NYPL Correctional Services Letter-Based Reference

Project Description

Pratt partners with The New York Public Library to provide reference services to incarcerated people in the U.S. I received three letters from incarcerated people over the course of the semester, did research based on their requests, and drafted a response to each letter that included answers to each question, as well as additional information that I deemed relevant. The letters were submitted to my professor and to a member of the NYPL Correctional Services team, slightly edited, and sent to the prison where the patron was located.

Methods

In order to reply effectively to each letter, I usually started with a preliminary Google search to get a general sense of each topic. Using the search results as a starting point, I read through many individual articles and web pages, seeking out relevant information that came from seemingly reliable sources. I often relied on government websites and LibGuides to provide accurate information. I then either summarized the content I had read or quoted directly from it, providing a brief citation in the letter. I formatted each letter by considering both the original order in which the questions were asked and the most efficient use of space.

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My Role

I am the sole author of this work.

Learning Outcome Achieved

Ethical/Creative/Critical Practice

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Rationale

This project made it starkly apparent how access to information is connected to power. Doing research for and writing  to patrons who were both physically incarcerated and restricted from accessing many types of information, I felt my ethical responsibility to help them empower themselves. I also worked against the patronizing inclination to feel I was performing a charitable act by viewing the letters as an equal exchange where I learned just as much as the recipient. This was a valuable lesson in understanding that all reference interactions involve some sort of power imbalance, and as an information professional it is my duty to use the knowledge of this imbalance to inform my work.