The Authoritarian Librarian

A bit of a play here on the name of this blog and a topic that is sure to polarize many in the profession of librarianship is the question of being a so-called authoritarian librarian. If you've been a consistent follower of The Nonsectarian Librarian, you might have noticed numerous hints and indications along the way of my Libertarian inclinations. Therefore, it's not all too difficult to assume which camp I tend to tend to fall into on this issue.

Not that I would be in favor of any radical transformations in the age old institution of the library or encourage a total free-for-all when it comes to rule enforcement. The truth is that libraries still need rules and regulations as much as they require a physical structure within which to house their materials. A framework of some kind must exist in either case or the library will simply cease to exist. However, as is the case with the determining physical structure of the library, the question of rules is in a certain sense, also one of design.

What is meant by "design" in this case encompasses the rules (for patrons) that have been drafted for the library and how they are subsequently interpretted and implemented by its staff. As non-administrative employees of the library, we tend to have rather limited, if any, influence over the creation of these rules, though we do however have some say at least as to how we enforce them.

The authoritarian librarian, as the title suggests, is a breed of librarian that applies the law precisely by the book. There are no exceptions, no consideration given to the unique context of a particular scenario, just strict, universal application of the dictates of the library. They do so either like an automaton, a company yes-man, or in some unfortunate cases, as a petty individual who actually finds pleasure and satisfaction in lording over others, even where the extent of control is so marginal. Not only does the authoritarian librarian behave in this manner, they also tend to lack the sort of social graces and sophistication to enforce the rules without angering or alienating the patron in the process, thereby escalating the situation.

Furthermore, on a more philosophic note, the result of consistently having all these negative interactions with patrons by having to reiterate, "no - this", and "no - that", doesn't exactly engender a sense of enpowerment that a library ought to be instilling, but rather feelings of restriction and limitation, which are by the way both entirely inconsistent with the higher purpose of the library, that being to lift up and enlighten its users.

I would be dishonest not to admit there are certain noteable benefits to a uniform, inflexible enforcement of the library's rules. Doing so creates a wall of constistency, which in turn prevents certain patrons from feeling singled out for their transgressions or on the other side of the coin, think they are getting a free ride. Consequently, consistency in the staff's approach can make dealing with patrons in this way generally a bit easier.

Whatever the merits or drawbacks of being an authoritarian librarian might be, it is my opinion that librarians should be primarily focused on emphasizing to the patron what they can do at the library and perhaps more importantly, what the library can do for them instead of concentrating on what is not permitted within its walls.

The Psychedelic Library

A number of weeks ago, I received an untitled email from a very close artist friend of mine. In the body of the email, a short message mysteriously read, "this is a great library man". Upon opening the over 6mb attachment, I had to not only agree, but go on and immediately print a copy to display in my office wall at work.

Please note, the above image has not been photoshopped or otherwise digitally manipulated in any way. The black and white photograph was self-taken this autumn at my friend's 200+ acre property in upstate New York, using only his cell phone for the shot. Of course, the 'library' itself was constructed by the artist himself.

Much could be said as to the interpretation of this unique biblio-sculpture, but I won't bias your appraisal of it by revealing my own analysis. However, a colleague of his was almost astonished upon viewing this photo and reacted by saying something along the lines of, "wow, you really live in a world of your own imagination". In a way, this statement is quite accurate in that the artist's work is essentially a physical manifestation of the contents of his imagination. For that reason, I shall refer to this piece as, "The Psychedelic Library", for it is both literally and figuratively, a true manifestation of the mind.

A Season of Opportunity

As the Fall semester of 2009 begins across college campuses throughout the country and abroad, significant opportunities for librarians to continue to assert themselves have once again emerged. In fact, trends now seem to indicate a continued push for online learning environments, whether they be fully online classes or hybrid-style courses. In either case, there has been a definite shift in the ways many students are pursuing higher education and with an ever increasing dependence on advancing technologies.

Unfortunately, some of these same students, at least through my own anecdotal experience, are somewhat less than thrilled about this radical change to the virtual classroom, which could be largely due to a lack of comfort and familiarity with this new educational medium and perhaps more fundamentally, a deficiency in sophisticated internet use in general. Some students are even downright disgruntled and mad that they are being mandated to take their courses in this form, particularly if it's their first experience with online learning. I've even received at least one message from a student in my library suggestion box asking to eliminate online classes altogether, as if we had anything to do with designing their curriculum.

What these students both want and need in circumstances such as these is a reliable and helpful human in the actual flesh and blood to which they could turn. Such a desire also makes perfect sense. Wouldn't we rather speak directly to a live operator than having to navigate on our own the tiresome maze of some convoluted automated phone system? The answer is invariably yes and the same concept applies to the frustrations of taking classes online as well, though on an even grander scale.

Even if students do have access to their online instructors via email or live chat, which is often the case, the physical void the student may encounter could be filled in most instances by a librarian simply willing to offer their expert assistance. Sometimes, students just need help making sense of the electronic interface through which they're taking their courses, particularly when it comes to viewing assignments, uploading their work, technical issues with desktop publishing software, and so on. Other times, they might need help locating particular kinds of informational resources for their assignments, which could also serve as a perfect opporunity to plug those typically glossed over online databases, or to just receive some guidance using proper citation and so forth.

The first trick is basically to lure these needy students into the library, make yourself visible, and after that, they're pretty much all yours. With this potential demographic to be tapped in mind, a new marketing strategy ought to be considered in which libraries gear the promotion of their services in a way that specifically targets individuals enrolled in online classes. Such an effort would be a perfect example of "demonstrating value" rather than just proclaiming it.

Twittering Away The Library

Despite my own personal dislike for Twitter and that's putting it somewhat mildly, I've decided that it might actually be in the best interests of my library to accept this rather prolific online tool, bite my tongue, and just launch a Twitter page already. Again, the move was personal sacrifice performed for the good of the library. However, if you're looking for an endless stream of "tweets" detaling what color shirt I'm wearing today or what condiments I've just sprinkled on a slice of pizza, please defer to some other inane Twitter page.

My decision to employ Twitter was instead motivated by the necessity to find a new way to effectively connect with library users through an electronic medium they're likely to be already using, rather than exerting even more effort by trying to draw them into yet another obscure venue they would otherwise be not inclined to be aware of or visit regularly. Also, being able to achieve this without having to spend a dime was another compelling factor.

Before the launch, I had to contemplate exactly what the library Twitter page might be used for, epsecially if I were to be able to successfully sell the idea to my director. I realized that since our library often encountered schedule changes or closures that would effect our regular operating hours, Twitter would be an excellent way to make such changes known without patrons having to come all the way to the door only to find a paper sign providing that information. It could also be used to promote various library-related events taking place, make important announcements, highlight interesting new titles that had just arrived, and so on. Of course, with only a 140 character maximum space allocated for each tweet (an individual posting on Twitter), the wording would have to be carefully selected to offer the biggest bang for the buck.

Another appealing feature of Twitter can be found in the 'design' console located under 'settings' when logged in to one's account. This allowed me to rather painlessly style the library's page to remain aesthetically consistent with the library website's color scheme, as well as upload our official logo, which obviously helps keep the branding intact across the board.

Whether or not this venture will prove successful is still yet to be seen. However, it will be interesting to tabulate just how many non-spamming, actual library users we'll have following us in exactly a year from now.

Professional Development at Library Journal

My recent research into finding additional cost-free alternatives for earning continuing education credits has lead me quite unexpectedly back to libraryjournal.com itself. Although, I have certain personal issues with this particular publication and probably would have never discovered it by simply visiting their homepage, a meandering google search eventually revealed Library Journal's relatively new online offerings called Webcasts. These 'webcasts' as they are referred to are essentially no different from other webinars or virtual conferences most people have already participated in at one point or another. They run roughly an hour long in length and concentrate on a variety of relevant issues pertaining to libraries and librarianship.

Upon my discovery of this resource, to test the waters I quickly registered for their program, Data for a Downturn Economy, which basically offered a crash course into the myriad uses and inner workings of the US Bureau of Economic Analysis' site, bea.gov/, the old statistical workhorse, fedstats.gov, and the newly launched as of May 2009, data.gov, set to serve as fedstats' more sophisticated and comprehensive future replacement.

For those of us who missed their previous offerings, well over a dozen past webcasts have also been archived and can be registered for the same way that their upcoming live webcasts are offered. During the short registration process, you will notice a line immediately following the contact information fields to be checked off if you're interested in receiving "confirmation of participation for professional development hours". This confirmation comes in the form of a pdf certificate delivered to your inbox the following day which officially documents your participation in that Webcast. However, this option might only be applicable to the live webcasts, since my successful participation in an archived event has not yet resulted in me receiving a certificate. The other advantage of attending the live webcasts is the option to actually participate in the webcast by way of either making comments or posing questions via an embedded chat box resembling an instant messaging console.

To view LJ's current list of upcoming and archived webcasts, check out:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/webcasts

Survivalism & Librarianship

I recently attended a highly informative and engaging LILRC (Long Island Library Resource Council) seminar presented by the current director of the library at the University of Pittsburgh, Rush Miller, Ph.D. He is also one of the authors of the timely book, Beyond Survival: Managing Academic Libraries In Transition, as well as a degreed medieval historian, giving him a rather unique perspective on libraries as being one of the few "feudal societies" still existing in the modern world, complete with their "serfs, lords, and kings".

Dr. Miller spoke candidly and with the wisdom of experience as he painted a rather gloomy picture of doom for the immenent future of libraries, particularly those academic libraries that are still tightly clutching their archaic shelflists, antiquated mindsets, and operating in the obsolete mold of 30 years past. For libraries such as these, if they are to somehow eek out an existence in the coming years, he predicted their status might more resemble a museum of sorts.

However, despite the advancing glaciers of competition (i.e. google) and the subsequent change in attitudes toward the library it has since fostered, as well as the obvious present economic necessity to aggressively slash budgets, Dr. Miller did layout a functional, eight-step survival plan in order for libraries to remain relevant and perhaps even thrive in these rapidly changing times. Though before launching into any such plan, he advised a basic shift in mentality on the part of libraries to cease merely "claiming value", but instead to now find effective means to "demonstrate" it.

"Change is imperative", he basically scolded the attendees and this is where the eight steps come in as they are essentially ideas for achieving just that, although I wish he'd have used a different word than this oft-repeated and now seemingly meaningless word, "change". In any case, among these steps include shifting from a user-oriented to a user-centric model, rethinking the library mission statement, re-engineering operations, resources, services, personnel, and budget, rethinking the use of space, communicating the library message more clearly, building expertise and infrastructure, producing original content, and changing the organizational culture itself.

Some of these steps are of course a bit easier said than actually done. They are likewise contingent upon factors such as the size of the institution, the board of trustees/directors, and the unique characteristics of the particular community the library serves. When evaluating the possible implementation of Dr Rush's survival plan, it is also important to recognize that each of these steps have been conceived within the confines of academia and in particular, a larger-sized university environment. That being said, they may posses varying degrees of applicability for different libraries.

Continuing Education Credits... For FREE

Finding the time to pursue continuing education opportunities in today's work environment is no easy task. Having to fund such pursuits yourself if your employer does not only adds to the difficulty. Despite facing obstacles such as these, it is no less important, if not imperative, to supplement your traditional education background with a somewhat regular participation in continuing education programs, especially within your field. Furthermore, depending on the state in which you reside and or the particular profession you are in, earning credits of this kind within certain set time frames could be compulsory or may soon be mandated as such.

Wouldn't it be convenient and cost effective if there existed some way to earn revelant and fully certified continuing education credits without having to take time off of work, without spending a dime, and without even having to leave your desk? Such an option is in fact currently available at www.gcflearnfree.org and let me repeat, this is completely free of charge to its users. All you need to do is create an account and then do the work. Likewise, you can feel confident in the fact that the learning credits issued by this online institution are legitimate considering that gcflearnfree.org has been authorized by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) to do so.

Although GCF does not offer courses directly related to librarianship, their online classes for credit include highly revelant training in Excel 2003/2007, Powerpoint 2003/2007, Word 2003/2007, and Math Basics. Each course is structured to be completed over roughly a one month period and is broken up into three sections that include a series of lessons and complimetnary exercises, which are then followed by a short quiz and a comprehensive assignment designed to test and apply the basic principles that are hopefully learned. If you have any questions or concerns, instructors will respond to your queries within 24 hours. At the courses end, a final exam is given, as well as a class survey. Upon completion of a course, you can click on the link, "My Learning History", to view your CEU transcript or view the specific class certificate in pdf format, either of which you can easily print and submit as official documentation of your completed work.

As of the writing of this review, I have succesfully taken two online classes with www.gcflearnfree.org, Word 2003 and Excel 2003. Even though I was already quite familiar with both Microsoft programs, there was still much to be learned or at least, reviewed, not to mention the benefit of earning credits for taking these courses. I also intend to take more of them as time permits.

Besides just the free online classes for credit, similarly designed tutorials and workshops pertaining to basic computing, math and money, work and career, and aspects of everyday life are also offered, all of which can be completed at your own pace and to the extend that you determine.

Having done some research into GCF's competition, I have not yet found anything of value that is really comparable to this institution, especially when considering the continuing education credits it offers without charging a single penny. Hopefully, this institution will continue to receive donations and expand to provide additional courses for credit in the near future.

The official link:
http://www.gcflearnfree.org

Simple Conversions

A patron recently approached me with a question about being able to convert a PDF into a Word document. Being relatively unaware of the option to do this or a specific program that would enable such a transformation of formats, I turned to Google and performed a search using the phrase, “convert pdf to word”. One of the top returns was the site http://www.pdftoword.com/ and although it wasn’t the top listing, the “100% Free” tag in the headline immediately caught my attention, so I gave the site a chance. What I found there was a very user-friendly and intuitive online interface through which I could simply upload the particular PDF I needed to covert, check off whether I wanted the document converted into Word or RTF format, then enter the email address to which I wanted the file sent and click the submit button to initiate the procedure. Within a mere minute or so, the newly transformed document would appear in my inbox, waiting to be downloaded as the Word document I had selected. In fact, it was so easy, explaining the whole process has proven significantly more time consuming to than actually doing it.

So why would anyone ever want to convert a PDF into a Word document in the first place you might ask? Well, often times, online applications for instance are made available for download as PDF’s. However, many of these kinds of documents cannot be modified; meaning simply, you can’t actually complete the application unless you first print a copy, then find a typewriter to feed it through or use the still more antiquated method of filling it out by hand. By converting the PDF into a fully workable Word document, you are able to type in the required fields in very neat and convenient fashion.

Upon scanning the page, you might also notice http://www.pdftoword.com/ offers some additional file conversion options as well as some related free pdf software downloads that might be of interest.