Reflections on Parts Two & Three of Information Services Today

by Stacy Torian

Part Two
The authors of Part Two addressed emerging trends and described different library
environments. The two ideas I found most compelling in this section were those articulated by
Stephen Abram. The first one was “[w]hile technology gets most of the attention when change is
discussed, it is changes in human behavior that are frequently the main thrust of change”
(Abram, 2015, p. 41). This statement reflects a human-centered approach to information
services work that resonates strongly with me, an approach that acknowledges that people are
the most important resources in their information environment. The second idea was that
“[i]nformation professionals are fundamentally about transforming lives” (Abram, 2015, p.43).
This principle, which in the past led me to teach English and adult literacy, reflects my current
motivation for pursuing a career in librarianship. Abram (2015) stressed that librarians must be
adept at forecasting trends in areas such as technology, lifestyles, and family structures if they
want to maintain their vital community role as “agents of change” (p. 41-42, 44). Before reading
Abram’s chapter, I had thought of librarians as need responders rather than forecasters of
trends. I now realize that the ability to anticipate trends makes librarians more effective and
more prepared for their ever-increasing responsibilities.
Part Two’s authors taught me much about the life-changing roles of school media
specialists and academic librarians. I did not know that these professionals were so involved in
teaching digital and information literacy to students – all while supporting the needs of teachers
and professors (Harlan, 2015, p. 53-57; Gilman, 2015, p. 62-65). I was shocked to learn during
a class discussion board exchange that one of my classmates is teaching coding to students at
her school. Domenic Rosati’s (2016) review of the literature on librarians and computer
programming was also a revelation. While I had never thought of librarians as coders or
programmers before, my classmate and Rosati have convinced me that I need to learn at least
some basic coding skills during my time as a library and information studies student.
Reading the Part Two chapters on special librarianship, data organization, and digital
librarianship led me to reflect on my current skill set. In the section on the special library, I
learned that organizational skills and the ability to create customized information tools are
crucial for success in that environment (Dee, Abram, & Hunt, 2015, p.84-85). I use these skills
often in the graduate admissions office where I work. For example, over the past four years I
have created training documents that colleagues can reference when processing application
records and answering students’ questions. These electronic documents, which are housed in
folders on our office’s shared drive, constitute a sort of special library that helps us maintain
consistent work practices.
Having little background in data organization, I was pleased to see that the archivist
metadata cataloguing work that Sylvia D. Hall-Ellis (2015) describes in her bibliographic data
and metadata table (p. 141) bears many similarities to the work I do as a volunteer oral history
indexer for the Museum of Durham History in Durham, NC. As I read about digital libraries, I
remembered my time as a research assistant to Duke University professor Trudi Abel in 1999
and 2000. Professor Abel supervised a project called Digital Durham, an online archive of 19th
century Durham historical records. I helped her by reviewing content in the Duke Libraries’
special collections and transcribing census records. At the time, I thought Digital Durham was a
rather strange endeavor. I knew little about technology trends and did not see the need for a
digital archive. Now that digital records are everywhere, I realize that Professor Abel the
historian had exactly the type of foresight that Stephen Abram said librarians must have to “stay
ahead of the curve” (Abram, 2015, p. 47) and be effective.
Part Three
In Part Three I learned about the diverse work responsibilities of library staff and the
creative ways libraries are responding to user needs. While reading about library staff
designations, I discerned some interesting (though not perfect) analogies to the bookstore
environment in which I used to work (circulation: bookstore cashier’s station; reference:
bookstore information desk; stacks management; bookstore inventory; interlibrary loan:
bookstore special orders).
Two areas touched on in Part Three, teaching and needs assessment, are activities I am
passionate about and have experience doing. April Cunningham and Stephanie Rosenblatt
(2015) asserted that teaching “may prove to be one of the most stable aspects” of the
information profession (p. 169). This gives me hope that the experience I have teaching English
to immigrant populations will serve me well as a librarian.
The reference interview needs assessment model presented by Heather O’Brien and
Devon Greyson (2015) - in which a person’s environment, relationships, and personal
characteristics are all taken into account – is enormously helpful and similar to the model I used
as a literacy tutor (p. 123). It complements Carol Kuhlthau’s (1991) model of the library user’s
information search process, which emphasized “the whole experience of the person, as well as
thoughts and actions” (p. 362). I plan to draw on my knowledge of both models in my future
library career.
Also presented in Part Three were two terms I had not heard before: roving librarianship
and access services. A roving librarian is fulfilling one of the modern library’s most important
goals: meeting users where they are. On the other hand, this librarian faces the challenge of
being more distant from colleagues, which could make it harder to network professionally and
call on colleagues for help when needed. Access services encompasses much of the “behind
the scenes” work that goes on in libraries – interlibrary loan, stacks management, reserves – as
well as the highly visible circulation function (Krasulski, 2015, p.157). It also encompasses
building management, an area I learned about while interviewing the branch manager of a
downtown public library. As someone who has never associated libraries with danger, I was
very surprised when the manager shared that staff safety was one of his primary concerns
(personal communication, September 8, 2016). I was even more surprised when my classmates
who work in libraries expressed their own concerns about workplace safety. My idealistic image
of the free, open library had made me forget that a library requires the same surveillance that
any other public space does. I am glad to have been educated about this issue.
 As I consider the Part Three themes of teaching, needs assessment and flexible
librarianship, I am reminded of something University of North Carolina at Greensboro professor
Noah Lenstra said during the August 20, 2016 Master of Library and Information Studies New
Student Welcome Day. At that event Lenstra remarked that, as the U.S. population ages,
libraries need to think seriously about how they serve senior populations. I believe this is
especially true in regard to electronic resources. While many seniors might benefit from e-
readers’ text enlargement and audio features, their rate of e-book ownership is lower than that
of younger readers (Quan-Haase, Martin, & Schreurs, 2014, para. 9; Pew, 2014, p. 8). More
research is needed as to why, but age-related physical challenges, discomfort with newer
technologies, and cost are all possible concerns (Pew, 2014, p. 8-9, 11-12).
As library collections become increasingly digitized, more librarians need to host free e-
book information forums for seniors, similar to the for-cost one organized by two service
programs in Lubbock, TX in 2014 (Gonzalez, 2014). In addition, circulation and reference staff
can survey senior patrons to determine which ones have used e-books and why some are not
using them. Roving and bookmobile librarians can do the same and even provide training at
senior community centers. This kind of dialogue and outreach helps people stay engaged with
rather than overcome by technological change.

References

Abram, S. (2015). Librarianship: A continuously evolving profession. In S. Hirsh (Ed.),

Information services today, (41-52). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Cunningham, A. & Rosenblatt, S. (2015). Teaching users: Information and technology literacy
instruction. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information services today, (159-172). Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Dee, C.R., Abram, S., & Hunt, D. Information centers: Special libraries. In S. Hirsh (Ed.),
Information services today, (82-93). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Gonzalez, E. (2014, July 21). Senior citizens invited to learn about eBooks. Lubbock Avalanche
Journal. Retrieved from http://lubbockonline.com/health/2014-07-21/senior-citizens-
invited-learn-about-ebooks#.V_vDt8nG84d
Gilman, T. (2015). The learning and research institution: Academic libraries. In S. Hirsh (Ed.),
Information services today, (62-69). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Hall-Ellis, S. D. (2015). Organizing information: Technical services. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information
services today, (139-148). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Harlan, M.A. (2015). Literacy and media centers in the twenty-first century: School libraries. In
S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information services today, (53-61). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Krasulski, M. (2015). Accessing information anywhere and anytime: Access services. In S. Hirsh
(Ed.), Information services today, (149-158). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Kuhlthau, C. C. (1991). Inside the search process: Information seeking from the user's
perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 42(5), 361- 371.
Retrieved from
http://proxy.lib.duke.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1301244250?acc
ountid=10598
O’Brien, H. and Greyson, D. Information needs: Understanding and responding to today’s
information user. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information services today, (119-129). Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Pew Research Center. (2014, April). Older adults and technology use: Adoption is increasing,
but many seniors remain isolated from digital life. Retrieved from
http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2014/04/PIP_Seniors-and-Tech-Use_040314.pdf
Quan-Haase, A., Martin, K., & Schreurs, K. (2014, June). Not all on the same page: e-book
adoption and technology exploration by seniors. Information Research, 19 (2). Retrieved
from http://www.informationr.net/ir/19-2/paper622.html#arm02
Rosati, D. A. (2016). Librarians and computer programming: understanding the role of
programming within the profession of librarianship. Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary
Management, 12 (1), 1-20. doi: 10.5931/djim.v12.i1.6450 Retrieved from
https://ojs.library.dal.ca/djim/article/view/6450/5833