First off, welcome back. It's a new semester and I'm studying collection management, including collection development. As a core function of libraries, I've been looking forward to doing it and I'm even excited about our assignments for the semester.
And following our first week of classes, on our class discussion board, we've been talking about different types of collections, differents formats for collecting, different patron groups. And I find myself thinking a great deal about the nature of texts. Harking back to the very first lecture on literature I attended, which drew heavily on semiotics, I keep thinking about what the lecturer, Dr Alan Maher, said about texts. He defined texts as "an ordered arrangement of signs". He went on to say that "man is a text-producing animal" (this was pre-political correctness - these days, no doubt, he would phrase it as "humans are text-producing animals"), and that we see patterns in everything, whether they are intentional or not.
Those of you with even a passing familiarity with semiotics will have noticed the use of the word "signs". In semiotics, signs have two parts - the signifier and the signified. At its simplest, it means that the word "tree" is composed of two parts - the letters and their arrangement being the signifier, the object they are referring to (with wood, leaves, trunk, branches, roots, etc) being the signified. It also means there is no necessary relationship between the two.
But, as interesting as this is, what does it have to do with librarianship? Well, it occurs to me that as librarians, it means we have to expand our understanding of what a text is and consider not only books and journals and maps, all objects that encode information in their "ordered arrangement of signs" but also photographs, films, audio recordings, personal papers, artifacts, etc.
Of course, a short visit to any library will show that librarians have done just that. And so the variety of texts available for the patron is quite broad. But this notion of text carries a lot of implications, not just for developing a collection but also managing it, which overlaps another core function of libraries - the preservation of culture. But that's a topic for another day.
Cheers!
Catherine
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
So it's been a while
Since I last blogged - chalk it up to post-semester fatigue and being depressed by the constant stream of Google Alerts re library closures and cut-backs. Especially in the United States where I have read that all 11 (and a half) branch libraries in Siskiyou County under threat of closure, where FoxNews Chicago gives airtime to the question of closing down the city's libraries and interviews a gentleman by the name of Jim Tobin who, when asked about the library's value in assisting people to find jobs, replies "The jobs aren't there" and argues that this is due to the government spending people's taxes on wasteful things like libraries.
And lest we think that we are relatively immune to such things in Australia - only yesterday, my mother was telling me that in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys where she lives, the mobile library service was axed quite some time ago. Now the local post-master in Tarlee is investigating how he might go about setting up a small library in the post office. I've passed on some advice accordingly.
Which is a nice note to end on, I think.
Cheers!
Catherine
PS The Huffington Post website (see link under 'the jobs aren't there') has a quick poll on its pages, asking readers if libraries are necessary or a waste of taxpayers' money - the poll is currently running at 94.19% of readers say they are necessary and only 5.81% agree with Mr Tobin. Which is a very cheering thought.
And lest we think that we are relatively immune to such things in Australia - only yesterday, my mother was telling me that in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys where she lives, the mobile library service was axed quite some time ago. Now the local post-master in Tarlee is investigating how he might go about setting up a small library in the post office. I've passed on some advice accordingly.
Which is a nice note to end on, I think.
Cheers!
Catherine
PS The Huffington Post website (see link under 'the jobs aren't there') has a quick poll on its pages, asking readers if libraries are necessary or a waste of taxpayers' money - the poll is currently running at 94.19% of readers say they are necessary and only 5.81% agree with Mr Tobin. Which is a very cheering thought.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Lazy Sunday afternoon
With the final assignment for the semester completed and handed in, I can now have another look at this blog.
And first and foremost change the design to something less stereotypical of a librarian. I hope you all like it.
Plus catch up on a couple of things. Such as: the link to the article on the York Gate Library I promised you a fortnight ago.
And here is a link to a report causing a stir in library circles in the UK. Published by KPMG, Payment for Success references libraries as an example of public services that need to be re-thought and how it might be done. The relevant bits are on pages 18 and 19. Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate, has already slammed the report in the Guardian as have library associations and blogs including CILIP, Girl in the Moon, and Information Overlord.
Although libraries and their staffing are not the main thrust of KPMG's report, it is extremely clear that the authors have not visited a public library in a very long time. If they had bothered to do so, they would have seen that many public libraries have already made the transition to the "vibrant community organisation and space" they call for. Had they gone into the back-office of a library, they would have seen that the "over-skilled paid staff" do considerably more than stamp and re-shelve books. They would have discovered that public libraries are not only keen users of computers and the Internet - they also provide Internet access and online databases to their patrons. And that the use of modern technology is enabling libraries to provide better service and considerably more resources to their patrons. When I lived in Hertfordshire, every public library there (50 of them) is connected to all of the others and all library patrons in Hertfordshire need only one membership for access to all 50 libraries, all thanks to modern technology. And given that many of these are small village libraries, this enables them to provide all their patrons with a much larger book/CD/DVD stock than each could manage on their own, and without having to travel long distances to visit the library. Thanks to the online catalogue, a book held in the library at Abbots Langley can be requested and delivered to the Wheathampstead library for the princely sum of 50p - and given that the bus only goes through Wheathampstead once every two hours during the week and not all during the weekend, this is a tremendous service to the residents of Wheathampstead.
Due to continuous budget cuts, libraries have looked to modern technology to create greater efficiencies, and co-operative ventures between libraries have led to better stocked libraries - which is precisely what the KPMG report is calling for. Even a brief visit to their local library would have shown the authors that.
And I find myself wondering what KPMG's own corporate library would make of the report. Although it's probably not called a library any more.
Cheers!
Catherine
And first and foremost change the design to something less stereotypical of a librarian. I hope you all like it.
Plus catch up on a couple of things. Such as: the link to the article on the York Gate Library I promised you a fortnight ago.
And here is a link to a report causing a stir in library circles in the UK. Published by KPMG, Payment for Success references libraries as an example of public services that need to be re-thought and how it might be done. The relevant bits are on pages 18 and 19. Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate, has already slammed the report in the Guardian as have library associations and blogs including CILIP, Girl in the Moon, and Information Overlord.
Although libraries and their staffing are not the main thrust of KPMG's report, it is extremely clear that the authors have not visited a public library in a very long time. If they had bothered to do so, they would have seen that many public libraries have already made the transition to the "vibrant community organisation and space" they call for. Had they gone into the back-office of a library, they would have seen that the "over-skilled paid staff" do considerably more than stamp and re-shelve books. They would have discovered that public libraries are not only keen users of computers and the Internet - they also provide Internet access and online databases to their patrons. And that the use of modern technology is enabling libraries to provide better service and considerably more resources to their patrons. When I lived in Hertfordshire, every public library there (50 of them) is connected to all of the others and all library patrons in Hertfordshire need only one membership for access to all 50 libraries, all thanks to modern technology. And given that many of these are small village libraries, this enables them to provide all their patrons with a much larger book/CD/DVD stock than each could manage on their own, and without having to travel long distances to visit the library. Thanks to the online catalogue, a book held in the library at Abbots Langley can be requested and delivered to the Wheathampstead library for the princely sum of 50p - and given that the bus only goes through Wheathampstead once every two hours during the week and not all during the weekend, this is a tremendous service to the residents of Wheathampstead.
Due to continuous budget cuts, libraries have looked to modern technology to create greater efficiencies, and co-operative ventures between libraries have led to better stocked libraries - which is precisely what the KPMG report is calling for. Even a brief visit to their local library would have shown the authors that.
And I find myself wondering what KPMG's own corporate library would make of the report. Although it's probably not called a library any more.
Cheers!
Catherine
Monday, June 7, 2010
A librarian's knowledge
Working on my last assignment for this semester, I found myself thinking a great deal about a librarian's knowledge. The assignment is a journal on a one-day placement at the State Library of Australia and, during the course of the day, I noted how much of successful reference work was due to the librarians' own knowledge. And not just their knowledge of the State Library's collection or their catalogue or of information sources generally, but also their own local knowledge of Adelaide, South Australia and Australia. This local knowledge provided a lot of assistance in answering queries.
This was a point that was partially picked up in the one of the journal articles I read during the semester - it noted that a qualified librarian who was also a subject expert was "doubly expert"*. Which I suppose makes me triply (or more) expert, given my degrees in literature and philosophy of science.
But that expertise is the main reason that I have chosen to retrain as a librarian at this stage of my working life. It feels like a natural progression to take my knowledge, skills, expertise and experience and put them to the service of the patrons of whichever library I manage to get a job in. And it's certainly one of the reasons that all my family, friends and former colleagues agree (without exception) that librarianship is a most appropriate occupation for me (that - and the fact that I am a born bibliophile).
And certainly, during my one-day placement at the State Library, and the volunteering at the Women's Studies Resource Centre, I felt very much at home and very comfortable with learning library skills. That in itself shows that I have made the right decision career-wise, if even there are people out there who feel that libraries are no longer needed in this age of the Internet. And though the Google news alerts ofnlibraries make for depressing reading with the constant stream of budget cuts and library closures, I will persevere and hopefully, sooner rather than later, find a job in a library - even if it is now called an Information Centre.
Because if there is one thing that the Internet and Google can never replace, it is a librarian's knowledge.
Cheers!
Catherine
* At the moment I can't recall which article I read it in and have been looking for it.
This was a point that was partially picked up in the one of the journal articles I read during the semester - it noted that a qualified librarian who was also a subject expert was "doubly expert"*. Which I suppose makes me triply (or more) expert, given my degrees in literature and philosophy of science.
But that expertise is the main reason that I have chosen to retrain as a librarian at this stage of my working life. It feels like a natural progression to take my knowledge, skills, expertise and experience and put them to the service of the patrons of whichever library I manage to get a job in. And it's certainly one of the reasons that all my family, friends and former colleagues agree (without exception) that librarianship is a most appropriate occupation for me (that - and the fact that I am a born bibliophile).
And certainly, during my one-day placement at the State Library, and the volunteering at the Women's Studies Resource Centre, I felt very much at home and very comfortable with learning library skills. That in itself shows that I have made the right decision career-wise, if even there are people out there who feel that libraries are no longer needed in this age of the Internet. And though the Google news alerts ofnlibraries make for depressing reading with the constant stream of budget cuts and library closures, I will persevere and hopefully, sooner rather than later, find a job in a library - even if it is now called an Information Centre.
Because if there is one thing that the Internet and Google can never replace, it is a librarian's knowledge.
Cheers!
Catherine
* At the moment I can't recall which article I read it in and have been looking for it.
Friday, June 4, 2010
What's on 5-6 June
Well, folks, assuming anyone has time spare whilst completing assignments and prepping for exams, here's a round-up of what's on at Australian libraries this weekend.
The National Library of Australia
The NLA currently has two exhibitions running - one on the Dunera Boys, and one on the photographer Wolfgang Sievers.
The State Library of Queensland
Exhibitions include New Treasures (new additions to the collection), William Robinson Showcase (a Queensland artist , and Laura: festival in focus (photography of an Aboriginal dance festival).
The State Library of New South Wales
Two exhibitions for your enjoyment - ONE hundred, marking the centenary of the Mitchell Library, and Stranger than fiction, an exhibition of non-book objects in the library's collections.
The State Library of Victoria
Another two exhibitions: ’til you drop: shopping – a Melbourne history (self-explanatory), and Mirror of the World: books and ideas (rare, beautiful and historically significant books).
The State Library of Western Australia
Just one exhibition -The Durack Dynasty - on WA pioneer family the Duracks. Quite appropriate, given the considerable interest in family history.
The Northern Territory Library
Again, just one exhibition, but from the sound of it an ambitious one - Selling an American Dream: Australia’s Greek Café.
Although a couple of our libraries do not have current, non-permanent exhibitions, all of our state libraries have permanent exhibitions and online exhibitions to check out as well. So even if you haven't got time to visit in person, you might find you have half an hour spare to browse one of the online exhibitions.
Have a great weekend!
Catherine
The National Library of Australia
The NLA currently has two exhibitions running - one on the Dunera Boys, and one on the photographer Wolfgang Sievers.
The State Library of Queensland
Exhibitions include New Treasures (new additions to the collection), William Robinson Showcase (a Queensland artist , and Laura: festival in focus (photography of an Aboriginal dance festival).
The State Library of New South Wales
Two exhibitions for your enjoyment - ONE hundred, marking the centenary of the Mitchell Library, and Stranger than fiction, an exhibition of non-book objects in the library's collections.
The State Library of Victoria
Another two exhibitions: ’til you drop: shopping – a Melbourne history (self-explanatory), and Mirror of the World: books and ideas (rare, beautiful and historically significant books).
The State Library of Western Australia
Just one exhibition -The Durack Dynasty - on WA pioneer family the Duracks. Quite appropriate, given the considerable interest in family history.
The Northern Territory Library
Again, just one exhibition, but from the sound of it an ambitious one - Selling an American Dream: Australia’s Greek Café.
Although a couple of our libraries do not have current, non-permanent exhibitions, all of our state libraries have permanent exhibitions and online exhibitions to check out as well. So even if you haven't got time to visit in person, you might find you have half an hour spare to browse one of the online exhibitions.
Have a great weekend!
Catherine
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Yet another library closure
Here in Adelaide, there is a small, specialist library that looks like it will have to close for business in mid-June after 35 years of operation. It is the Women's Studies Resource Centre in North Adelaide. Run for years on a shoestring budget with only sufficient funding to cover staffing for three days a week and relying on donations for everything else, it may now have to close its doors as part of its funding has been withdrawn (cost-cutting, of course). It will only be able to stay open if its board manages miraculously to find additional funding between now and June 12th.
Although I only learnt about its existence last year, it seems to me that it would be a great shame if it were to close. Its collection of feminist texts and works on gender studies, plus books by women authors, journals, posters, photos etc, is quite possibly unique. Although under-utilised (no money for marketing), it should be a collection of interest to anyone undertaking feminism and gender studies. If you can help at all, I urge you to get in touch (08) 8267 3633 or email them at wsrc@wsrc.org.au.
An aside
Matthew Hooper (Flinders University Library) found and posted to the SALIN* list a link to a very amusing video on Youtube - a riff on library catalogs to the music of Lady GaGa. Disclaimer: please do not view if you are offended by Lady GaGa and/or her music.
Cheers!
Catherine
* South Australian Library and Information Network
Although I only learnt about its existence last year, it seems to me that it would be a great shame if it were to close. Its collection of feminist texts and works on gender studies, plus books by women authors, journals, posters, photos etc, is quite possibly unique. Although under-utilised (no money for marketing), it should be a collection of interest to anyone undertaking feminism and gender studies. If you can help at all, I urge you to get in touch (08) 8267 3633 or email them at wsrc@wsrc.org.au.
An aside
Matthew Hooper (Flinders University Library) found and posted to the SALIN* list a link to a very amusing video on Youtube - a riff on library catalogs to the music of Lady GaGa. Disclaimer: please do not view if you are offended by Lady GaGa and/or her music.
Cheers!
Catherine
* South Australian Library and Information Network
Monday, May 31, 2010
Procrastinating and Pareto's Principle
We all do it. I'm doing it right now. You see, I have an assignment to do - the final assignment for my current course. It - a journal on a one-day placement at the State Library of South Australia - was going along quite nicely. Because during my one-day placement, I noticed that the types of enquiries received at the enquiry desk divided very neatly into an 80/20 split - 80% directional queries and 20% reference queries.
Some of you will have seen immediately the same thing I did, that this is an example of Pareto's Principle. So since my one-day placement, that was what I had been thinking about - the implications of Pareto's Principle for the funding and staffing of libraries. And that's what I had planned to write about in my assignment.
Then a clarification about the assignment was posted and I realised that I had to throw out what I had done and rethink the entire assignment. That was last Thursday. I am still rethinking my assignment, hence the procrastinating.
But back to Pareto. One immediate implication for libraries is this - funding bodies will look at the statistics and think, well, why staff the enquiry desk with highly-qualified expensive librarians if 80% of the enquires are directional queries (such as "Where do I book a PC?" "How do I use the catalogue?" "Where're the photocopiers?" etc)? Why not staff them with less well-qualified, cheaper customer service staff instead? And when someone comes along with a question that needs a librarian to answer it, then the librarian can come out and answer it.
It's a reasonable question - and the staffing of enquiry desks in public libraries with customer service staff instead of librarians is already happening. For example, earlier this year, I saw a recruitment ad from the City of Port Adelaide Enfield for five trainee positions - one for each of its libraries. But although the trainees would be sponsored by the council to go to TAFE and study, it would not for library studies - it would be for a Certificate in Business Studies.
However, I think that fails to take into account customer expectations. I know that when I go into a library and have a question, which might be directional and might not, I expect that the person I speak to will be able to deal with any question I raise. That is simply good customer service. If I have a question that needs a librarian, I don't want to have to wait whilst the librarian is fetched from the back office. If only for time management reasons, I don't want to have to wait around. Each day when I go out, I have a plan for my day and a timetable to stick to (and yes, I do allow time for queuing in supermarkets, etc). If my question is not dealt with reasonably quickly, then I will have to go. And as David, one of my fellow students, points out: if someone has to "come back later", generally speaking, they won't. They'll find another, easier, way to get what they need/want.
But, by the same token, it does free up librarians for the more "library" aspects of their work.
What do you think?
Cheers!
Catherine
Some of you will have seen immediately the same thing I did, that this is an example of Pareto's Principle. So since my one-day placement, that was what I had been thinking about - the implications of Pareto's Principle for the funding and staffing of libraries. And that's what I had planned to write about in my assignment.
Then a clarification about the assignment was posted and I realised that I had to throw out what I had done and rethink the entire assignment. That was last Thursday. I am still rethinking my assignment, hence the procrastinating.
But back to Pareto. One immediate implication for libraries is this - funding bodies will look at the statistics and think, well, why staff the enquiry desk with highly-qualified expensive librarians if 80% of the enquires are directional queries (such as "Where do I book a PC?" "How do I use the catalogue?" "Where're the photocopiers?" etc)? Why not staff them with less well-qualified, cheaper customer service staff instead? And when someone comes along with a question that needs a librarian to answer it, then the librarian can come out and answer it.
It's a reasonable question - and the staffing of enquiry desks in public libraries with customer service staff instead of librarians is already happening. For example, earlier this year, I saw a recruitment ad from the City of Port Adelaide Enfield for five trainee positions - one for each of its libraries. But although the trainees would be sponsored by the council to go to TAFE and study, it would not for library studies - it would be for a Certificate in Business Studies.
However, I think that fails to take into account customer expectations. I know that when I go into a library and have a question, which might be directional and might not, I expect that the person I speak to will be able to deal with any question I raise. That is simply good customer service. If I have a question that needs a librarian, I don't want to have to wait whilst the librarian is fetched from the back office. If only for time management reasons, I don't want to have to wait around. Each day when I go out, I have a plan for my day and a timetable to stick to (and yes, I do allow time for queuing in supermarkets, etc). If my question is not dealt with reasonably quickly, then I will have to go. And as David, one of my fellow students, points out: if someone has to "come back later", generally speaking, they won't. They'll find another, easier, way to get what they need/want.
But, by the same token, it does free up librarians for the more "library" aspects of their work.
What do you think?
Cheers!
Catherine
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