Sub-Questions

Professor Galey asked us to reflect upon what sub-questions emerged from our research question. 

My research is as follows: 

How should libraries negotiate the legal constraints that evolve from policies that limit library access to homeless patrons? 

Sub-questions that emerged included the following:

By allowing homeless patrons full access to library services, how does this impact the rights of other patrons in the library? (Right to security, etc.)

Many library policies are not inclusive to all population groups, is this inclusivity intentional? If so, why? What evidence might a discourse analysis bring about?

Libraries are municipally funded (public libraries), thus, given the power imbalance in society, do library policies reflect those in power, due to the politics of it all?

Unfortunately my research was not large or broad enough to attempt at designing a study to answer these questions, but I think they’re excellent questions for someone interested in studying homelessness and libraries in the future (and they definitely build off my research as well!)

Victoria Grant 

Oh How My Research Has Changed…

When Professor Galey asked us to reflect on how our research question has evolved since the beginning, I decided to go look at past posts. I was shocked (as I sort of forgot) that my original intent had to do with researching intellectual freedom barriers in the public library (specifically relating to pornography in the library). 

My research has evolved to studying homelessness and libraries, and the implications library policies have on the rights of homeless patrons (through an American framework). 

It’s evident that my interests lie within policy, as both research pertains to an analysis of policy and legislation pertaining to the two different subjects. 

Victoria Grant 

Thank You

Hey everyone,

It’s been interesting having a blog with classmates throughout this course, and it has proved to be pretty beneficial. There were multiple times where I was conflicted with what was said in lecture, what the readings mean, and what methodology to use in my final research proposal. It’s been nice having feedback and help along the way. So thank you all for your contributions and your engagement on the blog 🙂 I think it’s safe to say we had a fairly active blog, which made for some good discussion 🙂

Victoria Grant 

Sokal Affair

I think when discussing peer review, many people are very quick to talk about the negatives (yes, there are many). However, the Sokal Affair is an example of why peer review is necessary.

In 1996, Social Text (the name of the journal) did not conduct peer review because its editors believed that an open editorial policy would stimulate more original, less conventional research. Fair enough… But looked what happened. They published an article that was absolute non-sense. 

The editors said they considered it poorly written but published it because they felt Sokal was an academic seeking their intellectual affirmation, which exemplifies the potential bias of these journals.

I think with anything, there’s going to be pros and cons. I think when critiquing anything we must keep in mind the pros, and use the cons to make whatever we are critiquing better.

Victoria Grant 

What Happens If….

Professor Galey stated that too often reviewers tend to try to crowbar the subject of a paper into their own paradigm instead of evaluating the paper for its own merit. If this happens to often, what does the author of the paper do?

In academia, peer review is often used to determine an academic paper’s suitability for publication. If I wrote an article, and several scholars reviewed it, but tore it apart for reasons other than its merit towards the research I was conducting, how do you justify this? 

I don’t recall Professor Galey mentioning this in class. 

Thanks!

Victoria Grant 

 

Technologically Literate

“Porting is the process (some would say art) by which software and electronic objects are migrated from one platform and operating system to another. Sometimes porting is simply a matter of mechanically recompiling software code for a different interpreter. Other times the process is more complex and invasive, involving substantial revision to an application’s underlying source code.

For example, one of the most common obstacles to porting are the limitations of the “functions” that are available within a given operating system. (A function is a term for a computational procedure that produces a predictable result.) Depending on what function “calls” an application requires, a programmer may find that he or she must alter the appearance or behaviour of the software in order to accommodate the dictates of the new operating system-changes which may often be consequential enough to be noticed by an end user” (Kirschenbaum, 2002)

It is clear from the passage above that software engineering is ultimately a process of design. Software is thus a species of artifact. Therefore, those of us who study artifacts (anyone in our field) like books may one day also want or need to study software-first learning some of the terminology and technical issues-out of the conviction that our intellectual perspectives are unique and valuable.

This is kind of scary to me because I am so technologically illiterate (okay maybe not SOOO illiterate, but I am not an expert by any means). As a young professional in the field of information, I think I should really start to embrace the technicality of the field, as in the future, preservation, and most of the world’s information is going to become very technical!

Victoria Grant

(sorry for the long post….)

Digital Preservation

Digital preservation tops the agendas of many institutions in the cultural heritage
and information management communities. We, in the field of information are committed to preserving digital content for the long term, safeguarding our intellectual heritage so that it can be used by future researchers. The rapid rate at which technology is evolving and the relative transience of digital content make this a significant challenge.

Because of this evolution, I think the safe way to preserve our research is by applying it to a multitude of medians. Hand notes will always be able to remain preserved (if someone has the incentive to preserve them (OCLC, 2003)). This way of preservation has been worked with quite a bit now. Preserving electronic files is not as simple. Where will technology be in ten, or even five years? The OCLC published a really good report on how preservation is all about incentives, and why one would want to preserve something. I feel that if the incentive is there, preservation, no matter what the challenges, will be made possible. Scholars and researchers rely on literature created in the past (even field notes, research notes, etc.), thus, being an important aspect to virtually every field, I think as technology changes, we will continue to adapt, and preserve our research. 

If you have the time, this is a great article to read: http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/activities/digipres/incentives-dp.pdf?urlm=161311

Victoria Grant 

Week 10 – Criminal Code

If I was required to choose study a particular artifact or text, I would choose the Canadian Criminal Code. I know this is extremely extensive, but I would study the Code in relation to its implementation. I’ve always had a fascination with how some people are sent to prison, whereas others are not. For example, a drug dealer who deals Marijuana to high school kids would likely be sent to prison, however, there are many white collared crime cases in which the criminals are not sent to prison. 

Studying the Canadian Criminal Code, and comparing to it to statistics on number of crimes committed in Canada, and the portion of those criminals who were sent to prison for different offences could make a plurality of issues obvious that aren’t otherwise obvious to Canadians. It would reflect the power imbalance in our society, and it would also reflect fear around blue collared crime versus white collared crime, and the implications this has on different criminals.

This research project would be largely comparative in the sense that it would focus on how laws come into existence, what laws say, and how laws are used in court/implementation of these laws. 

It’s a lot to touch on in one post, but I hope you understand the jist of it and where I am coming from. 

Victoria Grant 

 

 

Source: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/

Focus Groups

“While you might have to do a dozen interviews to find out that what people are really worried about is X, because you did not know enough about the situation ahead of time to inquire about X, a good focus group, run by a good facilitator, will tend to ensure that X will come up if it’s sometime that the people you are studying really, truly are worried about.”

Focus groups are more interactive than surveys. My initial research methodology was to conduct surveys of the homeless population, but factoring in that they have no fixed address, no method of contact (email or telephone), I don’t think surveys would be the best option. 

The more I look into it, the more I think focus groups would be a good choice for this kind of research. What do you guys think?

Victoria Grant 

Pragmatics of my Research

In chapter 7, Knight states that too many small-scale researchers start without being sufficiently alert to what can go wrong. Novices can be so wrapped up in their own work that they never ask why anyone should be willing to participate and they imagine that organizations will give them access, that people will talk to them and trust them, that practices can be reorganized so that they can do field experiments and that questionnaires will be eagerly completed and swiftly returned. Expert researchers are more pragmatic and allow for access difficulties and low response rates and know how they might adapt their plans if need be.

This worries me, as an issue surrounding my research was already participants. The population I’m focusing on is homeless persons in Toronto. I already perceived that it would be difficult to find these individuals. However, according to Knight, novices just assume that people will be willing to open up and trust them, and that organization’s will let them in. I was going to go to 4 homeless shelters in Toronto to find persons to interview. However, this makes me a bit worried as who’s saying these organization’s will even let me in? Especially with a population that is so vulnerable. 

Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking maybe having back up shelters? But I don’t think this will be enough. Any input is greatly appreciated!! Thanks 🙂

Victoria Grant