Labor

This is a page for the DLF Working Group on Labor in Digital Libraries. Read an announcement on the group's formation, by Ruth Tillman.

Communication and Shared Working Spaces

• Listserv: Google Group dlf-labor-working-group. Ask to join.
• Zotero: Find citations and materials relevant to our work in our Zotero group
• Slack: To join our Slack, contact Ruth at rkt6 at psu.edu.
• Twitter: Join the conversation with these hashtags #DLFLabor, #LaborWG, #LibLabor, #LAMLabor, #PrecarityIs

Most of our collaborative writing and meeting minutes are now done using Google Drive. We have also used RiseUpPad for occasions when we want to create a more anonymous context.

Resources

• This wiki page collects information about groups and campaigns working on labor issues in and adjacent to libraries, archives, and museums: resource table and (also available as a list). (ongoing)
• Collective Responsibility Labor Advocacy Toolkit (2020)
• "Do Better" -Love(,) Us: Guidelines for Developing and Supporting Grant-Funded Positions in Digital Libraries, Archives, and Museums (2020)
• White paper from Collective Responsibility Phase 1 (2019)
• Survey results and project documents (2019-2020)
• Research Agenda: Valuing Labor in Digital Libraries (August 2018)

SubGroups

Note: as of Feb 2021, Amy Wickner has transitioned off the Valuing Labor subgroup and we're welcoming three new co-facilitators for Valuing Labor. We're planning a whole group meeting to discuss possible new subgroups and one-off projects.

Contingency and Precarity

Facilitators: Sandy Rodriguez, Ruth Tillman

Topics: Grant-funded & term positions, organizing workers, digitization & labor (including labor of incarcerated workers), labor and digital scholarship, internships, credential creep/credentialism

Goals 2020

• Develop Collective Responsibility Labor Advocacy Toolkit
• Promote publication "Do Better" -Love(,) Us: Guidelines for Developing and Supporting Grant-Funded Positions in Digital Libraries, Archives, and Museums and explore next steps toward adoption.

Activities

• performing a literature review on contingency and precarity (2017)
• drafting guidelines for designing grant-funded positions (2018-2019)
• applying for IMLS National Leadership in Libraries forum grant (2018)
• As part of the Collective Responsibility Labor Forum (2018-2020):
  • conducting a survey to develop a collective understanding of the experiences of grant-funded digital LAM workers
  • constructing best practices, recommendations, and benchmarks appropriate to participating institutions and funders

Valuing Labor

Facilitators: Stephanie Bennett, Leanne Finnigan, Ellen LeClere

Topics: Organiz(ed/ing) labor, (in)visibility, maintenance, emotional labor, classification of labor, transitions across categories of labor, worker-centered assessment, hiring and retention practices especially re: members of marginalized communities

Activities

• Collaborate on a research agenda for valuing labor in digital libraries (2018)
• Host working conversations to highlight advocacy, research, and skills of relevance to working group members (2019)
• Create a list of groups and campaigns also working on labor issues (2019)
• Research projects (2020)
  • To what extent and how are digital LAM workers organized?
  • What organizing and advocacy tactics can be effective while minimizing risk for workers?
  • What are creative and effective ways to share data about digital LAM labor?
• Bibliography & resource-building: library labor news and organizing resources during covid-19 (2020)

Meetings

• 2019 Schedule
• Minutes