Article Note: On using library chat reference to answer campus questions

This article caught my eye initially because I do not recall people using our library chat reference much to answer campus specific questions. I would have to dig into our local statistics to be more certain, but at least from what I have observed in our chat reference service questions related to the campus are minimal. A good question for us to explore down the road may be where are people going then to get campus-specific answers, but that is another story for now. 

This article's goal is to investigate how academic libraries not only provide academic assistance but whether they are seen as an option to provide information on their campuses. In their opening, the authors remind us how chat reference services in libraries picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our virtual services certainly picked up during the pandemic's prime time days. 

Authors establish topic relevance for the article by connecting the growth of chat services to the need of libraries to prove their value to stakeholders, in this case campus administrators. That is certainly one of the reason we and other libraries are always collecting a variety of service statistics; we have to justify our existence to the bean counters. For example, we collect data on things such as number of research consults and library instruction sessions. One of the places that data ends up is on the campus fact book, which is available online on the campus website. So in a way an ulterior motive for this article is to show a library's value to its campus community.

The significance of this study is that, unlike previous studies of reference chat services in libraries, none up to now has focused on whether a reference chat service answers campus related questions that are not related to the library. 

Some highlights from the article: 

• Method: Analysis of chat transcripts from 5 large four-year public universities during the 2-year period of 2019 to 2021. The choice of campuses "were selected based on only the affiliations of the collaborating authors and do not necessarily reflect a representative sample" (15). To be honest, that is a small sample, but that is somewhat consistent with this type of LIS article.
• What they found: "This study found that non-library campus questions, on average, accounted for 2.44% of library chat questions, a relatively small proportion of all library chats" (12). At this low percent, I would not call this "filling a gap." Again, I do wonder where are patrons and others going for that information. 
• A curious to me finding is that this kind of information from reference chat may be "a more significant resources for less privileged student populations" (12). Not sure at this point what to make of that. 
• They did notice that reference chat often gets IT-related questions. A possible reason could be "their I.T. department may have insufficient hours of staffing" (13). I can testify to this a bit since our I.T. department is fairly notorious for their insufficient hours of staffing. I'd call them bankers' hours except bankers these days actually open late and on weekends. 
• Call for further research: "Further research building on this study could examine the prevalence of campus-related questions at physical service points in the library and compare this to chat" (15). They also suggest doing some comparisons with private institutions. 
• One good thing of analyzing chat reference transcripts: "...these transcripts provide a unique opportunity to identify areas where students are in need of additional information and support. The data can help identify offices and services on campus with which library chat operators should be most familiar and prepared to address in chat inquiries" (16). 

Article citation: Erin Owens, et.al., "Beyond the Library: the Role of Academic Libraries' Chat Reference in Answering Campus Questions." The Reference Librarian (April 2024): 1-24. 

I got this one via Interlibrary Loan.

Article Note: On Chinese aid in developing libraries in Africa

This is a short article that begins to explore the topic of Chinese investment in the African continent, specifically investing in developing local libraries. The reason I read this was one of my students. They were doing broader research on China and its Belt and Road Initiative. When helping them with their research, this article came up. I figured they could maybe mine the citations for additional resources, but otherwise this article was not for them. However, an article about libraries often catches my eye, and since it was short, I read it. 

I wrote that the article begins to explore the topic as the author states that little research has been done on this area. The author's study then strives to see how China is investing in libraries on the continent. To do so, the author does a newspapers and news content analysis; the study relied on China Daily. China Daily is a Chinese English language newspaper; it is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and it is a source many around the world read even with that caveat as it provides important information on Chinese issues. Author does acknowledge there are limitations to using China Daily as the research source such as possible biases from the newspaper's ownership. 

Author found that the Chinese invest in library development in three main ways: 

• China provides direct funding and is involved in a library's construction.
• A Chinese multinational corporation may be involved, a form of corporate social responsibility. 
• Other NGOs may be involved in developing a library 

Forms of aid can range from infrastructure and construction to donating books. Author notes book donations can have mixed results, especially if a lot of the donations are books written in Chinese that may have limited use and/or interest in the African nations. Author ends by calling for further research in this area. 

Citation for the article: 

Swapan Kumar Patra, "Chinese aid in the library development of Africa: a brief survey." Annals of Library and Information Studies Vol. 70 (2023): 126-131.

Book Review: Temples of Books

 (Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian.)

Marianne Julia Strauss, et.al., Temples of Books: Magnificent Libraries Around the World. Berlin, Germany: Gestalten Verlag, 2022.  ISBN: 9783967040241.

Genre: libraries

Subgenre: photography, travel

Format: oversize, coffee table book

Source: Interlibrary Loan (ILL) at Hutchins Library. The book came from Lutnick Library, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.

 

This is an oversize book highlighting libraries from around the world. It includes 54 libraries, large and small, and it includes at least one virtual library. On reading it, I felt the book was very Western and Eurocentric, so I went back and did the locations breakdown: 

• United States: 10.
• Europe: 25.
• Asia: 6.
• Africa: 6.
• Latin America: 3.
• Australia: 1.
• Canada: 1.
• Oceania: 1.
• Online: 1.

I think the numbers speak for themselves. I honestly wonder if the editors really could not find more great libraries outside of Europe and the United States.  For example, I am sure Latin America has more than three libraries that could qualify as a "magnificent library." 

In addition to the library entries, the book includes an introduction by author and volume co-editor Marianne Julia Strauss. She opens the introduction and book referring back to the ever popular Borges quote about imagining paradise as a library. She describes then what the book covers, such as: 

"Temples of Books explores the history, mission, architecture, and changing role of selected libraries around the world. The following pages reveal extraordinary public and private collections, national and monastery libraries, repurposed engine sheds, and UNESCO-protected mud buildings from Mexico to Vietnam to Mauritania" (4).

So while there is not much geographic diversity, the editors do provide a good sampling of different types of libraries. Each library entry includes: 

• Library name.
• Design/designer name/style.
• When/date built.
• Location.
• Descriptive text and narrative about the library.
• A selection of photos of the library.

The entries vary in length from a couple of pages to five pages give or take. The text is interesting and informative, though some of the short entries do seem short leaving the reader to ask if there was not more that could be written. Text can include a history of the library, who it serves, and other highlights. 

The strength of the book is in the photography. The photos vary in size, but they are beautiful, and it is a pleasure to view them. The photos are in full color. Do note more prominent libraries get more photos. 

This is a great book to casually browse. You can read it cover to cover, or you can just browse for what catches your eye. 

I recommend the book for armchair travelers who enjoy large travel photography books. Fans of libraries will likely enjoy it as well. I'd also recommend it for public and academic libraries. Libraries with LIS programs will want to add this one. Overall, despite some issues, I really liked it. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Additional reading notes: 

Jay Walker's advice on creating your own private library: 

"Collect to learn! Books that can teach you what you never thought you were interested in or can inspire you in ways that stretch your imagination-- no matter the resale value-- are worth their weight in gold" (113). 

Malala Yousafzai's quote on the power of books: 

"Let us not forget that even one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world" (qtd. in 297). 

Reading the highlights of the ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey for 2021

Took a look at this article out of College and Research Libraries (CR&L) on the 2021 ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey. I can only look at the highlights because you need to be subscriber to see more, which I am not. The article has a enough to get a basic picture of what is going on. 

This is a survey designed to help show how libraries have academic libraries have an impact in their institutions and show value to their users and stakeholders. Notice that this survey would cover part of the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey has a standard set of questions, but this edition also featured a set of additional questions specific to topics in library instruction and presentations to groups.

Some details with a bit of comment from me: 

• Data was collected from 1,533 libraries. The response rate was close to 42%. 
• The number of FTE (full time equivalent) librarians stayed stable over the past three annual surveys. However the number of FTE student workers went down by 40%. 
• In person reference transactions and library instruction declined. This is less surprising given the Hard Times and the pandemic. Like other campuses, we did have a period of campus closing down where we went fully virtual. It is 2023, and we are still not quite recuperating in terms of getting classes to come back into the library for instruction nor in terms of traffic in the building. 
• Virtual transactions and consultations went up. Also the survey found more libraries delivered services online. Given the Hard Times, that is not surprising either. We did our part to deliver more services online. 

To be honest, kind of nice to see some numbers, but there is nothing that is earth shattering so to speak. 

 

 

Reading ALA's "State of America's Libraries" 2023

I do not always read this report (link to ALA page, where you can get a summary and download the full PDF report, which I did save and read), but given the situation in the last few years, I took a look. After reading it, I see a lot of the usual feel good rhetoric about the nobility of our libraries, about their bravery in these Hard Times, and how they do more with less. Those are not necessarily new things, but they have been aggravated by current threats to our collections as well as to librarians. 

I am just going to quickly note a couple of things that caught my eye or made me react. You can click on the link above and read the full report or as much of it as you wish. The most useful part of the report are probably the various infographics and charts with information on book challenges, lists, and other issues. You can use some of those graphics to help promote the report as well as raising awareness overall. 

Some highlights then with a comment or two from me: 

From the executive director message: 

Librarians "found themselves contending with reduced funding and staffing, threats to personal safety in the form of bomb scares and to professional livelihoods from firings and job losses, and bills threatening to criminally charge librarians or defund libraries altogether for making certain materials available on their shelves or findable through reference services" (2). 

What often is happening is that some angry "Karen" from some terrorist astroturf group like "Moms for Liberty" throws a hissy fit, and then the administrators to keep the peace just fold. As P.Z. Myers writes, "That’s all it takes, one prude from the fascist group “Moms for Liberty” complains, and administrators instantly surrender." Not exactly the bravest of actions. The result is that these well organized Party of Stupid conservative Christofascists get emboldened when they see they can get away with some small challenge, try for a bigger one, and before you know it they get legislators to defund libraries. They were not challenged back early when they were small, and thus a lot of the mess we have now. 

From the 2022-2023 ALA President: 

"As trusted institutions, libraries are the last bastion of democracy that is truly inclusive and free" (3). 

Unless you happen to be in one of those communities who are happy to let their elected officials defund their libraries and threaten the safety of their librarians. But other than that, sure. Heck, even here in Kentucky the book challenges are on the rise. 

From the director of ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom: 

The rising numbers of challenges and book bans "are evidence of a growing, well-organized, conservative political movement whose goals include removing books addressing race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health from America's public libraries and school libraries that do not meet their approval" (4). 

That is a polite way of saying a well-organized right wing Part of Stupid Christofascist bunch of bigots who more often than not have not even read the books they are challenging. Also ignores the fact that in many libraries the administrators flat out ignore their own book challenge procedures to appease them. So allowing them to escalate has led to the following: 

"Both school and public librarians are increasingly in the crosshairs of conservative groups during book challenges and subject to defamatory name calling, online harassment, social media attacks, and doxxing, as well as direct threats to their safety, their employment, and their very liberty" (4). 

This is the America we live in now. These are Hard Times to be a librarian and/or an educator for that matter.  

To be honest, the best part of the report that is really worth reading is the "Forward Momentum" article edited by Phil Morehart. It highlights some interesting and innovative things that some libraries are doing including a cellphone lending program, enhanced library cards for ID use, and lending utility wagons. 

The report is 18 pages long in PDF form. It is an ALA report, which means it focuses mainly on public libraries. For academic libraries, there is the ACRL Library Trends and Statistics Survey (latest out now is the 2021 edition, which I will look at later).

Short book review: A Library Miscellany

Claire Cock-Starkey, A Library Miscellany. Oxford, UK: Bodleian Library, 2018. ISBN: 9781851244720.

Genre: nonfiction

Subgenre: trivia, libraries

Format: small hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

This is a small book of library histories, lists, and trivia. The book also looks at library collections, individuals, and facts. Many of the lists and material has an anglophile focus; the book is published by the Bodleian library. 

Some of the topics included in the book are: 

• The ten largest libraries in the world. 
• Some fictional libraries of note. 
• Charles Darwin's library aboard the Beagle. 
• Some famous librarians of note.
• Library treasures: the Gough Map.

Overall, this is a nice small interesting book. Librarians and library fans will likely appreciate it. Readers who enjoy trivia books will probably enjoy this one. The book is nothing spectacular, but it is an easy and quick read where you learn a few things about libraries. I liked it, and I would suggest it for trivia readers and library fans. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

Article Note: Looking at the Immersive Media and Books 2020 Report

This article looks at and summarizes findings from the Immersive Media and Books 2020 report done by Panorama Project. You can find the full report here. At the link you can download the full report to read, and they also offer a webinar on it you can watch. The big takeaway from the report is that books are not in a vacuum; they exist within a connected media ecosystem that can include television, the Internet, games, etc. The report looks at consumer behavior related to books and that media ecosystem before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (the pandemic that as of this writing is still ongoing). I am writing down some of the key ideas from the article and adding a bit of my commentary here or there. 

• Definition of book engagement: "...buying, borrowing, subscribing to, reading or gifting a printed book, an ebook, or audiobook in part or in whole" (228). In the survey, participants were then asked how many books they engaged with rather than how many books they read (which is what other surveys such as Pew Research does). This can account for more than just people who read books or buy books. This can account for people who do things like check books out of the library that they may or not read. I am sure some readers out there who use libraries have done that, check out a book they returned unread. No shame in that. It also accounts for other behaviors such as buying books as gifts. 
• Survey sample size was 4,314. Data was collected from September to November 2020.
• Word of mouth discovery is a highlight of the report. This includes learning about books via family, friends, and social media. Not one form of discovery predominates; they are widely distributed. 
• Report found people may not be very aware of the role of algorithms in book discovery, for example in social media spaces (based on how people curate their social media) and in places like Amazon where the algorithm is used to target ads and sale suggestions (and this is something people cannot opt out). For me, a lot of my social media is curated in terms of books and reading, especially Twitter and my RSS reader where I follow authors, book publishers, and other reader's advisory resources.
  
• Author brand plays a role in book discovery and purchasing. People cite favorite authors and author events as ways of discovering new books. I'll say that may not be as much for me. While I have some favorite authors, I do not always try to read everything a favorite author puts out. I tend to like a bit more variety, so I wander around in seeking out new books to read. Personally, I don't really fit this because I mostly discover new things to read via social media, as I noted above. I also discover new books to read via tools and sites like NetGalley and Edelweiss Plus, plus I am a strong library user, both my local public library and the academic library I work at. Being a professional librarian means I also have access to things like publisher catalogs. So I am very aware that I am a bit different than the average survey participants. 
• Definition of avid book engagers from the report: "...respondents who 'engaged' with 4 or more books per month (in any format: ebook, audiobook, or print book)" (231).
• Why diversity matters and publishers need to pay more attention: "Young ethnically diverse respondents (especially Black and LatinX millennials) are avidly buying, borrowing, and subscribing to books. The book industry has long underestimated Black, LatinX and millennial book engagers as desirable target audiences. These are consumers to watch going forward" (232-233). I'd say the publishing industry still underestimates them. 
• Yes, libraries DO drive book sales (no matter what grouchy and greedy book publishers would have you believe): "35.9% of respondents bough a book online that they found in a library. 31.1% of respondents bought a book in a bookstore that they first found in a library" (234). 
• The concept of cross-media discovery: "Cross-media discovery (discovering books through video games or TV/movies and vice versa) is high amongst survey respondents, suggesting that audiences are already accustomed to traversing media to pursue stories and worlds they enjoy; there is likely more opportunity for cross-media collaboration" (235). I would say I do not discover much to read via video games, since I play so little video games if ever. I may discover something to read from television or movies, but that is pretty rare too. One way I discover books to read from television is via documentaries and similar programs. If the program on a topic I am interested in features an expert, and that expert has written a book, I am likely to search out the book and decide if I want to read it down the road or not. 
• Piracy may be a problem, but it is also a matter for publishers to demonstrate value of buying their products. "Musicians have adapted to the reality of piracy by putting more of a premium on things that are harder to pirate, such as fan merchandise and live concerts. The public's demand for printed books suggests that authors won't have to shift their revenue streams as extremely as did musicians. But publishers will have to make sure the value proposition of buying a printed book more evident to young people habituated to leasing access to entertainment" (236). 
• However, for all the griping certain segments make about online pirates, the issue is not black and white as those certain segments would have you believe: "book pirates are not only thieves but also customers, library patrons, fanfiction readers/writers, and more. Compared to the general survey population, a higher percentage of book pirates during COVID are buying more books (38.7%), audiobooks (27.1%) and print books (33.7%). . ." (236). 
• "The data show that book pirates are avid readers who will buy books when the value proposition is clear to them; for example, pirates are much more likely than the general survey population to buy books in multiple formats (41.5%)" (236). 
• "This disrupts the usual absolute perspective-- pirate or not pirate-- with a more nuanced understanding and spectrum of piracy behavior" (236). This is a bit of why I am not too critical of pirates as some other folks out there are. Also if you make things harder in terms of ability to purchase a book (or another item), from what I have seen, the more likely said items will be pirated. 
• Key finding about libraries: "The most important finding is that library borrowing encourages book sales. Immersive Media & Books 2020 finds that libraries, bookstores, and online channels mutually reinforce each other, leading to engagement and sales in other channels" (237, emphasis in original). We need to say this louder for the greedy asshat publisher moguls in the back who keep making things difficult for libraries to acquire books, especially ebooks, for their communities. 
• Furthermore, "the report found that library borrowing does not preclude or discourage respondents from buying books; on the contrary, a greater percentage of library card holders said they were buying more books during COVID than the general survey population, in every format" (237). 

 

Citation for the article: 

Rachel Noorda and Kathi Inman Berens, "Immersive Media and Books 2020: New Insights About Book Pirates, Libraries and Discovery, Millennials, and Cross-Media Engagement: Before and During COVID." Publishing Research Quarterly 37 (2021): 227-240.  

Article Note: On top trends in academic libraries for 2022

The article summarizes and discusses trends in academic librarianship for the previous two years, going back to 2020. This report from Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) seeks to provide a snapshot of what has been going on. I read through this, and I am jotting down a few takeaways and comments from my reading. Keep in mind this is an ACRL report, which means it is mostly looking at R-1 universities and other really big schools. My college would not be on their radar, but I still find some things in the article can be applicable here.

 

• COVID-19 pretty much dominated the time period. It forced libraries to adapt and offer new online services and/or expand the online services they had already. Locally, we had to significantly expand our online services.* Like other libraries, we did have a lockdown period. 
• Like many other workplaces and the rest of society, the pandemic exposed the many inequity issues in library employment. The authors write that "inequities between librarians and other library staff were heightened" (244). Locally, well, this would include the already existing inequity issues between the "real" faculty and the "library faculty. 
• In addition, the authors also write that "low morale continues to be an area of concern in librarianship, particularly for librarians of color, nonlibrarian staff, and members of underrepresented groups" (244). Add other life pressures, and librarians who happen to be on tenure lines are seriously suffering. Personally, I am glad I am not on a tenure line. There are issues that cause me stress, but publish or perish is not one of them.
• Yes, the pandemic also made us more aware of space and its utilization. Signage, enforcing masking rules (which have been relaxed by now), social distancing, so on, were and are issues. 
• A side note from the space issue. An investigation the authors cite looked at "pre-COVID, how collaboration spaces are used and found that furniture or spaces intended for multiple people are frequently being used by single individuals" (245). We certainly jumped on the collaboration spaces bandwagon here. I would say we need to investigate here how exactly are collaborative spaces used, to verify if use is consistent with the investigation mentioned or not. 
• Sharing collections more and more emphasis on open access.  On open access, the authors point out that while there is a lot of talk about OA, librarians being typically in favor, it has not translated into any substantial OA policies. 
• Apparently artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing trend in academic libraries, but to be honest, that is not something that has appeared on our radar at this point, and as of this writing, it would not be a priority to any degree. For us, it would be a very low concern if at all at this point in time. 
• Data and data management. At times, administrators speak about it, but so far no one really has presented any ideas or paths to execute or make it meaningful. 
• Why this can be significant for libraries, including for libraries like ours? "Libraries are taking a greater interest in data visualization as they seek to tell their own story, including assessment, value of the library, collection analysis, and internal capacity building" (249). 
• Critical librarianship continues to be a trend. 
• Defined: "For instance, critical librarianship argues that libraries are not neutral and challenges librarians to take steps towards antiracist and aintioppressive practices for the benefit of users but also for the benefit of the profession itself" (249). 
• This is an area that I admit we need to work on and explore further here. 
• A key area of this is critical information literacy (CIL). "CIL literature discusses why and how information professionals should ask questions about power dynamics within academia, equal access to information, and the economic incentives around how information and data are created, stored, and used" (249). While we do some of that in our information literacy sessions, it is nowhere near being systematic or consistent. Clearly an area we need to explore. Given where I work, this kind of labor makes sense as well as would go with the overall institutional mission. As I said, needs further investigation at this time. 

On a final note, I did find copies of some items from the article's references list, which I will read and make notes here as I get to them.  

Citation for the article: 2021-2022 ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, "Top Trends in Academic Libraries: a Review of Trends and Issues." C&RL News, June 2022: 243-256.

* Here is our webpage for COVID-19 online services we set up in 2020 shortly after the initial lockdown. The website has been updated as changes happened over time. 

Article Note: On trendspotting and the future in post-pandemic academic libraries

This editorial piece looks at spotting trends for academic libraries in the post-pandemic world. Personally, I do not think we are in a post-pandemic world, but as I often say, I am not a pundit nor do I play one on TV. Anyhow, the last two years have been challenging for us in academic libraries, large or small. We had to improvise, adapt, and overcome in order to serve our students. In our case, we did do quite a bit of work in order to respond and adapt our services to more online settings. Our library did have some structure in place to accomplish this. The college overall had to work at it a bit more mainly because we are a residential campus, but the college did adapt as well. The article's author suggests that these new experiences will continue to shape academia in the post-pandemic world. Do keep in mind that for the most part, as usual in many LIS articles, this one focuses more on larger institutions like ACRL members and its UK counterpart. I am more interested to see if anything can be useful to us here in our more modest and smaller setting.

 

Some key quotes, with my comments. 

 

"The pandemic has heightened the importance and significance of being able to operate in a hybrid manner and how libraries deliver services in online environments" (2). 

 

By now, an increase in online learning is a given, and it is more significant in the COVID times. COVID and online learning are here to stay, which should not surprise anyone. 

 

"Brine and Knight (2021) actually discuss the continued increasing cost of digital content, and the impact that the pandemic has had on this issue" (2). 

 

This has been and continues to be a constant, the increasing costs. As I often say these days, this is one of the things I do not need cartomancy for. 

 

On another note, as the article mentions, open access has expanded. However, the work is barely starting. It is nowhere near where it could be or should be. 

 

"By 2020, the ACRL trends around students have become more about 'student wellbeing and mental health,' illustrating that whilst the focus may have changed, the importance of understanding and supporting students has never diminished" (3).

The 2020 report would look at data before the pandemic, Even then wellbeing and mental health were emerging as issues. If anything, the pandemic has made issues of wellness and mental health worse given the higher stress students, along with faculty and staff, face during these Hard Times. As for how higher education has handled it, well, based on observation I'd say inconsistently. 

"Academic librarians will need to manage and curate data more and more, and consequently will need to become more 'data literate'" (5). 

We continue to use data and evidence to guide our decisions, but the point here is that there are and will be more additional data sources to consider. 

 

"Academic libraries continue to lead the way in decolonization and liberation work and initiatives within their institutions, but much still needs to be done to address the unbalanced nature of the academic library workforce and how this reflects on the support and services provided for the users of those libraries" (5). 

Naturally, something had to be said to diversity and inclusion. Given the climate in the U.S. as of this post, I am a bit skeptical about claiming that academic libraries lead the way in the liberation work. Some might, but others are failing at it. Even here I know we do what we can, but there is still work to do.

Citation for the article: Leo Appleton, "Trendspotting-- Looking to the Future in a Post-Pandemic Academic Library Environment." New Review of Academic Leadership, 28.1 (2022): 1-6.

 

 

Book Review: Stalin's Library

 

Geoffrey Roberts, Stalin's Library: a Dictator and His Books. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022.  ISBN:  9780300179040.

 

Genre: libraries, biography, politics

Subgenre: history, Russian, Soviet Union

Format: hardcover

Source: Via Interlibrary Loan through Hutchins Library, Berea College. The book came from Alcuin Library, St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.  

 

If memory serves me right, I saw this book mentioned somewhere on social media. I like reading about books and libraries, so this book seemed to fit the bill. The book has an introduction, seven chapters, a conclusion, notes, and a further reading list. 

To be honest, this book is really a political biography of Stalin with a bit of a literacy narrative. We learn that Stalin was an avid and attentive reader. He read extensively, and he read books within his ideologies as well as books by his rivals and enemies. Stalin also read some works from other countries in Russian translation. 

We know a lot about Stalin as a reader from the remnants of his personal library. I say remnants because Stalin's personal library was dispersed after his death. Stalin was an active reader, and he made a lot of notes in his books as he read. This marginalia gives us insight into Stalin's thoughts on various topics and issues. In addition, Stalin was an active editor of documents, his and other people's documents, and scholars have studied these documents too. 

The most interesting part of the book is the look at Stalin's library, the kinds of books he collected and read. The part about how Stalin arranged his books, or rather had a librarian do it for him, is also interesting. 

The rest of the book is mostly a political biography, and it is not always interesting. At times, this biography goes a bit much into minutiae. This can make the text a bit dense to read at times. Some readers may choose to skim through some of this material. 

I would say that much of this book feels more like an academic article or two on Stalin as a reader. At some point, someone decided to pitch a book, and the additional biographical material, which often is not connected to Stalin as a reader, feels like filler at times. The result is that the interesting topic of Stalin as a reader and his books gets lost in the rest of the text. 

For public libraries, this may be a book to skip. For academic libraries, large academic libraries with strong collections on the Soviet Union, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Asia might find this to be an optional selection. It may also be an optional selection for LIS/library school libraries. 

In the end, this was just OK. This is not really a book that can be read for pleasure.

2 out of 5 stars. 

* * * * * 

 

Additional reading notes: 

 

 What the book aims to do: 

"This book explores the intellectual life and biography of one of history's bloodiest dictators: Joseph Stalin. Uniquely, it does so through the prism of his personal library. A dedicated reader and self-improver, Stalin's accumulation of books was a lifelong passion" (1).

Part of me thinks that the line we often hear about how reading makes people better is not really true, at least not in all cases. In this case, just look at Stalin. 

 

How the book views Stalin, according to the author: 

"This book views Stalin through a different lens-- as a dedicated idealist and as an activist intellectual who valued ideas as much as power, who was ceaseless in his own efforts at self-education, a restless mind, reading for the revolution to the very end of his life" (6). 

Books are the best way to know Stalin's inner life: 

"Apart from private photographs and some hastily written and perfunctory letters to family members, Stalin's library books are among the best means we have of accessing the dictator's inner life" (15). 

Stalin seeing himself as an intellectual: 

"Stalin saw himself as neither a worker nor a peasant, but as, in effect, an intellectual whose task it was to spread enlightenment and socialist consciousness. It was this fundamental choice of an intellectual identity that motivated his fanatical, life-long commitment to reading and self-improvement" (48). 

Yet in a way Stalin read like many of us read: 

"Stalin read books in diverse ways-- selectively or comprehensively, cursorily or with avid attention. Some he read cover to cover, others he merely skimmed. Sometimes he would begin reading a book, lose interest after a few pages and jump from the introduction to the conclusion. Some books he read in a single sitting, others he dipped in and out of" (97). 

What Stalin's library reveals: 

"In truth, no smoking guns are to be found anywhere in the remnants of Stalin's library. His pometki reveal preoccupations not secrets, and the way he engaged with ideas, arguments, and facts" (101). 

A reason Stalin read a lot: 

"Admittedly, complexity, depth, and subtlety were not strengths of Stalin's nor was he an original thinker. His lifelong practice was to utilise other people's ideas, formulations and information-- that was why he read such a lot. His intellectual hallmark was that of a brilliant simplifier, clarifier, and populariser" (153). 

Additional notes from US Book Show 2022: Libraries are Essential, Part 2 session

This is one of the sessions I watched on demand after the conference. 

 

Session: Libraries are Essential, Part 2. 

Session to look at critical areas, especially in the "post-pandemic" times. 

Access to e-books and digital content:

• Yes, publishers' onerous restrictions on e-book purchases for libraries are inequitable (i.e. nothing new here). Publishers then suing libraries over it is just bullying. The bottom line on this issue is that it is about fair and equitable digital access. Publisher greed is not a good look no matter what lip service they give about libraries being good, etc. 
• On digital lending and e-book demand: 
• E-book usage continues to grow. Foot traffic in libraries fell with the pandemic and is not back to pre-pandemic levels yet in many places. Some libraries in fact encouraged use of electronic resources (my library certainly did). 
• Other libraries do report lower materials circulation. For electronic resources, again, publisher onerous demands and restrictions mean that libraries are less able to meet patron demand at a time when demand is increasing. 
• Defining equitable digital access. Collections bridge content gaps. To provide quality content for all in a safe environment. Equitable access to content that reflects the community. 
• Equitable digital access is difficult given publishers' exploitative pricing on e-books, which is often at least 3 times higher or more than print book pricing. So librarians are more likely then not to "license" more e-books and buy print, but this means many patrons can be left out, thus an inequitable situation. This can be blamed on publishers' greed. 
• Advances in technology have allowed publishers to avoid/refuse to offer fair pricing on e-books and electronic resources. Playing victim for them is a common disinformation tactic in their industry. Meanwhile publishers continue to disadvantage libraries. 
• Despite publishers' clout, some librarians are working to advocate for themselves and their patrons. However, it may be serious time, as stated by the librarian from Maryland, for libraries to withhold funding from publishers, i.e. time for boycotts of certain publishers. 
• Contrary to what publishers say, librarians do defend and support copyright. Libraries and schools teach about copyright. When we help a student cite their sources properly, we are defending copyright. 
• With better terms from publishers (as if, but work with me here), libraries could buy more content, including more diverse authors, debut authors too instead or in addition to just the "usual" bestsellers. Libraries propose digital access should be as access for print resources. Bottom line: librarians need to continue and expand their role as advocates, but also steer themselves and patrons to smaller and indie publishers willing to give libraries a better deal. This means then also to steer away from large exploitative publishers. Libraries need to put contingency plans in place. 

Interview with Jennie Rose Halperin, of Library Futures (advocacy group).  

• Publishers may not see everything libraries do to promote reading, culture, uplift communities, and providing new ways for people to understand their world (this is true as libraries go, but it is a very charitable way to see publishers. I'd say publishers are just willfully blind). 
• On a tech positive future for libraries. There are many reasons we need access and use electronic resources. The world is moving more to digital content, and libraries need to be part of this future. However, libraries, largely due (we are saying it again) to publisher onerous restrictions, face various challenges. 

Panel discussion: "We are still not OK: Protecting library workers after the pandemic." 

 

• (I should mention that I loathe the "after the pandemic" phrasing. At this point, the pandemic is not over no matter how much wishful thinking most of society is doing now.)
• This sessions mostly looks at libraries' work during the pandemic (a lot of this falls under the "we did good" category of library presentation). What many often did not realize was library workers' trauma at the time (and still ongoing). Many library workers remained at work in libraries that stayed open. (I worked even as the campus was, mostly, locked down in the early stages of the pandemic. Personally, I never "went home.) The issue of trauma has an impact on everyone. 
• "Normal" is a problem. The pandemic exposed various critical needs and forms of suffering. 
• Keep in mind that libraries, especially public libraries, had been suffering divestment and defunding before the pandemic. The pandemic just made things worse for libraries. 
• Trauma is endemic at all library levels according to researchers. Yet attitudes in library workers can be cavalier, meaning they may leave the work in libraries, get transferred out of public services, or just "mentally check out." 
• On defining trauma. A key difference is when people feel supported and able to cope they tend to see it more as a "bad experience" than as trauma. 
• The pandemic has disproportionately affected library workers of color (PoC). In addition, issues of low pay, white supremacy, mission creep need to be addressed. Still, the pandemic has shown and exposed changes that need to be done. 
• To library directors: it is a certainty your PoC library staff have endured abuse in some form at the reference desk. You nor the rest of the staff should be OK with that nor just let it slip. Directors, you need to make choices then, including policy changes. As leaders, you need to lead, not tolerate racist or otherwise abusive behavior. Period. Full stop. 
• A question asked: what if nothing changes? (I think that scenario is possible if not very likely.) The speakers believe change will come, even if some need to get out of the way. Thinking in 20th century terms is no longer an option. Overall, the speakers are optimistic (but again, what if nothing changes? As I often say, a magnificent question. I do want to believe.)

Panel on library leadership. 

 

• R. David Lankes, on panel, says library leaders need "radical empathy." However, leaders more than not are NOT in touch with front line workers (not surprising. That is a common situation, and one I have witnessed often. But heaven forbid you point it out if you are like me, i.e. a front line worker with no clout). 
• A lot of healing needs to happen in the profession. Asking your front line workers about "the future of libraries" may not be the best thing for leaders to be doing at this time (yea, you may want to shut up about that topic in the Hard Times, at least in front of your library workers). Instead of trying to speculate about futures take care of your library workers first.
   
• Flexibility is necessary in the Hard Times. Leadership needs to communicate consistently and clearly. It might also help if leaders take the same risks as everyone else (I am definitely not holding my breath on that). 
• Leaders need to do more than give pretty speeches (and this was said without irony given that we are listening to some very pretty speeches).
   

 

 

Book Review: The Library: a Fragile History

Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, The Library: a Fragile History. New York: Basic Books, 2021. ISBN: 9781541600775.

 

Genre: libraries

Subgenre: history, world history

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College  

 

On reading this book, I was reminded that while Americans today have very romantic views of libraries, in reality much of their "support" for them is barely words. As others have said, public libraries would not likely be created today given Americans' complete disregard for the idea of a common good. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself. Let's look at the book. 

This book aims to be a history of libraries from antiquity to the modern era. It is not just about libraries. It is also about books, collectors, book sellers, a lot of wealthy people, and folks who had the title of librarian, whether they deserved it or not. The book is also about defining what a library is, the idea and concept of a library. In this history, the authors strive to show and document how libraries were conceived and how they evolved over time. 

The book is arranged in six major parts, and it has three chapters per part. We also get a prologue, a postscript, notes, and a bibliography. 

This is a very ambitious book. The history takes us from ancient times through today. Along the way we learn about Roman libraries, which were mainly vanity projects for some wealthy folks. We go through the Middle Ages, monasticism, the Renaissance, the invention of printing, and a lot more. Though the book is very much Western centered, we do get nods and acknowledgement of libraries and book collections in other parts of the world. 

The book's most interesting parts are the older history. The authors pay a lot of attention to details, and you do get a good amount of depth. The story is interesting, more so if you are a bibliophile. However, the text at times can be a bit dense. This is not a book to rush through. 

A big takeaway from the book is that libraries have not really been "communal" spaces or assets. More often than not they are very dependent on the largesse of the rich, and even  then most libraries were not open to the general public. The idea of public libraries as we know them today took a very long time to evolve and mature. Even today where the idea is in place, public libraries as we known them are still in danger. The dependence on certain interests also means that libraries and librarians have not always been virtuous, to put it mildly. Librarians have often been heroes as well as villains in this history. 

Overall, this is an interesting but also dense book. Some chapters can be a bit slow. It is an ambitious work that strives to cover a lot of ground, and it does so in a relatively coherent way. This is a very good selection for academic libraries, and it is a must have for LIS academic programs. It may be a good selection for public libraries for their history readers, especially if they enjoy Western and world history overviews. In the end, I really liked this one. 

4 out of 5 stars

* * * * * 

Additional reading notes: 

 

The uncomfortable truth of libraries over the ages: 

 

"What Naudé did not discuss in his writings was the uncomfortable truth of libraries throughout the ages: no society has ever been satisfied with the collections inherited from previous generations. What we will frequently see in this book is not so much the apparently wanton destruction of beautiful artifacts so lamented by previous studies of library history but neglect and redundancy, as books and collections that represented the values and interests of one generation fail to speak to the one that follows. The fate of many collections was to degrade in abandoned attics and ruined buildings, even if only as prelude to renewal and rebirth in the most unexpected places" (2). 

 

For all the bitching and moaning certain people, usually the clueless, do, there are solid reasons why libraries need to be properly weeded on a regular basis. 

 

Some important principles about libraries, still of value today, from monastic medieval libraries: 

 

". . .the library as a sanctuary and storehouse of culture; the fixity of stock; the role of the Christian Church in the recovery of the antique; the library as a place of work and silent contemplation. All this was distinctly uncongenial to the Young Turks of the early Renaissance, impatient and urbane, looking for personal advancement in the glittering new courts of the Italian city-states and the emerging monarchies" (50-51). 

 

Interesting how things never change as we have Young Turks in librarianship today, often impatient and urbane, looking for advancement by denigrating libraries in favor of things like flashy, but not always long term reliable, technology, community centers without books, and iSchools. 

 

Again, on libraries from one generation to the next: 

 

"One man's passion project would be nothing but a burden to those to whom the responsibility was passed on" (100). 

 

An essential problem of book collecting from Alexandria to today. This can also be applicable to other collector hobbies: 

 

". . .no one cares about a library collection as much as the person who has assembled it. Only the library's creator records the place of a fortuitous purchase, the identity of kind donors, or remembers how a particular text changed their lives or opinions. Only they experienced the joy of tracking down a long-desired edition and the network of friends that helped in the quest" (140). 

 

Notice the above assumes that the books, some at least, may have some monetary value. We need to be honest here, so I am going to break it to you: most books people "collect" have no monetary value other than what the collector paid, and that is likely to decrease to zero value over time. This is yet another reason libraries do NOT want your old encyclopedias, National Geographics, etc. Your "donation" is nothing more than junk, junk that libraries will end up turning around and tossing in the dumpster. An actual antiquarian book collector more likely has a plan in place for their collection in the future. As for the rest of you, here is the reality:

 

"Collectors always find it difficult to conceive that what they have created, at great expense and effort, may hold little value to others" (191). 

 

Libraries weaponized, as agents of conflict: 

 

"At the same time, both within Europe and throughout its new acquired colonies, books and libraries have frequently been the advanced guard in campaigns to impose on a population a new kind of society, promote a new religion, or win back territory lost to a rival ideology. These libraries were ideological weapons with a specific mission: boldly planted in hostile or (from the view of colonisers)  uncharted territory, libraries became intellectual castles and fortresses, and an encapsulation of the values of the settlers who had crossed the seas to seize and subdue" (161).

 

ALA's less than lackluster record on important issues: 

 

"The issue of segregation in the American South posed the greatest challenge to the American Library Association, and one it conspicuously failed to meet" (387).

 

Some titles from the bibliography I may want to read (in no particular order). Book links to WorldCat record unless noted otherwise: 

 

• Gabriel Naudé, Instructions concerning erecting a library (link to free copy via Internet Archive. IA has some other more recent translations, but you need to register to borrow them).  
• Mark P. McDonald, Ferdinand Columbus: Renaissance Collector.
  
• Wilson-Lee, Edward, The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books: Young Columbus and the Quest for a Universal Library.
• Mark Purcell, The Country House Library. 
• Anders Rydell, The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance. 
• Charlie English, The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu.

Article Note: On Value of Marginalia

This article looks at marginalia that people leave in an academic library's book. In other words, it looks at writing that readers may leave in the books, books they are not supposed to be writing on by the way. The author offers this definition of marginalia:

"Marginalia is defined as '. . .unique records of the reader's experience offering insights into how and why a reader reads. . .'" (1).

I will admit that I am not one to do much marginalia in my books, even though when I was an undergraduate it was encouraged that I write in my textbooks, especially in the literature classes. Still, it was not a habit that stuck with me. I either make reading notes in my journals, or if I am using an e-reader, I use the note functions to do my marginalia. I should also note that when I read articles like this, I print them out, and I do write notes on the margins of the text. Some of those notes help me recall things or add questions and comments I may integrate in these article note blog posts. Still, the topic of this article caught my eye.

The author states that there is very little on the subject of marginalia written by common people. We usually think of marginalia when it comes to famous authors and other famous people writing in the margins of their books. Often those books sell for astronomical value after those famous people pass on and their books hit the auction blocks. The author then in his literature review looks a bit at the history of marginalia and some authors who have written about it.

The author's study takes place at the library of Queensborough Community College, City University of New York. He points out that the common response to marginalia from patrons in library books is to view it as aberrant behavior, and such marginalia is often erased or removed. For this study, the author focused on the literature section of his library (LOC call number ranges: PR, PS, and PT), and ten books were chosen for the study. The article includes the list of the ten books selected. A capture tool was created in order to capture data including specific types of marginalia such as underlining, highlighting, use of brackets and/or parenthesis, and symbols. The data was then put into an EXCEL spreadsheet. The author then provides abbreviated data in the article from the large spreadsheet. Rest of the article then discusses specific marginalia found in the 10 books.

Some findings: 

 

•  The assumption was that various authors wrote the marginalia, "but of the 10 books sample, the analysis shows that, with few exceptions, a single marginalia writer wrote throughout the book" (7).

• What marginalia does: "Anecdotally and from personal experience we know that marginalia is a technique used to help the reader more fully engage in the subject matter. It is used to enhance concentration and focus, thereby improving memory and learning. It reminds us to dig deeper, stimulates questions and helps to draw conclusions" (19). 

As he gets to the conclusion, the author notes that with print diminishing due to the rise of electronic reading options that readers may not have as accessible means to make notations in books (24). I would say such options are not totally lost. E-readers often feature options for making notes about texts as well as highlighting parts of texts. When available, I make use of those features, which I find helpful later when I am reviewing a book or other text. 

Naturally I would say to many librarians people writing in books may be more of a horror than something to be studies. In that sense, this article is different than so many other LIS articles. Overall, this was an interesting read. 

Items from the references list I found of interest, possible adds to my TBR list: 

Author cites this site on "How to Leave Masterful Marginalia" from the Levenger stationery company. It does include a printer friendly version of their chart. 

H.J. Jackson, Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books. The author cites the 2001 edition, which my library has. There is a 2010 edition, but I am not sure how much of an improvement or not the new edition is.

In some library land fuckery for early August 2021

It is not often I just open the blog to post something right away, but I had to jump in to share this post from Librarian Shipwreck: "All grievances do, in fact, remain connected."

 

Most of the time I do my best to tune out the drama in library land because more often than not it can be either champagne problems or just petty, but this week upped the ante. We are getting some serious drama and fuckery going on in #libraries and librarianship in the past week or so. So just read the thing. I was not aware of the assholery of the American Historical Society, but I am not surprised. Our Special Collections and Archives here I am sure gets their share of ungrateful and inconsiderate prima donnas who could not care less who keels over as long as they get their precious archival materials. As the writer states, they need to learn that "there is no such thing as a bibliographic emergency. . .". The second story story about the Temple librarian I've spoken of here and there on social media.  

 

The blog post has some very good quotes, but this one really caught my eye as it is something I have pondered often (and I may have written about it on this blog but I honestly do not feel like looking it up now): 

 

"Here’s the commonality: library workers are expendable and we are not trusted. We serve and serve and serve, and when we burn out or just up and die, that’s acceptable and there’s always more cannon fodder to replace us — or maybe the positional will be cut and our overburdened coworkers will have to pick up the slack, because they are expendable, too. Despite what should be seen as a miraculous collective track record of service, we are not trusted to do our work without close oversight from administration, whether the question is remote work or sick time. The fact of being largely a female profession double all these things down, even as they are the general neoliberal worklife condition, and Blackness, queerness, disability and other intersections multiply it more for some of us. Even those closest to us professionally, historians, value their research more than our lives. We are not considered the experts on our own profession, not trusted or allowed autonomy over our work, a resource to be burnt to fuel PR campaigns and university rankings."

 

 

Short book review: Academic Library Services for First-Generation Students

Xan Arch and Isaac Gilman, Academic Services for First-Generation Students. Denver, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2020.  ISBN: 9781440870170. 

 

Genre: nonfiction, library science

Subgenre: academic libraries, first-generation students, surveys and case studies, higher education

Format: trade paperback

Source: Interlibrary Loan via Hutchins Library, Berea College. Book came from Owensboro (KY) Community and Technical College Library.

 

Doing a short review as I ran out of time in reading it, and I rushed reading to the end. I borrowed this via Interlibrary Loan, and the lending library refused to renew it, so time is up and I have to return it. I borrowed this because in my library and college we have a big interest in first-generation students (as we do in all of our students of course). A lot of our student population are first-generation students, so I was hoping to find a few new things to learn about them and how libraries can help them better. I liked the book, but it was just not as helpful as I thought it would be for our situation. 

Let me make some quick notes for me to remember about the book: 

• Book is arranged into seven chapters. First three chapters, which is almost half the book, is mostly the usual literature review and backgrounder material you usually get in a lot of the library literature. If you have kept up with these topics, then you have a pretty good idea of the basics the authors are presenting. On the other hand, if you need a quick primer on the condition of the literature and some key concepts, then this will do the job. It does refer to a good amount of the "we did good" kind of articles also common in the library literature. The rest of the book looks at the topics of library space, library instruction, outreach and partnerships, and path forward for academic libraries. Book also includes 2 appendices, which are basically survey instruments the authors used in their research. This can prove useful for folks trying to do similar research on their campuses. 
• Each chapter has a list of reference notes at the end.
  
• A big thesis of the book is that libraries, and their institutions, need to get away from seeing first-generation students as needing remediation and/or needing to adapt to whatever systems are in place. Instead, the institutions need to change and adapt for the skills and assets that these students bring. The institutions need to check their privilege and stop favoring the "usual" white middle class "typical" students. 
• The book seems mainly geared to large universities and institutions. To be honest, I did not feel there was much for us in small colleges. 
• As I read the book, given our college's mission and history, I feel that we already do a lot of what the authors are suggesting. While there is always room to improve, I can say overall we are in good shape when compared to some of those larger places out there. 
• Four areas the authors say institutions need to work on/concentrate to make change: 
• Affirming assets/belonging.
• Support services/help seeking.
• Pedagogy/curriculum.
• Approaches to family. 
•  In reading the chapter on student perceptions, where they surveyed high school college admission counselors, I felt as if those counselors had no idea what it is many modern academic libraries do or have been building up and doing. From their responses, some of those folks need to take a trip to some of their local colleges and universities and their libraries nearby. At least for us, a lot of the academic services they say we ought to have we already have. 
• Do keep in mind this book and the activities described were pre-pandemic of COVID-19. I think it will be interesting to see how things adjust as we come back from that pandemic. 
  
  

Overall, this book is a good primer on the topic. If your library or institution needs to do serious work, this book will give you ways to get started on the work. On the other hand, if you are already doing the work, you may not find much here that is new to you. I liked it, and I would recommend it to folks needing to get a crash course on the topic or for administrators who may need a better understanding about how to serve first-generation students and how their campus libraries work. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

 

Article note: On assessing and communicating liaison librarians' work

The authors start by asserting that the academic libraries' narrative has been moving from telling the story of collecting resources to telling the story of libraries connecting to their campus communities, going outside the library. This is not exactly new; this has been going on for a while now, and they show some of that ongoing narrative in their literature review. Anyhow, this article looks at the efforts and roles of liaison librarians at Rutgers University Libraries, New Brunswick. The highlight is their account of the creation of a Liaison Assessment Committee. 

My interest in the article is that, like many academic librarians, I do some liaison work at my library. Here are some things I took away from the article. 

• Some things have not really changed. The authors cite Laurence Miller, who was writing in the 1970s or so that when it came to liaison relationships "those relationships required more than occasional contact and speculated that they would likely result in routine work receiving priority over more creative but less tangible activity" (286). Here we are in 2021, and more often than not when it comes to liaison work it is basically something you do if and when you can get to it because you have to prioritize the routine work that keeps the library functioning. We often start out with great intentions, but as soon as the daily priorities take over, the intentions do not go very far. After all, given how busy we often are, the higher ups never have a good answer to the question of "if you want us to do this, what are you willing to drop?"
  
• Along with that are the ever popular budgetary concerns: "As budgets tighten, liaisons have assumed more roles that require new skills and more specialized expertise. No longer can liaisons become proficient themselves in each new capacity; rather, they must partner with other specialized colleagues and, at the same time, communicate their own expert capabilities more efficiently" (290).  
• However, more often than not, money is not as much of an issue as time is, especially since no higher up wants to drop stuff being done to add or exchange for additional more focused liaison work. Collection development per se lessens as libraries become more reliant on things like patron driven acquisitions, standing order plans, and buying resources by the bundle. This makes the acquisitions process less humane (but that is another question for another time).
  
• Later on, a bit more of the same in 2009, this time the authors cite Karla Hahn writing for Research Library Issues: "While research libraries may agree on the importance of the position, how to reconfigure liaison work has become a topic of broad concern. Identifying emerging roles and determining how to develop corresponding liaison capabilities are common challenges" (288). 
• We do need to keep in mind that this article was written pre-pandemic. I have not seen much on liaison work in light of the pandemic, but I have seen more on things like services to students, which is fine by me, they should be our main focus in my humble opinion. But still, if things were difficult to keep up liaison work, the pandemic has not done any favors for us. 
• Keep in mind also that Rutgers is a very large campus, and their librarians have a lot of specialties. That level of specialization is not an option in a small campus like mine. Liaison work here can be specialized subject or functional. We do both here to varying degrees. 
• Recommendation from the article: "redefining job descriptions for new recruits to reflect a variety of functional specialties to engage more actively on campus on issues related to data, copyright, Web and digital services, the undergraduate experience, and instructional design" (292).
• We did that here, for example, when a position was created and filled for a Digital Initiatives Librarian. 
• Recommendation from the article: "It was also recommended that the liaison librarians create an internal, online portal that includes policy documents, tools to aid in the delivery and assessment of instruction, outreach strategies, and information about how to articulate and communicate liaison activities efficiently" (297). 
• Another idea from the article: "In addition to centralized, virtual reference services, the librarians offer local, pop-up reference assistance at the Cook Campus Stephen and Lucy Chang Science Library" (298). The idea of doing pop-up reference in locations outside of the library is something I have considered in and out since before the pandemic. I think it would be nice to offer it, but for me, the question is besides me, who else would be willing to put the time for it? I do not anticipate others jumping at the idea. But still, maybe once the pandemic slows down enough to allow some degree of movement. 
• An example from their art librarian: ". . . the art librarian began in 2014 to hold weekly office hours in the lobbies of those distant units to meet with potential users. Arranged to suit student schedules, the art librarian brings a sign, laptop, brochures, candy, and sometimes library materials or a button maker" (299). In addition to the benefit to students, this additional visibility meant more engagement with the art faculty for the librarian. For me, something like this remains a nice idea, but then I get reminded of time factors and the question of whether the administration would support it or not (and support it more than just saying, sure go for it but you still have all the other stuff you have to do). 
• Still, there are benefits according to the authors that can make this worth it: "This successful initiative demonstrates that spending as little as two hours a week in a place where users learn and convene reaps big benefits for the library and its users, building stronger relationships with a liaison librarian and fostering a solid foundation for engaging with departments" (299). If nothing else, two extra hours does not sound that heavy in terms of load. I am not too likely to carry a button maker; we have one here, but it is an older extremely bulky model you can barely move. Such an initiative does have potential to help increase library support for students in addition to research consultations, virtual reference, and visits to the reference desk.  
• From the article, some ways to get more engagement include: 
• "work more proactively with their community, not just provide services to it" 
• "assess skills needed to achieve their goals" (this implies goals are being set and there is some commitment to do the professional development to develop skills plus administrative support)
• "tell their story more effectively to both library and campus colleagues" (building and maintaining communications is a key point of the article)
• Article includes checklists to help assess liaison efforts and for planning. 
  

 

 

Citation for the article: Kranich, Nancy, et.al., "Moving from Collecting to Connecting: Articulating, Assessing, and Communicating the Work of Liaison Librarians." portal: Libraries and the Academy 20.2 (April 2020): 285-304.

Article Note: On libraries serving transfer students

Citation for the article: Vinyard, Marc, "The Kids Are All Right: How Libraries Can Best Serve Transfer Students." portal: Libraries and the Academy, 20.2 (April 2020): 339-360.

 

As the article states in the title, "the kids are all right." While there is room for improvement for academic libraries to serve transfer students, the situation for these students is not as bad as previous library literature suggests. This quote from a student sums up the situation well: 

 

"There's not so much where you have to explain everything to transfer students. Because, like I said, we've had most of the information before, it's just figuring out how it's done here, and just getting a new mind-set essentially" (339). 

More often than not the idea is that libraries need to teach students how to do things locally rather than give full on information literacy instruction. The transfer students likely did get that instruction previously. Having said that, that experience at times can also make those students a bit more confident than they probably should be when it comes to their skills; in other words, they can get a little cocky. The author concluded that these students usually have a good understanding of how to do research and are confident in their research skills. They just need to learn institution-specific skills when they arrive in a new campus. I will say this does match with my experience over time when working with transfer students. They know more than librarians may give them credit for. 

The study took place at Pepperdine University, which is a Christian liberal arts university with 3,400 enrolled students at the time of the article. It almost twice the size of the college where I work, but it would still be comparable to us. Their First-Year Seminar and English 101 classes would be somewhat comparable to our General Studies GSTR 110 and 210 which serve an FYE seminar-type function here. 

The article states that two researchers conducted "in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 transfer students at Pepperdine during Spring 2018" (343). These students had to be undergraduates "who had completed at least one research assignment at Pepperdine that required resources outside their course readings" (343). That sample size seems a bit small to me but the author claims that the applied thematic analysis technique used means they could have gone as low as six students and gotten meaningful information. I leave it up to readers to judge. By the way, the interview participants did receive incentives to participate. "Participants in the study received $20 Amazon gift cards and $5 Starbucks vouchers as incentives" (344). Must be nice since here it is next to impossible to provide any incentive when we want to survey students on anything. I know; I've asked.The usual answer is either lack of funds (i.e. the administrators do not want to give us funds for the incentives even as other campus units give out all sorts of incentives) or some other excuse about "if we give them some kind of monetary incentive it can interfere with their aid or other" (which see previous statement), but I digress. The participants were nine females and three males. 

The article includes an appendix that features the interview instrument. I am thinking we could adapt some of the questions for our use here down the road.

Some takeaways for me from the article: 

• I like the idea of setting up a personal librarian program for transfer students, and students in general, but this may not always be successful. For example, the author mentions a program at University of Carolina at Chapel Hill where such effort was made to assign 40 librarians to 800 students. "Despite e-mail communication and welcome letters to incoming students, only 3.9 percent of transfer students utilized the program, falling short of its initial goal of 5 percent participation" (341). As we can see some things never change, in this case the known fact that students often neglect to even read their campus e-mail. By the way, 40 librarians seems to me a lot, but we need to realize UNC-Chapel Hill is a big campus. 
• The study aimed to answer the following two questions: 
• "How do transfer students look for information?"
• "From the transfer students' perspectives, how can the library best assist them?" (343).
•  On how the students approach research: 
• "While discussing the sources used for assignments, student preferences were evenly split between starting with open Web searches and with library databases" (346). 
• "One student warned, however, that peer-reviewed sources might not cover recent topics. . . " (346). This caught my eye because this is a reality I often need to convey to regular undergraduates when they pick the latest fad topic or straight out of the news event and they come asking for "peer reviewed sources" because their teacher said they need such sources. This can lead me to some interesting conversations with a student. A transfer student may be more likely to have learned this lesson. 
• "Additional methods [of finding sources] included approaches to organizing sources, determining if multiple sources had recurring themes, brainstorming effective keywords, and writing the conclusion of a paper before searching for sources" (347). I was doing OK with these until that last one, which can be problematic. At times, students who write out the conclusion before doing research are the ones we get in a panic a day or two before the paper is due because they need "just one more source, two tops" that fits whatever conclusion they fixated on when they started rather than doing actual research and taking the question where the research went. 
• On the role of librarians: 
• Sadly, "transfer students would much more likely ask professors rather than librarians for assistance" (349). We need to work on that. Sure, ask your professors for help related to the class, but ask your librarian for research assistance. The author also found that out of the twelve students interviewed, only one "favored librarians" (350). That is not exactly encouraging. In my college, we are lucky that we tend to get good feedback from students for our research consultations. Librarians do need to put in the work and effort.
  
• "Prior interactions with librarians can potentially influence the help-seeking behavior of transfer students at their new institutions" (349). This is where making a good impression as a librarian and professional will encourage students to seek us for assistance. I have heard enough stories of how librarians in prior institutions were not helpful to students. Honestly makes me wonder why some people become librarians if they are not helping their patrons or consider them a bother.  
• However, the author cites research that found "that transfer students who received library instruction would be more likely to ask subject librarians for research assistance" (353). I will add that here we have found that marketing librarian research consults during library instruction has helped to get students to seek library help later. Yet during COVID, without formal library instruction, this marketing has been more limited. 
• "Because institution-specific information is so important to helping transfer students succeed, libraries need to make them aware of library services. Nearly all the students interviewed thought the library should participate in the transfer student orientation sessions" (353). 
• To sum up: "Specifically, we need to implement outreach efforts that help students gain the following competencies: (1) familiarity with their subject liaison librarians, (2) knowledge of the subject-specific databases, and (3) ability to navigate the library's physical layout and services with emphasis on the library's print collections" (354). The knowledge of subject-specific databases is important, and it is something we do try to emphasize here as much as we can. The common "just use a discovery engine" or similar just does not really cut it to do focused research on a specific topic, but that is another topic for another day. 

Some items from the article's bibliography I may want to read later: 

•  John C. Phillips and Thomas A. Atwood, “Transferring Skills, Transferring Students: A Call
  to Academic Libraries,” College & Undergraduate Libraries 17, 4 (2010): 331–48.
• Lindsay M. Roberts, Megan E. Welsh, and Brittany Dudek, “Instruction and Outreach for
  Transfer Students: A Colorado Case Study,” College & Research Libraries 80, 1 (2019): 94–122.
• Helene Lafrance and Shannon B. Kealey, “A Boutique Personal Librarian Program for
  Transfer Students,” Reference Services Review 45, 2 (2017): 337.
• Sylvia G. Tag, “A Library Instruction Survey for Transfer Students: Implications for Library
  Services,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 30, 2 (2004): 102–8. 
• Chelsea Heinbach, Brittany Paloma Fiedler, Rosan Mitola, and Emily Pattni, “Dismantling
  Deficit Thinking: A Strengths-Based Inquiry into the Experiences of Transfer Students in
  and out of Academic Libraries,” In the Library with the Lead Pipe, February 6, 2019, http://
  www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2019/dismantling-deficit-thinking/.