Enjoy this clip from a new podcast that Library Bytegeist host and producer, Molly Schwartz, has been working on! It's called Preserve This Podcast. You can find more information on our website, at www.preservethispodcast.org. Episode 18 tran

#17 At Home in the Library

Sep 13th, 2018 31m 19s

This episode of Library Bytegeist is all about New York’s public libraries and the people who inhabit them. In a city that has a reputation for being inhospitable, many people have found a makeshift home away from home in the library. Leila Gol

#16 Collectors, Keepers, and a Kitchen Sister

Jul 10th, 2018 39m 19s

This episode of Library Bytegeist is all about collectors and keepers. The people who go through life gathering and capturing and saving things. First up, we have a short story by Sarah Esocoff about Collector’s Night in NYC (minute 2:38 - 9:

#15 Classifying Books, Classifying People

May 3rd, 2018 22m 8s

The Dewey Decimal System is the most popular library classification system in the world. It was created by a man, named Melvil Dewey, in the late 1870's. And Dewey's system of classifying knowledge reflects his worldview as a white man living i

#14 Bye bye Bytegeist ... a year in review!

Nov 15th, 2017 11m 46s

One year ago today, we post the first episode of Library Bytegeist. Molly Schwartz, METRO’s Studio Manager who also hosts and produces LB, decided to take the 14th episode to put together a kind of “year in review.” It’s a look back at the year

#13 Talking GitHub with Dinah Handel and Ethan Gates

Sep 5th, 2017 12m 43s

GitHub is a great tool for collaborating and providing access to content -- which makes it a great tool for libraries and archives! Dinah Handel (NYPL) and Ethan Gates (NYU) taught an introductory GitHub workshop at METRO on August 2, 2017. Thi

#12 Talking Project Code with NYPL’s Brandy McNeil

Jul 27th, 2017 21m 2s

Brandy McNeil is the Associate Director for Technology Education at the New York Public Library. Over 100,000 New Yorkers come through their TechConnect classes in 89 branch libraries across Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. We talk to B

#11 Talking Internet Filters in Public Libraries with Westchester Library System's Rob Caluori

Jul 5th, 2017 21m 37s

Public libraries are important access points to the internet. But sometimes people use library computers to engage in activities that are controversial activities for public spaces, like watching pornography. We sat down with Rob Caluori, the D

#10 Talking Libraries in the EU with Ilona Kish

Jun 22nd, 2017 7m 55s

Ilona Kish is the program director of Reading & Writing Foundation in Brussels, Belgium. She stopped by METRO's offices on June 21, 2017 to give a talk about the initiatives she has led to harmonize library lobbying efforts in the EU. We had a

#9 Talking Mesh Networks with Raul Enriquez and Mario Peart [LIVE RECORDING]

May 30th, 2017 29m 56s

In this live recording at BRIC Media Arts for the Public Access / Open Networks exhibit, Molly was joined by the New America Foundation's Raul Enriquez and Gowanus Digital Steward Mario Peart to talk about the community-run mesh wifi networks t

#8 In the Library with the Paintbrush: artist residencies

May 26th, 2017 22m 46s

Data artist Jer Thorp has a dream of putting an artist in every library. In this episode we explore the benefits and challenges of hosting artist residencies in libraries through open conversations with Jer Thorp, Ben Vershbow, Jenny Odell, Ste

#7 Talking Audio Restoration with Gabe Liberti (BITE-SIZED BYTEGEIST)

Apr 13th, 2017 7m 53s

What is it like to restore audio on classic films? For this bite-sized Bytegeist we sat down with Gabe Liberti to talk about his time as an audio restoration engineer at the Criterion Collection. These days Gabe uses his sound engineering skill

#6 Talking Privacy with Librarians

Mar 24th, 2017 30m 14s

Libraries have always been places for free and unfettered intellectual exploration. But how is this threatened by the inherent leakiness and insecurity of the networks we use to access information these days? In this episode we talk to Alison M

#5 Talking Love Letters in the Digital Age with AMNH's Iris Lee

Feb 14th, 2017 15m 21s

Saving love letters in the digital age can be tricky. Iris Lee, a metadata analyst at the American Museum of Natural History, came up with a clever solution for saving the text messages between her and her partner off her old cell phone. Dr. Mi

#4 Talking Pop-up Media Migration with the XFR Collective’s Rachel Mattson

Jan 18th, 2017 12m 9s

In this episode, Molly talks with Dr. Rachel Mattson about her work as a member of the XFR Collective, an all-volunteer group of over 14 members, does the work that it does, partnering with artists, activists, individuals, and groups to preser

#3 Talking Smart Cities with the New School's Shannon Mattern

Dec 29th, 2016 14m 37s

In this episode, Molly talks with Dr. Shannon Mattern about New York City's LinkNYC program and the troubles it has faced in trying to provide public access to the internet on the city streets. The discussion revolves around how involving libra

#2 Talking Media Conservation with MoMA's Ben Fino-Radin

Nov 29th, 2016 10m 40s

In this episode of Library Bytegeist, we sat down with Ben Fino-Radin, a Media Conservator at MoMA, to talk about his approach to media conservation, what to do when art installations involve super computers, and his favorite old medium. Many t

#1 Meet the METRO Fellows

Nov 15th, 2016 9m 8s

This is an introduction and discussion with the three METRO fellows: Katie Martinez, Karen Hwang, and Molly Schwartz. They talk about why Google searches don't take you inside library catalogs, how email preservation is becoming more of a prior