Formerly the cataloging librarian at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Dr. Rachel Ivy Clarke is currently an associate professor at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies. Her research focuses on the application of design methodologies and epistemologies to facilitate the systematic, purposeful design of library services and education. Her multiple-award-winning dissertation argues that librarianship is more appropriately viewed as a design field rather than a scientific one. She holds a BA in creative writing from California State University, Long Beach, an MLIS from San Jose State University, and a PhD from the University of Washington.
For thousands of years, libraries and librarians have designed artifacts to enable access to and use of information resources—everything from cataloging rules to sensory storytimes—but libraries don’t talk about it as design work. This presentation will discuss the implicit role of design in librarianship and its effects on user services and professional values, including interactive activities that concretely demonstrate how to explicitly incorporate this new perspective into library work.