A talk given at the 2011 Oregon Virtual Reference Summit. Video of this talk may be viewed at: http://vimeo.com/25485191

1. What Libraries
can Learn from
Kanye
Presented by Emily Ford
fordemily@gmail.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanyewestdec2008.jpg

2. twitter.com/kanyewest
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shutter_shades.jpg

3. http://kanyenewyorkertweets.com/post/909443555

4. RZA
Jay-Z
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RZA_3_Shankbone_2009_Tao_of_Wu.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jay-Z_concert_%28cropp
%29.jpg

5. Bon Iver
Sir Elton John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elton_John_performing,_2008_3.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bon_Iver_3.jpg

6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/223314057/
...collaborates with ______?

7. Kanye the Producer
"A record producer is an individual working
within the music industry, whose job it is to
oversee and manage the recording (i.e.
"production") of an artist's music. A producer
has many roles that may include, but are not
limited to, gathering ideas for the project,
selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching
the artist and musicians in the studio,
controlling the recording sessions, and
supervising the entire process
through mixing and mastering. Producers
also often take on a wider entrepreneurial
role, with responsibility for the budget,
schedules, and negotiations."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_producer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Producers_(1968).jpg

8. If
Kanye=Producer
And
Librarian=Producer
Then
Kanye=Librarian?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanye_West_2007.jpg

9. Create more and varied
content.

10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianbyday/3426532334/

11. http://www.flickr.com/photos/super45/5681005285/

12. Advocate fearlessly for
your needs.

13. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/4746327707/in/set-
72157624386625194/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmeador/394328781/

14. Articulate the value of
libraries.

15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/i_am_scifi/2785558409/

16. What Libraries
can Learn from
Kanye
Presented by Emily Ford
fordemily@gmail.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanyewestdec2008.jpg
Hi, I'm Emily and I'm here to talk about what I think
libraries can learn from Kanye West. There are three
things I want to discuss today that I think Kanye West
does really well. These are things that I think libraries
and library workers should do more.
For those of you who don't know Kanye West , he's a
grammy award winning American hip hop producer and
rapper from Chicago. His mother was a professor and
his father a photojournalist.

17. twitter.com/kanyewest
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shutter_shades.jpg
Kanye has been widely celebrated in pop culture. He
single handedly brought back the sunglasses fad from
the 80s', shutter shades. You can see these on the
slide.
His twitter stream, of which I've provided some
screenshot samples, has over 3 million followers. His
tweets have been parodied in several venues.

18. http://kanyenewyorkertweets.com/post/909443555
They have been used as inspiration for cap
tions to New Yorker cartoons. On the Jimmy Kimmel
LIve show, Oscar and Grammy award winning musician
Josh Groban set Kanye West Tweets to piano music
and dramatically and operatically sang them.
So what does this have to do with libraries?

19. RZA
Jay-Z
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RZA_3_Shankbone_2009_Tao_of_Wu.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jay-Z_concert_%28cropped
%29.jpg
Kanye West is a true collaborator. He has collaborated
on projects with numerous and varied people. Jay-Z
was one of the first artists he worked with. He's also
worked with RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, Janet
Jackson, and others.
You might be thinking, well, libraries and library workers
are already good collaborators. And they and we are.
But Kanye is better. Why?

20. Bon Iver
Sir Elton John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elton_John_performing,_2008_3.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bon_Iver_3.jpg
Because he collaborates with people, groups,
producers, and record labels. He works with individuals
who aren't of the hip-hop ilk.
On his latest album there are collaborations with indie
pop singer Bon Iver, Sir Elton John, numerous
symphony musicians, producers, record labels.
While discussing his collaboration with Mr. West, Sir
Elton John told a Rolling Stone that he thought Kanye
was a "stone-cold genius."

21. http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/223314057/
...collaborates with ______?
Libraries are good at working with museums and
educational institutions.
Here in Oregon we have numerous LSTA funded
projects that are collaborative, L-net being one of them.
We have library consortia, library conferences, library
professional associations, etc.
I maintain that while libraries collaborate very well with
each other, we can think outside the box.
Who is our Elton John? Who is our Bon Iver?

22. Kanye the Producer
"A record producer is an individual working
within the music industry, whose job it is to
oversee and manage the recording (i.e.
"production") of an artist's music. A producer
has many roles that may include, but are not
limited to, gathering ideas for the project,
selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching
the artist and musicians in the studio,
controlling the recording sessions, and
supervising the entire process
through mixing and mastering. Producers
also often take on a wider entrepreneurial
role, with responsibility for the budget,
schedules, and negotiations."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_producer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Producers_(1968).jpg
Kanye West began his career in music as a producer.
He was a behind the scenes person who worked with
different musicians and record labels.
To me, this sounds a whole lot like being a librarian.
We oversee and manage information, getting people
access to it, creating access points, answering
questions, herding cats on projects, working with
budgets and schedules, and negotiating with vendors.

23. If
Kanye=Producer
And
Librarian=Producer
Then
Kanye=Librarian?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanye_West_2007.jpg
Okay, so Kanye isn't a librarian and he probably never
aimed to be one. But he is a producer.
But being a producer wasn't enough for Mr. West.
He expanded his role as a producer and became a
content creator. His first solo record, The College
Dropout, was released in 2004. Since that time he has
gone on to release 5 additional albums.
His music making and collaboration on albums has
been prolific.

24. Create more and varied
content.
If Kanye went from being a producer to becoming a
content creator. Why can't libraries do the same?
Libraries already create digital content in the form of
metadata and cataloging. Libraries should be creating
systems, they should push further into the realm of
open access publishing.
By becoming content creators libraries can continue to
establish their value in a world when producing and
delivering content is old hat.

25. http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianbyday/3426532334/
Some of it is already happening.
For example, OSU has created Library A la Carte.
But how is content creation viable for small, resource
poor libraries?
Consider taking the challenge posed to Oregon
Librarians by Kathleen Cornett, the keynote speaker at
OLA.
Create a civics education program and host it in your
library.

26. http://www.flickr.com/photos/super45/5681005285/
This challenge actually leads me to the third thing I
think that libraries can learn from Kanye. And it stems
from his notoriety.
After hurricane Katrina and during a Concert for
Hurricane Relief, Mr. West declared on live television
"George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Previously that year, Mr. West was featured on MTV.
During the special he spoke out calling for an end to
homophobic insults in hip-hop music lyrics.

27. Advocate fearlessly for
your needs.
Mr. West has also been known to jump onto stage
during awards ceremonies and contest award results.
While libraries and library workers may not want to
completely follow this example, I think it IS necessary
for library workers to speak up.
For example, libraries in Oregon can stand up to
Newsbank, which recently acquired exclusive rights to
The Oregonian's archives and will cost libraries a lot
more money to replace.

28. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/4746327707/in/set-
72157624386625194/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmeador/394328781/
But it's not just about vendor relations.
It's in our communities. It's in our legislative system.
Write, e-mail, phone and physically visit your city
council, county officials, state legislators, congressmen
and representatives to tell them what is important to
you and why libraries matter.

29. Articulate the value of
libraries.
If libraries and library workers cannot make themselves
heard, how will anyone know the value of what we do?
How will libraries continue to exist if we don't jump up
on the stage, take the microphone, and declare, loudly
and proudly what is important to us and our patrons?

30. http://www.flickr.com/photos/i_am_scifi/2785558409/
So what can libraries learn from Kanye?
Libraries can learn to be the BEST collaborators.
Libraries and library workers can emulate his move
from producing to content creation.
And finally, libraries and library workers can learn to put
on their shutter shades and channel their inner Kanye.