Statement of Competence
In a public library, information service consists of providing access to materials and information that patrons want. At a base level, this means making sure the information is available and then helping them find it. If the patron wants a specific item, this begins with the catalogue which in current times is almost exclusively online. If it is available in the catalogue, the information professional helps the patron locate the item either physically on the shelf or in the elibrary. If it is unavailable, the information professional must find out why: is the item damaged, outdated, missing, etc. In this case they can request that the item be added to the collection and alert the patron when it is available for circulation. The seeking of information in a public library is slightly more complicated when the patron is not seeking a particular item, simply information on a particular subject, but is still completely within the capabilities of an information professional. Searching for keywords in the library catalogue would return results of both physical and electronic materials on the subject, and the information professional can help the patron narrow down the results and choose which ones they want to explore.
Deciding whether the information available in the public library system is accurate, relevant, and appropriate couples the American Library Association’s (ALA) concept of intellectual freedom with the library’s collection development policy. Accuracy and relevance are very similar, but not identical. Using the example of a nonfiction biography, the information will always be accurate. No matter how much time passes, the events of the person’s life recorded in those pages will not change. Relevance, however, differs in that while the events will always be accurate, they may not always be relatable to library patrons. As times change and social consciousness develops, a biography about a vaudeville performer might become less relevant to the way readers experience their lives than that of a Hollywood starlet. Some might still desire the former biography, but perhaps not enough people to warrant keeping the book on shelves year after year. Appropriateness is relative, and a rather difficult thing to judge as a public library employee. Especially when dealing with children’s books, library staff will often encounter people who want an item removed from the shelves because it is inappropriate. One patron might think so, and even if fifty more agree, there might be another fifty who love the item and want it to stay where it is. For this reason, it is important for an information professional to worry less about connecting people with appropriate information, and more about connecting people with the right information for them. Patrons can also be presented with options and allowed to choose for themselves or their children, to cut down on their being offended if a library employee makes the “wrong” choice.
The most obvious and ever-present way to assist people in accessing information in a public library is with the online catalogue. They can access it from home or from the library itself, and all staff members can use the catalogue well enough to assist patrons in finding what they want. This option is always available to information professionals, and an excellent way to teach patrons how they can be self-sufficient when accessing information if they wish. A more specialized way to provide information accessing services in public libraries is to stay in touch with the community surrounding the library in order to make sure the library is stocking materials and providing programs relevant to their patrons’ interests. This can take the form of pulling existing materials on a certain subject out and displaying them for a certain local holiday such as a community parade, or actively expanding a section like the Chinese-language section in a library in the heart of a Chinese-American community. Understanding the needs of the community will make the library, and therefore the library’s accessible information, more relevant to the needs and desires of its patrons. A second specialized way is to make sure everyone has the same ability to access information. This comes in many forms, from assisting the digitally illiterate in searching the internet to assisting a visually impaired person in locating a book on the shelf. This is the part of providing information that is related to intellectual freedom as dictated by the ALA in the Library Bill of Rights. Not only must public libraries provide information to all, they must ensure equality in the way the information is provided.
Evidence
Toolbox Bibliography
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Description
The aim of the Toolbox Bibliography, completed in the Fall of 2015 for INFO 261A: Foundations in Young Adult Services, was to come up with a “young adult librarian’s toolbox,” or list of sources that would help a youth services librarian at the beginning of their career. According to the assignment the sources were to span types of media from peer-reviewed journal articles to podcasts. Students were given a list of sections and subsections to use as a guideline. For example, the first section is entitled “General Resources,” and the subsections under this are “Publishers of Professional Materials,” “Journals Specifically for YA Specialist Librarians,” and “Local Community News Sources.” Before any sections are listed, the introduction explains how the sections are organized: first by type of resource and then by form of media. Under each subsection is listed two such resources along with a lengthy paragraph detailing why it was chosen and why it would be a relevant job aid for a youth services specialist. On the last page of this bibliography, a pie chart appears which shows what I considered to be the ideal time allotment of off-desk time for a YA librarian. Between programming, training, collection management, marketing, strategic planning, and an additional task of my choice which I marked as community outreach, I allotted the most time to programming and the least time as a tie between marketing and strategic planning. This brief exercise at the end of the list of reference tools serves as another layer of the job aid. In addition to providing sources relevant to working in the field of young adult librarianship, the assignment gives my opinion of the ideal set up to a youth librarian’s work day to encourage maximum productivity. When working in the environment of youth services public librarianship it is important to have well-rounded knowledge of your patrons and their information needs, which this collection of resources provides.
Argument
This YA librarian’s toolbox illustrates my mastery of Competency I because it demonstrates my ability to design and provide a service that will assist people in accessing information in a public library. In this case, the service is providing a comprehensive overview of 36 diverse sources on a specific subject. The people benefitting from the service, and the people accessing the information, are youth services public librarians in need of a job aid. The sources are varied in type because different forms of media help information professionals perform different duties. For example, the “Journals Specifically for YA Specialist Librarians” will help when the information seeker wishes to consult a professional journal to find out the latest news in the specialty. “Local Community News Sources” will help that same professional relate to their local community and tailor programming to the people who are most likely to visit the library. “Non-LIS Scholarly Journal on Young People” will provide a perspective other than that of a library and information science professional, still looking at the age group through a scholarly lens but in more diverse terms than library sources and services. The information in this collection is accurate, relevant, and appropriate to the pursuit of educating one’s self in youth services librarianship, which is why the toolbox shows my mastery of Competency I.
Mini Young Adult Collection
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Description
My second piece of evidence to prove my mastery of Competency I is the Mini Young Adult Collection completed for INFO 265: Materials for Young Adults in the Summer 2016 semester. The aim of this assignment was to compile a list of titles that would be suitable additions to a young adult or teen section of a library in the form of a blog. As explained on the home page, I included 35 materials “that unite to form a comprehensive and diverse collection suitable for young adult library patrons.” Also on the homepage are links to the list of 35 items organized in different ways, so users can navigate the site using the method that makes the most sense to them. Within the collection I included 30 fiction novels, two of which are audiobooks, two movies geared toward the teen age group, and three “crossovers,” or books that were originally published for adults but that teens would enjoy.
Each book or movie has its own page on the blog. The pages show a picture of the item’s cover, publication information, a plot overview, author information, a critical evaluation of the work, and the reason I chose to include it in my mini collection. Each page also names the genre to which the work belongs and any ties it might have to curriculum in order to help teachers relate the work to other lessons their students might be learning. Finally, all entries include potential reasons the item might be challenged, or identified by a patron as something that should be taken off library shelves, and ways a librarian can prepare for and subvert these potential challenges.
Argument
In a public library, information service consists of polite customer service and effective retrieval of a patron’s desired information. When working specifically with young adults, retrieval of information is slightly more difficult because teens might not have as clear an idea of the information they seek as an adult patron does. My young adult mini collection blog can serve as a reference tool for youth services librarians, and anyone working closely with teens who need book recommendations. Like the previously mentioned Toolbox Bibliography, my Mini Young Adult Collection demonstrates my ability to design a database that provides a service. In this case, the service is a well-organized and easily accessible blog geared toward information professionals working with young adults. It assists these professionals in accessing information that will be relevant to their work in the environment of the young adult department of a library.
The blog gives ample information about each item as well as the reason it was included in the list, and even prepares the information professional for potential challenges that the item might face. By preparing the reader for potential challenges, the blog uses service concepts, principles, and techniques of skillful customer service and presenting patrons with their options. It encourages the reader to inform their patrons using the fundamentals of intellectual freedom, and also to accept criticism of the collection if offered and show their patrons how to constructively challenge materials. This blog connects librarians, and other people working closely with young adults, with information that is relevant to their interests as youth mentors and also appropriate for their teenage audiences.
Storytelling Study: Myth
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Description
“Storytelling Study: Myth” was completed as the final assignment of INFO 281: Colloquial Contemporary Issues in the Fall of 2016. The focus of this seminar class was storytelling, and over the course of the semester we were exposed to many different types of storytelling from ancient oral tradition to the modern way that is considered a profession. I chose to report on mythology from a list of suggestions, and when I began the research for this project realized the depth of the subject. As reported in my introduction, “virtually every culture has been saturated with myth since humans began communicating with one another.” I chose not to focus on one specific culture’s mythological history, and instead to briefly examine the myths belonging to many cultures throughout history. I give a historical overview of oral tradition, report on archetypes used in myths across cultures such as the Jester and the Great Mother, explore how mythology has entangled with religion over the years, examine how ancient myth has manifested in today’s culture as urban legend, and look deeply at the Flood Myth of four different cultures during an overview of comparative mythology. Pictures are included on each page to pique the reader’s interest, and several videos are embedded throughout to provide the reader with visual and auditory examples of storytelling and the urban legends they have become in modern times. In the bibliography I cite sixteen sources that I used for research while creating the blog.
Argument
I have chosen this assignment as my final piece of evidence that I fully comprehend Competency I because it engages a wider audience than the first two pieces of evidence. This blog demonstrates my ability to design a service in the form of a research paper that will assist anyone interested in mythology in accessing the information. The format I have designed ensures usability, which is a concept relevant to successful service in the library and information science profession. Satisfied patrons are those who easily found the information they sought; my blog allows an interactive experience for the user exploring a comprehensive overview of the history of myth.
A site such as my “Storytelling Study: Myth” could be created for any subject in order to provide information seeking services in a library environment. Maintaining a well-organized database of many such sites would be advantageous to any reference, academic, or public library. It would be worth the work to design and maintain the sites because users with all objectives would find the service useful. Frequently reevaluating and updating service is one of the many principles of information service to patrons in all types of libraries. It ensures happy patrons who feel successful after using the library’s services, and return to the library’s physical location or digital website time after time. For the reason of it being an easily accessible and comprehensible site on one subject that many information seekers would find valuable and interesting, I believe that “Storytelling Study: Myth” is an adequate representation of my knowledge and mastery of Competency I.
Conclusion
I intend to use the principles detailed in Competency I in both my future and current work in libraries. As a Library Assistant I spend much of my day interacting face-to-face with patrons, and during these interactions I need to uphold the most important service concepts, principles, and techniques involved in library and information science in order to keep patrons satisfied with their library experience. This will continue for as long as I work in public libraries, no matter what my job title. The ability to design and provide services that assist people in accessing information is something that I would use in a future job as a database technician or even a member of a collection development team. I currently provide the service because I help people access information through the library catalogue and shelves. The act of designing the system is a job I have not yet encountered, but something I would feel comfortable learning using the base of knowledge I acquired while mastering Competency I.
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