Revenge of the Teacher-Librarians

Maybe revenge is a strong word, but I have been waiting to talk more about librarian-academic integration all semester.  Matos and his team brought forward the idea of the "embedded librarian in their article, "The Embedded Librarian Online or Face-to Face."  In this article, two librarians shared their first-hand experience as librarians embedded within academic departments, to varying degrees of success and using various methods to reach the communities.  The article also referenced an embedded history librarian who ultimately did not succeed in becoming effectively embedded in the community.  The article emphasized the need for good relationships in the department; the music librarian had an excellent rapport with faculty and staff, and was able to build collaborative relationships and host successful office hours and presentations.  The history librarian's failure was attributed to an inability to effectively build collaborative relationships or reach out to the student community.

While this article nicely illustrated anecdotal evidence that embedded librarians can be effective, I was disappointed that it didn't push back more on the story of the history librarian.  What could they have done differently?  How can librarians facing a "tough crowd" overcome the obstacles and build a place for themselves in the community?  Certainly history students need embedded librarians as much as music students do, even if they don't realize the full advantages one will bring to them. 

This reminds me of the struggle many school librarians have faced building collaborative relationships with teachers.  I see a parallel in a lot of non "classroom teachers"-- one of my best friends is an absolutely fantastic special education teacher who struggles to lure her colleagues to collaborate with her to help students.  It's why many school librarians have worked relentlessly to emphasize the fact that they are credentialed teachers.

What can "classroom-less" teacher/academic-librarians do to represent their collaborative relationship as a foundational need?

Online representation can help, especially when there isn't enough space in the department (or the teaching schedule).  But I think it's essential to use that online space effectively.  Professors might feel more comfortable assigning interactive webinars as supplemental course material rather than having a library session during class time, or planning a full class themselves.  And when librarians have that opportunity, I think they have an obligation to sell their services as much as possible.

Many librarians may feel uncomfortable as salespeople, but if we are really serious about fighting for relevancy, making our services as comfortable as possible for users is important.  It is a huge obstacle for many users, teachers and professors included, to ask for help.  To open themselves up to not being in control.  To trust another person to do a good job helping them represent themselves.  Academia in general makes everyone feel vulnerable.  Librarians have great opportunities to truly serve and invite people into a world of information.

This is why I want to become a librarian, and why I had such a fun time last week co-leading our one-shot workshop.  I really enjoyed being able to bring new information to participants, to hopefully build on their professional skills to help them represent themselves with a wide set of skills.

I was a little disappointed with the webinar I viewed; the librarians weren't selling it.  They used the technology ineffectively, grew uncomfortable with the interactive elements, and ultimately didn't tell me much. 

I know this is a little preachy and one-sided, and that people are bringing a lot of different skill sets to libraries, and certainly we shouldn't make the library seem like a used car lot.   But I do think that public engagement is one of the things that is going to cement librarian's role in the future.  We could do well to learn from people who are able to catch people's attention.  In a non comb-over, sleazy way.  Unless you're into that kind of thing. 

Ethics

At the School of Information, most of my classes have flirted with the idea of talking about ethics, though none have really taken it head on.  It is such an important consideration in our profession, and one that is essential to confront, but also quite challenging.

I appreciated so much the opportunity to talk about ethics in class, but also to attend the "Is this App Racist" event sponsored by MIX.  In this discussion, professors at SI met with students to discuss the NPR coverage about the smartphone app that alerts users of "unsafe" neighborhoods, according to crime statistics, as well as the fervid discussion the app spawned on Si.All.Open

Here's what this rich discussion left me with:

• Technology/Information may be "neutral," but the data these things are based off may be collected in non-neutral ways.
• Even if the intent of the app is positive, it is unethical to ignore the biased foundations of data
• As information professionals, to claim true ethical behaviors, we must actively challenge and question our sources and our own hidden biases, as well as those who we work with

Professor King also made an interesting comment that reflected Kristin's discussion of the ALA Code of Ethics.  King supported the idea that the difference between professionals and employees is this ethical line.  Professionals identify problems, or gaps in ethics, an do something about it.  Therefore, professionalism cannot be neutral.

What do you guys think?

News-related

This is an aside from class postings, but I just came across this article about the Ridgefield Public Library in Ridgefield, Connecticut.  Apparently they're in the planning stages of a building a new library, and have some angry opposition. Some community members don't understand why new facilities are being built when the day of the book is over.

“Give everybody a tablet, and get rid of the stacks. You’re done,” he said. “...It’s ADA compliant.”

Virtual libraries are already being set up, and are the future, Mr. Miller said.

“The classics, anything that’s over 100 years old, you can get from Google for free,” he said. “Anything written in the last 25 years, people have digitized it and are selling digital copies.”

While it's an interesting perspective in what the role of a library is in a community, it's frustrating that people continue to make large political statements without understanding the dynamic day-to-day realities, here an understanding of the dynamic between e-book publishers and  libraries would be greatly beneficial to this discussion.  I know this level of selective awareness is not new in our world, but it gets me every time.

Ethics and Bookclub Reflections

When first reading the ALA Code of Ethics, I felt really confident and excited to uphold these standards.  I particularly perked at the following passage:

We significantly influence or control the selection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information. In a political system grounded in an informed citizenry, we are members of a profession explicitly committed to intellectual freedom and the freedom of access to information. We have a special obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present and future generations.

It is essential for information professionals to work to become aware of the many ways that their own personal preferences, motivations, and biases subtly influence their decision-making and relationships in the field.  This is not a social awareness that comes naturally to everyone, and so I believe it will be a process to gain perspective on their own partiality.  I think this is important in a (generally) liberal-bent profession.  This is an over-generalization and an over-simplification, but in my observations of growing up in a pretty far left community, and then burying myself in the notoriously left-leaning institutions of Berkeley, Teach For America, and Michigan, I have seen many liberal-minded individuals presume themselves free of bigotry and biases.  For these individuals, it is sometimes harder to perceive their personal prejudices because they are often not looking for them.

For this reason, I really appreciated the complexity Mark Lenker brought to the Code of Ethics with his article on "dangerous questions."  Of course, there is no easy answer or quick fix when a patron approaches with a morally questionable topic - but Lenker does provide a good discussion and a possible framework to process troubling encounters.

I think one of the biggest struggles when these situations arise is the urgency and pace of the reference desk.  When I am providing reference services in Hatcher, by brain is always running a mile a minute because I am pooling through my brain for the best resources and search methods to help users; it's hard for me to process moral dilemmas at the same time.

That said, in an academic library I think determining intent with say, a book about marijuana cultivation or bomb how-tos, because I pretty much always ask what the purpose of the research is.  My partner worked for the Emma Goldman Papers in Berkeley and he had to conduct pretty extensive research on home-made bombs to determine the relevancy of testimony in the Tom Mooney trial.  Throughout his research on the chemistry of dynamite, etc, he was never questioned of his intentions.  Though if he had, he would have had an easy explanation.  It's an expected and comfortable question in a university library where everyone is conducting research towards similar purposes.  In public libraries this sort of questioning may feel to some an invasion of privacy.

I feel that if the library provides the material, there should be reference services.  But I can't say that I would be completely comfortable pointing a patron to material I thought they might use to hurt themselves or others.  So much of this information can be found online, or independently in the library, if a patron is coming to a person or chat service, I do feel that there is a level of wanting someone to know.  I know that some libraries are able to offer or host social services through the library, and those materials are good to have available.  I feel that asking more about requests in a respectful way, with a sense of humility, can't hurt.  The worst that can happen is that a patron can decline to engage in the conversation.

image from http://www.booksdistilled.com

Now to the book clubs we participated in last week.  Overall  I really enjoyed the opportunity to discuss literature and to lead a book club discussion with my peers.  I am currently in 3 book clubs, on and off, but in my opinion, there are never enough opportunities to talk about books.  The discussion leaders in our group led in very different ways, and it was great to learn from everyone.

I struggled with some of the things I expected to struggle with; some voices were louder than others, and in a "voluntary" setting I found it a lot more challenging to find a diplomatic way to support a shared floor.  This is easier in a classroom, where I had the authority to call on students or ask students who weren't sharing more pointed and specific questions.  In a casual book club setting I struggled with how to do this respectfully.  I'd love any feedback others had or experience with similar issues!

Book clubs

This week we talked about book clubs, which might be one of the most exciting library prospects. My favorite teaching days for me were when all of my students pulled their desks into circles for Socratic seminars. Students who weren't able or willing to put reading responses on paper regularly shone when discussing characters out loud. I would prepare some questions, but students were responsible for preparing "high quality" questions the night before, and I rarely had to say anything for the full hour.  The greatest challenge was ensuring students shared the floor.

Book clubs in the library setting will certainly be different, a lot of the lessons I learned as a teacher will certainly be helpful.  The most important thing is to make participants feel safe in order for then to risk participating.  Its good to keep in mind that having a college background we have more experience discussing and sharing these kinds of ideas than others. I could see it being a challenge for a fresh librarian to release a little control of discussion to let the participants guide the experience- I know it was a challenge for me at first.

I have thought a lot on our discussion of male focused book blurbs as well.  I think the Socratic style would be more appealing to typical male audiences. It seems that the Socratic seminar is more "goal oriented." By that I mean that there is a mission beyond sitting around and sharing. It seems more like the online forum posts we talked about in class. I know my dad looks to his online car buddies to expand and share his knowledge and interests. I think libraries could work to foster that same idea.

After reading our bookclub texts I look forward to discussing the mix of fiction and nonfiction. I think any of then would serve as good model texts for the first book club meetings we hold.