Smith, A. Arro. Capturing Our Stories: An Oral History of Librarianship in Transition. Neal-Schuman, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1461-8
Description
This oral history draws from the professional life stories of dozens of librarians to chronicle the transitional period of the second half of the 20th century, which brought monumental upheaval to librarianship. Providing memories for the contributors’ peers and valuable background and context to those just entering the field, this book also offers a primer of oral history theory and methodology for those studying the form.
Table of Contents
Part I Our Stories
Introduction
Chapter One Becoming a Librarian
- The Decision to Become a Librarian
- Library School Memories
- Use of Cliché
- Stereotype and Cliché
- Discussing the Stereotype
- Stereotypes within the Profession
- Stereotypes outside the Profession
- Precomputer Technology
- Early Computer Technology
- OPACs
- OCLC
- Online Database Searching
- Some Lessons Learned Regarding New Technologies
- Technology Regrets
- Technology Redemption
- Promotion Regrets
- Funding and Compensation
- Sexism
Chapter Six The Collective Memory of Librarianship
Part II How to Capture Stories
Chapter Seven A Primer on Oral History Theory and Methodology
- An Introduction to the Methodology: Oral History
- History of the Method
- Criticism of Oral History
- An Introduction to Memory Studies as Theory
- Collective Memory
- Individual Memory and Criticism
- Regret and Nostalgia
- Cliché and Stereotype
- Combining the Theory with the Method
- Librarians at the Intersection of Memory Studies Theory and Oral History
- The “So What?” Question
- A Story about Human Relationships
- A Second Story about Human Relationships
- Starting a Project
- A Final Meditation on Oral History
Index
