Hi.
I’m Lane.
Once upon a time I was enrolled in a PhD program in Philosophy at Wayne State University in Detroit. It was cool. I lived in a crappy third floor walk-up, taught lots of philosophy classes, read way too much, and spent probably way too much time at the Cass Cafe talking about abstract stuff over lentil burgers and pitchers of PBR.
But, a worldwide recession has a funny way of making you rethink the value of your education and, in 2008, I walked away with an MA in Philosophy and a hastily cobbled-together MLIS. A year later I was hired on as a Reference and Instruction librarian at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where I’ve been ever since.
Now acting as Director of Instruction for the library, I’m managing the best group of instruction librarians this side of the Mississippi and raising two badass kids with my wife, community organizer, and erstwhile politician, Khristy. I don’t blog very often, but I do like starting conversations. Ultimately, this blog is just a place for the idle musings of a philosophically-inclined instruction librarian. Feel free to catch me on Twitter at @lnwlk if you want to say “hi.”
[…] Lane Wilkinson muses on ethical library service, or as I like to call it, “Why we can’t just give you the answer”: Basically, we teach at the reference desk because we have a librarian’s commitment to provide access to information conflicting with a professional commitment to honor our student’s external relationships. Teaching a student to look-up an article is, quite simply, just our way of circumscribing what we can’t do. […]
Hi, Lane. I just wanted to drop you a note to say I really appreciate your thoughtful and well written blog entries. I teach reference and instruction courses at SJSU SLIS, and I have my students read several of your entries as course readings. Thanks for your good work!
Thanks Michelle! And please let your students know that they are more than welcome to leave comments…I’m sort of curious as to how LIS students are interpreting my hare-brained ramblings.
Nice to meet you Lane. I’m Barbara McGary. I earned my undergrad in Philosophy and an MSLS. Being a librarian is my ‘real’ job 🙂 so your bio sounds familiar. I’ve been a professional librarian for 10 years now and currently serve as the director of a medium sized public library in central PA. James V. Brown in Williamsport, if you’re interested http://www.jvbrown.edu. I accidentally found your blog while searching for the philosophy of librarianship. Thanks for the bibliography. I look to reading your blog. p.s. I have a 7 year old who doesn’t pay rent either…but luckily he doesn’t eat that much. 🙂
Hi Barbara! Pleased to make yr acquaintance!
I surface again, encouraged by Matt Upson. Pleased to discover this.
[…] individual librarians have written to grapple with what we do and who we are. A good example is Lane Wilkinson, an academic librarian with a Master’s in Philosophy, who asked (and answered) whether librarians […]
I stumbled on your blog after following a link from Dani Brecher & Kevin Michael Klipfel’s blog and just wanted to let you know how very much I am enjoying your insights. You have articulated so well many of the things I have been considering in my own library instruction.
[…] individual librarians have written to grapple with what we do and who we are. A good example is Lane Wilkinson, an academic librarian with a Master’s in Philosophy, who asked (and answered) whether librarians […]
Very impressive and interesting blog Mr. Lane Wilkinson. You way of expression is beautiful… I am a librarian with a science and maths background, specializing in descriptive and subject cataloging. Your blog was suggested to me by a colleague with a Philosophy background specializing in Indic philosophy.
He referred me your blog as:
I always wondered what is my experience as Librarian (Acquisitions) got to do with Philosophy in which I was educated. I found an answer in the following blog: https://senseandreference.wordpress.com/
I plan to write something about interesting librarian’s websites and blogs in one of my blogs next year. I will feature your blog there when I do this. My congratulations and best wishes to you.
Salman Haider
http://resourcedescriptionandaccess.blogspot.com
http://librarianshipstudies.blogspot.com
Hey ! Are you still active ? I like this page ! Thanks for references and informations you shared !
Hi Lane, I came across your blog through a MILS class (as others have too). I like what you say about being neutral and what it means when you work in a library. I work in a library and have seen this play out. I glad there are librarians like you thinking critically and bravely about theses issues. Please blog more I beg you!! Also, as a mother of two boys, I think your boys are adorable:)