Article Note: On orientation and retention of library staff

Citation for the article:

Chapman, Connie. "Retention Begins Before Day One: Orientation and Socialization in Libraries." New Library World 110.3/4 (2009): 122-135.

Read via Emerald.



The only problem I had with this article is that it preaches the same old ideas that a massive job shortage in librarianship is coming, the massive retirements, etc., that we all pretty much know are not going to happen. This is discussed in the opening of the article, and I wrote on the margin that I wish authors would stop repeating this myth of the massive retirements. Especially now with the current economic malaise, there is not going to be any massive retirements. If anything, people will hold on to their jobs as long as possible. And in the case they do retire, very often that job will be closed or frozen. For instance, we have a "flexible" hiring freeze here in my workplace, and a new memo just went out about needing to justify any part time hires (this is more for student workers), which means they are looking for ways to hire less student workers if they can. All I know is I will probably have to make some justification to keep my reference assistant for the evenings, but I digress. The point is every time some librarian writes about the usual "there will be jobs, librarians are getting old and will retire, yadda yadda," it is really a disservice to the profession. I could go on, but this is not really the main point of the article. It was pretty prominent in the opening, which is why it caught my eye.

In the opening, the author also makes the point that, in that decreasing pool of librarians, there will be a decreasing pool of leaders. This would be something I would be curious about, but I know that the lack of leaders is not going to be because of retirements. I have had a thought or two on leadership, and now that I have some small supervision tasks, I get to think about it a bit more. However, I often think of even more reasons I would not want a leadership position, or rather a management position (we do have to make the distinction).

In the opening, Chapman mentions as well that there is little research done on turnover rates for library staff (123). This is something we do not hear about as often, and it may be interesting to look at. Chapman then moves on to make her main point: that a good HR program that integrates elements of orientation, socialization, and retention, will help the library retain good workers. She does go on to define the terms of orientation, socialization, and retention. Now overall I would think that retention is something that you need to consider and maintain if you want to keep your good workers from leaving. Sure, a lot of people will stay put in fear of the job market, but if someone is talented, they will leave anyhow. You need to do your best to keep the good ones.

So what advice does the author offer? Keep in mind that Chapman is looking at organizational literature, the kind of material that applies more to corporations and companies like Wal-Mart; that right there can be a red flag for some people. After all, libraries are very different entities, especially academic libraries. But there are some good ideas here.

One idea is that you need to make sure that you integrate the new employee into the institution's culture in a welcoming way. Chapman cites literature claiming that the failure to do this means a worker can make a decision to leave a lot sooner (125). She also cites literature that stating that "if new employees have unmet or unrealistic expectations, they will leave an organization prematurely" (Simmons-Welburn and Welburn qtd. in 125).

Chapman cites Gering and Conner's recommendation, from their 2002 article on employee retention, for a retention strategy, which "includes a business plan, a value proposition, progress measures and management influences" (qtd. in 125). The business plan part was easy for me to grasp: it involves identifying the costs of employee turnover and identifies solutions to address that problem. The concept of the value proposition was something that made me think a bit more. Allow me to quote that part in full, the comment:

"The value proposition identifies the organization's unique characteristics which can then be promoted when recruiting so as to attract employees who identify with those characteristics. An organization can measure the effect of the retention plan by methods such as noting whether abseentism or tardiness is reduced, whether employees volunteer for community or special projects sponsored by the organization, and whether employees recruit their friends" (125).

Two things for me. One, the idea of whether employees participate in things like special projects or activities sponsored by the organization is crucial. Nothing diminishes your credibility in a community faster than your library sponsoring some event or activity, and the librarians or library staff fail to show up or participate. While no one expects 100% attendance (after all, life happens), when there is a consistent absence of the professional staff at sponsored events, one has to wonder. Two, the idea of the unique traits of the organization made me wonder who has given thought to this in their libraries. As an academic library, we should be asking what makes us unique? For the workers, we should ask why would we want to work here (wherever here happens to be)? In my case, I know a reason or two why I work at my current workplace, but if I had to put it in a brochure, or make the proverbial elevator pitch, I am not quite sure how I would do it. I would not want platitudes for this but good practical points.

Chapman then goes on to cite a list by J.L. Kawasaki for recommendations to work with new workers in the first weeks of their job. This is a good list, so I am citing it here too (see page 126):

• "provide meaningful work."
  
• "provide appropriate tools to do the job"
  
• "participate fully in orienting new hires"
  
• "provide opportunities to make connections within the library organization and the institution"
  
• "create an environment that provides elements for asking and seeking out"
  
• "information and professional development"
  

I am aware of some of these ideas because I used them to some extent in helping to train the new librarians we recently hired. No, we did not go on one of those mythical hiring sprees. The accreditation agency for the university had a say on the matter, but let us not digress. I have tried my best to be helpful in terms of providing the elements for the new hires to ask and seek out any information or help they may need. This is consistent with a point that Chapman makes later in the article that "it is much better to encourage relationships with co-workers who can help point out what is important" rather than just telling them to read the manuals (130). The information and professional development part I don't really have control over, and the way things are, well, I will say it is almost non-existent as things currently stand. Personally, this is a significant point of concern for me, but it is one not for this post.

Chapman goes on to discuss the idea of organizational culture and how it is important to integrate the new hire into that culture. She also mentions that supervisors are the most effective influence during the orientation process (128). This made me think of a book I read a while back that makes the same point. In my case, I don't supervise the new librarians; I just train them and turn them loose, so to speak. It can have the advantage that I can then work more as the person to point out what is important and what is not. This would be an example of informal socialization, if I understand the article right, where "informal socialization had a greater impact on job satisfaction and professional commitment than did formal orientation" (129).

But I can say that back in the day when I had more of an immediate supervisor (as in an assistant director versus just going straight to the top as I do now), she was quite influential over time in terms of how I was brought into the organizational culture at the time. And I did learn a few things from her as well. Chapman adds some additional thoughts on supervisors:

• "The supervisor is often the bridge between graduate school and the profession as new librarians enter their first job (Black and Leysen, 2002). Supervisors can act as mentors, define expectations, and protect new librarians from trying to take on too much in their first year on the job. Supervisors can also connect new librarians to important individuals and resources" (131).
  
• "In an academic library the supervisor can help the new employee by identifying the place and status of the library in the university setting, who the library administration reports to, and how the library is perceived by the university administration and non-library faculty. The supervisor can be very helpful in interpreting these issues as the social, economic and political context in which an academic library operates can be much more complicated than that of a public or special library (Jones 1988)" (131-132). Now, this makes me ask how much is too much in interpreting and identifying some of those perceptions. As any academic librarian knows, many non-library faculty do not exactly have a positive perception of the library, to put it mildly. Often academic librarians need a bit of thick skin to deal with this.
  

Oh, and another thing I learned in my previous job that I applied now was making sure the new librarians had one-on-one meetings with all appropriate individuals, and I kept a checklist, as Chapman suggests.

Chapman also addresses the need to evaluate retention programs, and in this age of assessment, this is important. It is also important to note that new employee needs to be an active participant as well in the orientation process.

Personal reflection for April 2009

"Confusion never stops/Closing walls and ticking clocks. . . "
--From the lyrics to Coldplay's "Clocks."

With the busy month of April over, I have a very small window of time at the start of May to recuperate, review what was done, what was missed, and make the list of tasks for May and the summer. For an outreach librarian, April can be a very busy month. This is not something I would usually do, but as an illustration, I took a photo of what I call my "tactical board" (my whiteboard where I map out my tasks for a month). Most of the items on the list are crossed out, meaning they got done. In plain numbers, out of 52 items on the board, I only missed 7. I suppose that is not too bad. I do have to clarify that those 52 items do not include the various tasks my director heaped on me during the month, often at the spur of a moment. The additional items not on the board did get done, so I guess in the scheme of things, I was mostly on track. Here is another little lesson for those of you out there who may be thinking about librarianship or, heaven help you, follow a path similar to mine: learn how to balance what you know needs to get done with what your director will inevitably ask you to do that also needs to be done. In case of doubt, err on the side of keeping your director happy.

By the way, if my two readers are curious, they can find the list of the seven missed items with the board's photo over on the scratch pad. If you are not interested, then just keep reading.

One of the things you learn as an outreach librarian, and one of these days I have to do a better post on the things I do, is the time factor. You have to be good at time management; you need a sense of the long term planning as well. And in the end, once you have done your duties, and everything is in place, you have to let nature take its course. In addition, I have known this for a while, but I was reminded of it again during the month of April. You need patience, and sometimes you need to prod people. A challenge for me is dealing with things I can't control. If I make requests from other people, I have to wait on them. If they are not exactly the most diligent people, to put it politely, it gets frustrating personally. But I cannot control what others do. You can prod; you can remind them; you can harass a bit, but at the end of the day, they have to do their jobs so you can do yours. It is moments like that where a lot of patience is required, where you need to remind yourself that, at the end of the day, you can only control your own reality and actions. While I have a couple of specific instances in mind, in the interest of civility, I am keeping them for my private journal. I more interested in the larger lesson here. Oh, and if bad does come to worse, always have a Plan B.

"This will change too, very quickly. Like a planet spinning off into the universe. . ."
--General Patton, from the film Patton.

I barely have the time to reflect as I am doing now. I am already geared up for May, and though May is a slower month, there is still much to do. But I have learned over time that taking some time to think and reflect on what has been done is helpful. For one, some of this I can use for any official assessment the powers that be may require. But more important for me, it helps me to see where I've been. It helps me to see what I did well, what can be improved, and what still needs to be done. The challenge is that moments like this for reflection are few and far between. Indeed, conditions do change quickly as the next task or project comes around. So it is necessary to take those small pivotal moments to reflect. That's what I do because it works for me. I just have to keep fighting for the time to write and reflect.

And moving right along. . . .

Booknote: Defining Relevancy

This is a very minimalist review on the book that I wrote for my GoodReads list. As I mention in the review, I did take some notes as I was reading of parts that made me think. To an extent, I wish I could really jot down here some of the thoughts I had as I was reading it, but I will be the first to admit that this choice is basically a case of self-censorship. There are some realities I deal with regularly in my workplace that do not match what is described in the book, which I find frustrating (to put it politely). Anyways, here is the review:

Defining Relevancy: Managing the New Academic Library by Janet McNeil Hurlbert

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is another one of those I would label a "must read" that will likely not be read by the people who should actually be reading it (namely library managers and higher education administrators). Like many library science books, the essays vary from very relevant to things I already knew already. Personally, this is a small occupational hazard for me: I read so many different things in the library literature that often they repeat, or I have seen them before. At any rate, there are some good thinking points in this book. I ended up jotting a few ideas I wanted to remember in my personal journal, taking notes as I read. For one of these books, when I find myself taking notes, that is a good sign of engagement. I am not sharing some of those notes because, well, let's be honest, let's just say the at times idealistic descriptions in the book do not match the harsh reality I have to work with and leave it at that. I will say the essay on keeping academic reference service is a good one and worth reading. So, I do recommend it, and I am sure a few library managers will likely pick it up. Whether their bosses pick it up, and more importantly, choose to act on some of the recommendations in the book, that is a separate story.


View all my reviews.

Article Note: On College students and internet abuse

Citation for the article:

Kubey, R.W. et.al., "Internet Use and Collegiate Academic Performance Decrements: Early Findings." The Journal of Communication (June 2001): 366-382.

Read via Emerald.

I heard of this article from this other article, and I was curious enough to take a look. The Kubey article is again quite a bit considering it is looking at technologies online prior to things like Facebook, which have amplified the ability of many college students to procrastinate and spend way more time online than they probably should. Having said that, let's look at some highlights.

• "However, although use of the Internet by students is on the rise, so are concerns that for some students, heavier use of the Internet might interfere with academic achievement, conventional social interaction, and exposure to desirable cultural activities" (366). Some might consider this to be a little on the alarmist side, but like everything done in excess, if you overdo your Internet use as a college student, you can run the risk of failing your courses. I don't think this is being alarmist, but it is pointing out something fairly obvious.
  
• As in the later article that cites Kubey (see my link above), there are problems with defining terms. Also, the fact that the survey being studied is self-selecting in terms of the sample can be problematic and raise more questions.
  
• Much of the evidence in studies is anecdotal. For example, "at Alfred University, 50% of students interviewed after dismissla for academic failure listed excessive Internet usage as a reason for their problems" (369).
  
• Much of the research is relying on the DSM criteria for dependency. "Few, if any of these studies offer alternative theoretical explanations as to why the Internet might have such a considerable hold on some individuals. . .(369).
  
• The survey sample in this article's report is of 576 Rutgers University students taking a 43 item survey. Two surveys were excluded, leading to a sample of 574.
• From the discussion: "The new nature of collegiate life for some young persons could result in developmental retreat, as the Internet does offer a ready and convenient haven that then young college student, often living away from home for the first time and perhaps unable to control little elsewhere, can control when at the keyboard" (379).
  
• From the conclusion, which finds consistency with some prior studies, but there are still caveats: "There is strong evidence that students' excessive Internet use is sometimes associated with academic problems, but it is not entirely clear whether these students might have experienced similare or related problems without the Internet if the problems result--as the data suggest-- from the attempt to control loneliness rather than from properties of the Internet itself. The Internet does enable opportunities for social contact that did not exist before its invention and wide use, and thus we are inclined to conclude that the Internet does play a role in some students' academic difficulties" (380; added emphasis).

Article Note: On social software implementation in public libraries

Citation for the article:

Rutherford, Louise L. "Implementing Social Software in Public Libraries." Library Hi Tech 26.2 (2008): 184-200.

Read via Emerald.



This article does not tell me a whole lot that I did not know already. The main flaw with the article is the extremely small sample in the survey (7 people were given e-mail interviews; the author started with 12, but the sample weeded itself to 7). Given all the evidence out in the blogs and in various libraries, I think expanding the sample should not have been difficult; then again, the author claims she was focusing on early adopters (185), but still, the sample seems awfully small. The article is meant to report on kinds of social software that public libraries are using and issues related to that use. As an academic librarian, I read it so see if we some of their issues were my issues as well, and yes, it turns out I have some of the same issues and challenges. Anyways, there were some points I wanted to remember.

• "Discussion [in the library literature] of implementation issues tended to be brief, possibly because the literature in this area concentrated on relating successes" (186). This is certainly true. Even the librarian bloggers usually focus on successes when they implement something. I have yet to find a few bloggers who would dare blog about some serious implementation failure. Someone who actually failed, and who actually wrote it up in a thoughtful and honest way so the rest of us can learn from the mistakes would be welcome. I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. The only exception I can think off the top of my head is Walt Crawford, who does write about his work and publishing, especially publishing books electronically giving us the ups and downs. But it is important to share the difficulties too: ". . .so that future implementers are able to learn from the challenges faced by others, and to take action to mitigate against these potential problems when possible" (186).
• The article reports that blogs were the most widely use tool (189). The study also found that commenting on these blogs was generally low (190). Neither of these findings came as a surprise. A blog is a very tool to set up, especially when using a free web-based tool like Blogger, which I am using now.
  
• The article mentions that innovation often will not work if if something in the work culture inhibits innovation. "Issues mentioned included staff hesitations, staff unwillingness to undertake new learning and the relationship with the local government body responsible for funding and governance" (192).
  
• "Although surprisingly few papers in the literature mentioned the importance of staff training and acceptance for the successful implementation of social software, this point came across through strongly in an analysis of responses from participants in this research" (194).
• And these two points are actually challenges that I face in my work. One: ". . .time for on-going monitoring and maintenance" (195). Two: ". . .to remain dynamic and interactive, staff members needed to commit to updating information on a regular basis" (195). We have not gotten to the point of implementing and forgetting, but it is a consistent challenge for me to maintain, monitor, and keep adding and updating content to the blog. Ideas of things to blog about is not an issue. I have a pretty big stash of ideas. Finding the time to review them, write them up, and post them with all the other duties I have is the actual challenge. That some segments of my workplace see blogging as low level work certainly does not help either. But at the moment, it is what it is, and I just deal with it the best I can with what I have.
  
• "Respondents felt that good marketing was an important element of the successful implementation of social software. A successful marketing operation involves elements such as identifying a target audience, advertising the service and providing information, assistance, and support for users" (197). This is another continuing challenge for me. Then again, it is part of my work to do the marketing. We have made some strides, but there is still much to do.