Describe and compare different organizational settings in which information professionals practice
Introduction
Information professionals can be found at a variety of different information environments. Primarily, they can be found at public, academic, school, and special libraries. In each of these environments, librarians and LIS professionals work to provide information to their respective communities through various services and resources all with the goal of fulfilling their community’s information needs. While each of these environments have commonalities, these environments are also very different from each other and involve different aspects of the information profession, such as the community they serve, changes with technological access, the programming and services offered, incorporating learning pedagogy and research help, and even their funding resources.
Comparing Information Environments
Each information environment serves a specific need for their respective communities, this could be as community centers, a place to assist in educational growth, or to relax and read. “Differences among information environments are based on the primary purpose of each organization” (Bedord, 2018, p. 70). While many people only think of traditional library settings such as a public or academic library, information professionals work in a variety of information settings with varying levels of responsibility and information work. Some of the biggest differences between information environments is the people they serve and the way they are funded.
Public
In the 21st century, public libraries are often described as community hubs with a focus on various programs such as computer classes and storytime, along with restorative justice programs and food distribution (Freudenberger, 2022). Community roles that public libraries play include lifelong learning, civic engagement, youth services, health and wellness, workforce development, technology and access, and social infrastructure support (Freudenberger, 2022, p.115). Public libraries can be differentiated from other traditional libraries because they predominantly welcome anyone and everyone into their library and provide them with access to services. Public libraries can fall under city, county, district, or state support and funding. This means that public libraries primarily rely on public funding to support its various services and often have to look to apply for grants and look towards other sources of funding in order to keep up with the increasing cost of resources (Jones, 2022). Librarians at public libraries take on numerous roles in different departments ranging from technical services, youth services, adult services, and management, depending on the size of the library. As equity issues have increased over the years, public libraries have worked diligently to ensure they provide the best resources to support their communities.
Academic
Academic libraries are found at colleges and universities including but not limited to 2-year community colleges and 4-year research institutions. Academic libraries serve the needs of their community which is typically comprised of undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and community users depending on the institution. Academic libraries are “often viewed as the symbolic heart of the colleges and universities they serve” (Mavrinac, 2022, p. 102). Services and resources provided by these libraries include reference support, information literacy instruction, research help, course specific resources, study rooms, and technology to assist students in achieving their academic goals (Mavrinac, 2022). Academic libraries missions and goals are strategically aligned with their institutions to ensure student success and are typically a requirement for accreditation. Depending on the size of the institution, librarians range from a few to many. Librarians can serve a number of roles in an academic library including instruction, reference, subject, systems, technical services, access services, assessment, special collections, and management positions. Academic libraries fall under two types of institutions, public or private. Public institutions are funded through the state and are dependent on enrollment numbers. Private institutions are funded by the parent organization through various means. Regardless of funding, academic libraries have close relationships with executive leadership in order to advocate for funding, often in correlation with other academic departments competing for the same resources. Academic libraries also rely heavily on grant funding to support the various resources and programs offered.
School
School libraries and media centers provide service to primary and secondary schools, which are traditionally known as K-12 (Harlan, 2022). School libraries function to serve the needs of their school, which could be public or private. Services that are provided in this setting are information literacy instruction and reference support (Harlan, 2022). Typically school librarians are also qualified teachers in order to better instruct students in understanding information literacy and the importance of research. Often librarians in this setting will be a jack of all trades doing the job that would be done by multiple people at a larger library such as technical services and fixing damaged books, circulation by checking in and out library books, management and planning to align with their parent organizations strategic goals, and budgeting. Depending on whether it is a public or private school, funding will be either publicly funded through taxes and grant funding or privately by the parent organization (Jones, 2022).
Special/Information Centers
When people traditionally think of a library, they are typically referring to a school, public, or academic setting (Bedord, 2018). There are numerous other environments in which information professionals work. Special libraries and information centers can be found in various organizational settings. Examples include medical libraries, law libraries, state and federal government libraries, and corporate libraries (Bedord, 2018). Special libraries vary in size and can include having only one information professional to a large staff of librarians. Often, special libraries and information centers will not be open to everyone, they can have very limited users depending on their purpose (Megaridis et al., 2022). These environments may have no physical collection and be entirely online and others may have both online and in-person resources and services. The commonality between special libraries is that they are all different and are governed depending on their organization. Funding also varies depending on the organizational support, for instance governmental libraries may be publicly funded at the state and federal levels while corporate and law libraries may be funded privately by the organization. The drive behind special libraries and information centers is to be strategically aligned to serve their parent organization (Megaridis et al., 2022).
Evidence
Info 204 - Interview With a Leader
My first piece of evidence is a paper titled Interview With a Leader, where I was instructed to seek out a managerial leader and conduct an interview. The goal of this process was to understand a library setting in more detail and what it takes to be a manager in a library environment. I chose to interview the, at the time, interim director of the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) Library. While this interview focused on management style, it also heavily discussed aspects of an academic library setting and what it takes to manage it such as changes with technological access in reference support, library space usage changes, Open Educational Resources (OER), and the textbook reserve service decline. A significant portion of the interview discussed the challenges that came with directing an academic library during a very challenging time, the pandemic. This paper shows my knowledge of an academic library setting and the details that go into how the library is managed and organized and the changes information services went through at a turbulent time in the world.
Info 230 - ACRL Conference Proposal
My second piece of evidence is a Association of College and Research Library (ACRL) conference proposal titled Passive Programming in Academic Libraries: Connecting Library Engagement and Outreach to Student Success. This proposal discusses the trend in academic libraries of providing passive programming and engagement services to students and how it contributes to their continued use of the library, leading to their academic success. This proposal discusses aspects of an academic library including the importance of using assessment measures including a user-centered approach to assessment to prove the library’s value to the institution. This proposal shows my knowledge and understanding of academic libraries by discussing how these libraries connect strategically to their institutions mission. I discuss how important it is for academic libraries to promote their value through forming relationships with campus departments and collaboration with programming and events. Primarily, this proposal shows my understanding of the changes in academic librarianship, how they operate, and the connection these libraries have to their campus community, their students, and their institutional leadership.
Info 282-14 - Kern County Library Change Initiative
My third piece of evidence is a group project to create a change initiative proposal for a library of our choice. Our group chose the Kern County Public Library, which is where one of my group members worked. In this proposal, we discussed aspects of the Kern County Public Library that could embrace change and upgrade, develop, or initiate a new service or resource to provide to their community. In my portion of the project, I wrote the introduction, the proposal, the change initiatives which included technological initiatives and literacy initiatives, and the conclusion. I also was the primary editor for this paper. This paper shows my knowledge and understanding of the environment of a county public library and the services they provide their community. This paper shows my understanding of current trends and initiatives in public libraries such as hotspot lending programs, bookmobile wifi services to rural communities, and literacy initiatives like “snack in the stacks” to get students in to do their homework and provide snacks at the same time to improve their literacy. This paper also shows my understanding of how public libraries run and the large process that is required to initiate an effective change plan.
Conclusion
As a future academic librarian, this competency allows me to understand the various information environments and their commonalities and differences. I think it already shows how these separate environments have learned from each other in providing various services to best serve their communities, such as bringing more public library type programming into an academic library space to make students more comfortable. I plan to stay as a member of ALA and ACRL and attempt to attend as many conferences or professional development opportunities in order to remain knowledgeable about new library innovations and services regardless of the information environment.
References
Bedord, J. (2018). Where can you work with an MLIS? Extending your career reach. In K. Haycock & M.J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The Portable MLIS. (2nd ed., pp. 69-82). Libraries Unlimited.
Freudenberger, E. (2022). Community anchors for lifelong learning. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services Today (3rd ed., pp. 113-126). Rowman & Littlefield
Harlan, M. A. (2022). Literacy and media centers. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services Today (3rd ed., pp. 91-101). Rowman & Littlefield
Jones, S. F. (2022). Managing budgets. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services Today (3rd ed., pp. 295-304). Rowman & Littlefield
Mavrinac, M.A. (2022). Learning and research institutions. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services Today (3rd ed., pp. 102-111). Rowman & Littlefield
Megaridis, C., Marcus, C., King, B., Drabik, M., & Lynn, D. (2022). Different information environments. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services Today (3rd ed., pp. 127-139). Rowman & Littlefield