Article Note: On demands in librarianship and their impact

Citation for the article:

Knibbe-Haanstra, Marcella. "Reference Desk Dilemmas: The Impact of New Demands on Librarianship." Reference and User Services Quarterly 48.1 (Fall 2008): 20-25.

Read WilsonWeb.



This short article looks at stress factors in reference librarianship. The title uses the label "new demands," but a lot of the article presents these demands as stress factors. The article starts with a pretty generic overview of how librarianship has changed. It's the usual statement of dichotomy: how we see ourselves and how the public sees us. We know that librarianship is dynamic, and it continually changes and evolves. The public either sees the elderly matron with a bun or sees the naughty librarian stereotypes. Apparently, for the public, there are only female librarians. Then the literature review continues with the image of library work as minimally stressful. Les Kranz, who Knibbe-Haanstra cites, apparently never observed a real library in action. The reality is different. Knibbe-Haanstra writes that "the modern librarian is expected to be up-to-date on the latest technological developments, information sources, and service management" (20). I've written a couple of time on issues of keeping up and service (for example here, over here, and way over here), so a lot of the article's opening is not really new to me. The issue with Knibbe-Haanstra's statement is that as technology and information developments arise, expectations arise as well. Add a very demanding public, often known for its lack of gratitude, and you get a formula for stress and burnout in our profession. This is the gist of the article. The rest is just a discussion of the stress issues.

As I usually do when making notes, here are some article highlights with my comments:

"Clients in these professions do not often communicate gratitude to professionals who are trying to help them and will sometimes communicate quite the opposite attitude, creating a hostile and unappreciative environment" (22).

• There is a reason why blogs such as The Society for Librarians Who Say Mofo are thriving. A good number of librarians like to put down that blog, say that they are unprofessional, and overall portray themselves as if they are above venting about rude patrons or just deny such exist. The sad reality is that a lot of library patrons lack basic manners and social behavior skills. Librarians, and front line library staff, bear the brunt of this. Of course, talking about this is a taboo subject. After all, a lot of the celebrity librarian bloggers and upbeat wide-eyed librarians would have you believe that patrons can do no wrong. The truth is that our profession often excuses patron bad behavior for the sake of the "nice helpful librarian" image, but this only continues to encourage hostile work environments. Thus, with no place to vent, places like the mofo blog attract those seeking to vent and maybe find someone who will listen and understand. The fact blogs like that exist makes a serious comment on our profession and how it often mistreats its own.
• Personally, I could tell plenty of stories about ungrateful and hostile students and their parents from my school teaching days. But those would be told after the newer ones I can tell from my current librarian days. Overall, some days are better than others.

Knibbe-Haanstra mentions some of the stress factors mental health workers and experienced teachers face. Yes, I can count myself as an experienced teacher, and I can attest to having being victim of these at one time or another. I don't mean to sound extreme, but we need to call a spade a spade. I am just jotting down the list because if I start commenting on each item on the list, this post will get a lot longer. From page 22 in the article:

• Poor leadership.
  
• Lack of staff autonomy.
  
• Incongruent vision of job objectives.
  
• Growing workloads and duties.
  
• Lack of support from administrators and the community.
  

Then, there are the new challenges and demands in reference services:

"For the most part, this includes the construction and maintenance of a library's website, blogs, and wikis, as well as advanced knowledge in online communication such as e-mail, chat reference, and even virtual worlds such as Second Life" (22).

• I don't maintain websites (yet), and I am familiar with Second Life, though not a user of it. Otherwise, I've done or currently do everything else on the list. And I enjoy that part of the job quite a bit. Things would be a tad easier without some of the stress factors I listed previously above. By now, these skills and activities are just part of my professional life.
  

Citing Placzek, Knibbe-Haanstra writes that:

". . .the learning curve expectations are very high and many reference librarians are often required to teach patrons how to use a resource not long after being first introduced to it" (22).

• The issue is that often there is not enough time to reflect on what we learn let alone absorb it prior to teaching it to someone else.
  

The article's author further adds:

"Although the Internet offers a wealth of training information online, Ennis points out that the opportunity to improve technological skills is hardly useful if a librarian has no time to complete them" (qtd. in 22; emphasis added).

• In many cases, technology just adds to our already bloated workloads, and it increases stress levels.
  

Now for a statement of the obvious. I don't want to sound snarky, but as someone who reads a lot of library literature, I usually find at least one statement of the obvious in every LIS article. Here is one for Knibbe-Haanstra's article:

"It could be argued that the main cause of stress for reference librarians is the ever-increasing number of responsibilities alongside a declining period of time for personal and professional development" (23).

• This is a point I've made before. We need thinking time, something that is very rare in our profession and workplaces. This is specially true if you work in a library's front lines.
  

Knibbe-Haanstra concludes with some suggestions for stress management. I won't go into them here since they go from somewhat condescending (better time management by librarians) to nice in theory but nonexistent in practice (upper management support, if you can get it). At the end of the day, much of the advice boils to "shut up and deal with it." After all, the only certain thing is change, even if not all change is positive.

Some lessons I have learned about social networking sites, some the hard way

This is the third in a series of posts prompted by Steiner's article (see previous here and here). This time I will go over some lessons I have learned over time when it comes to using social networking sites (SNS). Some I have learned the hard way; others are common sense. I am not trying to be prescriptive. These are just some things I have learned over time.

1. You use what works for you. The service solves a problem and/or meets a need. It fits in with what you do already. If it is something new, then it integrates easily into your routines. It's not a chore or just another service to mind.
   
2. You need to discard anything that does not work for you. If you are no using it, if it is not relevant to you, if it just does not work for you, delete or deactivate the account. Personally, I think that unless it is something that has some value if left online, say a project's blog, then it is time to take it down. Back it up if you need to, but then delete. I think leaving debris in the Internet, such as a blog you started for a class assignment, then wrote three posts (likely because someone made you do it), then never used it again, leaves a bad impression. Clean your tracks.
   
3. Don't feel like you have to open yet another account. Just because the "cool kids" are doing it, it does not follow you have to do it. The old adage your mom probably used on you of "if everyone else jumps off a cliff. . ." probably applies here. As I have said before, feel free to experiment but do so judiciously.
   
4. Take it seriously. This is specially applicable to libraries. If you decide to make the jump and set up a blog or a presence on an SNS like Facebook, take it seriously. It is not the thing that the geeky librarian on your staff does on the side when he or she has time (as if he or she has spare time given that he or she is already likely overworked). SNS for libraries are extensions of their services in addition to being an impression you make on your patrons online. Why would you treat it less than seriously? This means commitment not only from the staff working with the SNS, but it also means clear and unequivocal support from the administrators. It also means you give some thought to what you are doing and make sure it fits with your service goals and strategic plans. The worse thing an administrator can do is treat it as just something the librarian working on SNS does on the side, or worse, think he or she is goofing off.
   

I don't pretend to have all the lessons. These are just lessons I have learned over time that stick out right away. I am still learning and discovering.

A further look at the utility of social networking sites for libraries

Looking back at the Steiner article, I made some notes on the specific sites mentioned in the article. So, here we go.

Facebook

Facebook (FB) has become a constant use tool for me. I have been using it personally for a while, and it has forced me to reflect on the idea of boundaries between my professional and my personal profiles online. My three readers know that I have a professional blog (this one) and a personal blog (see here). The basic goal was, and still is, to keep my professional writing and reflections separate from my personal musings and opinions. FB blurs that boundary quite easily. When I started using FB, FB was still a closed system just for college folks with a .edu e-mail address. FB back then was something I started so I would maintain a semi-professional profile and so I could do some outreach and reference work. I say semi-professional because I did include some small personal details in the profile. After all, you still want to come across as a human being. Once FB opened the gates, the borderline blurred a bit more as old friends and family joined the site and could find me. I found that I really had to learn how to tighten the privacy settings. I had to be extremely selective on what third party apps. I installed or even displayed. Some of my friends and family members love those little apps., whether it's some quiz or passing a virtual drink. That is fine for them, but in a setting where not only do students see me, but also colleagues, some administrators, and potential future employers, one has to be careful and somewhat restrictive on some things. Some degree of self-censorship has to be exercised; it's the price of having an online presence. I could go on, but we have other things to cover at this time.

Recently, I created an FB page for my library (I don't have enough fans yet to get the vanity URL, another peeve. Anyhow, just use Google to find it if you wish to see it; MPOW itself is linked on the right hand column of the blog). The purpose is to use it as an outreach tool. We make announcements. We post our events. We put photos of the library and what we do. I also linked the library's blog to the FB page so the blog's posts show up on the FB page newsfeed, a feature I like. We did a soft launch during the spring, and we are formally announcing it when the fall begins. So far, it is working out pretty well.

MySpace

I was never too keen on MySpace for starters. However, in the interest of experimenting, I set up a MySpace profile (it is linked on the right side column of this blog). After some time, I can say that I am not impressed. MySpace is extremely cluttered and clunky. It's value to me personally is minimal and questionable. With my presence in FB, MySpace seems redundant. Given its poor features, I am seriously thinking about deleting the MySpace profile. One thing that might make use MySpace more is if it was more present in sharing options. As many folks out in the Internet know, many sites and blogs offer a form of "share this link" for social networking sites. FB tends to be pretty prominent, and it allows me to do a bit of microblogging where I share a link and make a brief comment on it. MySpace shines by its absence in this regard, and even in the very few instances where MySpace has a share option on a site, it is clunky to use, assuming it even works. So I rarely bother for MySpace. Bluntly, FB pretty much ate MySpace for lunch in this regard.

As for library use, unless my director gives me a direct order of making a MySpace profile for the library, I am not even considering it. While we do have some patrons who are MySpace users, there are not enough of them to justify the effort plus the overall lower quality of the site itself means it is not worth the effort at this time.

Ning

I have a Ning account, and I joined a couple of librarian-related networks. However, the networks were not active enough to hold my attention or interest. I don't miss them. I do see value in Ning as a tool itself, useful to build a social network for a group. This is something that could be explored further, but there is no urgency at the moment.

Twitter

I have not used Twitter, and at this point in time, I am not interested in setting up an account. I don't say "never" because I know the only certain thing is change. However, I have no use for it at this moment, and I just don't have enough stuff to post in order to justify having it. For following things, my feed reader works fine for now. Besides, you really don't want to know what I had for breakfast, do you? What little microblogging I do gets posted on my FB feed. In essence, at this point in time, Twitter does not solve any problem or provide for any particular need for me. I have noticed a good number of the librarian celebrity bloggers use it, but that is not an incentive for me either.

In terms of work, my director did ask about Twitter and whether we should set up an account for the library or not. The university at large has one here. I can see how it can work for our Campus News and Information folks. At this point in time, I just don't see a need for the library to do it. We are still learning our way in Facebook, and keeping up the library blog is substantial work. As I've stated before, things could change, but I am not recommending implementation at this time.


In the next post, I will go on and discuss some of the lessons I have learned so far.

Article Note: On the utility of social networking sites for libraries, and some additional thoughts

Citation for the article:

Steiner, Heidi, "Reference Utility of Social Networking Sites: Options and Functionality." Library Hi Tech News Number 5/6 (2009): 4-6.

Read via Emerald.


This started out as one of the usual article notes I write for the blog, but it kept getting longer and longer as I kept thinking about the topic. So, I have decided to turn it into a series of posts. This is the first part, which mostly looks at the article, with two other parts in the next few days with my observations and comments.

I have been using social networking sites (SNS) for a while now. I have had a thought or two on the topic like this post. I have pondered use of SNS, even if I am not as vocal as some of the librarian celebrity bloggers. I have used them both for personal and professional use. The article I am discussing in this note deals with the use of SNS for reference use.

My three readers know that I rarely discuss my workplace, except when I can draw a general reflection or lesson, or when something goes really well, and I want to highlight it. This other article via MarketWatch I recently read provides some of the reasons for my approach; I may not agree with all of the article, but I know the reality of our profession. I also know that it is a very tight marketplace. Whether we like it or not, we do some amount of self-censoring for the sake of professional appearance. Reflecting on that is a separate topic. I am leading to a point, so bear with me a bit. As of this writing, we have one open reference librarian position. We are currently in the process of phone interviews. One of the questions we are asking the potential candidates is the following:

"What software/Web 2.0 technologies are you familiar with? How would you use them in this position?"

The question is pretty good; maybe it could be slightly better phrased. For now, I want to look at the question itself in the context of Steiner's article.

Steiner basically looks at four SNS applications--Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Ning-- and looks at their potential for reference work at a library. I would like for some of the candidates as well as library school students in general to read the Steiner article. While Steiner's article is pretty basic in its overview, I think it can spark some substantial conversations. The article could also make good reading for libraries that are considering a jump into Facebook or Twitter. Innovative libraries are continually looking for ways to make Web 2.0 work for them. With so many services available, and many more emerging, the challenge is knowing what to choose and asking does it work for your particular situation. Steiner puts the question very well:

"As the number of social networks grow, it becomes harder for libraries to determine which services are appropriate for their users and doable given the library's mission and goals" (4).

The last part of that statement is crucial. What can you do given your specific and unique mission and goals. A lot of libraries rush to create SNS profiles or pages, often due to the cool image concern, without thoughtful regard to mission and goals. If you add a lack of commitment to this equation, you end up with a dead site once the initial interest is lost. The resulting debris leaves an impression that is worse than not setting up that profile in the first place. The point is to experiment but do so judiciously.

Steiner looks at the advantages and disadvantages of each service, and she does compare between services. In her conclusion, she some good points. First, the key to successful use of SNS is promotion. Second, you have to make your SNS use known on your library website. Third, use signage at the desk to let users know about your SNS presence. And finally, updating is important (6). I would add the following: once you choose an SNS application, you are making a commitment. I am not saying it is permanent, but you are making the commitment of time and personnel. The library use of the applications should be treated seriously. I am not saying you can't have some fun with it or be playful. What I am saying, and this goes specially to administrators, is that use of SNS is not an afterthought, just something your geeky librarian does on the side, or simply slacking or goofing off. By the way, those are statements I have personally heard at one time or another. Use of the SNS should be part of the library's strategic plans for service and outreach and treated accordingly. After all, you are using those tools to better reach and serve your patrons. So you should put in the time, effort, and a positive constructive attitude when it comes to implementation.

This is now getting a bit long, and I still have more to say. I also want to add some personal notes on specific SNS use and lessons learned. I will do that in my next two posts. So my three readers, and everyone else out there, is invited to come back later in the week.

Article Note: On staff motivation in tough times.

Citation for the article:

Topper, Elisa F. "Keeping Staff Motivated in Tough Times." New Library World 110.7/8 (2009): 385-387.

Read via Emerald.



This short essay is a reminder to managers to make sure they praise and keep their workers motivated. I would think this is common sense, but apparently managers need to be reminded every so often if the market for books on how to motivate workers is any indication; you can see the article's further reading list for a sampling of such books. Are we librarians nervous about the economy as Topper's article suggests? Sure we are, but most of us don't spend our waking hours worrying about it. We have work to do for starters. I was going to just note that I read this, but as I started writing the draft, I found myself expressing some additional ideas. These are things that I have learned, some via the School of Hard Knocks, about motivation in the workplace. Thus I wanted to jot those ideas down as well.

As a lot of the LIS articles are prone to do, this one has at least one glaring statement of the obvious. Here it goes: "You may be surprised that monetary rewards do not produce long-term performance and productivity results anyways" (385). Besides stating the obvious, I had to wonder if this small article qualified as an LIS article. The question came because I found myself asking the following: how many libraries do we know where librarians or library workers get monetary rewards for productivity or performance? Not too many, if there are any at all . Even in tenure line situations, the idea is tenuous at best when it comes to getting higher pay for performance. You may get a raise when you go from assistant professor to associate professor, for instance, but you don't get paid more if you publish more articles or teach more classes. I know. I have seen enough P&T plans to have a sense how things work. Let me give a different perspective.

My better half works for a company that actually gives monetary bonuses for performance and productivity. You sell so much product, you get a bonus. You meet certain service targets, you get something extra on your next paycheck. All targets, goals, and requirements are made perfectly clear, and you rise to the occasion. Do you see now how it works? You produce more and perform better, you get paid in real money. This concept is pretty much non-existent in libraries, academic or otherwise. My cataloger does not get a nice addition in her paycheck if she processes more books within a certain time frame. My instruction librarian does not get fifty to one hundred bucks extra on her next paycheck because she taught more classes. My point is that libraries do not operate on the monetary reward system in the first place. If you ask most librarians, monetary rewards are not the main reason they chose this profession. If that were the case, I would go work for my better half's company or other company that actually understood and implemented monetary rewards. So to be honest, why Topper brings that idea up is puzzling to me since it seems to be a non-issue. And with the tight economy, libraries are in fact cutting back on expenses, and that can include things like raises. And yes, the better half would concur that money bonuses could be the wrong motivation for some workers, but at least she is in a setting where such apply. Libraries are not businesses no matter how certain members of the librarian celebrity circuit want to argue otherwise.

So since libraries do not have the money carrot, managers need other forms of motivation. Topper gives some basic tips in her article, which can work or not depending on the workplace. The best piece of advice for managers, which is found in the article, is to ask your workers. Find out what does work, then do it. Allow me to take some liberty and tell you what works and does not work for me. I am doing this for illustration purposes, not because I am some ideal librarian that you can draw generalizations from.

Something that works for me is something that I rarely get: appreciation and gratitude. These can go a long way. I don't need the public thank-you at a staff meeting. In fact, I hate being put on the spot. For me, this may be a remnant of the school days when teachers had the bad habit of praising some kid in front of the class because they aced a quiz or something else (this was before the whole self-esteem nonsense took over schools). You knew that either a beating or getting shunned by your classmates during recess would be following afterward. So just keep the recognition private. You really want to reward me? Write up a nice letter that can go in my personnel file. Send me a copy of that letter so I can use it in my portfolio as testimonial later. It's simple, discreet, and practical. And if you do it right, it's personal and sincere.

Let me tell you what does not work or the quickest way to kill morale. Don't go questioning my work or the work of my team because of some perceived failure. The turn out at some event was not as big as you wanted? Learn from the experience. Look at what we can do better to have better promotion and marketing for next time. Don't go telling me right after we walk out of the event as we are tidying up that maybe we should not be doing X again, that it is too much effort, too much hassle, or some similar statement. That is extremely demoralizing to someone who, very often, took a good amount of risk to personal reputation, not to mention the library's reputation, to help make the library a better place and better promote it to the academic community. You going to bat for me is what I expect, and it goes a long way in terms of morale. Yes, I have had the negatives described above happen in one form or another not only in outreach work, but also as an instruction librarian. I could go on with this topic, but I will move on.

And I will even toss in a bonus of something that does not work: don't go taking the word of some second hand gossip monger who has little to none to do with the work of my team but feels the need to criticize anyways. Leadership means you lead by example. It also means you surround yourself with the best people for the tasks you need done. We are the experts; you should be listening to us first. Or you can listen to those other people anyways, since you are the manager after all, and just kill our morale faster. When it comes down to it, the good people simply leave because they know that good hard workers with a strong work ethic will always find work. It has nothing to do with the money or a bonus. At the end of the day, it is the simple human element. Traits like common courtesy, respect, recognition, gratitude, and appreciation will probably get you a lot further in motivating your workers, especially in tough times, than some trinket, treats, or some plush trophy you pass around. By the way, if you are too cheap to buy a small trophy/plushie/trinket for every individual you recognize and have to pass it around instead, you probably should not do the whole thing in the first place.

Just a thought.