I spent the last year blogging on my own about how Anthropology can be useful to non-anthropologists by popularizing or “making public” the otherwise dry theoretical content of the field. Although I have enjoyed my work on my personal blog TheAnthroGeek, I have learned that this sort of public application of anthropological theory and method could be of particular benefit to my local context in Fresno, CA (USA).
Therefore, I am teaming up with Henry Delcore, a colleague and friend to focus on a more local inspection and reflection upon how the core competencies of ethnography can be practiced in California’s Central Valley.
I recently moved into Fresno Cohousing so I will likely be talking about life in a modern day village from time to time. This move signifies a deep and lasting bond I have forged with my new hometown of Fresno, CA. Let’s see if practicing anthropology here can make a difference.
TheAnthroGeek
anthroguy
Felicia Salcido
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January 15, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Radha
I’m interested in the work your doing
January 20, 2009 at 9:54 pm
anthroguy
Hi, Radha, What about it do you find interesting?
February 3, 2009 at 12:04 pm
ken erickson
Your work with the auto dealerships is so very timely. You know, of course, how many are going out of business.
My team’s research with a very large automobile manufacturer focused on youth and the parts after-market. That project lasted about six months, and we have a ton of non-proprietary data behind the proprietary written report and powerpoint. It would be fun to learn what you are learning; I think there is some sharing we could do, here. . .
February 4, 2009 at 4:49 pm
theanthrogeek
Ken, We’re honored by the offer. I love the work you do. Hank is still putting the finishing touches on the official report for the client. Once that’s done, he will be making a non-proprietary version we will send you.
February 20, 2009 at 10:29 am
Merrily
There were a couple of other points I wanted to make about my trip to the opening of the library. They are included in the following:
A really handsome fellow wearing a library staff ID walked 5 feet from me and stood handing out flyers to everyone that passed us by. He did not seem to notice me, nor even look in my direction, however I was hoping to catch his eye so I could recieve one of his flyers. I opened with Hi. He looked away. I said Hi again. He turned his back to me. I said Hi louder. He gave away more flyers. I said Hi more forcefully. He smiled at the ladies and continued to pass out flyers. I said Hi again. He looked passed me, turned and walked away. I thought how terribly rude. He was acknowledging everyone but me. I wondered why. Just then he came back to about the same place and repeated his activities. This time I said nothing. I just stared at him. Finally he looked right into my eyes with his big blue eyes and slightly smiled, walked over and asked if I would like a flyer. Of course I said yes. Then he stood there. So I said, I said Hi to you five times and you just ignored me…he said, you did. I did not hear you. I said really. He said yes, I am deaf in one ear and 30% deaf in the other.
So I guess if you don’t ask the right question assumptions can make an ass out of you! He told me he lost his hearing in the service during several explosions. Then I knew he could not hear the terrible noise of the feet on the stairs. I am glad I did not give up and kept after my pursuit to find the truth. He was not being rude to me, he just did not hear the sound coming from my mouth.
The remainder of my observations are of the tricky book racks. They label them nicely by calling them: Compact Book Shelves. I call them Automated Body Smashers. Other people called them dangerous. I snooped around until I found a staff member to show me exactly how the staff expected them to operate.
What I am describing is a row of shelves on every floor that slide automatically to compact books and open and close on demand at the push of a button. It is a really cool robotic book shelf if it will always work they way the dream it will. However how a robot works in concept is much different that in practices around humans with human expectations and character flaws. Robots move by automation and if all is well never mess up, until you add people. Then the rockets start flying!
The basement has about 5 to 8 rows of shelves that are approximately 32 foot long moveable robotic compactors holding several hundred pounds or tons of bound paper. Which is about 250 feet of shelf length or more….In concept this is awesome. But if I want a book and the library is busy and say there are 7 or 8 people that need to search the same row and the same area of books I need, then we have a serious problem of major book crunch. You cannot just go walk along, like with the old style book shelf and pick out your book, step over a floor reading buddy, or say excuse me to someone because, while two or more people can be in the same row, the mobility and ease of access suddenly does not exist. You have to wait until someone has browsed and found the book they need, and exited the shelf so you can get to move open the shelf you want to use to find your book. The shelves work like a giant accordion, or bellows and it is open and close by automation continually, like a huge breathing lung, compacting or expanding continually and you find yourself running through and in and out of the rows stuggling to find what you need before the shelf collapses or someone needs or gets impatient to get their row of books open to acces… It is not going to be any fun!
The staff person who show me how the system works stated, “you students will have to be re educated in how to use this system. It is going to require patience and courtesy to use this system and everyone is just going to have to wait and be polite”
I love the concept of the robotic, completely automated shelves. They operate by sensors up and down the rows and if occupied will not move, so of course you will not or cannot get stuck in them, so it was told to me. However the shelves take away the joy of ambling and browsing and finding interesting reading material. You cannot just stroll through the aisles and look at book any longer, because their is going to be someone staring you down, wishing you would hurry up and get out of their way. In this case efficiency of storage may lead to inefficiency in human relationships and take up more student time during the waiting for a shelf to open up, than the old way
February 20, 2009 at 10:32 am
Merrily
Library Grand Opening
Grand openings are not my thing. However I broke my rule to hurry up and get there because I heard this awesome song being sung by the Fresno State Musical Group, surprisingly enough I was completely across the campus in the outside parking lot in front of the Peters Building. And this sets the speed of the entire report: acoustics of the library!
Of course I was not on time for the opening and after the music I heard I figured the whole honors celebration was finished, but low and behold as my feet touched the marble in front of the building I was greeted by the backsides of several hundred suits and this lead me to notice two things, the darkening of American fashion and everyone appeared of the same gender, at least this is what one general sweeping glance feed into my information starved brain.
The small FSU band was medaling out more of its brass sounds and the folks up front who were not in cramped spaces, the dignitaries of the ceremony were hand shaking with big smiles on their faces. There was a lot of hand shaking going on. There was a lot of smiles and knowing nods of appreciation and appraisal, at least outside.
Finally the moment came and we were all generously invited to stroll in, although people who were hungry to see the interior were shouldering the space more forcefully than the less wealthy or opportunistic. Once inside the genders began to separate. Now I could discernable visualize men in dark suits, punctuated by striped ties (usually) and white shirts, (normally) and women dressed in dark suits of either pants or skirt styles, with their red blouses peeking out at the array of hand shakers and smiling well wishers.
I finally was able to walk inside. I looked a little and listened a little and then prepared to do some serious observing. My first immediate impression was the spaciousness of the entire entryway and well, you can see almost all the way from one end of the building to the other…just lots of space. And lots of sound traveling everywhere, not just because of the activity or people because you are looking at folks in suits, not traditional students who actually are noisier than the regular traffic, but many people trying to talk quietly and walk softly. From the volume of space I deduced it would require a lot of students to fill up the building.
Walking inside a ways I found a place to light and observe the traffic. Along the wall that looks out into the Peace Garden, which the day before in The Collegian was advertised as “A Quiet Place To Think”, I found a shelf with an area to place my book so I could write my notes, which by the way, was not quiet at all! In fact the din was an absolute uproar of the continual sound of feet traipsing up and down the specially designed stairway that stretches in a wonderful slope, from the basement of the library up to the third or fourth floor. I am thinking rather dryly here that the architect must have had his subliminal design inspiration stuck in the San Andreas Fault Line, because that is what he produced, one glaring fault line of constant shoes on metal stairs from the bottom of the building completely to the top of student access. Add this design element to the already open and spacious areas and you are listening to a din, a roar of clacking of feet on metal and the sound of voices crossing the rooms, up and down the entire space from basement to the upper most ceilings. For a bragged about 10 Million Dollar building and educational asset to Fresno State this is not good. This is a huge problem.
I found a man who would speak to me on the subject, although he left out his name, and he said, “We are aware of the problem and have been, but the stairs were specially designed and built for this library and now we have to find a way to correct the problem. (I guess that means now they will have to go over their budget.)
(But I overheard some else say that Table Mountain Funds had gotten frozen and so that is the problem with some of their progress.) And this was overheard when I went out of the especially donated sealed balconies on the second and third floors, which are completely sealed from the inside but are open for two stories and the sound floats up and down like an audio scope and now they have all that space, which is empty for the moment and has absolutely no privacy. Well, the library has no privacy.
Not even in the cell phone booths that are located on every floor. They are lovely in content but if you are in them, watch out what you say to whomever is on the phone, because every word you say in the library is heard everywhere else. If you are in the cell phone booth…it sounds like ducks are out in the pond chattering away. I kid you not! And the people were talking quietly to one another, either, explaining how things work, or giving directions.
The staff was scrambling around saying things like, “this is dangerous, about the Compact shelving on every floor. And this furniture is not the furniture that is going to be here.” I kind of liked the furniture, it looked to me as though they had enough places to sit for several thousand students, a theatre, group rooms, Compact Stacks, music area, journalism area, collections with 6 rows of automated racking and a full on kitchen, copiers, places to plug in and pull out, however I did not see the Famous Starbucks anywhere.
I have more and will continue this at a later time. My next set will be about those infamous automated compact racks, that are already being labeled “body crushers.”
March 3, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Merrily
The Official Tour: I went on this tour on Tuesday Feburary 24, 2009 at 2:00 in the afternoon Sue Moore from the tech services. they were conducting a scavenger hunt and were taking groups on a tour. Not that I was interested in participating however I did want a tour of the entire library so I could see the entire facility.
The circulation desk, a long highly designed curve in the front has the appearance of more design and less utility with lots of wasted speace. it looks like a beaufiful curve to grind a skateboard, not that it was designed for that purpose!
The reference desk is open all the same hours as the library. And everyone behind the reference desk appears to be very happy. I observed lots of smiling faces with eager to help politness.
In the government section you can find anything you could ever possibly want to know about the California government or the U>S> government. sue said over 150,00 documents are available for student availability, including maps, atlases, gazettes, photos and reports. I felt the over riding presence of governmental authority washing across the whole area. (Not 51).
Library laptop and the printers are all inter-connected. this is a great service aspect! But there are not enough printers unless you enjoy running on the track team, or the constant 50 yard dash sprint, and then sliding up the rope or standing in the printer line.
The teachers resource center is the only place where you can freely stand and browse without the stomp of escaping traffic from the collapsing a bellowing effects of the compact automated book shelves. You can take as long as you like in the shelves perusing the puppets, the prekintergartin, the childrens books and the teachers curriculum. I venture we will all regress to absorbing childresn books because it is the only place we can browse withou a forced evacuation.
Can we browse videos and music and media? Sure, why not! All day long or you can check it our and take it home.
The computers are brand new flat screen, quite, whisper thin keyboards. these computers are top of the line and all connected (with a block on MySpace!) so the library is YourSpace and lots of it, but my space is off limits! so get on the iMacs and the surfs up!
At the end of the building is a special area, like Studio One, but not a nightclub and called Studio Two. It is for instruction and collaboration.
You can access journals in many formats. Two of the normal ones are electronic or print and if you are a homebody there is Madden Library online and J-Stor.
The Ellipse room is unique! A bilevel area that has encaptulated sound reverberation. Whatever sound occurs bounces, accelerates and rick o shays up and down and all around. Almost scary. You best mind your thoughts!
special events, special programs and concerts (black tie!) will have a special meaning as everyone hears words and thoughts in bilevel stereo.
So now we can spill and call for cleanup because the library has a new addition that some claim will make Henry (Madden) roll in his grave. This is the controversial Starbucks that also serves pastries and tea. For some students this is the cats meow. Last time I looked it was packed and people were spilling out into the outer room where they were smacking lunchies like it was the best banana in the bunch! One of the staff says, “well we are trying to accomodate everyone, we have quiet areas and we have the party areas (Nice!).
My favorite place, after having walked a mile or so, and I was still in the building was the University Archives. It contains the reare and valuable things like the Icunabula and the Vita Christ from 1474. Also pieces from the world fair collection. You will have to have special permission to access the 4th floor south wing.
Their is also readers for the blind and this is thanks to a wonderful addition: Services for Students with Disabilities Office. Well perhaps it has been around for many years, however…now it is more prominent than before.
We did have to count every noisey stair on the 4th story main staircase. I wonder what it would sound like used as an aerobic activity staircase on senior exercise night. You kinow used like seniors use the Manchester Mall, all around, up, down, and up down etc…
Some say the library houses over 1 M. in hard cover books, and 30,000 in just the collection level of the library.
One area on the 4th level held a special collection of childrens books. I wondered if they wanted any of my collection of 5,000 books and 7,200 original hand written poems – mmm. some day I will get my list off to Tom Ebert in the Gift Books and see if they like my rare collection.
March 11, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Hank
Hi Guys,
Very much enjoyed your radio interview.
Look forward to hearing more of and about you.
H.D.D.
Dedham, Ma
May 13, 2009 at 8:24 am
BrookeM
The field of anthropology excites me. Before taking an anthropology class, I honestly did not really understand the field. I was a little confused at first, but I have come a long way. The AnthroGuys Blog is truly a great way to showcase the field in our community. I would have not known any of this information without the posts here. It is wonderful to see that there are some great people working to better our community. Anthropology deserves to be more recognized, not only on campus, but in our community as well. This can serve as a chance to educate the masses about the field and possibly gain more interest.