Interview with Lachrista Greco Pt. 2

Partial Transcript: Ok, so, last time we talked about you working at UW, you are also a grad student...

Segment Synopsis: Experience in iSchool, formerly known as SLIS. Discusses her interest in librarianship and how she ended up applying to the program. Benefits of online program.

Keywords: Graduate School; Librarianship; Library; Online School; UW-Madison; iSchool

Partial Transcript: So, you mentioned that you never really knew what a Librarian did...

Segment Synopsis: Talks about some of the things that librarians do: subject liason, working with the public, answering reference questions, tech stuff.

Keywords: Academic Librarian; Librarianship; Library; UW-Madison Library; iSchool

Partial Transcript: You mentioned Academic Librarianship, is that the track you're on?

Segment Synopsis: Coursework and concentration (concentration is academic librarianship with a focus on digital curation)

Keywords: Digital Libraries; Graduate School; UW-Madison Library; iSchool

Partial Transcript: Tell me about some of the tech and data stuff that you've learned

Segment Synopsis: Greco did a practicum remotely for a company called Rabble that catalogs music. She helped them figure out a data collection and retention plan for collecting personally identifiable information (PII) data about the musicians. Collecting this kind of data is controversial. Greco and her colleagues at Rabble surveyed librarians who use this data and found that they're collecting it to try to ensure that they have inclusive collections. Greco then came up with best practices for ways to promote inclusive collections. Discusses methods and findings. Greco presented on this at the January 2020 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter conference.

Keywords: Librarianship; Music Library; Rabble; cataloguing; iSchool

Partial Transcript: Have you done any other presentations like that?

Segment Synopsis: Other conferences? This was Greco's first Library Studies conference, though she's presented at Women's studies conferences in the past, where she typically presents on Guerilla Feminism. Discusses some of the differences she observed at the ALA conference versus women's studies conferences.

Keywords: American Library Association; Conference; Women's Studies

Partial Transcript: That sounds like a really interesting project, have you worked on...

Segment Synopsis: Other interesting projects? Greco found the genealogy course especially interesting and fun. The digital curation and digital collections course was also interesting. Greco enjoyed learning the background, all the stages that go into curating a digital collection, and learning about how to determine which platform to use for a digital collection.

Keywords: Coursework; Digital Collections; Geneaology; UW-Madison

Partial Transcript: What other classes... I don't know

Segment Synopsis: What is a digital collection? Greco cites UW Digital Collections, explaining their process for digitizing materials and creating collections that are accessible online. Digital libraries are a great way to make items accessible for people who can't go to the library and for people who want to look at materials that can't be checked out or even handled by patrons.

Keywords: Accessibility; Catalogue; Digital Collection; Librarian; Library; UW Digital Collections

Partial Transcript: So and with the Geneaology class, I know we talked a bit about your own geneaology research...

Segment Synopsis: The genealogy class introduced Greco to tools like FamilySearch.com. It was also interesting to learn about the Genealogy Society of America's code of ethics. Greco hasn't really looked into becoming a genealogy librarian, but it's something she enjoys and might look into.

Keywords: Ancestry; FamilySearch.com; Genaeology; Geneaology Librarian; Library

Partial Transcript: Yeah cause I was gonna ask, other than the Office of the Gender and Women's Studies Librarian...

Segment Synopsis: Greco discusses what kind of libraries she might want to work in other than her current position. Academic librarianship is where she has the most experience and she knows she enjoys it, and she's open to public libraries as well. Interested in digital librarianship. Interested in data librarianship, but doesn't want anything too tech- or numbers-heavy.

Keywords: Academic Librarianship; Digital Library; Library; Office of the Gender and Women's Studies Librarian; Public Librarianship; UW-Madison Library

Partial Transcript: So, um, tell me more about that class and what the process was...

Segment Synopsis: Greco enjoyed a 1-credit data visualization course she took in which she used open source data about women in prison to create a bar graph showing racial disparities.

Keywords: Data Visualization; Librarian; Open Source Data; Prison reform; iSchool

Partial Transcript: Are there any other classes where you learned something that was exciting...

Segment Synopsis: Classes she didn't like include: methods (603), 601, or 602. In 601 or 602, she did an interesting project looking at broadband access. Greco chose to look at a rural community in Wisconsin where not everyone has internet access.

Keywords: Coursework; Information Context; Librarianship; Methods; iSchool

Partial Transcript: I mean I liked having to do a practicum, but i didn't like the course part of it...

Segment Synopsis: Greco shares her thoughts on the practicum requirements for online students, and how she set up her practicum without help from anyone at the iSchool. Wrap up discussion of classes.

Keywords: Practicum; iSchool; inequity

Partial Transcript: So, when you were making the decision to start the program, did you ever thing about applying to other online programs...

Segment Synopsis: Applied to UW Madison because of in-state tuition, and because she knew she might be able to ask GWS library to pay for some of her classes.

Keywords: Employer; Tuition; UW-Madison; iSchool

Partial Transcript: Who have been some professors who have been really good online?

Segment Synopsis: Professors who have been especially good in online courses: Vicky Tobias, Michele Besant, Dorothea Salo, and a few adjuncts whose names she can't recall (though she appreciates the work that adjuncts do!)

Keywords: Adjunct Professor; Dorothea Salo; Michele Besant; Online School; Vicky Tobias; iSchool

Partial Transcript: Tell me about your cohort and what it's been like getting to know people, or not getting to know people...

Segment Synopsis: Greco's cohort has a private Facebook page where they communicate. They also all met in person at the beginning of the year at the mandatory in-person week-long "bootcamp."

Keywords: Cohort; Social Life; Social Media; UW-Madison; iSchool

Partial Transcript: I think you mentioned, I don't remember if it was while we were recording...

Segment Synopsis: Involvement with Jail Library Group, a student org that's also a community org. Became involved in 2018. Two volunteers would go to one of the Dane County jails once a month. Greco was co-chair of the organization for a year. She discusses the conditions of the jails, and explains the process by which people incarcerated request books and JLG volunteers fill the requests, and the differences between security levels. She was already a prison abolitionist, and after this experience, even more so.

Keywords: Community Service; Dane County Jail; Jail Libraries; Jail Library Group; Prison; Prison Abolition; UW-Madison; iSchool

Partial Transcript: And when you were working at the Rape Crisis Center was that here in Madison...

Segment Synopsis: Volunteering at the Dane County Rape Crisis Center and Domestic Abuse Intervention Services answering the helpline at both organizations, and doing the overnight shift at the RCC. Both organizations have intensive training programs. Greco discusses what it was like working on the helplines.

Keywords: Dane County Rape Crisis Center; Helplines; Sexual Assault; Volunteering

Partial Transcript: And you Volunteered at the RCC when you were at Edgewood and when did you Volunteer at DAIS

Segment Synopsis: Created a yoga program at DAIS with a friend who was working there. She'd gotten certified teaching yoga in 2010 while working with Americorp in Chicago. The yoga classes at DAIS often had low attendance, but Greco tried to make the classes more about relaxation and more accessible for different body types. She'd done some trauma-informed yoga training, and was able to work some of that in. The program did well.

Keywords: Domestic Abuse; Domestic Abuse Intervention Services; Women's Shelter; Yoga; Yoga Certification

Partial Transcript: Tell me more about the trauma-informed yoga training...

Segment Synopsis: Trauma-informed yoga training is a gentler kind of yoga where the instructor uses more inviting language than the commanding languge yoga instructors typically use. There's also a focus on consent.

Keywords: Consent; Domestic Abuse; Inviting Language; Sexual Assault; Trauma-informed yoga; Yoga certification

Partial Transcript: And, your Yoga certification, tell me about that...

Segment Synopsis: Yoga certification. She was taking a lot of yoga classes at the time, and decided to get the yoga certification because she could get it for half price by doing a "work-study" at a yoga studio. In the past few years, she has gotten away from that because she feels that, as a white person, she shouldn't teach it. Talks about her process of learning about cultural appropriation of yoga, and the yoga scene in Madison.

Keywords: Chicago; Cultural Appropriation; Yoga; Yoga Certification; Yoga Instruction

Partial Transcript: Ok, so, back to iSchool I guess...

Segment Synopsis: Involvement with other orgs in Madison? In undergrad at Edgewood, interned at the Campus Women's Center at UW and was involved with Take Back the Night. Other important experiences? Greco speaks about working with special education kids at her high school when she moved back to Madison, and how important that work was to her. Working with people with disabilities is something she has always enjoyed doing, and feels strongly about. Her dad jokes that it's the family business, since he worked as head of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Keywords: Campus Women's Center; Edgewood; Involvement; Madison; Take Back the Night; UW-Madison

Partial Transcript: And your mom was a Therapist?

Segment Synopsis: Greco's mom worked as a therapist until a client accused her of something and got her license removed. She now does "spiritual guidance," and is into "a lot of New Age-y stuff." Greco talks about what it was like growing up with parents who were therapists.

Keywords: Growing up; Parents; Spiritual Guidance; Therapy

Partial Transcript: Ok so when you were working in the Middleton School District, what exactly was the work that you were doing?

Segment Synopsis: When Greco was working in Middleton School district, she was an SEA (Special Education Assistant). Talks more about the day-to-day activities involved in this work, and what she's observed that's changed (and not changed) since the '90s, when she was in Special Education in that district.

Keywords: Career; Disability; Middleton; Middleton High School; Special Education

Partial Transcript: So, the last thing I wanted to ask about, if you still have time today, you have a few books published...

Segment Synopsis: Published works. First book was an anthology called "Italian North American Women and the Search for Identity." Greco put out a call online, got submissions, put it together digitally, and self-published it digitally. Next, self-published a book of poems, "Leftovers," and made it on Lulu.com, and physical copies can be ordered online. Has two poems included in an anthology, "The Post-Traumatically Stressed Feminist." Talks about how it doesn't feel different to have works published in physical books, since she's been publishing her work online for so long.

Keywords: Anthology; Books; Digital Media; Italian North American Women and the Search for Identity; Italian-American Identity; Leftovers; Online Publishing; Poetry; Publishing; Self-Publishing; Writing

Partial Transcript: So, I mean, I'm working on another book, and that, about Guerrilla Feminism specifically...

Segment Synopsis: Greco is working on a new book about Guerilla Feminism and is working with a literary agent, so if it gets published, the agent would sell it to a publisher. She thinks this would feel different than having her work self-published. Tentative Title is: "Guerilla Feminism: Essays on Digital Trauma." Greco talks about how the fact that she has an internet presence and an online following made it easy for her to get a literary agent.

Keywords: Book; Guerrilla Feminism; Literary Agent; Online Presence; Published Works; Publishing

Partial Transcript: Is there anything else that you'd like to say about any of those projects, or any projects you've sorta had in mind for the future?

Segment Synopsis: Greco hopes that she is remembered for cool feminist stuff. She feels undervalued here in Madison and Wisconsin in general, and hopes that Wisconsin will feel good about the fact that she's from here. Wrap up session 3.

Keywords: Feminism