Supporting ebooks Means You Want to Kill Bookstores (and Libraries?)

That, at least, is the suggestion in Mike Shatzkin's recent article, Why are you for killing bookstores? Shatzkin's article doesn't actually address the fate of libraries, but Tim Spalding of LibraryThing fame makes the connection in his (depressing) follow-up, Why are you for killing libraries.*

As a health sciences librarian, I see ebooks as realistic necessities in health care environments, and could thus be lumped under the ebook supporting, library killing umbrella. Of course, that type of literature is not the type of literature that bookstores typically sell and libraries typically lend, so that type of ebook adoption and usage is not, I'm sure, an indicator of book repository death. True. More or less.

But even speaking generally, I'm not sure we're talking about an either/or proposition here, that ebook adoption kills book repositories. Yes - the library-as-book-repository is probably dying and the ebook probably has a part in its demise. But, by no means does that mean that the library in general is dying. On the contrary, you could flip the argument around and say that "the proliferation of ebooks makes libraries more relevant 'cause it provides 'em with the flexibility to do modern stuff with their space."

To me, it's not so much the proliferation of ebooks that kills libraries, but the inability to adapt to the times that does.

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* For some discussion, take a look at the chat forum on LibraryThing as well.

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From Good Ideas come other Good Ideas…

In my last post, I mentioned that part of my job description falls under ‘outreach’. As such, I’m always looking for new ways to ‘reach out‘ to students and promote the library in a positive light. Fortunately, librarians are wonderful at sharing their good ideas, and the library literature is full of stories about successful programs. Last year, I read an article about innovative ways to reach out to students (citation below), and one of the programs mentioned in the article caught my eye – having a ‘stress-free zone’ in the library during final exam time. This past December, I created our own ‘stress-free zone’ at the University of Lethbridge to provide a space for students to relax, have a coffee and a snack, play games, and, on certain occasions, even get a free five-minute massage from the on-campus massage therapist. Administration gave me the go-ahead to run the program as a pilot project through our December exam period: 10 evenings from 7 – 11 p.m.

I was able to get campus food services to donate coffee and tea (no small feat), the massage therapist kindly donated his time on three different evenings, and library administration provided a small budget to purchase food and games. The library PR committee helped make signs & publicize the event throughout campus. I was very nervous on the first evening: would anyone come? Would students throw raucous parties in the room, creating noise, mess, and general havoc? Would library and caretaking staff hate me for creating a monster?

Fortunately, the answers to these questions were: yes, no, and no. Everything ran exceptionally smoothly, and comments from both the ‘official’ comment form on the library web site as well as anecdotal comments supplied by staff and student assistants seems to be that the room was well-used and much appreciated by students studying in the library. Apparently at 7 p.m. there would be a group waiting for doors to open, eager to get their caffeine fix; the food disappeared quickly, and earlier in the day, staff fielded questions about when the ‘zone’ would be open. No noise complaints were received and in general, whenever I or others went by the room, it appeared to be a very quiet and calm atmosphere – students sat talking quietly, played cards or chess, or grabbed a coffee and left.

I was very lucky to have great help from my fellow PR committee members as well as library staff, who had the student assistants who were working do hourly checks of the room as well as setting out the food and tidying everything up at the end of the night.

A bonus was that the ‘zone’ caught external media attention, thanks to a news release sent out by university communications; the story appeared in our local newspaper as well as two local news channels. The university is always looking for ways to promote themselves to the community, and apparently this ‘good news story’ did the trick.

Overall, I think this pilot project seemed to be a great success, and will hopefully become a regular event in the library during final exam periods. I have been wondering, though - are other libraries doing this, as well? I have only heard about libraries in the US who have similar programs, but I imagine other libraries in Canada do something like this too. If so - do you have good/bad stories about the outcome, ideas on funding sources/partnerships/ideas for improvement?


Karle, E.M. (March 2008). Invigorating the academic library experience: Creative programming ideas. C&RL News, 69(3), 141-144.

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Exam time

I really enjoy teaching. I think it’s one of the most exciting aspects of academic librarianship, although it can occasionally be the most stressful as well (especially for new librarians). I see it as one of the best opportunities I have to interact with students and really get a sense of their information needs and use. In this age of electronic resources, where many of our users may no longer have a regular reason to enter the library (especially the health sciences library where I work), teaching often seems like the most substantial point of contact with students, even if it’s only for a one-shot session before they disappear into the wilderness for the rest of the term.

But then at the end of term, we come to Exam Time in the library: all those students who disappeared suddenly show up again, all at once, armed with laptops, notebooks, and enough food and drink to last for several days. Anyone who questions the value of “the library as place” in the 21st Century hasn't been to an academic library during exam time. Although students are always around throughout the term, there is no other time of year that it is so consistently full. Every desk, carrel, and seat is occupied; every empty space is filled (this year, students even tried occupying an empty staff office that was left open!). The entire building is full of nervous tension, as the seriousness of exams bears down.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Exam Time provides us with a different but equally valuable kind of interaction. There are no in-depth teaching or reference opportunities. There’s not even very much direct communication with most students in the building, beyond the occasional ‘hello’ or short conversation about their term. Instead, there is a recognition of the value of the shared space between us: the library staff are glad to provide a comfortable and productive place to study, and students show their appreciation by being extremely polite, tidy, and considerate (for the most part, anyways). For three weeks, the library becomes these students' home away from home, and to me they are the perfect houseguests: quiet, respectful, and never leaving a mess. We are lucky to have the wonderful and friendly students that we do.

So now, as exams wind down and the tension in the air dissipates, we all collectively begin to feel excitement for the holiday break and the chance to recharge our batteries for the next semester. So congratulations to all on another completed term! See you again in the New Year.

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A Vision of the Bookless Library*

I’m no Delphic Oracle, but it’s only a matter of time ‘til (academic) libraries stop buying books. Physical books. Some libraries will cease and desist sooner than others. Medical libraries, for instance, will cut back before Humanities libraries.

But at some point 99% of all book purchases will be electronic. To be read online and on mobile devices – on devices that, I suppose, libraries will start lending out en masse.** The other 1% will comprise rare books and other print curios. To be read in ill lit rooms by people wearing smoking jackets.

When this inevitability inevitably happens, when weeding and shelving-space concerns become a thing of the past, what will the newfangled, ultra-modern library-as-place look like?

First, the print books that currently occupy large portions of libraries will have to be moved to off-site storage facilities or simply discarded. The valuable, useful, or relevant ones will be kept, but the others will be donated to developing countries, resold, or turned into insulation. Shelving will be dismantled. The old-school monograph budget will morph into a buy-on-demand model, because getting books will, of course!, be a nearly instantaneous process (thanks to Google and others for their digitization efforts).

Less shelving will mean more creative space for faculty and students. Individual and group study spaces are a certainty, but these will be more than just rooms with large tables and a few chairs. These spaces will be physically flexible enough to accommodate for future changes and technologically high-end enough to support modern learners. A diverse range of services (like poster printing) and experts (in IT and instructional design and intellectual property) will be in close proximity to the librarians (which is already happening***). Not to mention the presence of coffee shops, self checkout machines****, pool tables (one can hope), etc.

The library will be a space of collaboration, a bringing together of diverse academes, a scene of Bakhtinian carnivalesque.

Which leads us to the next question: What will librarians be doing in this new environment?

In some ways, there mightn’t be much change. Librarians will still be milling about, helping those who need help, doing things that librarians in libraries typically do (i.e., sit in meetings, form committees to do stuff). But there won’t be as many of them. Not that there’ll be fewer librarians overall – just fewer in the library. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if librarians begin to live outside the library. In departmental offices. In more accessible locations, where partnerships and collaborations can more conveniently happen. I hold weekly office hours in one of my liaison departments and I’ve experienced the advantages of proximity firsthand. As more and more students attend university remotely, the less and less meaningful the centralized and well-defined librarian role becomes. Perhaps we’ll maintain a floating existence with amorphous responsibilities, moving from information need to information need, from the physicals to the digitals, without being tied to a specific library. Perhaps we’re already doing this.

There’s been much talk of the profession’s future over the years (and over the last few days), and the only thing that’s certain is that librarians will be doing completely different things in completely different environments. And, that's the extent of my oracular abilities.

Thoughts?
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* It was this post at Dangerously Irrelevant that got me thinking about the academic library's future.

** This, of course, ignores the legality of kindle loaning. But it’ll happen at some point.

*** Which we’ve already seen with many of the learning commons or learning commons-like environments that have been created over the last few years.

***** Which, of course, won’t be for print books in the bookless library.

Image courtesy rosefirerising (I couldn't figure out how to make a caption)

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A year in...

It’s been just over a year since I became a newly-minted librarian, eager to start my first ‘real’ job in my new profession. I’m taking this opportunity to reflect on the things I have learned over the past year and where I’ve learned them from, so that I may point some of you to these sources of information and help continue the time-honoured tradition of librarians helping librarians.

Colleagues
It can be very intimidating to ask your new colleagues for help; after all, you don’t want them thinking you don’t know anything, do you? I found it especially hard to ask for help as time went on, say six months to a year after I’d started. I felt like at that point, I should have already figured all this stuff out! But I don’t think anyone expects you to know everything already; and even senior colleagues ask each other things that they know their co-workers are more knowledgeable about than they are. Obviously, you will soon figure out who is most helpful and approachable, and who knows the most about certain areas. One thing I found is that I often go to one of my colleagues who started a year before I did; she still remembers what it is like to be new, and I feel much less intimidated to ask her questions than some of my more senior colleagues (perhaps because she is actually younger than me?). Plus occasionally, I know something she doesn’t – so it can be a two-way street.

I’ve also noticed that there are certain colleagues who will ‘self-appoint’ themselves as mentors. Our library does not have an official mentorship program, but I’ve noticed that there are some people who go out of their way to point out certain opportunities to me and give me career advice. I have different ‘mentors’ for different things: ‘career development’ (suggesting I volunteer for associations, attend conferences, point out publishing opportunities, etc); ‘teaching’ (suggest teaching conferences, ask if I want to help out with classes); ‘technical’ (show me how to do certain things in the ILS, etc). I am very grateful for these folks and the role they have played in my professional development thus far.

Listservs
As a business librarian, I have found my ‘business librarians’ listserv to be an absolutely invaluable tool. Even just observing, I am privy to a ton of information I might not have otherwise come across. And when I have a specific question, they come to the rescue with amazing speed and accuracy. It’s also nice to be able to return the favour once in a while!

Blogs like these
I’ve not been as good at following online sources of advice as I should be, but when I do come across them or remember to check, I find it remarkable the amount of great information and advice that is published on these things. Setting up RSS feeds helps to remind me to check for updates. You never know when you might come across a timely career tip!

Publications:
I also browse the library-related publications our library subscribes to. These not only help with collection development, but are often full of great ideas from libraries worldwide; I’ve gotten more than one idea from articles I’ve read which have led to projects in our own library. Again, it’s the willingness of librarians to share their great ideas that allows all of us to improve our service!

Conferences:
Attending conferences not only gives you a renewed enthusiasm to try out some of your colleagues’ great ideas at home (see ‘Publications’), but also allows you to meet librarians across the province, the country, or the world. I hesitate to use the N-word (Network!) but really, it’s just chatting with colleagues. I’ve found librarians to be, in general, a very friendly and informal bunch – so what I used to avoid like the plague in my former career, I find to be very pleasant in the library world.

Teaching-specific resources:
Librarians are an amazing bunch of ‘sharers’; they seem more than happy to freely distribute their hard work. For example, the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library’s Information Literacy and Awareness Committee (LILAC) provides a searchable repository of teaching-related materials that you can use (and add to): http://www.lhcadl.ca/lilac/search.request. The BCLA provides their own version with LINK (Library Instruction Knapsack): http://www.eln.bc.ca/irl/. From their site, you can link to several other similar sites as well.

Again, colleagues were extremely invaluable when it came to class preparation. Nothing helped me more than observing my co-workers’ classes when I first started, and borrowing things like their handouts, etc. as I figured out what worked and didn’t work for me in my own teaching. Their advice, modeling, and help was absolutely invaluable.

Collections:
I was given the task last year of developing a special collection using one-time funds in an area totally outside my expertise. Again, librarians worldwide came to my rescue: I searched for other libraries with collections in this area, and checked to see what they had. I was also able to find several ‘core’ lists that were published by other libraries on the internet, against which I could check our current holdings and get ideas on what I might want to purchase. These types of lists are available for all kinds of subject areas, and was not something that was ever mentioned in my ‘collection development’ class. Checking several of them gives you a great idea of what truly is ‘core’ when the same titles pop up again and again.

What are other places you have found helpful as a new librarian to go for help?

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What is the Future of Liaison Librarianship?

Let me start by saying this: I love being a liaison librarian. I love the responsibility, the relationships, the partnerships, the collaborations, and the learning – the constant learning. I love the amount of freedom I get to pursue what I think is worth pursuing, and the freedom I get to do my own thang.

Let me also say that I see the proactive nature of liaison work as essential to the success of academic libraries. If you're not proactive, you're not relevant. And I'm sure many liaison programs were in part developed for that very reason.

Yet...

I had a conversation with a colleague last week about our liaison program and its limitations (which are, I must add, a product of its success). Basically, we don’t have enough liaisons, and the liaisons we do have are ridiculously busy.*

I left the discussion thinking: There must be a better way. Can we structure our program differently to maximize the productivity and potential of our liaison work?

I should point out that I'm a health sciences librarian, who works in a massive academic health system. Liaisons are responsible for, when added up, 50 or so Departments, Schools, Colleges, and other groups. This includes students, faculty, both clinical and research, staff, and administrative types. Many thousands of people... a few 10 000s. We don't work on the reference desk and we don't spend much time purchasing books.** We just don't have time and it’s not a priority.

I liaise with 1 school, 1 college, and 5 departments/divisions. I teach a lot. I consult with students and faculty several times a week. I'm currently involved in several 'expert' searches. I hold office hours in the Dental School. I attend and present at faculty meetings, and am an invited 'guest' at a curriculum committee meeting... and so on.

The reason I mention all this is to point out that my time is divided to such an extent that I cannot truly focus on any one liaison area. I cannot take strides to become a 'specialist' in any one area, and if I do, it comes at the sacrifice of one or more of my other responsibilities.*** This is unfortunate. Understanding 'your subject' is an important part of liaison work (at least to those you're liaising with). Having subject knowledge not only helps you support your community's needs, but it also helps you anticipate trends and develop plans accordingly. I learn a lot just by doing, but I could do a lot more if I could get around to attending subject-related conferences and reading journals my faculty publish in.

And this is just one sacrifice. There are many others. Emails I don't send. Meetings I don't attend. Etc. Etc. It's just the way it is.

But... These sacrifices are a problem. I fear that I'm starting to become less proactive and more reactive. Now that I've laid the groundwork, my calendar fills up quickly without me doing much of anything. The classes, consultations, expert searches, standing meetings – all the stuff I love doing as a liaison. Much of it is coming to me now.

From my exploration of the literature, I see that time-constraints are a common liaison problem – a problem that hinders a program's potential for growth. We spend so much time just getting by, that we're unable to do what it is we would like to do. Perhaps the standard liaison structure is at fault. Liaison programs tend to assign one librarian to one department, and more or less everything that pertains to that department goes through that librarian. This could lead to a situation where each liaison is doing the same work (sending the same emails, giving the same presentations) as other liaisons. Effective? Yes - it gives liaisons face-time in the department. But it could also create redundancy in our work.

So – What to do? How can we remain proactive in an environment that requires so much more than limited library staffs can provide? Is the standard liaison model an effective approach to modern academic environments? Consider the interdisciplinary work of academia. We’re compartmentalizing at a time when academia is doing the opposite. I don't propose we discard the liaison model, but I do believe it could do with some serious rethinking.

* A feeling echoed elsewhere.

** An approval plan theoretically takes care of most of our book purchases. I check 'slips' once every 3 months or so. Maybe.

*** Which, to be honest, is what I've done.

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Sabbaticals/Study Leaves

One of the objectives of Re:Gen is renewal of the profession. The subject of my final Re:Gen post is one of opportunities for the renewal of the academic librarian professional.

After 7 years as an academic librarian, I am on my first-ever study leave (sabbatical). For me, it's a half-leave: six months away from regular duties to rest, reflect and concentrate on a project. One project - just one! It's incredibly liberating. I was eligible last year, but didn't have an idea for a proposal, or the energy to investigate the process. That lack of energy was a signal that I needed this opportunity for renewal!

Many of the librarians at my institution do not take advantage of the "special leave" clause in the collective agreement. This is probably a loss for both the individuals and the university. Under our agreement (we're part of the faculty union), special leave is the librarian equivalent of sabbatical and is granted under the same conditions professor sabbatical, "in order to pursue research and scholarly work that directly complements the individual's work at the university". My colleagues who do take 'special leave' have very different academic and scholarly interests from my own, so I felt I was carving out my own path to do this. The energy level came from desperation, knowing that I simply couldn't carry on as I was without some kind of renewal.

What have I learned and what advice do I have?

1. Read your collective agreement. Find all the clauses that pertain to sabbatical/special leave. At my university there are several options - full year at 85% salary; 6 months at 85% salary or 6 months at 100% salary. Do bear in mind that your benefits deductions will continue at their 100% salary rate, so 85% salary is actually less than 85%. (My peers are all part of two-income families, so they actually didn't pay attention to what happened with their benefit deductions. My union didn't know either. Payroll had the answer, which they clearly thought was obvious. Lesson: Be thick-skinned about the answers to your questions.) Your university probably has provisions for travel/research grants for faculty on sabbatical/study leave. Check with your research office.
   
2. Ask your colleagues. Even if they don't have similar interests, they will tell you something useful.
3. Get help from your senior administrators. We have no set form or format for requesting a special leave. I asked around my colleagues and was given 3 drastically different examples representing the 3 very different personalities. My proposal went through several drafts and final product was different from most of the examples I was given. I found my University Librarian a HUGE help in deciding how much to take on. (He actually told me I was trying to do too much.) In addition to helping me format the proposal, he gave me some very good general advice about using the time away from the endless list of tasks to think about where I am in the profession, the current and changing face of librarianship, and where I'd like to be down the road. He's absolutely right.
   
4. Find a place to work that isn't your current office. Getting away is important. Two of my colleagues are content to work from home. Because of the level of work fatigue I was experiencing in the last year, I was determined not to bring work into my house. I was also afraid I'd end up working on home projects instead of my sabbatical project. I am enormously grateful to be a guest (Researcher-in-Residence) of the School of Information Management at Dalhousie. In exchange for office space, wise colleagues with interests & advice that will aid my research and a refreshing change of venue, I've agreed to mentor students (my delight) and speak in their public lecture series. Right now, that seems like I'm by far getting the best of the deal. (I may change my mind closer to the public lecture date.)
   
5. Ask your professoriate friends. I've gotten some of my very best advice from senior professors, including these practical suggestions from a recently retired philosophy prof:
   

• "At the beginning of your leave, take two weeks off. Go away. Don't take your laptop, don't check your email. When you come back, you'll be ready to work." (I seriously doubted this, but he was right.)
• "When you come back, work intensely for 4 hours a day. You'll get more done in 4 hours without interruptions than you do in a regular day." (Right again!)
• "After 4 hours, go do something fun, or something that needs doing that you haven't had time for." (Bullseye - on the few sunny days we've had on the East Coast I've played golf in the afternoons. I've also had time to wait hours at the bank, at Motor Vehicles to renew my driver's license etc without worrying about being over my allotted lunch break and making up the time.) The ability to set my own hours and vacation schedule has been the most wonderful and liberating thing about this experience so far. If I want to come in/leave early/take a day off/book an off-campus appointment in the middle of the day/work from home/work from the cottage - I can! This freedom has the happy side-effect that I'm much more focused when I am working.
  

As for my research, I'm finally tackling a problem that has plagued me since I started here in July 2001. Are we providing good service to the Faculty of Science? (I suspect not.) Are they aware of what we can do for them? What do they need that we don't know about and therefore aren't providing? And finally, since they don't come and see us in person anymore, how do most effectively communicate with them?

Last word: Sabbaticals/special leaves are in your collective agreement for a reason. They benefit you, and your university. Seize the opportunity!

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