"This I Believe" Personal Statement
We are interconnected. Across time and space, in various languages and modes of action, we produce evidence of our common humanity. Through that cultural record, we bear a torch that each generation passes to the next. I have devoted my life to the study of that cultural evidence. I believe that in organizing and analyzing what is shared among us, we recognize what is most precious in us. By virtue of that recognition, we are called to safeguard our folklore and traditions, and thereby, to build networks of meaning between ourselves and our environments and societies. We keep our sense of humanity alive by reminding ourselves that in the midst of difference there is still much which we share.
This is what inspires me—personally and professionally—and this is what I believe in: the discovery, cultivation, and celebration of our humanity, revealing our similarities and illuminating connections we had never before known. My research lies at the heart of using information organization and representation technologies to better understand cultural heritage—the evidence of our humanity—so that it can be described, preserved, interpreted, and carried forward. It is my belief that the more we understand about one cultural heritage domain, and the more we examine how it is related to other kinds of heritage, the more we will identify commonalities between cultures and the elements that link us.
In articulating the Core Values of Librarianship, the American Library Association (2006) has enumerated many concepts which align with my belief in the importance of cultural exchange and have bolstered me in the path of my chosen profession. Cultural heritage information must be preserved and accessible if we are to continue to study and disseminate its value. Expressing one’s own culture—and exploring other cultures—is only possible in an environment that supports diversity, freedom of expression, and intellectual freedom. Advocating for cultural exploration and dialog advances lifelong learning, social engagement, and the tools for finding common ground.
Library and information science drew me in because, as Marcia Bates (2015) points out, the information professions ultimately constitute a meta-discipline. Looking across all traditional disciplines, the information professions see the entire field of human knowledge and its documentation as its concern. As James Joyce (1922/1986) said of William Shakespeare’s intellectual and creative process in the novel Ulysses, “all events brought grist to his mill” (p. 168). I have taken that motto for myself, and I think Joyce could have said the same of librarians and information scientists.
I am proud to be a part of an interdisciplinary research community and a member of a profession that promotes tools for knowledge building. I am honored to be numbered among the stewards and guides who identify information systems where they exist and develop systems where they are needed. In helping to better make sense of the world, I believe that information organization tends the fire of our cultural memory, and I am humbled to be someone who keeps the torches of humanity lit.
References
American Library Association. (2006). Core values of librarianship. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues
Bates, M. J. (2015). The information professions: Knowledge, memory, heritage. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 20(1). Retrieved from http://www.informationr.net/ir/20-1/paper655
Joyce, J. (1986). Ulysses. New York, NY: Vintage Books. (Original work published 1922).