Assessing safe spaces for digital scholarship in the library

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONDigital scholarship is an emerging trend in multiple academic disciplines. Faculties in the humanities, social sciences, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields are teaching students new forms of research, rhetoric, expression, and visualization of data using emerging media. Their students learn text encoding, data carpentry1, how to build online collections and exhibits, and how to make their work accessible to the public-while complying with copyright, fair use, public performance rights, and digital rights management. Academic libraries attempt to keep up with these trends by providing digital scholarship centers, digital media studios, creativity labs, makerspaces, co-working spaces, and other physical spaces that support this type of interdisciplinary experiential learning. Students curious about coding, digital storytelling, and other forms of digital scholarship can thus seek a safe place to learn these skills among peers and friendly, helpful mentors.The purpose of digital scholarship is not simply to learn about technology, but also to use new media and technology to improve the human condition. When planning spaces for digital scholarship, academic libraries focus on furniture, hardware, and software. People, including employees who will work in the space and patrons who will occupy and use the space, are often a secondary focus. While library employees who work in spaces for digital scholarship may have the technical and pedagogical expertise necessary for such work, they may not have the training required to create a safe space for digital scholarship. In fact, the organizational culture of the library itself may not reflect the open, exploratory, collaborative philosophy that shapes the culture of digital scholarship.Most publications praise digital scholarship in libraries as a smart practice, but do not address potential cultural barriers that could hinder library-generated digital scholarship initiatives. This blind spot creates the illusion that all academic libraries have a culture that would create safe, open spaces for digital scholarship. For this reason, libraries engaged in digital scholarship initiatives should reassess and change their culture in order to re-envision the library as a safe space for digital scholarship. This would include developing a safe space within the organization for library employees to explore emerging technologies and media to learn new skills, as well as building safe spaces for collaborative learning among mixed groups of library employees, faculty, and students.DEFINING DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP AND SAFE SPACEBefore defining digital scholarship and how it manifests in libraries, it is important to provide a definition of safe space. People often describe the library as a sanctuary for those who are different, as well as a safe space for learning (Brewster, 2014; Maxwell, 2006). In reality, academic library environments created by library employees have the potential to be unsafe for innovation and learning (Madriaga, 2010; Mickiewicz, 2015).Definition of Safe SpaceThe definition of safe space in the higher education environment is a space where faculty, staff, and students can feel secure and free to express themselves, learn, and achieve without censure or harm (Booker, 2007). Moderators of a safe space, whether physical, virtual or conceptual, construct this space with ground rules for discourse and behavior (Ada Initiative, 2015a; Ada Initiative, 2015b; Booker, 2007; Fembot Collective, 2014; Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, 2015; Jones, 2009; Marchon, 2015; Pho & Masland, 2014; Robsinson, Sterner & Johnson, 2006; Ruggs & Hebl, 2012; Thorne, 2014). Academic and technology-related conferences have begun to establish and enforce such ground rules in order to prevent sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and other behaviors that negatively impact peoples' ability to learn and share as respected equals (Ada Initiative, 2015a; Ada Initiative, 2015b; Fembot Collective, 2014). …