Unpacking the emerging and alternative LIS roles and functions for the 21 st century librarian

Transcription

1 Unpacking the emerging and alternative LIS roles and functions for the 21 st century librarian 18 th ANNUAL LIASA CONFERENCE 2-6 October 2017 Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg Zine Sapula

2 Context The notion of the librarian is now essentially contested because of the: Multiplicity of images used to represent the profession and the practice Debates surrounding the stereotypes of the discourse Discussions regarding the nature of the competencies required by librarians Need to unpack the notion of a re-envisioned librarian

3 Walter Lippmann (1922) The only feeling that anyone can have about an event he does not experience is the feeling aroused by his mental image of that event. Stuart Hall, (1997:257) are form of representation which reduces people to a few, simple characteristics which are represented as fixed by nature. In Richard Dyer s Stereotypes works Spectacle of the other, character construction social constructed Radford and Radford(1997) i.e. people classify individuals, events, objects in their heads into which according which is accepted as normal to their culture. Uses: Foucault feminist theory to describe the librarian stereotypes STEREOTYPES? Bartlett (2014) Librarianship has been considered a feminist profession in which feminist been used as a negative rather than a positive epithet. are just as unrepresentative of the profession.

4 Radford & Radford (1997) uses Foucault: Power, knowledge and fear to describe the origin of female librarian stereotypes. The librarian stereotypes do not exist outside the library. Library is an institution which: Preserve (fear 1) and control (fear 2) of the discourse. order is maintained through: indexes, controlled vocabularies, retrieval systems, quite space for information seekers in order to provides. The librarian s strict circulation rules, control of the collection and maintaining order are the reasons that user s created a female librarian image. Radford and Radford,1997.

5 Librarians are females Male librarians are associated with the feminine nature Older woman Ill fitted glasses OLD fashion dressing style Shhh!!!! Frontline customer service staff Book stampers Obsessed with order Resist to change Melvil Dewey in 1876, a librarian was a mouser in dusty books 9 These narratives and perceptions are generated and reinforced primarily by "powerful" television, movies, print, fiction, and hearsay. Are librarians really like this? The stereotypical librarian: Ruth Kneale s Multiple images: Librarian stereotypes Carmichael, 1992; Dyer, 1977; Hannigan & Crew, 1997; Green & Record, 2008; Radford & Radford, 1997; Rudolph, 2008; Kneale s, 2009; Salinero & Grogg, 2005; White; 2012.

6 Who in fact are librarians? Librarians are critical players in achieving the university strategic goals of teaching and learning, research, scholarship and wider community engagement.. Evolving LIS landscape

7 Librarians of the 21 st century The new thrust is to: Transform the traditional functions in order to respond to the user of the 21 st century Connect with the user and connect users with information Educate users Collaborate with researchers Be research enablers Create meta data and to be data preservation experts Be Liaison personnel Edmunds Otter, Wright & King, 2017; Sewell & Kingsley, 2017.

8 Librarian at the periphery Users

9 Game changers Disruptive/Emerging technologies The arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology Finance Access Online Identity / Metrics User needs-(students, Academics & Researchers) Digital Immigrants Digital natives Teaching methods Research landscape Scholarship Terms Digital immigrants, digital natives Prensky, 2009.

10 The librarian s competency has been re-calibrated CARL, 2010 New skills (soft & technical skills=programming skills) Interpersonal skills Teaching skills Software skills (Coding, data analysis, data mining, data visualization) Research Data Management Tech savvy Scholarly communication Librarian Belzile, S., et al., Core competencies for 21st century CARL librarians.

11 Research enablers Where are we? Digital literacy Digital Scholarship Consultation LIBRARIAN User experience Grant proposal Writing Research impact Data analysis Publishing

12 NWU Libraries adapt to changing environment? LIBRARY LIS Partnership with stakeholders IT Digital Huma nities RESEARCH OFFICE

13 NWU Support- TL & Research Usage : 75,087 Data: 3 Oct 17

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16 To conclude Need to continuously disrupt the status quo in order to come up with new and alternative understandings of the new librarian. Adapt to an evolving LIS landscape Change of attitudes Willingness and flexibility Continue to create diverse and multiple research and educational spaces within LIS for professional development. On-job training Self-directed learning such as online programs, Webinars In-house programs Workshops such as Library carpentry, Open Science Develop collectives collaborative initiatives platform.

17 Thank you orcid.org/