LIS Student Collectives

Radical Reference encourages students in LIS programs to form local collectives at their institutions. Membership is free, and groups have total autonomy, though they are welcome to seek help or advice from other RR volunteers or collectives as they choose. Write to info@radicalreference to learn more.

Also, please note that despite our name, Radical Reference projects can be anything related to library and information science, and are not strictly reference related. Past projects by collectives have included LC subject heading reform, teaching workshops on anything from fact checking to community needs assessments, assisting other activist groups with research needs, and so on.

In response to one person who asked how to form a local collectives and what the benefits are, I wrote the following, and thought it might be of interest to others:

• To get one started, it's true, you pretty much just declare yourself
• Then just ask us to create a page for your program/collective.
• Are you registered on the site? If not, create a username and then email info@ [our URL] and tell us what it is so we can authenticate you. Once you're authenticated, you can edit content.
• To attract members, I recommend creating some content and contact info on the page and then sending an email to your LIS list and possibly to any local discussion lists. The message you send will depend on your mission. I can help you craft it, but you need to brainstorm a bit first, probably. It could include our mission statement and a little of our history.
• Benefits, well, that's also up to you. We don't ask for dues, but we also don't give you any money. If you like what we do and want to work in a similar model or feel that you've allied your collective with the national group, that's your call.