My 4th Reflection: 13-17 June 2022

The first thing that should be noted is that this was an absolutely hot – and I mean scorching – week. To make matters worse the humidity levels were high throughout the week. As a result the heat was really unbearable most of the time – if one was outdoors.

Monday (13th June 2022)

In the morning, we attended two sessions during the day. The topics covered were:

  • Machine learning in libraries
  • Developing a professional development program

In the afternoon we visited the Grainger Engineering library. There are several innovations that have originated from this library. The most significant these innovations are discussed below:

  1. The discovery tool which is referred to as – EasySearch – has been customised and makes use of the bento box model. The bento box is a dashboard-style application that pulls in dynamic components and information. Most interactions occur in the context of a single multi-purpose screen. The UIUC’s discovery tool displays results for supplementary research datasets that are hosted remotely. This result was achieved by relying on Application Program Interface calls made to Scholix.org. The discovery tool enables the library to observe the manner in which library users conduct their searches.
  2. I was impressed to see that machine learning has been implemented in practice. The Grainger Engineering Library has demonstrated that ML techniques can be used to enhance existing library services supporting faculty and student research. As a use case a project was conducted in terms of which metadata from 57,000 scientific articles on biofuels were downloaded using the Scopus API. A custom database was then created. Afterwards, Machine Learning document clustering or topic modelling algorithms were then applied to the database records to identify the key concepts from the biofuels literature.

I was able to visit the branch library’s makerspace. There were several relatively lost-cost 3D printers that were available at the facility. In addition to this there were some VR headsets that are available for use. It was brought to my attention that there are certain VR headsets that do not require a computer. It would therefore be possible to add virtual reality to a makerspace’s offering in a relatively inexpensive manner by purchasing such relatively low-cost VR headsets.

Tuesday (14th June 2022)

We attended a number of sessions during the day. The topics covered were:

  • Machine learning and libraries
  • Personal SWOT analysis and personal development plans
  • Library acquisitions and e-resources management

Wednesday (15th June 2022)

We attended a number of sessions during the day. The topics covered were:

  • Library assessment
  • Undergraduate research services
  • Machine learning and artificial information in libraries
  • Research Data Management

Thursday (16th June 2022)

The group travelled to Arthur – a small village that has an Amish community. I had been under the impression that the Amish lived in isolation and that they did not interact much with people outside of their community. But this was certainly not the case. Throughout the village one could see members of the Amish community getting around on horse and carriage or on bicycles. The parking lots in town have been modified to accommodate horses – due to the obvious reason that the Amish would not be expected to park cars at the lots.

We were welcomed into the home of a Amish family and were able to tour the home. We were permitted to take photographs provided that our host was not included in the photographs. It was quite interesting to witness how an Amish family lives. The Amish way of life is not stagnant in the sense that the community’s lifestyle is not frozen in time. Certain adjustments have been made to the way in people member of the community lead their lives. For example the Amish do not make use of electricity to power their homes however they may make use of lithium-ion batteries to power light bulbs, washing machines or refrigerators in their homes. However, for the most part, modern technology is shunned within homes even though individuals can be exposed to technology when they leave their homes.

The visit to the Amish home really helped to provide some background context relating to the manner in which the community makes use of village’s public library.

After visiting the Amish home we visited the Arthur Public library. The library’s collection includes Amish literature and as it turns out the Amish are avid readers who make use of the library quite extensively. The main observations that I made related to the nature of collection management when working with limited space as well as adapting a collection to meet the needs of a local community.

Friday (17th June 2022)

We started the morning off by travelling to Springfield. The first destination was the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. We toured the library and were even able to see the original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation on display.

Next we went to the Illinois State Library – which basically functions as a legislative library. We toured the library and attended some sessions addressing the library’s services and collection. The sessions on censorship in libraries was an eye opener. I was unaware that books are censored quite liberally in the United States. I had been under the impression that this would not be the case on the grounds of freedom of expression but this does not appear to be the case. What was rather shocking is the ease with which books could be censored. Furthermore, the reasons for imposing censorship in some cases did not always seem justifiable and at are the very least debatable.

Lastly, we visited the Lincoln Home – i.e the house that Abraham Lincoln lived in for 17 years before becoming president of the United States of America. It was interesting to see how technology has advanced since Lincoln’s time. It seems that he lived well for his time. I admire the manner in which the house has been maintained over the years. In a sense visiting the house almost felt like travelling back in time.

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