Special Librarians Dominate Dewey by Cataloging for Their Customers Instead of Other Librarians.

One class down!!

Had our final session tonight, had to give final presentations. They divided up the grad students into different rooms and then undergrads critiqued us.

I was freaked basically the whole day about it.

Recorded it last night and listened to it on repeat all day today.

but here it is, as requested.

Title: Creativity and Collection Management in Special Libraries

Thesis: Special Librarians Dominate Dewey by Cataloging for Their Customers Instead of Other Librarians.

Let me start this off by saying, I have nothing against Dewey. I think it’s a great organizational system that has been constantly evolving through time and that’s why we still use it.

However, Dewey is not customer friendly, it’s overwhelming.

You’ve got baby name books shelved in the middle of the geography and history section.

You’ve got mythology lodged between law and political science.

Without the help of a catalog even veteran librarians sometimes have trouble finding items.

But Librarians are innovators man.

We rise above.

We take the improbable and make it possible.

We are all that and a bag of potato chips.

But there’s something to be said even more for special librarians. As a public librarian – well, a Library Service Associate – I enjoy the variety of material and patrons  that I get to work with on a daily basis. But in a special library it’s very different. Each special library has a specific patron base they focus on. They choose their collection based on the needs of that patron base, not based on what other librarians say they should have in their collections.

1.            Special Librarians Focus Their Collection Development on Their Patrons’ Needs

Part of being a special librarian is getting to know the needs of the patron base that they are serving. They must ask themselves what titles they should add, and what titles they should avoid. One of the Special Librarian Competencies that I read about dealt with this subject. It states that a special librarian must have “expert knowledge of the content of information resources, including the ability to critically evaluate and filter them.” They do this by being aware of relevant material to their specific patron base. While many are open to the public, they’re not based on the public’s needs. Lisa Kelly at the Library Commission said it perfectly – “if the public library has it, we don’t,” because they’re a librarian’s library.

At each of the libraries I visited I asked if there were specific criteria an item had to meet before it was added to the collection and the answer was always the same. They focused their collections based on what their patrons would find the most useful, and if an item didn’t fit that category then it wasn’t added.

What was really interesting was that a lot of the librarians that I talked to had someone above them that could veto items in their collection, but they rarely did because they trusted the librarian’s opinion.

Let’s move on to Collection Maintenance.

2.            Special Librarians must constantly maintain their collection to stay relevant to their patron base.

According to its website the Law Library of Congress (2012) has a “collection of over 2.65 million volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in the world” (para. 1). Obviously, the special libraries we visited don’t have that kind of space.

Take Tom’s library at the Regional Center. It’s a one room library, filled with both nonfiction, fiction, plus magazines, and internet computers. Tom took over the job from a lady who kept everything. He said he worked with the Library Commission to weed down the collection.

At the Law Library they must have the most recent material because laws are constantly changing and you don’t want to give someone bad information. The problem with that is that updating is expensive. And according to Sandy Plazcek at the Law Library, 95% of their items don’t even check out.

Since expanding is often out of the question, a lot of the libraries have resulted in working in a consortium of sorts. The Law Library used to be able to purchase and keep all of the state statutes, but now divide it up so groups can make sure certain ones are current. The same is true for the State Library. They used to have all of the states’ statutes, but because of spacing issues now they exchange statutes with states if they need them.

But even though their spacing is limited, they still have their eyes out for their customers, by making sure if they don’t have a needed item there, they still have access to it.

Now there is also the option to go digital. This saves space and can broaden your patron base. In his article “The Future Is Boundless” Christopher Harris (2010) says, “Collections won't lose their bookish quality even if print volumes are replaced by ebooks. It's the same information, the same stories that we treasure, only in a new format. Our brains must be made to recognize this new interpretation: library = books, but books = ideas (not containers).”

The majority of the libraries I visited had websites. Some even with their own online resources like the Library Commission’s Books in Series database. Many had technology available in house with internet computers or databases, but none had completely digitized their collections.

So we’ve talked about collection development and maintenance, now we’ll move on to creativity in action. This section shows how much special librarians know their patrons.

3.            Special Librarians Have To Be Creative to Draw Attention to Their Collection

In the article “Issues Facing Academic Law Libraries - New Challenges, New Opportunities” Linda K. Fariss talks about the different challenges of working in an Academic Law Library. According to Fariss (2012), “Law libraries, like all types of libraries, are looking for ways to re-invent themselves” (p. 37). And that’s what libraries have to do these days to get peoples’ attentions. Special librarians, like all librarians, are focused on getting people to use their resources. They’re always coming up with ways to get people interested. But, with limited space and budgets they really have to be creative.

Some examples of creativity that I’ve run across throughout the semester include:

State Library – Secret passageways

-              Not only is the building historic, but it has secret passageways? That house secret books? Who can resist stopping by?

Law Library – Minigolf tournaments

-              The law librarians know that law students can use a break every once in a while, so they host an annual mini golf tournament in the library. An event like this not only provides fun for potential customers, but it’s also a way to show off their collection.

Regional Center – Wii for recreation

-              Tom got a Wii for recreational purposes and also added more “let’s get it going” material to his collection.

Library Commission – Talking Books

-              The Library Commission knows that there are readers out there who are disabled and can no longer read, so they’ve come up with a solution. Talking Books. They record anything from best sellers to magazines and mail them out for free.

State Penitentiary – Legal Aides

-              Sam’s library is divided into two sections, the legal library and the recreational library. Since most of the prisoners there do a lot of their own legal work Sam hires a few of them to be legal aides and assist the other inmates. This encourages inmates who don’t know the processes to come into the library and get help.

Synthesis:

So, let’s go back to my original thesis: Special librarians dominate Dewey and catalog for their customers instead of other librarians.

Let’s break that down.

Special Libraries Cataloging for Customers:

Special librarians could care less about what other librarians say they should have in their collection. While yes they may take their advice, it’s them that truly know the needs of their patrons. They know them because they have a passion for their job, their collection, and their patron base. Or they would work somewhere else.

Tom has a big self-help section at the Regional Center because that’s what his patrons like to read. While some people are worried about censorship and would be hesitant about including books on suicide at that particular library, Tom knows that his patrons can use it for research. He’s also able to work with the staff there to make sure that the books fit in with each individual’s treatment plans.

While some would be apprehensive about being a prison librarian, Sam loves it. If you were to ask someone on the street what material they thought would be in a prison library you would probably get a blank stare, and then a mentioning of legal documents. But Sam’s library is so much more than that. His material does have to be approved from his bosses, but he still includes items like the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy claiming “prisoners have the right to read bad fiction too.”

Special Libraries Dominating Dewey:

Special Librarians dominate Dewey by coming up with their own organizational systems, especially the smaller ones.

Let’s stick with Tom and Sam’s libraries.

Tom does use a form of Dewey, but he doesn’t divide up the youth and adult, shelving the Harry Potter novels by JK Rowling in the R section of the fiction. Most likely because of limited spacing issues, but also because he knows his patrons will find them there.

My personal favorite example and the basis for this entire presentation shows exactly how special librarians dominate Dewey by cataloging for their customers instead of librarians…Sam at the prison library, knows his inmates won’t read Romance, so he shelves Twilight and other paranormal romances in the Horror section.

Final Thought:

I focused this presentation on the collection management in special libraries, but special libraries are so much more than their collections. All of the librarians that I met this semester have so much passion for their jobs, but another common theme I ran across at every single library I visited was that they focus on the needs of their borrowers. And that’s why there’s something to be said about special librarians. 

aaannd the feedback from the undergrads was good.

apparently i seemed confident and enthusiastic about material.

ohhh, "perfect voice and volume level" i think that's a compliment.

"great volume throughout presentation. understood you clearly."

"looked comfortable"

"good citations they were very supportive."

"very comfortable speaking in front of an audience" HA!

"thought you made very good points. they were all clear and abundantly supported. rock on."

oh, but i'm informal.

i'll take that in spades if i pass.

"strong speaking voice and eye contact backed up points"

"cool gestures" okay?

"passion"

"great use of humor. makes presentation memorable"

wow, this one's handwriting is even more atrocious than mine.

wasn't sure that's possible.

i think it says...."catchy, dewey must go" ummmm "yes know your customer's reads" no, needs, it's "needs" yes looks like "mia" no that's not right, is it nice? yeah, "nice" i think "just" no it's "job speaking as the expert on this topic. you did well including visits and librarians in your presentation"

yikes.

"engaging, conversational tone, lots of energy, talked a bit fast at times"

yeah, i get that a lot.

but if "informal" and "fast" are the worst they got I think I'm good to go.

Pending final posted grades that is. I'll keep you posted.

on to the music:

haven't heard this one in a while

All My Loving - The Beatles
lost count how many clips he pieced together, but it's cool.


all-in-all it was a good day. totally bizarre though as i was only at the work branch for three hours. one of which was a staff meeting, then i was off desk, then i was on desk, and then i was at lunch and off to a meeting before leaving at 3 for class.

after which i met up with the boyfriend since he's leaving tonight. he and his dad are going to seattle for a week and a half.

to pick up a motorcar that he bought.

see how nice of a girlfriend i am that i let him get away with that?

and say nothing?

but i'm sure he would have plenty to say about my weird hobbies.

or obsessions rather.

Women's Murder Club, Charlie's Angels, ancient Egypt, blogging, mis-matching my socks, Silver Lining's Playbook, chocolate, the list goes on.

anyway, the only things i said were to have fun, take pictures, and text me at least once a day.

cause i'm bossy like that.