Paul Flagg
EducationM.A. in Library & Information Science from USF
B.S. in Public Relations from UF
Occupation(s)Librarian
Editor & Writing Consultant
EmployerBoston Public Library
Organization(s)American Library Association
Massachusetts Library Association
New England Library Association
New England Wikimedians

My name is Paul Flagg (aka PersnicketyPaul), and I'm a public librarian with the Boston Public Library. Some of my hobbies include reading, baking, trying new foods, and learning about different people, places, and cultures.

Over the past few years, I have enjoyed learning about and working in the field of librarianship, exploring public, school, academic, and even medical library settings. These experiences have broadened my understanding of what it means to provide information services, but, most importantly, they have instilled in me a strong desire to connect people with the information they seek.

Wikipedia & librarianship background

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I have been using Wikipedia since its inception in 2001, and I continue to use it as a jumping-off point for basic research or when I am in need of some quick information. In the summer of 2016, under the instruction of Kathleen de la Peña McCook in her course Wikipedia & Knowledge Management, I learned about the importance of diversity in content created online, both in regards to who produces that content and what that content represents. I also learned the value of Wikipedia as a modern source for information and how I, as a librarian, could contribute to digital information literacy and knowledge management as a Wikipedian. My goals in contributing to Wikipedia are

  1. to help bridge the gap of diverse content represented on the site and
  2. to advocate for equality, human rights, and social justice.

My motivation to pursue a career in librarianship as a cause for equality, human rights, and social justice began with an intellectual freedom program I’d attended at ALA Annual 2016 in Orlando, less than a month after the Pulse shooting that claimed 49 innocent LGBTQ+ and Latinx lives. The panel discussed the right to read, censorship, and the controversial case of the children’s book A Birthday Cake for George Washington, which featured smiling black slaves baking a cake for the first president of the United States. Following this forum, I decided to take action by joining ALA's Intellectual Freedom Round Table and the Freedom to Read Foundation, later becoming a committee associate for the Intellectual Freedom Committee.

Wikipedia projects

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William D. Weeks Memorial Library

Wikipedia Asian Month (November 2016)

WikiProject Women Writers

2017 USF SOLIS WikiΞquality Series

Social media

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