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ILS503 Foundations of Librarianship
The Social Context
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This website was developed as to meet the course requirements for both ILS501 ~ Introduction to Technology and ILS503 ~ Foundations of Librarianship. The assignment for ILS501 was to create a website. Since I wholeheartedly believe that skills are best learned / honed in context, I arranged with both professors to use the website to meet both course requirements.
In his lecture for the Social Context assignment, Dr. Sierpe encouraged us toward "social activism in librarianship". In the past I had worked in the field of mental health, knew many of the barriers people with mental illness faced, and decided to focus my social context project on library services to this population. In researching the topic, I was shocked by the stereotyping in much of the literature toward this population. I found much of it to be demeaning, patronizing, and offensive. In a majority of what I read, there was an interchangeable use of the terms "problem patrons," "mentally ill," and "homeless." What I did not see in most of the literature was a teasing apart of this group from the population who had achieved relative stability and were not currently in crisis. For my project for this population I designed a website for professionals in the field that attempts to address the misconceptions and stigma that affects persons living with mental illness.
Website | Improving Library Services to the
In his lecture for the Social Context assignment, Dr. Sierpe encouraged us toward "social activism in librarianship". In the past I had worked in the field of mental health, knew many of the barriers people with mental illness faced, and decided to focus my social context project on library services to this population. In researching the topic, I was shocked by the stereotyping in much of the literature toward this population. I found much of it to be demeaning, patronizing, and offensive. In a majority of what I read, there was an interchangeable use of the terms "problem patrons," "mentally ill," and "homeless." What I did not see in most of the literature was a teasing apart of this group from the population who had achieved relative stability and were not currently in crisis. For my project for this population I designed a website for professionals in the field that attempts to address the misconceptions and stigma that affects persons living with mental illness.