Jessamyn West is a library activist and computer technology savant who lives in central Vermont. She’s also kind of Internet famous. Jessamyn was one of the original moderators for the community blog MetaFilter—which is like the civilized version of Reddit. She was recently contacted by the White House for her thoughts on their choice for the next Librarian of Congress, and she speaks internationally about the digital divide. She’s also got WAY more Twitter followers than me. And probably you. No offense.
Jessamyn has worked as a technology consultant in libraries all over the state, and she holds open hours at a local tech center helping people with their computer problems. In this interview, we talk about her passion for public libraries and the role of the modern librarian. And we talk about how different people manage their personal relationships with their personal computers. Which, as we all know, is complicated.
Jessamyn Links
Jessamyn has a long bio. Wikipedia says it best…
A link to other links by and about Jessamyn
Librarian.net: Site where Jessamyn writes about library related things
Jessamyn’s exhaustive and awesome Donald Barthelme fan page
Here’s a transcript version of our interview, on Medium.
Some great clips and commentary from the interview, on MetaFilter
EPISODE MUSIC
| TRACK NAME | ARTIST |
| Music using ONLY sounds from Windows XP and 98! | SomethingUnReal |
| Windows XP Error Song | Martin Hayhurst Appel |
Erica,
Greetings from Minneapolis. Just wanted to say that I love your show and this was one of my favorite episodes yet. Keep up the good work and thank you for doing this!
Thank you so much Gary!
I agree with Gary! This was fabulous. I wish there was a form of technology where I could just beam this directly into my friends’ and loved ones’ brains.
Talking to her must have been like watching popcorn pop! She is so articulate and full of thoughts, ideas and information. She makes me want to volunteer to help people who don’t know how to use a computer.
That’s a perfect description of the Jessamyn West Experience….!
This was a terrific interview! You do a lovely job with each podcast, but this one …. wow! I’ve sent the link to several friends so they can share in the joy of listening to both of you. Thank you so much for introducing me to yet another fabulous Vermonter I haven’t met yet.