Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Heart Of A Library: Getting To Know Each Other, Grace Allbaugh, Susan Franzen, Angela Yon

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Starting a new job is overwhelming! New employees can feel isolated and disconnected without concerted effort by library colleagues, limiting their ability to create meaningful partnerships.  Milner Library grappled with these challenges when a cohort of new employees arrived in summer 2020. Milner’s new mentoring program began to organize a series of virtual information sessions to increase awareness of different library departments. In the Getting to Know Milner series, presenters highlighted partnerships and the interconnectedness of library activities. Collaborators in the audience were able to see the value of their work reflected in their colleagues' presentations. These sessions illustrated the …

It's Not Imposter Syndrome: Resisting Self-Doubt As Normal For Library Workers, Nicola Andrews

Gleeson Library Faculty and Staff Research and Scholarship

Library workers, as with other professions, are quick to diagnose ourselves and others with imposter syndrome when we doubt or devalue our everyday work. However, methods of coping with imposter syndrome have changed little in the forty years since the term was first theorized, and often centre on feel-good fixes which do not address power imbalances between the sufferer and their workplace environment. Here, I examine the origins of imposter syndrome, and identify factors often misinterpreted as imposter syndrome but which are instead the product of oppressions such as precarious labour, racism, and sexism. By unpacking how oppression and gaslighting …

How Healthy Is Your Library? Diagnosing Culture And Curing The Patient, Emily A. Hicks

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

Every library has a distinctive organizational culture with norms, values, rules, beliefs, and basic assumptions that have developed over time and are shared by the people who make up the organization. This culture shapes the perceptions and assumptions of the library’s personnel. A healthy culture can evoke a passion for the work, a loyalty and commitment to the organization’s mission, and a deep-seated belief in the organization’s value.

Libraries with a healthy culture are resilient, responsive, and inclusive. The health of an organization is the responsibility of every member, not just the formal leadership.

Using a combination of graphics and …

Gazing Into The Crystal Ball: Using Scenarios For Future Visioning Of A Distance Learning Library Service, Anne Marie Casey, Jon E. Cawthorne, Kathleen Citro

Staff Works - Hunt Library

This article describes the use of scenarios as a tool to assist a large distance learning library service in its strategic planning. Through a description of the scenario process from beginning to end, the authors detail the steps that the library director and the consultant took initially; their missteps; and the successful conclusion. This study of the journey through the scenario process to a new strategic plan should prove useful to library administrators interested in exploring new ways to plan for uncertain futures.

Implementing Reference Statistics Collection Software At Multiple Library Service Points, J. Gabe Gossett, Elizabeth Stephan, Rebecca M. Marrall

Western Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Purpose– The purpose of this article is to explore the process of implementing LibAnswers, a reference statistics collection and analysis software, at multiple service points in an academic library and to outline the benefits of the process. Design/methodology/approach– The article outlines the process used to implement a statistics software, including initial testing, development of categories and terms used to define the question types, and training of library staff. Findings– Implementing a statistics program at multiple service points takes flexibility and patience. The biggest challenge faced was developing common terms to define what each desk did and how the statistics would …