In my Community-Engaged ePortfolio (CP-eP) I analyze existing communication and information responses to Feminist Theory and Black Archival Practice for Black Women Artist, Cultural Workers and Organizers at Build Your Archive located in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Greater Metro Atlanta as part of my work for the CIS 675 course (Community-Engaged Scholarship) during fall 2024. On this page, I provide an analysis and reflection of a selected reading and discussion from the course and relationship to my population of study.
CIS 675: Community-Engaged Scholarship
School of Library and Information Studies
College of Communication and Information Sciences
University of Alabama
Memo of Relevance: Article Critique and Review
Name of reviewer: Sierra King
Article I: The Community Library as Site of Education and Empowerment for Women: Insights from Rural Uganda
Article’s bibliographic information: Jones, Shelley Kathleen. (2009). The Community Library as Site of Education and Empowerment for Women: Insights from Rural Uganda. Libri: International Journal of Libraries and Information Studies, 59 (2).
Keywords: Community Library, literacy, gender equity, women, education, Uganda, rural
Purpose of the article: To provide the example of how Community libraries can promote and support women's literacy and personal development, enabling them to cultivate capabilities needed to engage more fully on equal terms in their societies.
Theoretical frameworks: Community based determination of resources and programs, Integration of Indigenous knowledge and traditions, Proactive community outreach, Local management where community members shape the mandate
Paradigms/approaches/methods/methodological frameworks: Participatory Action Research via Qualitative Interviews, integrated teaching and co-facilitating clubs
Strengths (significance) of the article: The article provided both historical context and the outcomes of the community library remaining community led.
Weaknesses (limitations) of the article: The limitations of the article and research provided was that there little context around the current political climate and how that has affected the lack of advancement concerning women's literacy.
Important references in relation to student’s areas of interest: I am interested in centering research, knowledge and artistic production for Black Women Artists, Cultural Workers and Organizers.
Ideas and relationship of article to student’s areas of interest: I appreciated the that article was able to share the model of how they centered the project of addressing women's literacy while also serving a larger community.
Comments from Colleagues From the Breakout Session: During the breakout sessions we discussed the importance of sites like a community libraries or independent repositories being sites of knowledge production. My colleagues were interested in the work that I am doing with artists and how it is not only beneficial to to their practice but the field of art as a whole.
Article II: Notes on Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities: Participatory Research, Community Engagement, and Archival Practice.
Article’s bibliographic information: Habell-Pallan, Michelle, Sonnet Retman, and Angelica Macklin. (2014). Notes on Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities: Participatory Research, Community Engagement, and Archival Practice. New American Notes Online, Issue 5.
Keywords: Music, Community archives, Cultural Studies, Popular Music, living archives
creating new models of community-based, politically-engaged knowledge production"
Chicana and women of color feminist epistemologies, queer of color theorizing and feminista media
Paradigms/approaches/methods/methodological frameworks: Coursework, Graduate Student Mentoring, Workshops and Conference Programming.
Strengths (significance) of the article: The article was very thorough in how the model of the archive expanding over time as well as how each component as a "whole demonstrates our efforts to discover new ways of producing knowledge among different groups of people who share common interests." I also appreciated the mention of creating multi-generational and multi-genre experiences.
Weaknesses (limitations) of the article: I did not identify any limitations in the article
Important references in relation to student’s areas of interest: In regards to positioning, It referenced how Women Who Rock “not simply cast back retrospectively to tell a static story of scenes and movements past, it also documents scenes and movements in the present.”
Comments from Colleagues From the Breakout Session: During the breakout sessions we discussed how we appreciated the fluidness and flexibility of the model that Women Who Rock provided. Rather setting a hard work plan, the project grew organically around the needs and capacity of the community.