Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

Re:Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves by jrm4 on Sunday September 27, 2020 @11:36AM (#24607419)

Somewhat tangentially, one piece that has baffled me (though perhaps less so now thanks to this article) is the relative absence of support (or even dialogue) between "librarianship" as it is used here, and online efforts such as LibGen and SciHub.

I understand that the latter is legally questionable -- but not only is there not an open partnership -- it feels as if the possibility of dialogue or comparison never even comes up, despite having similar, if not identical, stated goals.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves by breather on Sunday September 27, 2020 @11:48AM (#24607507)

Libgen and SciHub are key parts of open access and free society, thank you for bringing them up!

The 'illegitimate' library work is extremely important to protect - heroes like Rogue Archivist Carl Malamud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Malamud trying to keep our laws readable are protecting the foundations of our freedom.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves by Mediterraneo10 on Sunday September 27, 2020 @02:35PM (#24609025)

Librarians are often hamstrung by their employing institutions into respecting copyright. That means that while they are on the clock, they cannot recommend LibGen to patrons, show them how to use it, etc. Loads of librarians are aware of LibGen and Sci-hub, and it isn’t their fault that they must ignore it.

[ Parent | on HN ]