I keynoted this year, and I believe there
were more women
than the previous year. But please be aware that even when
the experience
goes well, it takes a huge amount of energy to participate
in an
male-dominant environment, all the time wondering if I'm
going to reflect
well on myself and on other women in technology, because
when you're the
token, for better or worse, you represent everyone of your
"kind." 

In re communication media for technology, I recently
wondered on my blog if
mailing lists were last-century. The post had a respectable
number of
responses:

http://freerangelibrarian.com/2007/11
/07/email-lists-are-they-last-century/ 

Recently I have been writing about the trend toward modular,
open,
service-oriented architecture. I wonder if this doesn't also
apply
structurally to professional discussions. The key
communication technology
of the 1990s was the mailing list, a humongous, turnkey silo
managed by
sundry Dads and Moms. Today we see forums, blogs, ad-hoc
Facebook groups,
other social networks... communication mechanisms with an
entirely different
Zeitgeist, diffuse, decentralized, ad hoc, specialized.
Better? Not for all
purposes — but it does provide alternatives where more, and
more
interesting, voices are heard than on the Father-knows-best
catch-all
discussion lists of yesteryear. 

K.G. Schneider
kgsfreerangelibrarian.com  



_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

I've been keeping quiet in this thread, mostly with the
excuse "Don't feed
the troll." But I agree with KG here.

It's absolutely true that in systems and technology
librarianship there is a
much higher proportion of men than women. I can think of a
lot of reasons
why that would be. I'm not in the mood to discuss them.  But
it seems to me
that when you have a subset of the whole whose composition
is grossly
different from that of the whole, you wonder why. And if you
are in the
business of recruiting people to help solve problems, you
ask what you can
do to recruit the majority.

That's true both in library directorships, and in
technology. We know that
part of the reason there are still so many male library
directors-- in the
'bad old days' men got hired and promoted faster in the
profession than
women. And that leaves a long tail.

But in technology-- I'm not prepared to argue about why
technology, in
libraries and elsewhere, is more heavily weighted toward the
male half of
the population. I am prepared to say that if you want to
make women not hang
around your club, complaining about how affirmative action
is discrimination
against white males is probably a good way to do it.

And I'll leave you with a Terry Pratchett quote, which
pretty much says it
all:

-----------------
'It's like that in the Watch, too,' said Angua. 'You can be
any sex you like
provided you act male. There's no men and women in the
Watch, just a bunch
of lads. You'll soon learn the language. Basically, it's how
much beer you
supped last night, how strong the curry was afterwards, and
where you were
sick. Just think egotesticle. You'll soon get the hang of
it. And you'll
have to be prepared for sexually explicit jokes in the Watch
House.'

Cheery blushed.

'Mind you, that seems to have ended now,' said Angua.

'Why? Did you complain?'

'No, after I joined in it all seemed to stop,' said Angua.
'And, you know,
they didn't laugh? Not even when I did the hand gestures
too? I thought that
was unfair. Mind you, some of them were quite small
gestures.'
-----------------

-- Jenne Heise
who if this goes on would be quite tempted to start telling
women-only
jokes.
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

I've been keeping quiet in this thread, mostly with the
excuse "Don't feed
the troll." But I agree with KG here.

It's absolutely true that in systems and technology
librarianship there is a
much higher proportion of men than women. I can think of a
lot of reasons
why that would be. I'm not in the mood to discuss them.  But
it seems to me
that when you have a subset of the whole whose composition
is grossly
different from that of the whole, you wonder why. And if you
are in the
business of recruiting people to help solve problems, you
ask what you can
do to recruit the majority.

That's true both in library directorships, and in
technology. We know that
part of the reason there are still so many male library
directors-- in the
'bad old days' men got hired and promoted faster in the
profession than
women. And that leaves a long tail.

But in technology-- I'm not prepared to argue about why
technology, in
libraries and elsewhere, is more heavily weighted toward the
male half of
the population. I am prepared to say that if you want to
make women not hang
around your club, complaining about how affirmative action
is discrimination
against white males is probably a good way to do it.

And I'll leave you with a Terry Pratchett quote, which
pretty much says it
all:

-----------------
'It's like that in the Watch, too,' said Angua. 'You can be
any sex you like
provided you act male. There's no men and women in the
Watch, just a bunch
of lads. You'll soon learn the language. Basically, it's how
much beer you
supped last night, how strong the curry was afterwards, and
where you were
sick. Just think egotesticle. You'll soon get the hang of
it. And you'll
have to be prepared for sexually explicit jokes in the Watch
House.'

Cheery blushed.

'Mind you, that seems to have ended now,' said Angua.

'Why? Did you complain?'

'No, after I joined in it all seemed to stop,' said Angua.
'And, you know,
they didn't laugh? Not even when I did the hand gestures
too? I thought that
was unfair. Mind you, some of them were quite small
gestures.'
-----------------

-- Jenne Heise
who if this goes on would be quite tempted to start telling
women-only
jokes.
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Dear Karen and Web4Libbers:

I was one who said nothing yesterday, but will today.  I found
the
discussion amusing, but I won't be attending Code4Lib mostly
because I
can't use open source tools. It's fantastic two scholarships
are even
offered! No matter if you are a tech dude or dudette, you'll
be
surrounded by dude or dudette non-techie librarians that
want things
that we can't begin to explain isn't possible without an
army of
developers. :-p There's just always going to be someone who
feels
shortchanged, but someone else gets an opportunity that
would
otherwise not be available.

Reading Caveat Lector's post, I can't say I have had any
more
adversity about being a techie female librarian than any
other
newcomer earning trust with colleagues. I'll be starting a
new job as
a Web and Systems Librarian in a few weeks, and I so far
feel no
opposition in respect to my age (I'm fairly young), my skin
color, or
my sex. Maybe I am just lucky with the libraries I've worked
at? It's
not all bad, once you get passed the code stare (sometimes
worse than
road stare) and bad/expensive vendor products. :-p

> As a woman who has worked in one male-dominated
profession and faced the
> legion challenges of being a woman in technology (which
is a male-dominated
> subfield in librarianship), I will never apologize for
being a feminist, or
> for supporting affirmative action with respect to women
in technology.

> Yesterday's thread, like so many threads of its ilk,
was started, managed,
> and concluded by men. In this case, it's probably not
because women are
> unable to defend their positions, but more likely
because the majority of
> the women have by and large left the room. The wonder
is not that only two
> women actually participated in yesterday's discussion,
but that we even
> bothered. Q.V. Caveat Lector:
>
> http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/200
7/12/19/my-shoes-walk-in-them/

-- 
In peace,

Amy M. Drayer
Web Interface Designer
amostromgmail.com
http://www.puzumaki.com
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Like several others, it seems, I'm feeling just a wee bit
ashamed of myself for not contributing to this discussion.
In fact, I had been preparing a response (along the lines of
"why I'm going to attend Code4Lib") when one
comment popped up that made me feel physically ill:  

"One woman, free 'Happy Hour' at the Embassy Suites,
and a nerd herd."

Tailhook '91, anyone? Or, if you're not old enough to
remember that one, think back to last year's Kathy Sierra
case. Maybe these things have killed my sense of humor. Or
maybe jokes like these just aren't funny.

Several of my (male) colleagues have said that C4L is the
best technical conference in libraryland. I had thought
about submitting a proposal to C4L, and I decided not to
this year, because I've never attended C4L and I wasn't sure
that it was the sort of conference that I'd want to be
associated with (though, frankly, I was thinking about this
in terms of scholarship rather than harassment). As of two
days ago, I'd have said that I was definitely planning to
attend. Now, though, I'm not too sure. And that's a shame.



Danielle Cunniff Plumer, Coordinator
Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
512.463.5852 (phone) / 512.936.2306 (fax)
dplumertsl.state.tx.us

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Dear Karen and Web4Libbers:

I was one who said nothing yesterday, but will today.  I found
the
discussion amusing, but I won't be attending Code4Lib mostly
because I
can't use open source tools. It's fantastic two scholarships
are even
offered! No matter if you are a tech dude or dudette, you'll
be
surrounded by dude or dudette non-techie librarians that
want things
that we can't begin to explain isn't possible without an
army of
developers. :-p There's just always going to be someone who
feels
shortchanged, but someone else gets an opportunity that
would
otherwise not be available.

Reading Caveat Lector's post, I can't say I have had any
more
adversity about being a techie female librarian than any
other
newcomer earning trust with colleagues. I'll be starting a
new job as
a Web and Systems Librarian in a few weeks, and I so far
feel no
opposition in respect to my age (I'm fairly young), my skin
color, or
my sex. Maybe I am just lucky with the libraries I've worked
at? It's
not all bad, once you get passed the code stare (sometimes
worse than
road stare) and bad/expensive vendor products. :-p

> As a woman who has worked in one male-dominated
profession and faced the
> legion challenges of being a woman in technology (which
is a male-dominated
> subfield in librarianship), I will never apologize for
being a feminist, or
> for supporting affirmative action with respect to women
in technology.

> Yesterday's thread, like so many threads of its ilk,
was started, managed,
> and concluded by men. In this case, it's probably not
because women are
> unable to defend their positions, but more likely
because the majority of
> the women have by and large left the room. The wonder
is not that only two
> women actually participated in yesterday's discussion,
but that we even
> bothered. Q.V. Caveat Lector:
>
> http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/200
7/12/19/my-shoes-walk-in-them/

-- 
In peace,

Amy M. Drayer
Web Interface Designer
amostromgmail.com
http://www.puzumaki.com
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Like several others, it seems, I'm feeling just a wee bit
ashamed of myself for not contributing to this discussion.
In fact, I had been preparing a response (along the lines of
"why I'm going to attend Code4Lib") when one
comment popped up that made me feel physically ill:  

"One woman, free 'Happy Hour' at the Embassy Suites,
and a nerd herd."

Tailhook '91, anyone? Or, if you're not old enough to
remember that one, think back to last year's Kathy Sierra
case. Maybe these things have killed my sense of humor. Or
maybe jokes like these just aren't funny.

Several of my (male) colleagues have said that C4L is the
best technical conference in libraryland. I had thought
about submitting a proposal to C4L, and I decided not to
this year, because I've never attended C4L and I wasn't sure
that it was the sort of conference that I'd want to be
associated with (though, frankly, I was thinking about this
in terms of scholarship rather than harassment). As of two
days ago, I'd have said that I was definitely planning to
attend. Now, though, I'm not too sure. And that's a shame.



Danielle Cunniff Plumer, Coordinator
Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
512.463.5852 (phone) / 512.936.2306 (fax)
dplumertsl.state.tx.us

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

On Dec 19, 2007 3:04 PM, Danielle Plumer <dplumertsl.state.tx.us> wrote:

> Several of my (male) colleagues have said that C4L is
the best technical conference in libraryland. I had thought
about submitting a proposal to C4L, and I decided not to
this year, because I've never attended C4L and I wasn't sure
that it was the sort of conference that I'd want to be
associated with (though, frankly, I was thinking about this
in terms of scholarship rather than harassment). As of two
days ago, I'd have said that I was definitely planning to
attend. Now, though, I'm not too sure. And that's a shame.
>

Obviously your decision to attend to skip is your own, but I
seems
unfair to base your opinions and assumptions what it would
be like
there on a comment about the scholarships they offer by
someone that's
never been to one, and a completely off-base and frankly
offensive
joke (on both sides of the punchline, really) by another
person that's
never been to one.

-Ross.
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Me too!  

Roy Tennant was responsible for making me
think of that.  But, fortunately, he has
already apologized for saying anything that might
be divisive.  And, Bill Drew has apologized for
anyone who might appear to be male.

Hopefully, all of the sacred cows will stop being
discussed now and no one will question the status
quo:

One male, an open coffee bar, and two hundred
white women in scarves.

*************************************************
Robert L. Balliot
1-401-441-5763
Skype: RBalliot
Bristol, Rhode Island
http://oce
anstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
*************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Danielle
Plumer
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 3:05 PM
To: web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Code4lib 2008 Minority Scholarship


Like several others, it seems, I'm feeling just a wee bit
ashamed of myself
for not contributing to this discussion. In fact, I had been
preparing a
response (along the lines of "why I'm going to attend
Code4Lib") when one
comment popped up that made me feel physically ill:  

"One woman, free 'Happy Hour' at the Embassy Suites,
and a nerd herd."

Danielle Cunniff Plumer, Coordinator
Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
512.463.5852 (phone) / 512.936.2306 (fax)
dplumertsl.state.tx.us

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/


_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

On Dec 19, 2007 3:04 PM, Danielle Plumer <dplumertsl.state.tx.us> wrote:

> Several of my (male) colleagues have said that C4L is
the best technical conference in libraryland. I had thought
about submitting a proposal to C4L, and I decided not to
this year, because I've never attended C4L and I wasn't sure
that it was the sort of conference that I'd want to be
associated with (though, frankly, I was thinking about this
in terms of scholarship rather than harassment). As of two
days ago, I'd have said that I was definitely planning to
attend. Now, though, I'm not too sure. And that's a shame.
>

Obviously your decision to attend to skip is your own, but I
seems
unfair to base your opinions and assumptions what it would
be like
there on a comment about the scholarships they offer by
someone that's
never been to one, and a completely off-base and frankly
offensive
joke (on both sides of the punchline, really) by another
person that's
never been to one.

-Ross.
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/