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