Public In/Formation. Now more than ever, we need to create and defend vital spaces of information exchange. Librarians, step up. Shannon Mattern, November 2016.

This is an excellent long read with extensive documentation specific to the management, accessibility, usability and persistence of knowledge created by governments and “urban intelligence.” The author expertly weaves the critical value of librarians, who possess extensive, proactive, creative, agile capabilities in the digital arenas, as champions in the face of the challenges of managing massive amounts of disparate data that is often untapped and opaque due to lack of accessibility. There are so many actionable projects addressed in the article that it is worth reading several times, and following up on the many references to projects, programs and initiatives that are discussed which encompass a wide range of sectors, programs, initiatives and goals.

“Public libraries, in particular, can play a critical role in shaping the new urban data landscapes. Not only do they have experience in negotiating access policies, but they also demonstrate a commitment to openness — as in open source, open access, open doors — contra the black-boxed, proprietary infrastructures and algorithms that dominate urban development (and the “extreme” profiling promised by the new federal regime). Governments often have a mandate to provide open data, but they lack professional guidance about the creation of user-centered services. They can partner with public libraries to meet their obligations. Jim A. Jacobs of Free Government Information proposes that libraries “identify, select, and acquire large datasets of invaluable information content without cost or copyright restrictions,” then add user services on top of them.