Radical Reference is a group of radical librarians and information workers who provide reference and research support to activist communities. They first formed as a support service to activists at the Republic National Convention in Washington (US) in 2004 and have more recently been present at the NY Anarchist Book Fair.
As well as street reference, Radical Reference also provide reference services to activists and independent media via their website at http://www.radicalreference.info. James Jacobs (one of the founders of RR) and Lia Friedman (a RR volunteer based in San Diego) kindly answered some questions for DZ.
Tell me how RR came to be. Was it just a need you recognised for the National Republic Convention or was it an idea that had been brewing for a while?
For me, the idea came up around the discussion of the RNC, although the seeds were there earlier. A group of us were talking at the 2004 midwinter conference of the American Library Association (ALA) about the need for us to 1) be active in political actions of the day and 2) apply our information skills toward that end. Jessamyn West (of http://librarian.net) had done something akin to street reference at the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999 (where she tried to fact-check rumors etc) and had also done some reference work at Burning Man (not sure of the year, probably 2000 or 2001). So we thought it'd be a good idea to apply the street reference idea to the RNC, which was the next big political protest that we knew was happening that summer. I believe it was Jenna Freedman who coined the term "Radical Reference" as a good alliteration of what we wanted to do.
From the beginning we thought it would be a good idea to give support to independent journalists (Shinjoung and I have been involved in the IMC movement and helped to start the Urbana Champaign IMC in 2000) and political/social activists, 2 groups that needed information/research assistance that didn't always get good support because they were not connected to academic or journalistic institutions. We focused on those groups to do our original outreach push, but on the street and on the Website, we answer any and all questions that come our way.
I was not one of the founding members of Radical Reference, but I did become aware of Radical Reference early on while I was in library school in New York. It was prior to the Republican National Convention, and Radical Reference was planning to take to the streets to provide information and resources to fellow activists. I went to a few meetings to prepare for street reference and to discuss what we might encounter there. Many of us carried signs, or wore shirts or hats letting the rest of the protesters know we were there to provide information-We had prepared binders with bits of useful information, but anticipated receiving questions that we might not be able to answer on the fly, so we had library support from “home” as well—People that we could call who had fast and easy access to a computer or other reference materials.
What are some of the challenges of providing an info service like this in a protest/activism situation? What are people's reactions like?
The obvious challenge of providing information during a protest or other event is that I don’t have everything in front of me that I might have working from home. I want be able to provide information that is tight –that I have confidence in and the person I am giving it to has confidence in, which means I want to be able to back it up with documentation or citations-Again, this can be challenging when out on the street.
Other than that I love the idea of street reference, I wish I could have a stand like Lucy Van Pelt (without being as crabby) set up in front of the County Courthouse with a big sign overhead: “Information Here!”.
As far as people’s reactions go, my personal experience is that often librarians are seen as harmless or innocuous- people who sit behind a desk telling kids to be quiet. Happily, this stereotype is changing and I think it helps when you see a radical librarian supporting you as you protest a cause, or express a feeling or idea that you believe in. I have had positive responses from other activists, many of whom recognize the importance of understanding an idea to the extent that questions may be raised (and hopefully answered).
I take the idea of free information very seriously, which in my mind means that all people should have free access to information -What better way to provide that, than to be as accessible as possible?
People's reactions at the RNC and at other protests, conferences, actions, meetings etc that we show up to has been almost completely positive. There was a posting from a "conservative librarian" on lisnews.com when we first started complaining that what we were doing went against the library code of ethics, but other than that, most people LOVE the idea of librarians helping and being politically active.
As for challenges, the largest has to do with balancing our "librarian duties" with our desire to participate in the rally/march/protest...Our service is also much more serendipitous on the street because we don't have a stationary reference point that's universally known. Another challenge is that the street librarians can only carry so much information with them, and you never know when you're going to get a question about gerrymandering or 1940s communication law and policy (both actual questions!). We try to get around that by being as noticeable as possible (with RR hats, t-shirts, stickers, flyers...) and by having a home support team as often as we can. During the RNC, there were home support volunteers almost 24/7 ready to get answers, listen to local media (the internet made that incredibly easy because many NYC stations were streaming coverage) to keep the street librarians informed... Actions are frequently hectic situations, so home support was invaluable in creating virtual affinity groups.
And does the online reference site operate quite separate to this or are they still very interconnected?
Radical Reference is a United States-wide, and world-wide organization, and we communicate primarily through our List Serv and our Website. Because we communicate remotely, we are able to span many different ideas of what we want to do as a part of Radical Reference. There are local collectives that are quite active, allowing for in person communication, like the one in New York which does things like putting on workshops for activists, journalists, educators and the general public on issues such as Copyright and Fair Use. Where I live now, in San Diego, California, we are a small collective—so I stay active and connected by answering questions posted to our website. I think that what we do on the streets and on our site and through workshops are all very much interconnected.
The RR site is continually working, but I would say it's all interconnected. While we originally envisioned the site to be a useful tool during actions, it has not turned out to be that way. It's become its own beast that's fed with questions at all hours of the day and night, and it helps us organize, collect information etc. Some of our volunteers only answer questions on the site and don't participate in local political actions (for various reasons), but many of us use the site as a organizational tool as well as participate in actions, speak at events as RR reps.
What kind of questions do you tend to get at protests? Any that particularly stand out?
Those two questions above stand out, but many of the questions are more informational/ready reference (directions, restaurant suggestions...).
What's the support been like from the wider librarian population (if there is such a thing). I know you initially had some issues with the lisnews.com people.
I think support's been very good. And as I said above, it wasn't ALL of lisnews, just one cranky "conservative." We've been interviewed for several library journals (Info Outlook, a Swedish library journal...). Shinjoung and I were named Library Journal Movers and Shakers in 2005 . Currently there are about 300 people on the RR listserv (not all of them active volunteers, but that's 300 library people from all walks of life and types of libraries!). The thing that RR is best known for is pushing the boundaries of what it means to do reference and more institutions are thinking about things like roving reference.
Are there are other projects in the Radical Reference plan?
We've got a dream project page of ideas that we'd love to see come to fruition but for which we just don't have the time for. We're starting to organize for the US Social Forum this summer in Atlanta, GA and I'm sure a group of rad reffies will be there on the street with a posse of home support backing them up.
We always have projects on our wish list, in fact we have a section on the site devoted to dream projects. I know that I would love to have more members in my local collective and would guess that other local collectives would like to remain active and vibrant too. Other things that have been talked about are guides to library schools and progressive school programs and options, and lists of relevant internships and job opportunities.
In my area of Southern California, immigration rights and justice is something that is close to my heart. I also recently made some silkscreened shirts to sell at the NY Anarchist Bookfair. Other projects we’re working on here locally are supporting new bicycle collectives, and working with organizations such as Food Not Lawns.
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