The 21st Century Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse

By Mary K. Bolin

The 21st Century Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse discusses the organization of academic libraries, drawing on detailed research and data.

The organization of the library follows the path of a print book or journal: acquisitions, cataloguing, circulation, reference, instruction, preservation and general administration. Most libraries still have public services and technical services, and are still very print-based in their organization, while their collections and services are increasingly electronic and virtual.

This book gathers information on organizational patterns of large academic libraries in the US and Europe, providing data that could motivate libraries to adopt innovative organizational structures or assess the effectiveness of their current organizational patterns.

• Contributes to the literature on the globalization of information and of library and information science
• Analyzes and presents data in a way that allows librarians and library administrators to consider what organizational patterns are the most effective for the goals they are pursuing
• Includes emerging patterns that are not widely seen in the academic library population

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Aug 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9780081018675

Mary K. Bolin

Mary K. Bolin is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL), USA. She served as Chair of Technical Services at UNL and at the University of Idaho for nearly thirty years, as well as serving as a Catalog and Metadata Librarian. She is a full-time lecturer at the School of Information at San Jose State University, and teaches both cataloging and metadata classes for MLIS students. She is the editor of the peer-reviewed e-journal Library Philosophy and Practice, which has been continuously published since 1998. She is the author of The 21st Century Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse, which was published the by Chandos imprint in 2017, and of numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as conference presentations. Her research interests include library administration and organization, discourse and text analysis, and topics in the Digital Humanities.

Book preview

The 21st Century Academic Library

Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse

Mary K. Bolin

Chandos Information Professional Series

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

About the Author

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

Organizations and Institutions

Chapter 2. Background

Abstract

Introduction: Historical Context

Education for Librarianship

The Global Environment of Higher Education and Academic Libraries

Chapter 3. Academic Library Organization

Abstract

Introduction

Bureaucracy

Academic Library as Ideal Type

The Collection-Based Library

Libraries and Technology

Public Services and Technical Services

Chapter 4. Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction

Academic Library Organization, Administration, and Planning

Education for Librarianship and Librarianship as a Profession

Academic Library Genres

Global Academic Libraries

Comparative Education and Its Application

Comparative Librarianship

Discourse Analysis

Genre and Register

Social Theory, Social Semiotics, and CDA

Organizational Communication

Discourse Analysis of Written Texts

Library and University Discourse and Texts

Discourse Communities and Speech Communities

Discourses of Librarianship

Institutionalism

Chapter 5. Data, Results, and Discussion

Abstract

Introduction

Frequencies

Analysis of Types Using Examples

Genre and Register Analysis

Chapter 6. Conclusion

Abstract

Introduction

Institutionalization and Discourse

Globalization

Scenarios for the Future

Appendix 1. List of Universities

Universities Sorted by Region, Country, and Name

Universities Sorted by Name

Universities Sorted by Organization Type (1–4), Region, and Name

Universities Sorted by Name With Organizational Type

Appendix 2. Discourse Analysis Instrument

FTM/GR Discourse Analysis Instrument

References

Index

Copyright

Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier

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Copyright © 2018 Mary K. Bolin. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).

Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN: 978-0-08-101866-8 (print)

ISBN: 978-0-08-101867-5 (online)

For information on all Chandos Publishing publications visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals

Publisher: Jonathan Simpson

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Production Project Manager: Omer Mukthar

Cover Designer: Christian J. Bilbow

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Dedication

This is for you, LaVon.

About the Author

Dr. Mary K. Bolin is a Professor and Catalog and Metadata Librarian in the Digital Initiatives and Special Collections Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). She is also an instructor in the School of Information at San José State University. She has worked at UNL since 2004 and was previously a member of the library faculty at the University of Idaho from 1986 to 2004 and the University of Georgia from 1981 to 1986. She earned an MSLS from the University of Kentucky where she studied cataloging with Lois Mai Chan, an MA in English from the University of Idaho, and a PhD from the University of Nebraska.

Preface

The idea for this book grows out of data that I gathered 10 years ago for my dissertation, which was a study of librarian status at US land grant universities. It used the same methods that are used in this book: typology and discourse analysis, and the combination of those methods was fruitful and interesting, yielding a typology of status types and a genre analysis of librarian appointment (e.g., promotion and tenure) documents. That was not data I had seen anywhere else, even though librarian faculty status and its alternatives remain topics that are widely discussed and written about. Gathering that data had also sharpened my interest in academic library organization, the departments and divisions that are most commonly used in academic libraries to organize and carry out their mission. While there is abundant and useful literature on library administration and on the past, present, and future of academic libraries, I had also never found the data I was most interested in: how are academic libraries organized? Are there new patterns emerging, and, if so, how well do they work? In addition, I had been plowing the websites of academic libraries for many years, looking for various kinds of information, and I had become fascinated by them as well. Both organization, as presented in an organizational chart or similar document, and the website, the library’s way of introducing itself, are genres of organizational communication that can be studied using the typological and discourse approach that I had successfully used previously.

This book is the result of further plowing, this time including libraries outside the United States, in some of the countries where English is an official language or the language of instruction. My colleague Gail Eckwright and I had started an open access electronic journal at the University of Idaho in 1998. Library Philosophy and Practice (LPP) quickly gained an international scope and continues to publish articles by librarians in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, and others. We have become very familiar with some of the characteristics of library services in those countries and we began to see that strong international presence in many other journals as well, recognizing the names of old LPP friends in the contents of other journals.

While the typology and discourse methods were something I wanted to revisit, I had also become fascinated by the comparative education framework, and its companion Institutionalism (which is used in many disciplines, including sociology and political science, but is also strongly represented in the literature on higher education). The data in this book are analyzed using typology and discourse analysis techniques, set in a framework of comparative education and of new institutionalism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983), particularly its focus on institutional isomorphism, the tendency of institutions to resemble one another, and discursive institutionalism (Schmidt, 2008), in which ideas matter.

There are a lot of data in this book, a great deal of literature reviewed, and analysis that attempts to draw inferences from the data. There are many things that are not here, and which are outside the scope of this book. There is no attempt to present a comprehensive or detailed history of higher education or libraries, in the United States or elsewhere. Likewise, while the educational systems of other countries are briefly described as necessary background information, it is not the intention to present anything like a rich and detailed picture of academic libraries or higher education in any of the countries represented in the data.

Many other projects could spring from this data and the approaches used here. Those include a much closer look at any of the countries or organizational types represented, as well as using other sources of data such as surveys and interviews, to gather data from universities whose web presence does not allow them to be included here.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Nancy Busch, Dean of Library Services, Kay Walter, Chair of Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, and Judith Wolfe, Chair of Access Service and Interim Chair of Discovery and Resource Management, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for their support of this project in the form of authorization for a sabbatical. My deep gratitude goes to them for this valuable opportunity. (Thanks, Nancy, for being willing to go down the rabbit hole with me and talk about everything in the universe.)

Many thanks also to my many library and teaching friends and colleagues for interesting discussions and insights about many topics: thanks to Bob Bolin, Gail Eckwright, Meg Mering, Sue Gardner, Harriet Wintermute, Kay Logan-Peters, Richard Graham, Erica DeFrain, and so many others.

Much of the genesis for this book comes from the many international authors who have contributed to Library Philosophy and Practice since Gail Eckwright and I founded in 1998. There have been hundreds of contributions from librarians in many places in the world, but especially Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Uganda. Deep gratitude goes to all of them for helping to create the global network of librarians that now exists. There is not room enough to name them all, but special thanks to Tukur Abba, Moses A. Adeniji, Samuel Olu Adeyoyin, Esharenana E. Adomi, Kwaku Agyen-Gyasi, Naved Ahmad, Daniel O. Akparobore, Blessing Amina Akporhonor, Dariush Alimohammadi, Kanwal Ameen, Isaac Echezonam Anyira, Brendan Eze Asogwa, Bola C. Atulomah, Dr. Rubina Bhatti, Isaac Oluwadare Busayo, Nelson Edewor, Helen Nneka Eke, Daniel Emojorho, Vahideh Zarea Gavgani, Sumeer Gul, Brij Mohan Gupta, Yahya Ibrahim Harande, Akhtar Hussain, Haroon Idrees, Stella E. Igun, Mercy I. Ijirigho, Promise Ifeoma Ilo, Maidul Islam, Md. Maidul Islam, Md. Shiful Islam, Md. Anwarul Islam, Md. Shariful Islam, Abdulwahab Olanrewaju Issa, Basil Enemute Iwhiwhu, B.U. Kannappanavar, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Helen O. Komolafe-Opadeji, Devendra Kumar, Preeti Mahajan, Bulu Maharana, Rabindra K. Maharana, Dr. Khalid Mahmood, Alexander Maz-Machado, Muhammad Sajid Mirza, Chinwe M.T. Nweze, Obiora Nwosu, Nnenna A. Obidike, Esoswo Francisca Ogbomo, Monday Obaidjevwe Ogbomo, T.A. Ogunmodede, Samuel O. Ogunniyi, Constant Okello-Obura, Christopher Olatokunbo Okiki, Michael Onuchukwu Okoye, Oliver Theophine Onwudinjo, Aondoana Daniel Orlu, Oyemike Victor Ossai-Onah, Samuel Owusu-Ansah, Obuh Alex Ozoemelem, Shafiq Ur Rehman, Jyotshna Sahoo, Mashid Sajjadi, Adam Gambo Saleh, Bipin Bihari Sethi, Farzana Shafique, Chetan Sharma, K.P. Singh, Dr. Dillip K. Swain, Adeyinka Tella, Dr. S. Thanuskodi, Dr. Mayank Trivedi, Akobundu Dike Ugah, Amanze Onyebochi Unagha, Chimezie Patrick Uzuebgu, Dr. J.K. Vijayakumar, Felicia Yusuf, Mayank Yuvaraj, and Yetunde Abosede Zaid.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

This chapter describes the goals, frameworks, methods, and data for this project, including the creation of a typology of academic library organizational patterns, based on a population of 210 libraries in regions that include North America, South Asia, Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The theoretical frameworks are linguistic typology, discourse analysis, institutional isomorphism, and comparative education. Methodology includes genre and register analysis using academic library organizational charts and websites as sources of data.

Keywords

Academic libraries; typology; organization; discourse analysis

Organizations and Institutions

We all know what organization means. It means more than one thing, including the various methods of arranging information and objects in a way that makes sense to us. In this book, organization is used to mean several things. Its most prominent meaning is a corporate body, as catalogers say, a firm, corporation, club, charity, or any of the many public service entities such as governments, schools, healthcare agencies, and, most certainly libraries. Libraries are an organization in the sense that they are groups of people employed to provide library service to a constituency. They have common missions, goals, and objectives, and they communicate and work together to carry them out. In most cases, they are paid to do so by a governing body such as a university or a municipal government, for example. Organization also means the structures that entities such as libraries use to divide labor, develop expertise and specialization, and carry out the library’s mission in the most efficient and effective way. That generally means that the library is divided into departments and units who are responsible for some part of that mission: acquiring library resources, for example, or cataloging them, or helping users find and use them. There is an administrative structure that is generally hierarchical to a greater or lesser extent, with a library director at the top of the hierarchy.

Likewise, the word institution is well-known to most people and it also has several meanings. It can be used as a synonym for organization, as in institution of higher education, which means a college or university. It can also be used in the sense of something established, long-standing, a tradition, and part of the fabric of everyday life, e.g., football is an institution on this campus. Individuals are sometimes described this way as well, i.e., Professor Smith has been here 40 years and is an institution at this university, meaning that Prof. Smith is well-known, admired, and an inextricable part of the university’s community and identity. We will use institution in both senses: in its common meaning as a synonym for organization, but, more importantly as part of the phenomenon of institutionalization, which is the subject of numerous theories and a great deal of scholarship. The institutionalist lens looks at how practices and entities become institutionalized: become something widely recognized, accepted, and bound up with other aspects of society and culture. Education is an institution, and many aspects of education are institutionalized. Libraries are institutionalized as well, as are the components of library organization and practice. The theoretical framework of institutionalism plays a crucial role in analyzing the data collected for this book, and it will be discussed in more detail in this chapter and others.

This book looks at the organization of academic libraries from four perspectives:

• Who we are: using data from organizational charts and other sources to look at the actual patterns of departmental structure in academic libraries around the world.

• What we say about who we are: using discourse analysis and genres of organizational communication to analyze the way we present ourselves in our web presence and in information about our organizations.

• How we got where we are: examining the mechanisms of institutionalism to analyze the forces that shape our organizations and foster stasis or change.

• How we compare: using the framework of comparative education to examine how patterns of organization differ in the countries that are the sources of data.

University libraries are organized in this specialized and hierarchical way, and have recognizable patterns of organization that whose general outlines have been in place for decades. This book examines those patterns, using a variety of techniques and theoretical lenses to discover how academic libraries in selected regions of the globe are organized, and what we can infer and learn from these patterns. Those theoretical frameworks include using data from an international population to create a typology of organizational types and then analyzing those types using discourse analysis (Halliday, 1978; Fairclough, 1989; Hoey, 2001; Hodge & Cress, 1988, 1993; Swales, 1990), theories of structuration (Giddens, 1979, 1984), bureaucracy (Weber, 1968/1922), and institutionalism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). It also draws on sociological theories by Durkheim (n.d., 1893). Typology, discourse analysis, and institutionalism are all related. Sociolinguistics is the foundation of discourse analysis: language in use in a social context. Typology is used in many disciplines and is an important area of linguistic analysis. Institutionalization is used in disciplines such as sociology and political science, and aspects of society become institutionalized by talking about them: communication, texts, conversations, documents, discourses, and so on.

This book uses mixed methods to create a typology of academic libraries in selected countries worldwide. It analyzes the characteristics of the organizational types to gain insight into the challenges of academic libraries in the 21st century and the libraries’ responses to these challenges. In addition to creating a typology of organizations, the book includes an analysis of the discourse of the web presence of the libraries in the population, using both the organizational data (organizational chart or web page listing library departments) and the library website home page. The book is informed by linguistic analysis that includes linguistic universals and typology, as well as techniques and frameworks of discourse analysis, including Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), and genre theory. These techniques and approaches are used to uncover the values, discourses, motivations, and conflicts that embody and drive librarianship and particularly academic libraries.

The methodological and epistemological frameworks are a combination of constructivist and pragmatic, as