Listen to Episode 03: All onboard

Release date: December 18, 2024. Length: 47:00 minutes.

In which we talk with Jennifer Elder about all things onboarding. Are you looking for your first library job and curious what onboarding looks like? Are you a new manager who has never onboarded someone before? Do you have a new colleague and want ideas for how to support them? We discuss tips and advice for all aboard.

Listen to Episode 03 in the UMN Digital Conservancy.

Read the Episode 03 transcript.

Show Notes

Guest Bio

Our Current Awareness Highlights

Cattlin, J., & Given, L. M. (2024). Information relations for social change: Exploring the information behaviour of academics undertaking impact work. Information Research, 29(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.47989/ir292824

Dawkins, V. & LeGrand, S. (2024). Cultivating critical information evaluation through motivational confidence: An exploratory crosswalk analysis. Journal of Information Literacy, 18(12), pp. 87-107. https://doi.org/10.11645/18.2.644 

Salo, D. (2024). Data ethics in library learning analytics. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, 12(1), eP16245. https://doi.org/10.31274/jlsc.16245

Turner, L., Umaña, N., & Solis, D. (2024). Cliques or collaborators: Impressions of cultural collaboration in academic libraries. Collaborative Librarianship, 14(1). https://digitalcommons.du.edu/collaborativelibrarianship/vol14/iss1/3

Transcript

[intro music begins (instrumental, laid back rhythmic strings, drums, and piano)]

STEPHANIE: Hello, and welcome to Library Table Talk. I’m Stephanie Sparrow, one of your hosts.

HANNAH: And I’m Hannah Cabullo, your other host. In Library Table Talk, we’re two librarians exploring what academic librarianship looks like in the day-to-day, across different types of institutions and roles.

STEPHANIE: Nothing is off the table. We’re happy to have you here.

[music fades out]

HANNAH: Today’s episode is about onboarding. Maybe you’re a new employee in the midst of onboarding, or you’re looking to change jobs, or a grad student just starting to hunt for your first librarian position. Or maybe you’re a new manager who has never onboarded new employees before.

STEPHANIE: We talked with a library middle manager, Jennifer Elder, to demystify what onboarding is all about. What does it actually look like to settle into a new job? So can you start by introducing yourself?

JENNIFER: I'm Jennifer Elder, and I'm a subject librarian and team leader at Emory University's Robert W. Woodruff Library in Atlanta, Georgia.

HANNAH: Can you give us an overview of your experience and involvement with onboarding new employees?

JENNIFER: Yes, so I have been a manager for quite a while, since 2016. Sometimes it feels like I've been a manager forever. But I have hired and trained 4 librarians since I became a manager. Three of the librarians I hired had no experience as librarians, although most had some experience working in libraries in another capacity. And then I've also served as an orientation mentor for a librarian in another library division. So I think my experience has been primarily as a manager, but also I have played a small role in welcoming new folks to the library.

HANNAH: So I know you've been at Emory a long time now, but thinking back to when you were onboarded as an employee, is there anything that sticks out to you about that experience?

JENNIFER: One thing I liked about my onboarding is that I was hired alongside a few other folks. So we made our own little subgroup. And we received training together, and could kind of compare notes with one another. That took some of the edge off. Because this was my, this was my second library job, at Emory. Yeah. I previously worked in another academic library, but Emory was a much larger library than I was accustomed to, much larger university.

STEPHANIE: Okay, so, Jennifer, how would you describe or define onboarding? Like what is onboarding. What are its goals? Maybe primary goals, and its timeline?

JENNIFER: So I would describe onboarding as a process of introducing a new employee to the culture, as well as the job functions they would be performing. I think what I try to think of in the beginning is to familiarize the employee with essential library resources and university resources, so that they can perform their job effectively, know who to ask for what, and then also to introduce them to colleagues and departments and people in the university that they'll be working closely with. I know there's a lot more. There's so much involved in onboarding, but onboarding is, it is different from training. It is, you know, the familiarizing with people, places, spaces, all of that, so that they feel comfortable, at home, welcome. 

JENNIFER: And you asked about the timeline. So our human resources department kind of gives us some benchmarks to use. With each new person, there might be some slight adjustments there. So generally within the first three months I try to introduce folks to the physical space and important university and library resources. Also, during the first three months we talk about their goals. That could be both a six-month and a year-long goal. Just so they can see what the ultimate objectives are. And then at six months we have a more formal check-in meeting on their progress, on their goals and orientation. And by formal I really mean official might be a better word to put it, you know, since, like many places, we have a yearly performance review process, probably everyone has that. But a six-month mark is a good time to gauge, you know, what's working, what isn't. And then at 12 months we would further review, you know, have they achieved their goals? And if they weren't able to, you know, what came up that was challenging? How could I, as their manager, make things better? How can I facilitate? What resources do they need? What training might they need? Things like that, you know, and it's very much, I would say, onboarding is also somewhat of a collaborative process. I want to hear from a new employee what it is they want, what they need, what their interests are. I recently had a question about a subgroup at our libraries for individuals that have specific interests, you know. And I was able to find something. So some-, sometimes our employee needs are definitely things that managers wouldn't anticipate. I would say, I think it takes at least a year to get oriented, and it is not a failure when employees don't check all the boxes on the goals that we have initially set out.

HANNAH: I think that's really helpful to hear. I mean, even as a, I'm not a new librarian, but as a new employee at my current institution, just knowing that you start at a new place, you're learning a new job, and especially if you're at a huge institution, learning how that huge institution works… There's so much to learn and not feeling like the pressure is to… you don't have to learn everything all at once. It can be hard to not know everything all at once. But yeah, like the reassurance that, you know, hey. The first 12 months you're just getting familiar with things.

JENNIFER: The orientation period, it can take a while. I mean, I could see it even taking longer than a year, especially when when you're at a large university that has a bunch of departments, centers, new folks being hired, new provosts, new, you know, new presidents, and so much change is always happening. So I think relaxing into the change. Expecting change, and that's okay. And expecting, allowing yourself, being generous with yourself around making those relationships with departments, with colleagues, with allowing the opportunity, not expecting too much of yourself too soon I think, is really helpful in a big place.

STEPHANIE: Yeah, I, I haven't had too many onboarding experiences. I am a new librarian. This is like my first in a library job. And so I was really curious coming into this episode, because I'm like, onboarding is something like, I know I have experienced, mainly here. But also, I'm still a little confused about like, what it is, what it entails, and hearing you describe it, I'm like, oh, this is actually like what we did and like, it's really reassuring also to hear about like the checklist is not something to be tested against, to be like, oh, this is your progress. Maybe more like a list of options of like ideas, of things to be familiar with, because I remember looking at the like onboarding checklist and being like, checklist. Oh, gosh! I did not check this box. I did not check this box. So I appreciate hearing that. [laughs] It is not necessarily, you're not being graded on it. 

JENNIFER: That's very true.

STEPHANIE: [laughs] Yeah. Do you think it's helpful to draw a distinction between onboarding and orientation? Because I've noticed you use both of those terms.

JENNIFER: Sure. I think formally, people consider orientation to be that list of items you need to check off to get into the system of work, some of your necessary tasks. It might be signing up for health benefits. It might be attending a formal orientation session with HR or some other entity. It might be getting keys, it might be getting your cube assigned, and so forth. I might add to that also, during the orientation period, which could be considered very narrowly the first three months, you might establish your initial goals as well. Onboarding in general I think of as being more of a process of getting acquainted with the culture of a place, kind of finding a place within that culture where you feel a special connection, getting established, and adapting, really, or adjusting to your environment. And I think that can take several months, even a year.

STEPHANIE: So it sounds like, from what I'm gathering, from what I'm learning, onboarding is really like this collaborative, cultural, and like welcoming process of being like, yes, like you have training, which sounds like it's more specific to like duties or tasks, maybe, roles that your job has. And so obviously like managers, supervisors. It sounds like HR plays a role in onboarding. Does it only happen there, or is there also a little bit of collaboration across library folks who are not in any of those positions? And how does onboarding look like across the whole organization, I guess? Like, is it collaborative where, like folks in other departments are like, yes, onboard. Let me let me hang with you. Let me meet, tell you things.

JENNIFER: Yes, at our library we do have a mentoring program for librarians new to our institution, so that they have someone to speak with that is in actually a different division department or library from themselves, and they can feel free to ask all sorts of questions. And also by connecting with someone outside of your own department, you start to get a broader view.

We do try to, or I can say I, as a manager, try to set up opportunities for new employees to engage with folks in other departments, divisions, also, outside of... We have multiple libraries where I work, but also we want them to meet with the departments, academic departments, things like that in the first, probably three to six months. Just building those connections, having opportunities to have coffee with people, to ask questions, and just to say, hi, really, just to see how the infrastructure works. So onboarding and orientation is very much about providing someone with an overview of a university's infrastructure, a library's infrastructure, so that they can navigate it more successfully.

HANNAH: You've talked some already about the supervisor or manager's role, but just focusing on that a little bit more, what would you say is most important for managers to think about when they're planning for and onboarding new employees?

JENNIFER: Well, managers, I think, develop a good bit of competence at the necessary onboarding tasks, like making sure people are set up with benefits, making sure people have a cubicle assigned, and so forth. And also introducing them to certain folks they're going to be working with a lot, like their own team and, and things like that. But I think another component, especially in our current work environment, that managers would benefit, I think, from keeping in mind is establishing really frequent check-ins in the initial three to six months that the employee is is working at this new place. In fact, it could, it could last longer, even a year. While you might check in once a month with your, or twice a month, with employees that have been working there some time. The new employee, I think, would benefit from having an opportunity to be in your office, or or just to ask questions at least once a week. So that's one thing, I think, is important for managers to keep in mind, is the lines of communication. And also a little bit to gauge the employee’s feeling of adjustment. And if they seem happy, actually. If they're making the necessary connections and feeling welcome. And I can't say that there is an easy way to tell, but I would hope that through frequent meetings and open discussions like about how things are going, and you know, trying to establish that safe environment in which the employee can share how things are going.

JENNIFER: This also, I do think it's helpful for the manager to be on site as much as possible with the new employee, even given our hybrid working conditions. Because I know, and I'm thinking about back to the question you asked me, what I benefited from being new to Emory years ago. Well, it was an entirely in-person operation. And so I had a number of people I could always ask. They were always there in person. I didn't just have to go to my manager. But in our current setup with the hybrid schedules there may be fewer folks to go to for the new people. We don't want our new people to feel like they're isolated, that no one is available to help them. It's so nice to be able to just casually step over to someone's cube or office and say, hey, I have a question about this or that. I think we, especially managers, have to be more intentional about being physically present, if possible, with the new employees, and provide opportunities in a very deliberate way for them to connect with their peers and colleagues, also with departments, for example, if you're a subject librarian, or whatever people you are serving, there is a lot more, I think strategy involved in making sure those connections happen.

HANNAH: Yeah, when I'm thinking back to my first library job, which was much before the pandemic, it was so easy to just see people in person if I have a quick question. And starting this new job post pandemic, I mean, like finding those people in person to make connections with had to be much more intentional. 

JENNIFER: Exactly, not having that kind of organic, easy, spontaneous, you know, dropping by someone's cube to ask a question is often, if folks are on hybrid schedules, I think there has been more looking for someone to answer a question who you may not see physically, and then sending an email, waiting. Those kinds of things sort of slow down I think the process of getting things done during one's orientation and onboarding. It makes it a little more challenging.

HANNAH: Yeah, and it's hard, because I think for the first few months that, there were four new people hired in my department at the same time. It was very much of like, okay, we're all going to be in the office on these days of the week. And then, now that we're all settled in more, people are working from home more often. I'm in the office because I like to come into the office. But yeah, like, once people are working from home like four days a week, it has to be much more intentional of like, okay, we want to meet in person. So let's plan to come in or pick the day that people are here. So do you think there are things that can be easy for managers to maybe overlook in the onboarding process? If you're someone who's been at the institution a long time, and you're looking at things through the lens of already being really familiar with how things work, are there things that you feel like you have to be much more intentional about?

JENNIFER:  Yes, I do. There's no question. Maybe it's analogous to the professor who's been in a field for decades, teaching freshmen and expecting them to know everything about writing an annotated bibliography, say. Or you know, it's just getting so deeply into our profession and our, and being so comfortable in a space that we are not understanding what the new person's experience is. And things change dramatically. And certainly we've all experienced tremendous change in the past several years. So I do think, and I would encourage a new employee to share that with their manager, you know what their experience has been. Where are they finding sticking points with any other person, department, project. You know, open communication is great, and I realize that not everyone has a super flexible schedule if they're a manager. Or maybe some folks may, may seem less approachable than others, but I would hope that just establishing that open line of communication would highlight some things. Certainly the new folks have called some things to my attention and actually inspired a team goal for this year, which was to engage in more team social activities that are, you know, not just our team meeting, but fun activities or relaxed activities that we could participate in together, just to give us the opportunity to chit chat and connect with each other. 

STEPHANIE: I love hearing that. I know, I think our department has a similar goal for this year as well, and Hannah organized us a little virtual game time for like an hour, and it was just so nice to like connect with folks that I really see mainly for our meetings, and just kind of have a relaxed environment. And so I'm like, yes, oh, I love that. Okay, so we're going to shift the perspective. What advice would you give to new hires, or to librarians who hope to be new hires soon about onboarding?

JENNIFER: So I would say, number one, please don't be afraid to ask questions. Just as some of our favorite teachers have said, there are no stupid questions. Please, please ask. You know, new folks have such great observation skills, and they can just really illuminate things that, or, you know, it's like an enlightenment moment for those of us who've been in a place for a while, and we want to hear how things were done at your previous library. Honestly, we're curious, or if you're totally new, and you learned something in library school or elsewhere that you'd like to share, please bring your ideas, because I think that's, that's awesome. Another thing I would say is to, it could be helpful to communicate with your manager proactively. For example, prepare your own written agenda for meetings with your manager. One of my team members always has basically a running list that she'll share with me when we meet. And that way she gets a lot of questions answered in a very short amount of time. It's helpful for both of us. But she's still welcome to email me or come over to my cube and ask me questions other times. But this just, that will give, I believe that could help allay any anxieties sometimes that a new person might have, to have their questions written down to bring up to their manager.

JENNIFER: I would also say, assume that people want you to succeed, not fail, even if you're working in a very competitive professional environment. Probably, like you all, we have a peer review structure. There is a promotion ladder that can be pretty intimidating to new people or people new to librarianship. But know that that is another thing to discuss with your manager, with your peers, and you know, to not, don't allow it to intimidate you. You don't have to be superhuman to achieve these things, otherwise no one would. You know, you can just be, just be a regular person and achieve these things. I would also suggest for new folks to ask if there are any mentoring programs at your library, or even your university. That is also something that you could connect with through a professional organization like ACRL. That is, you know, a great way for new librarians to get acclimated, to learn their job, and also to have a sounding board of people who do things similar to what they're doing. I would also encourage folks to join employee groups at their library or university, employee advocacy groups. That's yet another way to connect and just learn, develop friendships, etc.

STEPHANIE: I love these concrete suggestions. I know, being where we all kind of become familiar eventually with the feeling of not knowing, to the point where you don't know what to ask, or where to start. And so I really appreciate, especially like even the first piece of advice you had of create a agenda for when you meet with your manager. Like that, I can like recall also feeling a little bit of confusion over like communication culture in the workplace, and kind of like responsibilities of meetings, like who who determines roles, who determines like the invite? All these things. And so I personally, I'm like, oh my god, that sounds like an awesome step to for one having a little bit of autonomy and agency over the things I want to discuss with the things I want to mention or ask, but then also to be like, okay, so, agendas, we have these for meetings.

JENNIFER: True, and it's, it's understandable to think the manager might set the agenda. But it's okay and great for you to have an agenda, too. And you know, it's not overbearing. It's really valid and valuable for you to bring your ideas, concerns, whatever is going on to your manager. Another technique that you could implement as a new librarian, you may want to try working on what's called a done list, which would be, you know, what did you accomplish in a given week. And that's a way to check in with your manager, especially in a hybrid environment. Sometimes we feel kind of more like we need to show our work. And that is one way to do that.

STEPHANIE: Wow. Also, like, I'm getting, I'm like, wow, yeah, I kind of have a list like that. But it has lost its scope. And so now, I'm like, yeah, Stephanie, let's get back to the basics. What did you accomplish this week? Like, start there. So I'm like, oh, heck, yeah, thank you.

JENNIFER: Sure. And, you know it, it's, I don't know about y'all, but you know meetings take time. Small things like coordinating a party or something can take a tremendous amount of time. It's okay to communicate that to your manager. You have not been just twiddling your thumbs. You have been actually doing something instructive. But let's say, you know, arranging the catering for this party turned into a beast. [laughs] And like all these weird things started happening, and it took you a ton of time. That can happen. So you need to communicate about that. It is a good thing.

STEPHANIE: What advice would you give to folks about onboarding who are not the supervisor or the onboarding person. Like, what can I do? What can other folks do to support onboarding and to support a new colleague going through it? 

JENNIFER: Oh, yeah. Well, I've seen some really nice examples of other employees being welcoming to new folks at my library. So things like, and I mean, basic things like inviting someone to coffee or lunch. Giving them a tour of like cool places on campus that may not be covered in a more traditional tour. Sharing their take on various library groups that are enjoyable to join. Inviting people to do sports, or to see a movie, or telling them about opportunities to hear music on campus. There's so many things that are always going on, especially on a university campus that a new person really might be interested in, and it would enhance their feeling of belonging and well-being and all of that to participate. I've also seen in the realm of folks who are doing library instruction as part of their job, like subject librarian jobs, co-teaching. I think that's a great thing. I think, in the cases in which people can pair up, I think it's great when someone who has been in a place for a while will pair up with a new person on a project, on teaching, on any sort of thing to help them feel more confident and comfortable. And just to help them learn, you know, this is how we do things, but you know, also to stay open to the new person's input. I've seen a lot of that in my team, and I've been so pleased. 

STEPHANIE: That must be a really good thing to notice. You're like, oh! I’m glad that we all care. 

JENNIFER: Yes, yes, definitely. I've seen my team being willing to make some adjustments for new folks like, you know we may have slightly altered how we did things, like we did add a monthly social. But then, also, we're adding the outside social activities that still we're going to try to have them take place during the workday. But you know, the folks who've been around forever might feel that's, I guess, it's not necessary per se, but they want to participate to support the new folks. Because most of us on my team have had the benefit of being hired at a time when in-person was the standard, and it was every day, and it just offers so many spontaneous opportunities for all kinds of connection, questions, learning that you don't necessarily get in the hybrid environment. Hybrid has tremendous benefits. I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying that it's a different experience, so, especially with orientation or onboarding.

HANNAH: I think what you mentioned about, you know other colleagues like inviting their new colleagues to social things, or do things together, whether it's outside of or during the workday, is really helpful, especially for people who have moved to a new place. Like my first library job, I moved out to New Hampshire. I had never been there and didn't know anyone. And so my new colleagues reaching out and like being my first social support network was really important. So you know, I liked that distinction you made between, you know, like the people who've been here longer may not have necessarily gone out and done a social event on their own, but doing it, knowing that it's important to help form that social network for the new employees and get to know them. 

STEPHANIE: And I can imagine that would also help to kind of bridge a divide that can happen in the workplace between folks who've been there for a while, and newer folks.

JENNIFER: Absolutely. Yes.

STEPHANIE: I know, like I've I've been a barista before, so I'm in particular thinking about, man, baristas do not like to change things up when new people come in. So I'm like, oh [laughs]. 

So before I give the questions back to Hannah. So sorry, Hannah, I just keep going with this. So you've kind of been toying or talking about how I mean, hybrid work is changing a lot and obviously like the flexibility. Amazing. I personally love it. It's worked out with onboarding as well. But I'm curious, because we know that often when situations change and we have maybe new challenges, it's when there's maybe some gear spinning, some innovation, and some problem solving to kind of evolve the practices, maybe. But I'm curious. Where do you go for like inspiration or ideas, or like, where do you feel rejuvenated or excited about onboarding?

JENNIFER: Well, it's funny that you should ask that, and we're here on a podcast but I listen to a lot of podcasts.

STEPHANIE: I love it, plug ‘em! [laughs]

JENNIFER:  And some of them are business. Some of them are research-oriented. Some that might be actually addressing remote work, you know the change over to remote work. And just how that has, it really has revolutionized people's lives. Also reading various, I guess they're fairly mainstream newspapers, like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, that cover actually remote work and hybrid work. You know, just because I'm curious. I've been curious to figure out how people in larger industry are handling these changes, especially in work and in work relationships. Because I think, I'm a psychology librarian is one of my subject areas. A lot of the research points to, you know that not being physically present can contribute to a sense of disengagement, a lack of making close friendships. And we've learned also that having even one close friend at work makes it much more fulfilling or meaningful for people. So we want to do what we can to help people still build relationships and the sense of belonging. I can reflect on my own experience. My library science degree was entirely online, whereas I had a master's in English, and that was entirely in person. And although I met so many lovely people in my online degree through FSU, it was strange that we haven't had a lot of follow up. My relationships with them kind of vanished when the program ended. Whereas I still have ongoing relationships, conversations, everything, with people I went to my in-person degree with. So you know, I I keep that in mind a lot. Yeah. But the sources of my inspiration are really, you know, more probably podcast, news sources, and also colleagues, discussions with them.

HANNAH: Are there things that you have observed work particularly well at your institution for the onboarding process? 

JENNIFER: Yes. I think our mentoring program has been excellent, and I really applaud the folks that run it. We have both the orientation mentors that people start right off with. And then a follow-up mentoring program that's professional mentoring for people who have a particular interest. They get paired with folks who can help them with growth in that area. I've seen, I think there have been tremendous successes there with the mentoring program, and I think also with really the the meetings that we've had with other divisions, departments. I mean, I've been delighted with the welcoming atmosphere that people have created, the outreach. Also, when folks do get involved with our employee clubs, or we have this Libraries Employee Advocacy Forum that does a lot of social events. When people get involved in that they seem really happy, and they seem to make a lot of good connections early on. So I see a lot that seems positive around that.

HANNAH: Stephanie, are there any last questions we want to ask? 

STEPHANIE: I guess the final question would just be, Jennifer, do you have any final thoughts that you haven't already talked about, that we haven't captured that you want to share?

JENNIFER: Well, I think this is a reiteration of something I've said earlier, but you know, at first taking on a new job, starting in a new place can seem intimidating for a lot of reasons, especially when it's an academic library. But just know that initial kind of painful period of everything is new, you will adjust, you will acclimate. You will get new space in your brain over the months. And also you're not expected to master it all in the very beginning. Just be kind to yourself. That would be the greatest takeaway I would like to share, would be kind to yourself as a new employee and manage your expectations. Know that it would be rare for a manager to expect you to be perfect, or to… We want you, of course, to strive for your goals and accomplish things, you know. We don't want you to just say, oh, whatever, you know. But it is okay to run into difficulties, and what have you, and please share those with your manager.

[musical transition]

STEPHANIE: On today’s Lit Review segment — get it, because we’re reviewing the library literature? Ok that’s not any better than calling it Current Awareness, but Hannah! What have you recently read that stood out to you?

HANNAH: Yeah, I want to highlight two articles that are about collaboration and relationships. The first is “Cliques or collaborators: Impressions of cultural collaboration in academic libraries,” by Lauren Turner, Natalia Umaña, and Denisse Solis, published in Collaborative Librarianship in October. The authors are all women of color working at the same predominantly white institution and they write about past collaborations with white colleagues that were harmful to them the authors, but also about their joyful experience collaborating with each other. However, they also share how their collaboration together as women of color is in ways viewed negatively by some of their white colleagues, despite the institution supposedly espousing a culture of collaboration, and despite two of them intentionally being hired together as a cohort as part of the library’s residency program for early-career BIPOC librarians. In the article, Natalia writes, that “our collective does not fit the traditions of the academy nor how faculty generally collaborate.” For me, as a white person at a predominantly white institution, I really appreciated reading their account, as a concrete reminder and example of how impact matters far more than intentions, and the importance of continually questioning whether we are truly creating the welcoming and inclusive environment that we intend to. And for this particular topic, that collaboration can look and operate in many different ways. At the end of the article, the authors share some questions for reflection, such as “What is the culture of collaboration at your library? What does it look, sound, and feel like when individuals collaborate successfully? When is it appropriate to collaborate?” They conclude that writing their article served as “a collective sense-making for why certain collaborations appeared to be territorial, on terms we didn’t comprehend, transactional, or seemingly inauthentic as early and mid-career librarians of color.” I definitely found their words provided much food for thought. So, thank you, for sharing your experiences, Lauren, Natalia, and Denisse.

HANNAH: Along with their article, I want to share an article from the journal Information Research, by Australian researchers Joann Cattlin and Lisa Given: “Information relations for social change: Exploring the information behaviour of academics undertaking impact work.” This one I appreciated because it highlighted sources of information that aren’t typically part of the academy, and work that usually happens outside of, or at least on the edge of, the normal recognition and reward systems of the university – relationships and information exchange that are part of community engagement and societal impact work. The authors interviewed 27 academics across different disciplines and career stages, from 18 institutions in Australia about their impact work with partners in industry, in the community, and in government. They pulled out four elements or themes that characterised academics’ relationships with stakeholders in the context of information behavior, and these were curiosity, reciprocity, trust, and engagement. The authors note how the skills and behaviors needed for impact work are different from traditional academic methodologies and epistemologies, and that “These relationships involve activities and experiences that convey tacit and explicit information not otherwise available in codified sources (e.g., journal articles), documented research practices, or other academic sources (e.g., collegial advice).” Part of the curiosity element that they talk about is intellectual humility, and to me, this article was a good reminder that while libraries are experts around information that is documented and can be collected, there is so much information outside of academia. And, that if we as librarians want to be involved in community engagement and impact work ourselves, the relationships and impact will be most fruitful through remaining open and curious, behaving with reciprocity, building trust, and engaging in these relationships iteratively. While the authors’ model is specifically about information behaviors, it seems like they’re also just a good reminder for how to approach collaborative relationships. So that’s what I took away from this article. How about you, Stephanie? Is there anything that stuck with you this month?

STEPHANIE: There have been two articles in particular that I have been thinking about lately. The first is “Cultivating critical information evaluation through motivational confidence: An exploratory crosswalk analysis” by Victoria Dawkins and Samantha LeGrand. I’m sorry for selecting yet another article related to instruction, but what can I say, it is on my mind. When it comes to teaching source evaluation to students, checklists like CRAPP test or SIFT method tend to be the standard, in no large part because of the one-shot format and time restrictions. As an early-career librarian with a pretty heavy instruction load, I want to incorporate critical information literacy pedagogies into one-shots, but I struggle. In addition to the limitations presented by the one-shot format, I am still developing my own skills and knowledge around instruction and also critical information literacy. Plus tend to bite off more than I can chew. Dawkins and LeGrand created tables cross-walking, or mapping, certain critical information literacy pedagogies to source evaluation tools, that center “collective decision-making, prior knowledge, and student-led inquiry” to build confidence. The cross walk tables, and the discussion in the article, offer examples of how exactly librarians can feasibly incorporate confidence-building instructional design into oneshots that reinforce critical information literacy. I found this article dense with educational theory, but informative, and the crosswalk is practical and approachable. I will definitely be revisiting this article, and trying to incorporate some of their ideas into some of my own one-shots this coming semester.

STEPHANIE: The other article I read that I’ve been thinking about was “Data Ethics in Library Learning Analytics” by Dorthea Salo in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication. Data privacy and ethics have been on my mind lately, and this article gave me a lot to think about. The literature review contextualized a lot for me, especially ACRL’s Value Agenda for Libraries report from 2010, which advocated for the analysis of patron data, “to demonstrate return on investment in libraries to academic administrators.” Salo reviewed the library and information science literature on library learning analytics for potential ethical challenges and privacy practices and found, let’s say a lot.  This can look like data that can be reidentified, a lack of informed consent of the students, to mixing library data with non-library data, and confidentiality concerns around using library data outside of the library context. One thing in particular that stood out to me was how a lot of the talk around data ethics, plus IRB and ethics protocols, revolve around data collection. The author points out that collection is only one place to consider data ethics, but publications and communications are other places to think about. Salo stresses the need for journals, peer-review and editorial boards, and conferences to have and communicate clear data ethical guidelines for patron data ethics, and that they must enforce these to prevent unethical work to be disseminated further. There is a lot to unpack and think about in this article and think about, so thank you Dorthea.

HANNAH: Thank you for sharing those, Stephanie. Those sound really interesting as well. I'll have to take a look at them.

STEPHANIE: You can find the citations for the articles that we talked about today on our website at z.umn.edu/librarytabletalk.

HANNAH: And as a reminder, we have a couple opportunities to participate and contribute and send your feedback on our website. So please check those out.

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STEPHANIE: And that brings us to a close here, folks! Thank you for listening. We hope you'll consider subscribing. You can also find us on our website at z.umn.edu/librarytabletalk.

HANNAH: Library Table Talk is produced by me, Hannah Cabullo,

STEPHANIE: and me, Stephanie Sparrow.

HANNAH: This episode was edited by Hannah. 

HANNAH: Thanks to our employer, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and University Libraries for making this work possible.

STEPHANIE: Music is by Blue Dot Sessions, Town Market, and Dirt Bike Lovers.

HANNAH:  Cheers,

STEPHANIE: Stephanie,

HANNAH: and Hannah.

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