Jessamyn West (librarian)
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2008-05-24T15:25:35Z
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:''For the Quaker author, see'' [[Jessamyn West (writer)]].
{{Infobox Person
|name = Jessamyn West
|image = Jessamyn_west_at_desk.jpg
|caption = Jessamyn West in her home office
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|9|5}}
|birth_place =
|death_date =
|death_place =
|other_names =
|known_for = [http://www.librarian.net librarian.net]
|occupation = [[librarian]], [[blogger]]
|residence = [[Vermont]]
|nationality = [[United States|American]]
|website = [http://www.jessamyn.info jessamyn.info]
}}
'''Jessamyn Charity West''' (born [[September 5]], [[1968]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[librarian]] and [[blogger]], best known as the creator of '''librarian.net''' and for her unconventional views of her profession. She is a former member of the [[American Library Association]] Council, and is a moderator on [[MetaFilter]].
==Early life and career==
West grew up in [[Massachusetts]]<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web
|url=http://www.jessamyn.com/me/faq.html
|title=questions that are oftentimes asked of me
|author=Jessamyn West
|accessdate=2008-03-13}}</ref>, where her father, computer engineer [[Tom West]], worked for [[RCA]] and [[Data General]]. (He was the key figure in the 1981 [[Tracy Kidder]] book ''[[The Soul of a New Machine]]''.) She may be named after the author [[Jessamyn West (writer)|Jessamyn West]] (according to her parents, a "coincidence")<ref name="Hanson"/>, and as a child [[pen pal|corresponded]] with her.<ref name="FAQ"/>
She graduated from [[Hampshire College]] in [[Amherst, Massachusetts|Amherst]]<ref name="Hanson">{{cite news
|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070209090813/http://www.vnews.com/02032007/3753907.htm
|title='Everybody's interesting'
|author=Alex Hanson
|date=[[February 3]] [[2007]]
|publisher=[[Valley News]]
|accessdate=2008-03-13}}</ref> and moved to [[Seattle]] in 1990.<ref name="FAQ"/> In 1995 she went to [[Cluj-Napoca]] in [[Romania]], where she ran a library for the [[Freedom Forum]].<ref name="Hanson"/> After returning to the U.S. she completed graduate work at the [[University of Washington]] for a [[Master of Library Science|Master of Librarianship]] degree.<ref name="FAQ"/>
She bought a house in [[Topsham, Vermont|Topsham]], Vermont, in 1997, but did not begin living in the state full-time until 2003.<ref name="Hanson"/> [[As of 2008]] she lives in [[Bethel, Vermont|Bethel]].<ref name="FAQ"/> She works as a freelance library consultant, mainly in [[Orange County, Vermont]], focusing on helping libraries with technology.<ref name="Hanson"/> She is a [[forum moderator|moderator]] for the group blog [[MetaFilter]], and answers as many as two questions a day on the question-and-answer subforum Ask MetaFilter.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6379558.html
|title=MetaFilter: Going Your Way
|author=Jessamyn West
|date=[[October 15]] [[2006]]
|publisher=[[Library Journal]]
|accessdate=2008-03-14}}</ref> She is also an active [[Wikipedian]], working particularly on Vermont and library topics.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070401/FEATURES/70330002
|title=WIKIPEDIA: What do they know; when do they know it, and when can we trust it?
|author=Susan Youngwood
|date=[[April 1]] [[2007]]
|publisher=Vermont Today
|accessdate=2008-03-14}}</ref> She has staffed information desks at [[Burning Man]] and the [[WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity|1993 WTO protests]], and served as a judge for [[ThinkQuest]].<ref name="Antistereotype">{{cite news
|url=http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA200903
|title=Jessamyn West: Freelance Librarian—-The Ultimate Antistereotype
|date=[[March 15]] [[2002]]
|publisher=[[Library Journal]]
|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref>
West briefly signed up as a researcher for [[Google Answers]], writing about her experience for the journal ''Searcher''.<ref>{{cite journal
|url=http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct02/west.htm
|title=Information for Sale: My Experience with Google Answers
|author=Jessamyn West
|date=October 2002
|number=9
|volume=10
|publisher=Searcher
|accessdate=2008-03-14}}</ref> (She resigned after finding she had probably violated her contract by writing about the service.)<ref>{{cite journal
|url=http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jan03/west.shtml
|title=Google Answers Back Or How to Become an Ex-"Google Answers" Researcher
|author=Jessamyn West
|date=January 2003
|number=1
|volume=11
|publisher=Searcher
|accessdate=2008-03-14
|format=subscription required}}</ref> West believed that "the money factor" skewed the relationship between the researcher and consumer of information, and played a part in the service's later demise.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061129-8317.html
|title=Google Answers decides to close up shop
|author=Jacqui Cheng
|date=[[November 29]] [[2006]]
|publisher=[[Ars Technica]]
|accessdate=2008-03-14}}</ref>
West is considered an "opinion maker" in the profession and is a frequent presenter at conferences.<ref name="Evolving"/> In 2002, ''[[Library Journal]]'' identified her as a "mover and shaker."<ref name="Antistereotype"/> She is a self-described anti-capitalist.
==Librarian.net==
{{Infobox Website
| name = librarian.net
| logo =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| url = http://www.librarian.net
| commercial =
| type = [[blog]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| registration =
| owner = Jessamyn West
| author = Jessamyn West
| launch date = 1999
| current status = active
| revenue =
| slogan = putting the rarin' back in librarian since 1999
}}
Librarian.net, which she founded in 1999 after finding the domain name unused, has become a "widely read and cited" resource.<ref name="Evolving">{{cite book
|chapter=Frontiers of Effort: Librarians and Professional Development Blogs
|author=Melissa Laning, Catherine Lavallée-Welch, Margo Smith
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RKRmH6aIN2gC
|title=Evolving Internet Reference Resources
|editor=William Miller, Rita M. Pellen
|year=2006
|publisher=[[Haworth Press]]
|isbn=078903025X}}</ref>
West characterizes librarian.net as generally "anti-[[censorship]], pro-[[freedom of speech]], pro-[[pornography|porn]] (for lack of a better way to explain that we don't find the [[nudity|naked body]] shameful), anti[[globalization]], anti-[[outsourcing]], anti-[[Laura Schlessinger|Dr. Laura]], pro-[[freak scene|freak]], pro-[[social responsibility]], and just generally pro-information and in favor of the profession getting a better image."
[[Image:Antipat4.gif|thumb|right|150px|Library sign designed by Jessamyn West]]
[[Wired magazine|Wired]] described her as "on the front lines in battling the [[USA PATRIOT Act]]," particularly the provisions that allow warrantless searches of library records. The act not only prohibits libraries from notifying the subjects of such searches, it prohibits them from disclosing to the public whether any such searches have been made. In protest, West created a number of notices that libraries can post which she suggests are "technically legal." One of them, for example, reads: "The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] has not been here. Watch very closely for the removal of this sign." The [[Vermont Library Association]] provided copies of this sign to every public library in Vermont.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64945,00.html
|title=Don't Mess with Librarians
|author=Adam L. Penenberg
|date=[[September 15]] [[2004]]
|publisher=[[Wired magazine|Wired]]
|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref>
West was one of about three dozen "credentialed [[blog]]gers" at the [[2004]] [[Democratic National Convention]]<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/001461.php
|title=Who's blogging the convention
|date=[[July 17]] [[2004]]
|publisher=[[Cyberjournalist.net]]
|accessdate=2008-03-13}}</ref>, the first time that such an event issued press credentials to bloggers. She indicated in a ''[[New York Times]]'' feature on the group that her goal was making "the librarian voice in politics stronger and louder."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/26/politics/campaign/26blog.html
|title=Year of the Blog? Web Diarists Are Now Official Members of Convention Press Corps
|author=[[Jennifer 8. Lee]]
|publisher=[[The New York Times]]
|date=[[July 26]] [[2004]]
|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref> Her first-day quip that the convention was "Burning Man for Democrats, without the nudity or drugs" was widely reported.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/30/DDGIF7UIBR17.DTL
|title=Unbound by tradition, Boston bloggers exercise fresh freedom of press
|author=Peter Hartlaub
|date=[[July 30]] [[2004]]
|publisher=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]
|accessdate=2008-03-14}}</ref>
In 2007, West made a [[YouTube]] video of herself installing [[Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu]] on two library computers, which attracted thousands of views and free CDs from [[Canonical Ltd.|Canonical]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jessamyn.com/journal/2007/05/weird-little-radar-blip|publisher=Abada Abada|title=weird little radar blip|last=West|first=Jessamyn|date=[[2007-05-09]]|accessdate=2007-05-17}}</ref> [[eWeek|DesktopLinux.com]] called it a "non-jaded, non-techie look at Ubuntu."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS5207234119.html
|title=The Joy and Sorrow of Ubuntu
|author=Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
|date=[[May 8]] [[2007]]
|publisher=[[eWeek|DesktopLinux.com]]
|accessdate=2008-03-14}}</ref> [[Cory Doctorow]], writing on the blog [[Boing Boing]], dubbed her an "internet folk hero", and brought the video 14,000 views in a day and a half.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32691324_ITM
|title=Open source spawns 'internet folk hero'
|date=[[July 1]] [[2007]]
|publisher=[[School Library Journal]]
|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref>
==Published works==
*Roberto, Katia and Jessamyn West (eds) (2003): ''Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out'', McFarland & Company; ISBN 0-7864-1608-4
::The book is a follow-up to the 1972 ''Revolting Librarians'' (ISBN 0912932015), and includes new essays by ten of the contributors to the original. <!-- Place later: Reviewers called the original book (compiled by different editors) "highly readable fun" and "a statement of discontent with almost every aspect of the American library establishment." -->
*Jessamyn West (ed) (2004) ''Digital Versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask a Librarian Online and Offline,'' Haworth Information Press; ISBN 0-7890-2442-X
*{{cite book
|chapter=Introduction: What Do Librarians Do All Day?
|title=A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science
|author=Jessamyn West
|editor=Priscilla K. Shontz, Richard A. Murray
|year=2007
|publisher=Libraries Unlimited
|isbn=1591583640}}
*{{cite book
|author=Jessamyn West
|chapter=You Want Me to Put What Where? Freelancing Librarianship as Job, Hobby and Passion
|title=The Librarian's Career Guidebook
|editor=Priscilla K. Shortz
|year=2004
|publisher=Scarecrow Press
|isbn=0810850346}}
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{external links|September 2007}}
*[http://www.jessamyn.com jessamyn.com] - personal site
*[http://www.jessamyn.info jessamyn.info] - [[resume]] site
*[http://www.llrx.com/features/dncblog.htm A Librarian Blogger at the DNC] West's article about her experience.
*[http://owen.massey.net/libraries/revolting/ Revolting Librarians] Contents of the 1972 volume, which was apparently not copyrighted, including the cover.
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Jessamyn}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American librarians]]
[[Category:American Library Association]]
[[Category:Hampshire College alumni]]
[[Category:People from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Seattle, Washington]]
[[Category:People from Vermont]]
[[Category:University of Washington alumni]]