feldman.p65 Both Sides of the Looking Glass 491 Both Sides of the Looking Glass: Librarian and Teaching Faculty Perceptions of Librarianship at Six Community Colleges Devin Feldman and Susan Sciammarella Librarians and teaching faculty often have different perceptions of the roles of the library and the librarian in undergraduate education. A study surveying six community colleges reveals that there is much room for improvement in the interrelationship between librarians and teaching faculty. More effective communication and mutual respect would enhance the educational experience for students and provide a richer learning environment. he concept for this study de­ veloped over the past few years through conversations the authors had with library colleagues. Topics frequently discussed included reference questions, biblio­ graphic instruction (BI) classes, and re­ lationships with teaching faculty. This group of librarians often expressed dis­ satisfaction in both interactions with teaching faculty and the types of sources teaching faculty asked students to use to complete assignments. In the course of attempting to define the librarian’s role in teaching bibliographic instruc­ tion and providing general reference service, it became apparent that the li­ brarians felt that their professional ex­ pertise in the field of library science was underappreciated and misunderstood by the teaching faculty. Out of concern for these issues, the authors developed a survey to determine whether these ex­ periences and impressions were unique to this group of colleagues or whether they applied to the broader spectrum of library professionals. In addition, the authors created a survey to send to teaching faculty in an attempt to better understand their perceptions of librar­ ians and librarianship. The survey was conducted in Febru­ ary/March 2000 at The City University of New York and sent to its six commu­ nity colleges. Because the authors work in a community college, they wanted to survey colleagues in academic settings similar to their own. The colleges sur­ veyed were Borough of Manhattan Com­ munity College, Bronx Community Col­ lege, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Commu­ nity College, Kingsborough Community College, Fiorello H. LaGuardia Commu­ nity College, and Queensborough Com­ munity College. A total of 500 surveys were sent as a sampling to both librarians Devin Feldman is an Assistant Professor and Susan Sciammarella is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Kurt R. Schmeller Library at Queensborough Community College of The City University of New York; e-mail: DFeldman@ qcc.cuny.edu and baaqb@cunyvm.cuny.edu, respectively. 491 mailto:baaqb@cunyvm.cuny.edu http:qcc.cuny.edu 492 College & Research Libraries November 2000 and teaching faculty. The teaching faculty, both full- and part-time, were sent 425 surveys. The librarians, likewise both full- and part-time, were sent a total of sev­ enty-five surveys. Librarians must reaffirm and emphasize the importance of their roles as teachers in the academic community. The departments chosen for the sur­ vey were those whose faculty were most likely to schedule bibliographic instruc­ tion, which included the departments of English, history, music, sociology, psy­ chology, anthropology, political science (government), philosophy, ethics, reli­ gion, speech/theater arts, economics, business, and nursing. Of the total num­ ber of surveys sent, the teaching faculty had a return rate of 37 percent and the librarians a return rate of 69 percent. In sharing these responses, the authors hope to better define librarians as profes­ sionals in their field and to better under­ stand the teaching faculty with whom li­ brarians have a common interest—the students. Role/Image of the Librarian and Librarianship in the Academic Library Providing reference service is a critical part of the librarian’s job. Librarians also are collection specialists, catalogers, BI teachers, and circulation managers, to name just a few more of their many re­ sponsibilities. The librarians’ daily work environment requires them to be multi­ faceted. They are in a field that changes every day because information changes every day. Consequently, librarians are always on the information highway. They must know how to access and in­ terpret that highway to provide fast re­ sponses for ready reference. In addition, they must navigate the myriad licensed resources that keep multiplying and must be knowledgeable about current events. The librarians at The City Uni­ versity of New York have faculty status and must obtain a second master ’s de­ gree for tenure in addition to producing scholarly work. Librarians are categorized as non­ teaching faculty, even though they teach BI classes. The authors’ survey revealed that 80 percent of the librarian respon­ dents felt that their nonteaching status was inappropriate in light of the fact that they teach classes on the techniques of academic research and 84 percent felt that recognizing them as teaching faculty would help improve the status of the li­ brarian in the academic community. Librarians must reaffirm and empha­ size the importance of their roles as teach­ ers in the academic community. “Librar­ ians need to perform in the classroom at the same level of teaching as the rest of the faculty. They must be articulate and dynamic. They must sell a message.”1 The key words in this quote are “sell a mes­ sage.” Is the message that librarians want to sell the importance of the BI class, the significance of their role in communicat­ ing the invaluable skills of academic re­ search, or both? Librarians are always concerned with increasing the value of their role within the college community. The survey showed that 67 percent of the librarian respondents hold a second master ’s de­ gree, 44 percent have conducted research in their field and/or have published in the past five years, and 77 percent have taken continuing education courses, semi­ nars, or colloquiums on advanced infor­ mation sources within the past two years. Forty-eight percent have served as a li­ brary liaison to an academic department. In contrast, only 21 percent of the teach­ ing faculty have served as a liaison from their department to the library. Moreover, 52 percent of the librarians have served as members of the faculty on an academic senate or other college committee. What can librarians do to better pro­ mote themselves and the field of librarianship to the teaching faculty? The survey overwhelmingly showed that 92 percent of the librarians felt that teaching faculty are unaware of the nature of the Both Sides of the Looking Glass 493 field of library science/information tech­ nology and 94 percent believed that teach­ ing faculty who assign research papers are unfamiliar with the use of current re­ search tools available to their students in the library. Yet, 90 percent of the teaching faculty surveyed said they are familiar with the reference, circulating, and peri­ odical sources available in the library for their classes. The indications are clear in terms of how librarians perceive the teaching faculty and how teaching faculty view the library. Neither group has the complete picture. To establish a more balanced working relationship, accommodating teaching faculty becomes a necessity. In her 1997 article, “What I Want in a Librarian,” Aletha D. Stahl, a member of the teach­ ing faculty of Earlham College, expressed the need for clear communication: I particularly need clear communica­ tion concerning the limits of a librarian’s time and energy in advancing my re­ search…. I need clear communications about the particular library in which you work…. It is equally important that you inform and keep informing me about re­ sources in and beyond the library…. I appreciate learning as soon as possible to whom I should go with questions related to my research, books on reserve elec­ tronic resources, collection development, instruction for my classes … please com­ municate clearly to me the human layout of the library.2 Striving for effective communication is a positive beginning. It is important to find common ground for both librarians and teaching faculty. As professionals in the academic community, they share the same interests in teaching and learning. The librarian must talk with faculty about sources, promote the BI classes, and dem­ onstrate his or her expertise in the very specialized field of library and informa­ tion science (LIS) just as the teaching fac­ ulty member would with his or her sub­ ject specialty. Stahl stated: “Maybe we can learn from each other: I need your expe­ rience and knowledge of a range of tools, but as a subject area specialist, I may have good reasons for my ingrained prefer­ ences…. My greatest empowerment may come from observing your approach to my questions.”3 Armed with LIS degrees and equipped with the ability to provide answers to teaching faculty’s questions, librarians are doubly empowered. Even so, it is sometimes difficult to es­ cape the negative light in which librar­ ians are often portrayed in today’s me­ dia-conscious society. John Cullen, a li­ brarian at the Institute of Technology in Ireland, recently wrote in American Librar­ ies that librarians’ images on television and in the movies are far from positive. In the popular television show Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, the school librarian “pro­ vides one of the most negative and over­ simplified images of a librarian ever de­ picted by the entertainment industry.”4 Librarians have been characterized as “murderous” in The Name of the Rose, “dizzy” in The Mummy, and “unhelpful and ineffective” in a large segment of media portrayals of the profession.5 Eighty-eight percent of the librarians reported that conflict often exists between assignments and research sources available in the library. The patron’s image of the librarian and librarianship also is important to the librarian. The patrons are the librarian’s business and, again, the librarians must sell the message. This time, however, the message is the accurate image of what a librarian is and what he or she actually does in the library. “If future politicians, university deans, and other fund manag­ ers are brought up on a diet of popular movies and TV shows that never realisti­ cally portray the services librarians offer, none of them will value our skills and expertise enough to keep us in business.”6 Bibliographic Instruction Much of the literature on bibliographic instruction states that librarians and some of the teaching faculty in academic insti­ tutions view it as an essential tool in pro­ viding undergraduate students, particu­ 494 College & Research Libraries November 2000 larly freshmen, with critical research skills. However, over 64 percent of The City University of New York’s commu­ nity college teaching faculty responded that they did not make use of the BI classes offered by their libraries. Of those who did not use this service, 21 percent were unaware that BI classes were avail­ able; 12 percent felt that students should know how to do research and write a col­ lege paper; 25 percent responded that stu­ dents could seek assistance from the fac­ ulty member; and 25 percent told the students to ask for help from the librar­ ian. The responses of 17 percent of fac­ ulty members surveyed fell into the “other” category. In this category, several responded that there is not enough time for library instruction, some said that teaching faculty members teach library skills themselves, two expressed dissat­ isfaction with the BI classes, and one wrote: “I thought this was done in basic English classes.” The results of this survey concur with similar surveys conducted in academic environments. One such survey con­ ducted at the University of Manitoba “re­ vealed that … faculty do not view librar­ ians as major contributors to the educa­ tional process.”7 Larry Hardesty de­ scribed some of the reasons for this atti­ tude in his 1995 article, “Faculty Culture and Bibliographic Instruction: An Explor­ atory Analysis.” He felt that bibliographic instruction would be most successful if teaching faculty would take a more ac­ tive role. Many librarians view the library as a tremendous educational resource that is not fulfilling its potential. They believe that much more could be accomplished if only faculty would co-operate more with them. In the midst of scholarly wealth, there is the perception of intellectual poverty because students do not know how to use academic librar­ ies…. Faculty must be involved for the success of bibliographic instruc­ tion.8 This emphasis on the effectiveness of faculty involvement in teaching library skills also was reflected in the answers on the authors’ surveys. Of the librarians who teach bibliographic instruction, 77 percent said they have the opportunity to discuss the nature of the class they will be teaching with the faculty member and 84 percent felt they are in a collaborative partnership with the teaching faculty. Although 78 percent felt their library pro­ motes classes well, there is clearly still room for improvement. Of the 36 percent of teaching faculty who bring their classes to the library for instruction, 75 percent responded that verbal interaction with the librarian is necessary to have an effective lesson. Fill­ ing out a form with information about an assignment for which a library class is requested was preferred by 25 percent. And 71 percent of the teaching faculty who use a BI program felt that it is im­ portant to accompany their class to the library. This is a fairly good percentage of teaching faculty who seem to feel that their presence and input are necessary for an effective BI class. From the librarian’s standpoint, 94 percent felt that an initial contact between teaching faculty member and librarian is important to understand the exact nature of the class that will take place. In addition, 82 percent felt that it is part of the librarian’s responsibility to clarify the resources available in the li­ brary and the nature of the lecture to be given by the librarian. Therefore, again, communication is at the heart of an effec­ tive library lesson. Despite the fact that a high percent­ age (64%) of teaching faculty does not use formal bibliographic instruction to help their students develop library skills, 63 percent of the teaching faculty responded that they do give assignments mostly for the purpose of introducing students to the library. This is important to note because even an assignment to locate books or an article on a particular topic can be an ef­ fective beginning to student library use, particularly for a course where a research paper is not being done. Both Sides of the Looking Glass 495 The problems that the authors’ survey revealed among both teaching faculty and librarians in the six City University of New York community colleges do not appear to be unique. The literature re­ flects, again and again, that teaching fac­ ulty often feel the pressures of time con­ straints, and although they encourage stu­ dents to develop library skills, many re­ sist the idea of devoting class time to this purpose. “Faculty members consider time of critical importance. They never have enough…. Student library use is not a matter of time. It is a matter of values. Many faculty we interviewed (at seven different institutions ranging from small private colleges to major research univer­ sities) did not value the library’s contri­ bution to undergraduate education.”9 This attitude is most apparent when ex­ amining faculty behaviors toward biblio­ graphic instruction. When Eugene A. Engeldinger, direc­ tor of library services at Carthage College in Wisconsin, addressed the Wisconsin Library Association in 1992, he offered one explanation for the low regard with which the library is often held: “Most fac­ ulty believe library skills are useful for students to have and they believe that li­ brarians know how to use the library, but they wonder if librarians can really do research—or teach for that matter.”10 In his paper, he raised other questions about the effectiveness of bibliographic instruc­ tion and looked at the possible reasons for its failure to meet both faculty and stu­ dent needs. “Do we fail to understand the purpose of the assignment and talk about irrelevancies? If so, is it because we have not fully understood faculty needs or do we need to educate faculty as to the real needs of their students and how we can effectively satisfy them?”11 Assignments and Sources Although lack of communication between librarians and teaching faculty is obviously a major contributor to less-than-success­ ful BI programs, poor communication causes problems at the reference desk as well. Eighty-eight percent of the librarians reported that conflict often exists between assignments and research sources avail­ able in the library. Some of the types of materials where problems are found in­ clude the number of sources required (28%), Internet sources (19%), and out­ dated sources (26%). Librarians’ comments on other areas of conflict were: “Library’s resources or available literature (that) can­ not answer the question or require greater research skills than students have”; whole classes needing to take out a book on a very specific topic”; “we just do not get the jour­ nals they need.” Yet, the authors’ survey indicated that only 48 percent of the librar­ ians had contacted faculty members to let them know that a source was unavailable. Interestingly, the teaching faculty re­ sponded overwhelmingly (91%) that they were willing to be flexible in the types of sources a student could use for an assign­ ment or research paper. This is a good ex­ ample of how critical communication can be. Granted, it takes time to contact a mem­ ber of the teaching faculty; but if a dialogue does not take place between librarian and teaching faculty, the student becomes the frustrated loser and the teaching faculty will carry their lack of knowledge from one semester to the next. Here again, effective communication would go a long way to­ ward improving the results. When librar­ ian Richard Hume Werking interviewed faculty at Lawrence University to deter­ mine how to provide them with the most effective reference service, he found that “They generally agreed that it might be a good idea if the librarians and faculty worked together to educate the students about the range of resources in the library that were relevant for their assignments, and how to go about tapping those re­ sources.”12 Kenneth E. Carpenter, a librarian at Harvard University, quoted Professor Karl Weintraub who “urges that librarians avoid the temptation to withdrawal … ‘in isolation as if they were a beleaguered community of martyrs…. And since li­ brary matters seem of the greatest mo­ ment to librarians, it is they who will have to take the initiative in opening lines of 496 College & Research Libraries November 2000 communication, they who must invite rather than according to their custom, avoid faculty commentary.’”13 Computer technology has had a strong impact on the role of the librarian. In truth, teaching faculty need librarians more than in the past. One adjunct mem­ ber of the teaching faculty surveyed wrote: “I have severely under-utilized the library. I am not fond of the computers and the two times I went to the library, the computers were down.” This is a com­ mon reaction among teaching faculty to the constantly evolving academic library. Many teaching faculty members had com­ pleted several degrees before the infor­ mation technology explosion. They used printed indexes for their research. Now, they must learn a whole new set of rules for doing research—if not for themselves, then at least for their students. They must be aware of what is available through the Internet and how to evaluate and utilize such resources. Moreover, they are not always eager to learn the new skills. Only 35 percent of the teaching faculty said they had attended seminars on how to access technological sources offered by their library. Although they obviously could have taken courses in other loca­ tions, their own college library would be the natural place to learn how to use the resources specifically available on their campus. However, even though they did not participate in formal instruction, 69 per­ cent of the teaching faculty surveyed said they had contact with the librarians in their college library regarding their own or their students’ research and 82 percent felt their college librarian was able to assist them in gathering information for their research. Moreover, 77 percent claimed to know how to access their subject specialty on the Internet and 63 percent indicated they were familiar with most of the research tools and methods being taught to the stu­ dents by the librarian. These percentages indicate that, over­ all, the library and the librarians are con­ sidered valuable resources by the teach­ ing faculty who responded to the survey. The fact that they answered the questions and returned the survey shows that the library matters to them. For the 63 percent of the teaching faculty who did not return the survey, this too makes a statement. Conclusion As previously stated, this survey was undertaken to better understand both teaching faculty and librarians, and their interrelationship. Community colleges deal with a particular type of student, one often with multiple responsibilities—fam­ ily, job, and limited finances. A college education is one way that such students choose to better themselves and the lives of their families. Community colleges make up one- third of The City University of New York. The community college plays an integral role in the undergraduate edu­ cational process, often serving as a step- ping-stone to a four-year degree or pro­ viding complete career training in the two years alone. The authors learned that the librarians in the six community col­ leges surveyed are a highly committed group. They continue to educate them­ selves on the latest professional devel­ opments, and they network with their colleagues whenever they have the op­ portunity. They also interact within their college community, serving as liaisons to academic departments and members of collegewide committees and generally staying visible and vocal outside the li­ brary. Many of The City University of New York’s community college teaching fac­ ulty are coping with the usual academic problems, one of which is not enough time to cover what they have to in any given semester. They do not use the li­ brary to its fullest potential. It is the ob­ ligation of librarians to enlighten the teaching faculty with what they can of­ fer them and their students. Librarians can train teaching faculty how to meet whatever information needs they have and can help stimulate ongoing dialogue between the library and the other aca­ demic departments. As longtime librar­ Both Sides of the Looking Glass 497 ian Evan Farber stated: ”for the teach- tion and partnering with teaching fac­ ing library to succeed close collaboration ulty, librarians can make important con- between librarians and faculty (is) nec- tributions to higher education in the new essary.”14 Through effective communica- millennium. Notes 1. Larry Hardesty, Faculty and the Library: The Undergraduate Experience (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1991), 115. 2. Aletha D. Stahl, “What I Want in a Librarian: One New Faculty Member’s Perspective,” Reference & User Services Quarterly 37 (winter 1997): 133. 3. Ibid., 134–35. 4. John Cullen, ”Rupert Giles, the Professional-image Slayer,” American Libraries 31 (May 2000): 42. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. Robert T. Ivey, “Teaching Faculty Perceptions of Academic Librarians at Memphis State University,” College & Research Libraries 55 (Jan. 1994): 71. 8. Larry Hardesty, “Faculty Culture and Bibliographic Instruction: An Exploratory Analy­ sis,” Library Trends 44 (fall 1995): 361. 9. ———, Faculty and the Library, 30. 10. Eugene A. Engeldinger, “Frustration Management in a Course-Integrated Bibliographic Instruction,” RQ 32 (fall 1992): 22. 11. Ibid., 23. 12. Richard Hume Werking, “A Critical Look at Possibilities for and Obstacles to Library Use,” RQ 31 (winter 1991): 162. 13. Kenneth E. Carpenter, “The Librarian-Scholar,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 23 (Sept. 1997): 399. 14. Evan Farber, “College Libraries and the Teaching/Learning Process: A 25-Year Reflec­ tion,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 25 (May 1999): 173.