Entrepreneurial revolutionary, reporting for duty

June 17th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

Anthony Molaro, Associate Dean of Library and Instructional Services at Prairie State College, wrote a provocative post today entitled “What Librarians Lack: The Importance of the Entrepreneurial Spirit.” I would not go so far as to say all librarians/libraries lack entrepreneurial spirit (NC State, Virginia Tech, Harvard, Virginia, and Champlain College immediately come to mind as libraries making significant strides in library services and technology and I’m sure there are others), but I would agree that tectonic shifts rarely happen in academic libraries. When was the last time we created a shift so profound that the academy shuddered and the profession balked at the mere thought?

We don’t lack for innovators. As Molaro notes:

No society is devoid of entrepreneurs, ubiquitous protests of “we have lost our entrepreneurial spirit” notwithstanding. They may be under the radar, languishing in non-entrepreneurial positions, or channeling their entrepreneurial spirit in non-productive ways, but they are present. Find and enlist them. Support and mentor them. Galvanize the entrepreneurship resources and stakeholders to support them as well. Use your positions of power to help them find new customers, investors, advisors, and business partners.

I’m ready to do something radical. I’m ready to try something scary. Let’s build something from the ground up and terraform the library landscape.

Weekend must-read: Barbara Fister’s LOEX presentation

June 14th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

The ideal library webpage from the student's perspective

Screenshot from Fister’s presentation: the ideal library webpage from the student’s perspective.

Writer-scholar-teacher-librarian extraordinaire Barbara Fister gave the keynote presentation at this year’s LOEX conference in Nashville, TN. I encourage you to read the full text of her presentation, which she described in the following abstract:

Developing both the skills and the disposition to engage in inquiry is a ubiquitous if ill- defined goal of higher education. Libraries are a space, physical and social, where students practice a number of inquiry skills they can use after graduation to make a living – and, more importantly, to make a difference. But it’s hard to take the long view. Students are focused on completing assignments as efficiently as possible. Faculty want to cover content. Administrators want strong retention and completion rates. Who has time to think about what comes next? The information universe that librarians invite students to use is so complex that learning just enough to complete academic tasks saturates our instructional efforts, distracting us from a fundamental question: what experiences do we provide that support long-lasting and meaningful learning? How will what students learn in our libraries today help them make meaning in the information universe of the future?

In her presentation, Fister asks us to critically and honestly examine what libraries are for, what universities are for, and what knowledge is for, both within the context of higher education but also with an eye toward creating lifelong learners. She then offers six ”outlandish claims” about first-year instruction to help us answer these questions:

  1. Research papers should not be part of the first-year experience.
  2. We should stop teaching students how to find sources.
  3. Very rarely are citations needed.
  4. We should stop policing plagiarism.
  5. We should stop implying that “scholarly” means “good.”
  6. Librarians should spend as much time working with faculty as with students.

As you wrap up your work week and move into the weekend, I hope you’ll think about these claims. I know I will!

Glorious, buzzing hornets

June 11th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

Over at In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Kim Leeder discusses the rhetorical value of the term “traditional library.” She closes with the following observation:

If we define [the traditional library] rhetorically as an institution focused on physical spaces and materials, then there remains no question: the traditional library is dead. That doesn’t mean libraries as an institution are dead, nor does it mean that the physical library as a component of some larger organization is dead. The traditional library has been replaced with an expanded vision of itself, one that encompasses traditional values and features but extends outward to include the vastness of free and licensed digital resources as well as spaces and services that are entirely people-focused. The contemporary library, in contrast to the traditional library, resides online, teaches, reaches out and asserts its value across its community. [emphasis added]

In this way, every academic library exists on a spectrum between traditional, book-/space-centered work and contemporary, instruction-/service-centered work. In my opinion, a moderately successful library will be one that is keenly aware of its place on the spectrum and is able to articulate its value as such, but the highest success (at least in today’s information-rich, digitally connected landscape) will be reserved for those who can strategically align themselves closer to the contemporary side of the spectrum through teaching and outreach.

 

Shokunin and the power of habit

June 10th, 2013 § 1 comment § permalink

Recently, I was thinking about the idea of craftsmanship in library work when I came across the Japanese concept of shokunin. While the term historically applied to many types of handicraft, in its current usage it implies a certain level of artistry, wisdom, and skill in working with objects: a level that can only be gained through a lifetime of introspection and practice and through repeating the same task thousands of times over until it is done in just the right way.

Since shokunin specifically applies to working with physical objects, it’s difficult to apply it to library work. Except in rare cases (perhaps cataloging and restoration/preservation work), librarians don’t repeat the same tasks over and over again. At least, not in the same way each time.

In the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the story of Jiro Ono, chef-owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro and a recognized shokunin, the food critic Masuhiro Yamamoto tries to outline Jiro’s work ethic:

  1. Take your work seriously
  2. Aspire to improve
  3. Maintain cleanliness
  4. Be a better leader than a collaborator (aka, never be satisfied)
  5. Be passionate about your work

Now here is something that I can apply to my work as a librarian. While I don’t know that I could ever attain a level of perfection equivalent to the idea of shokunin, through force of habit I can in the least put these same practices to work. (Admittedly, #3 doesn’t exactly apply but perhaps we could take it metaphorically to mean “orderliness of mind”).

Habit has been on my mind much of late. With a newborn now in my care, time is more precious than ever and yet the ability to schedule any type of professional development outside of work has proved… difficult. But I believe (and experience has taught me) that through small habits we can do great things. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, says:

We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period, and underestimate what we can do over a long period, provided we work slowly and consistently. Anthony Trollope, the nineteenth-century writer who managed to be a prolific novelist while also revolutionizing the British postal system, observed, “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.” Over the long run, the unglamorous habit of frequency fosters both productivity and creativity. (via Brian Pickings).

And so I’m trying to develop a game plan. Nothing drastic. I simply want to try to set aside a few minutes at various points of the day to do simple tasks: reading, writing, meditating, reflecting, having a conversation with a colleague about an important issue. Little things that taken en masse could make a world of difference. In a few decades (long term planning!). Perhaps in this way I can aspire and reach toward some level of artistry when it comes to the work that I so love to do.

Bits and pieces 2013.06.06

June 6th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

Academic library news from around the web this week:

Lauren Pressley is working on building a local repository of instructional materials. This is something I've advocated for for some time and hope to start working on at MPOW this year:

All we’re talking about is a searchable database of online teaching materials. These might be PDFs, websites, slide decks, or videos. They’d hopefully be to-the-point and relevant to our users. Of course, we’re dreaming up all kinds of features to make this system even more useful in the final version, but to kick it off we’re just looking to make a container to house all of our online instructional content in one place.

Steven Bell helps us to find a more realistic view of the “higher education bubble” and encourages us as academics and librarians to help set the record straight:

Despite the media’s portrayal of higher education as an out-of-control spendthrift that is damaging both the little guy and the nation, prospective students and their parent still believe in its value. The industry and its employees must pay attention to the media’s stories about tuition, student debt, and the bubble hype, and consider how we might, individually and collectively, respond with our own story about the value of higher education.

Jennifer Howard tells us about how libraries are helping academics to look beyond journal impact factors and citation counts to measure the value of their work:

Librarians and administrators say altmetrics can help provide a more nuanced view of how scholarship lives in the wider world.

Springer Science is gearing up for its IPO. Or it might be sold off:

EQT is still accepting takeover offers for Springer Science this month and may scrap the IPO, people familiar with the matter said last week. The buyout firm hasn’t made a final decision whether to do the IPO or sell the German publisher, according to the people. Buyout firms BC Partners Ltd., which is most interested, as well as KKR & Co. and Providence Equity Partners have until about June 10 to hand in takeover offers, the people said at the time.

ACRL has initiated the process of rethinking the Information Literacy Standards that were first developed in 2000. I can't tell you how excited this makes me:

Though they have served the academic library profession well over the past thirteen years, the current standards are showing their age. It is time for our association to engage in a process to rethink and reimagine them for the next generation of academic librarians, college students and the faculty.

Finally, Bobbi Newman and Emily Lloyd want to change the conversation around libraries. Rather than talking about why libraries need saving, let's talk about how libraries save communities:

How you frame your discussion matters and if librarians keep talking about how libraries need to be saved is it any wonder that our patrons and society believe we’re dying? We are basically telling them we are! So stop! Stop right now! Instead we need to start framing the conversation like the powerful partners we are! Let’s make this hashtag [#ittakesalibrary] happen! It is much more positive and affirmative than the save libraries rhetoric. I talked about this when I wrote Libraries are Powerful Partners last year.

Have a great weekend!

Hiring beyond the usual cast

June 4th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

Adding to our discussion from yesterday about breaking up with libraries (which is also being discussed here and here), Curt Rice recently reported on a UK study about women [not] pursuing academic jobs. Specifically, the report looks at why women are leaving academic jobs in chemistry for industry jobs, but Rice extended the findings to all academia:

Universities will not survive as research institutions unless university leadership realises that the working conditions they offer dramatically reduce the size of the pool from which they recruit. We will not survive because we have no reason to believe we are attracting the best and the brightest. When industry is the more attractive employer, our credibility as the home of long-term, cutting edge, high-risk, profoundly creative research, is diminished.

By extension (metonymically and metaphorically), I think libraries should head the same warning. This is a reverse of the situation presented by Nina. Not only should we be concerned about librarians moving into industry, we should also be asking whether there are enough non-career (i.e. fully qualified but non-MLIS-holding) librarians applying for academic librarian jobs. And if there are, are we hiring them?

While I don’t want to discourage employers from hiring from among the legions of MLIS-holding graduates, if specific positions within libraries (esp. technology, advancement, PR, and management) are not attractive to outsiders, what does that say about our field, the way me market ourselves, how we provide for our employees, how we perceive our future needs, etc.? It’s an existential question and one for all of us, but especially library leaders, to consider.

On breaking up with libraries, by Nina McHale

June 3rd, 2013 § 3 comments § permalink

Last week, Nina McHale told us why she’s breaking up with libraries. Nina is currently the Assistant Systems Administrator for the Arapahoe Library District but will soon be moving into non-library work with Aten Design Group. While my interactions with Nina have been predominantly through online professional groups, I’ve come to know her as a highly talented, creative web designer. The loss to our community is significant and one we shouldn’t be too quick to write off.

Nina notes two major reasons for her decision to leave LibraryLand: finances and a general frustration with technology.

Like Nina, I live in a two-income family. We just had our first child. While we could probably live on my wife’s income alone (though not without sacrifice), we certainly could not live off what I make as a paraprofessional at a private university. Well, perhaps if we sold the house and moved into a 2-bedroom apartment in the Valley. Maybe.

As Nina points out, salaries for librarians often go for much less than the median pay for positions in other fields that require similar skills.

I knew going into my MSLS that I wasn’t going to get rich working in libraries, but accepting less than I’m worth puts undue strain on our family finances. I’m not willing to be a martyr for my profession if it means compromising what I want out of life for myself, my husband, and our kids.

If we want to keep talented, creative people on staff, we don’t have to pay them exorbitantly, but we have to pay them enough so that they don’t have to worry about it.

Nina also points out the lack of technological innovation. We spend millions of dollars on products that fail to provide decent user experiences and rather than demanding changes or working together to collectively build a better product, we acquiesce and continue to pay for substandard ones. As one commenter on Nina’s post put it, why didn’t librarians invent Yahoo in the 90s? We could have. We should have.

We sacrifice instead of create. We compromise instead of improvise. We undersell our worth and consequently are underpaid for it.

It’s been a year since I finished my MLIS degree. I am still working in the same position for the same pay (adjusted for inflation). As I see it, until I’m able to move into a position that makes full use of my degree, every day worked is a loss of potential earnings.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love the work I do, but as Nina points out, “we are so eager to please that we kill ourselves helping people for compensation that’s all too often below the country’s median salary.” Eventually, the need to provide for our own will catch up with us and at that time if there is a shiny job in a different market, can you blame us for leaving?

Meeker’s internet trends – slide 75

May 30th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

The nets have been abuzz the past few days with the release of Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends report (ppt embedded below). There’s plenty of information about mobile tech, the immersion of tablets, and innovative digital services, but the slide that caught my attention was #75, regarding the youngest U.S. generations. These “Selective Formative Events in the Past 20 Years” offer an interesting view into the mindset of current and incoming college students and their expectations for post-university life.

  • September, 2001 USA Terrorist Attacks – Destabilized sense of security
  • Rise of China as Global Super Power – Altered global competition
  • Global Financial Crisis, 2008+ – Destabilized financial security
  • High Unemployment Levels – Destabilized career optimism
  • Potential Fiscal Debt Challenges – Rise in need to depend on selves
  • Rise of Cheap / Available Computing – 24×7 global access to loads of stuff including shared goods
  • Rise of New ‘Geek’ Entrepreneur Heroes – Jobs + Sergey / Larry + Zuck…
  • Rise in Social Connectivity – Ability to find / create / share / provide + get feedback
  • Rise in Value of Social / Virtual vs. Financial + Physical Currency

Just food for thought: how have these events changed us [libraries] as well as the services we offer?

Way of the Future

May 29th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

Mia Breitkopf has a summary of Roy Tennant’s 2012 talk to the Academic Librarians Conference at Syracuse (yes, I’m late to this party but it’s still worth highlighting). Tennant (and R. David Lankes) emphasized the need for academic librarians to focus more on services, less on collections, and the need to be out in the community instead of behind a desk or in an office. What particularly caught my attention was “Tennant’s Ideas for Tugging Your Library Into the Future”:

  1. Outsource back-office work
  2. Get rid of the office
  3. Plan for continual change
  4. Reattach the library to the institution
  5. Dream up big ideas and try them
  6. Change collection development policies (i.e. reduce and move offsite)
  7. Have fun

Given what Tennant calls the “Four Horsemen of the Library Apocalypse” (unsustainable costs, viable alternatives, declining usage, and new patron demands), there isn’t much standing in the way of one bull-in-the-china-shop university administrator shutting the whole library system down in favor of an outsourcing option. In fact, as more universities adopt corporate world-inspired business models, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more of it already.

Back into the habit

May 28th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

Profhacker has some ideas on how to restart your research habit this summer:

One of the best ways to get back to a research project that’s been cooling off for a while is to work a little bit on it most days. Doing some bibliography searches, free-writing in an idea notebook, or reviewing your last set of research notes even for just 20 minutes each day can help restart your creative and critical processes.

I’ve been out of research mode for almost a year now. It’s time to get back in the swing of things with fresh projects and critical explorations.

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