Refocusing Academic Libraries through Learning and Discourse: The Idea of a Library

By Mary K. Bolin

Organizational Transformation in Academic Libraries: Discourse, Process, Product helps inform discussions in academic libraries on organizational patterns and divisions of labor. The book gives librarians leverage to think outside traditional bureaucratic structures and re-think how libraries serve their patrons. It examines existing structures and proposes new organizational models and lays out a process for planning organizational transformation and implementing a new organization. Seven chapters offer a radical vision of library transformation, proposing a collaborative process for changing academic libraries into organizations fit for the second quarter of the twenty-first century and beyond.

Academic libraries are changing in the face of information technologies, economic pressures and globally disruptive events such as the current pandemic. As a result, practical solutions for transforming organizational and workflow structures for the future are desperately needed. The title analyzes existing organizational structures and proposes new ones that can be adapted to individual libraries. It discusses the challenges posed by virtual learning environments, digital initiatives and resources, changes to cataloging standards and succession planning, as well as changes brought about by the current pandemic.

• Presents a clear analysis of organizational patterns and divisions of labor in the future of the academic library
• Gives specific organizational models and presents a process for planning and implementing organizational transformation
• Advocates for, and supports the radical transformation of, library organization and workflow structures
• Proposes a collaborative process for transforming academic libraries into future-ready organizations
• Considers current challenges and aims to support the design of new organizations ready for the second quarter of the 21st century and beyond

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Nov 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9780323951111

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

9780323951111_FC

Refocusing Academic Libraries through Learning and Discourse

The Idea of a Library

First Edition

Mary K. Bolin, PhD

Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States

Lecturer, School of Information, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, United States

Table of Contents

Cover

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

About the Author

Preface

References

Acknowledgments

Abstract

References

Chapter One: Introduction

Abstract

The iron cage

Background

Theoretical framework

References

Chapter Two: The current landscape of academic libraries and higher education

Abstract

Introduction

Higher education environment

Administrative responsibilities

Library faculty responsibilities

Library staff responsibilities

Conclusion

References

Chapter Three: Discourse analysis model and data

Abstract

Introduction

Discourse

Genre

Type 1 and 4 FTM/GR analysis

Results

References

Chapter Four: Literature review

Abstract

Introduction

Institutionalism, learning organizations, and discourse analysis

Core competencies

Academic library transformation, reorganization, leadership, organizational learning, and organizational behavior

Important aspects of inclusion

References

Chapter Five: A process for change

Abstract

Introduction

Organizational behavior

Bureaucracy

Programmatic responsibility

Refocused organization

Learning organization values

Administration

Librarians

Other employees

The process

Core competencies

The learning organization

Ground rules for the process

Creating a learning organization

Refocusing

Using data to begin refocusing

Unfreezing

Don’t freeze, chill

References

Chapter Six: Conclusion

Abstract

Introduction

Learning and ideas

Using the process

The humane workplace

Appendix

FTM/G-R Discourse Analysis Instrument (adapted from Měchura, 2005)

Type 4 (Refocused) Academic Library Organizations from Bolin (2017)

References

References

Index

Copyright

Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier

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Copyright © 2023 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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ISBN: 978-0-323-95110-4

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Dedication

Dedicated to my best teachers: Bob, Charlie, Alice, Dan, and Tom.

About the Author

Dr. Mary K. Bolin is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln (UNL) and Lecturer in the School of Information at San José State University. Dr. Bolin was a UNL library faculty member from 2004 to 2020 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. Dr. Bolin earned an MSLS from the University of Kentucky where she studied cataloging with Dr. Lois Mai Chan, an MA in English from the University of Idaho, and a PhD in Educational Studies (Higher Education Administration) from the University of Nebraska. She is the author of The 21st Century Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse (Chandos Publishing, an Imprint of Elsevier, 2017).

Preface

While it sounds dull compared to other forms of fandom, I remain fascinated by patterns of organization in academic libraries in the United States and elsewhere. In 2017, I surveyed more than 200 universities worldwide and found a typology of organizational types that ranged from traditional to refocused and discovered that places like the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand had an emerging organizational type that used teaching and learning as an organizing principle. Having discovered this refocused organization, I wanted to explore it further and recommend a process for moving toward that kind of organization. I wanted to contribute to a process where libraries could escape the iron cage (of which more later) of a fixed, traditional, and bureaucratic organizational pattern: public services and technical services, further divided into reference, instruction, access services, acquisitions, cataloging, and so on. That traditional organization uses the print collection as a starting point and follows a print book from the point of request to receipt to circulation to instruction in how to find information in the local collection and elsewhere. The emerging refocused organization undoubtedly acquires and circulates material, provides reference and instruction, and so on, its focus is on teaching and learning, partnerships across campus and in larger communities, and on continuously redefining the library program.

Discourse analysis is one of the most useful ways to shed light on professional and organizational values. The techniques used here examine the purpose of texts, the participants in the discourse, and the characteristics of the text itself, including genres of organizational communication. This book uses discourse analysis of academic library strategic plans from different organizational types and then outlines a process for refocusing that is based in the disciplines of Senge’s (2010) learning organization and the characteristics of public organizations. While the discourse of transformation is common, and is generally situated in the market-based neoliberal view in which public organizations are urged to adopt the approach of business enterprises, this work rejects that market-driven view. It adopts instead a vision of an egalitarian and inclusive organization that embodies values such as intellectual freedom, public service, lifelong learning, collaboration, user-orientation, and environmental sustainability.

The new organizational models seen particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia can be an inspiration and a starting place for libraries in North America and elsewhere. These models can be adapted and used in the context of the learning organization, of the organization that emerges through communication and discourse, and in the new realities and possibilities of the postpandemic workplace.

The main message of this book is the message of Discursive Institutionalism: ideas matter. Ideas are powerful and can lead to real and positive change. One crucial idea is that learning is the most fundamental activity that humans engage in, and is the basis for a healthy organization. The discussion that follows is meant to pave the way for an environment where ideas matter, everyone has ideas, and everyone learns together.

References

Senge P. The fifth discipline: Art and practice of the learning organization. (Revised and Updated). Currency/Doubleday; 2010.

Acknowledgments

My colleagues past and present have helped me understand the environment of academic libraries, higher education, and the workplace in general and I thank them for the many rich and informative discussions that have helped me come to my present understanding and philosophy.

Particular thanks to my colleagues at San Jose State University and partners at Queensland University of Technology and Manchester Metropolitan University. They have all provided insight on trends in education and librarianship and on the global environment of academic libraries. Particular thanks to Dr. Anthony Chow and Dr. Sandy Hirsh of SJSU for their strong and inspiring shared vision. Special thanks to SJSU School of Information MLIS student Katie Perry for her help with the literature review.

My dear friend and colleague Prof. Gail Z. Eckwright and I founded the electronic journal Library Philosophy and Practice in 1998, in part because we were interested in the idea of a library. LPP is still publishing 24 years later, largely because of the enormous international network of librarians who contribute as authors, peer reviewers, and editorial board members. Thanks to Gail and to that community of scholars for continuing to consider the many ideas of a library.

Thanks always to Dr. Nancy J. Busch, Dean Emeritus of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln Libraries. Nancy knows that ideas matter and I’m grateful for her as a friend and colleague.

Abstract

This work is a follow-up to Bolin (2017) and explores the refocused academic library organizational structure where the organizing principle is teaching and learning. A discourse analysis of academic library strategic plans is used to look more closely at refocused and more traditional library organizations. A process for refocusing is outlined, using the disciplines of Senge’s (2010) learning organization, the concept of Discursive Institutionalism (Schmidt, 2008), where the organization emerges through discussion and discourse, and organizational development activities. The literature review includes a substantial amount of literature on aspects of inclusion that include race, gender, and neurodiversity.

References

Bolin M.K. The 21st century academic library: Global patterns of organization and discourse. Chandos/Elsevier; 2017.

Senge P. The fifth discipline: Art and practice of the learning organization. (Revised and Updated). Currency/Doubleday; 2010.

Schmidt V.E. Discursive institutionalism: The explanatory power of ideas and discourse. Annual Review of Political Science. 2008. ;11:303–326. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.060606.135342.

Chapter One: Introduction

Abstract

This chapter introduces the idea of the refocused academic library, organized around teaching and learning rather than the print collection. A theoretical framework of discourse analysis, institutionalism, and the characteristics of public organizations is presented.

Keywords

Academic libraries; Discourse analysis; Institutionalism; Public organizations

Contents

The iron cage

Background

Theoretical framework

Institutionalism

Bureaucracy and structuration

Discursive institutionalism

Public organizations

The iron cage

Imagine a library without departments. Picture an organization that exists as a single group of people with no divisions, departments, units, teams, or any other kind of formal grouping. Put aside any practical considerations, details, and philosophical objections and imagine how that could work. With this structural blank slate, the library and its employees would still have mission, goals, and values in common. This unstructured library would not lose its primary responsibility, which is providing access to information for its users.

Faced with this situation, how would we respond? All of us might experience some trepidation and dismay, whether we admitted it or not. Many or most people might also feel intrigued, excited, and ready to draw something new on the blank slate. Most of us have probably experienced the frustration built into an organizational structure: miscommunication and misunderstanding, the struggle to innovate, the stubbornness and territoriality that occurs in a bureaucratic organization. This is the iron cage of bureaucracy described by Weber (1930). Weber’s work on bureaucracy explores the situation in which organizations become structured, labor is divided, and routines developed to carry out the organizational mission. That structure then becomes an iron cage that is difficult to change or escape from. Weber saw the only solution to this as a charismatic leader who would join the organization and disrupt it in a way that allows for radical change. Anyone who has had a job probably recoils in horror at the vision of this charismatic leader, who often takes the form of a bull in a china shop, who disrupts by smashing things. A better way to achieve discontinuous and significant change is to create an inclusive process where all voices are heard and everyone can have influence.

Imagine a library holiday of several weeks where daily tasks are not performed. All employees gather in one place and talk about how to organize their work in a way that is best for the present and the future. How could that be carried out? What options would emerge? That imaginary situation is what this book is about. We will not have a lengthy library holiday to stop and consider it, but it is useful to think about what we would do if we did.

Background

The present work is a follow-up to The 21stCentury Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse (Bolin, 2017), and examines the category of academic libraries that was termed refocused, that is, organized around the concepts of teaching and learning rather than the library’s collection. This book looks more closely at that refocused category, to refine and analyze it and to propose new models of organization that are aligned with the needs of higher educational institutions and their faculty and students. It tacitly considers the virtual environment, digital initiatives and resources, imminent changes to cataloging standards, and the need to hire new employees as a significant number of retirements occur. It considers the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and the post-Covid environment. Relatively little is written about the refocusing that is needed in academic library organization. Readers here are presented with new ways of looking at the organization and new ways of looking at the mission of the library and how to fulfil it.

Organization and institution are not synonymous, but are related concepts. An institution is a particular kind of organization or a group or category of organizations. An institution is also the product of the thoughts, words, and actions of a group of people who share values and goals, and work together to create an organization that can carry out those goals. The church (broadly defined), government, education, and medicine are examples of societal institutions. These institutions comprise groups of people, plus infrastructure, professions, standards, laws and regulations, and funding mechanisms.

Political scientists, educators, and people in other fields have studied the growth and changes in organizations and institutions, including connections, influences, pressures, and trends. Institutionalism is the study of institutions and a theoretical framework for that study. This book examines the organization of academic libraries through the lens of institutionalism, along with related concepts such as structuration (Giddens, 1979, 1984), Weber’s theory of bureaucracy, the study of the characteristics of public organizations by scholars such as Antonsen and Jørgensen (1997), and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) (Hansen et al., 2020). It uses Senge’s (2010) learning organization and the related concept of core competencies to construct a process for refocusing.

The information presented here can help inform the discussions that take place in academic libraries about organizational patterns and division of labor. Those discussions are more crucial than ever, and the ideas presented here can help academic librarians rethink the traditional organizational patterns that are Weber’s iron cage of bureaucracy. Existing organizational structures are analyzed and new ones that can be adapted by individual libraries are proposed. These new models can help make the best use of limited budgets. A process for planning and implementing organizational refocusing is described.

The author holds the position that it is desirable for academic libraries to move toward a refocused organizational model that is based on teaching and learning. There can be disagreement about that, but the author takes a number of such positions, including the idea that academic librarians should be faculty with programmatic responsibility similar to that of teaching faculty. Those who disagree can still find information and analysis here that attempts to shed light on academic library organizational learning and discourse. The characteristics and discourses of public organizations, the recognition of meaningful work and of the skills and aptitudes of all employees, and the learning organization framework can help us move in this direction.

Organizations consist of people carrying out processes with the goal of fulfilling a mission. Organizations are not amorphous. They have structure that includes a division of labor and lines of authority. Academic libraries are organizations that are part of an institution of higher education—a college or university. Academic libraries have familiar and well-established organizational structures that fall into certain patterns. The structures are designed to carry out the library's mission, which is to give access to information that supports the mission of the parent organization, generally teaching, research, and service.

Academic libraries operate within the university and the constraints on the library are more than just budgetary. Libraries are part of the university’s academic division. They are not like units such as housing, food service, IT, or facilities. Those are important services, but the library is a program. At the same time, the library program is much more closely associated with the programs of teaching departments and colleges than departments and colleges are associated with one another. Actions of the English department may affect departments like art or biology, but not in the way they affect the library. Teaching departments may feel a sense of ownership of the library program, and certainly they are stakeholders. Refocusing the library should actually be a benefit for teaching departments, but there is often a misunderstanding of the information needs of teaching faculty. Many academic libraries have withdrawn a large amount of print material in the last ten years. This was preceded by an outcry from some teaching faculty (and supported by some liaison librarians) who insisted that they visited the library daily to browse the stacks. To have a program that truly carries out the university mission, libraries must not be tyrannized by small, noisy factions of the teaching faculty. Moreover, while this book addresses the problem of toxic employees, libraries may also have to deal with toxic patrons (the phantoms who supposedly haunt the stacks) and an increasingly toxic political environment that is reaching down into the library.

Bolin (2017) explored global patterns of library organization and found a typology that included a traditional, collection-focused arrangement, as well as structures that were more focused on electronic information, libraries that were transitioning away from a focus on collections, and finally, a refocused type whose organizing principle is teaching and learning. The present work follows up on that work to further explore this refocused organization and to a process for transitioning and transforming. North America shows little of the refocused organization. The discourse used in strategic planning documents, which are analyzed in Chapter 3, bears this out. Those documents, whether they are from traditional organizations or refocused ones (of which only there are only three in North America in the data used here), continue to emphasize collections, services, and facilities. Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are a better source of refocused library organizations and the corresponding discourse.

How can libraries move toward a refocused organization that is more aligned with the values of