conference circuit ACRL in Anaheim ACRL programs at the ALA Annual Conference

LA’s 127th Annual Conference was The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions,” Aheld June 26–July 2, 2008, in Anaheim, with an hour of delightful illustrations of these California. Approximately 22,047 librarians, reasoning glitches, revealing their predictabil- library support staff, exhibitors, writers, edu- ity and suggesting the principles behind some cators, publishers, and special guests added of them. Chief among these principles is that the conference. Ed. note: Thanks to the ACRL we do not have an internalized objective scale members who summarized programs to make for most choices: we choose options based this report possible. on their value relative to the other options presented. People’s responses can be strong- Predictably ly influenced irrational by whether We are not as a question is rational as we phrased with tend to assume an opt-in or we are. Early opt-out de- in his talk, Dan fault, whether Ariely projected or not the of- Roger Shepard’s fer of some- optical illusion thing “free” is “Turning the involved in a Tables.” Sev- choice, or the eral visual cues number of op- in the image tions presented. lead viewers The 2008 President’s Program Speakers (left to right): Mario For example, to quickly con- Ascencio, George Mason University and REFORMA president; people proved clude that one Ellie Collier, Austin Community College­South Austin; 2007–08 ten times more ACRL President Julie B. Todaro; Marla E. Peppers, Occidental of the tables likely to buy College; Brett Bonfield, Collingswood Public Library. presented is an unusual jam longer than the other. The surprising, and flavor from a display of six jams than from a measurable, truth is that the tables are the display of 24 jams; 24 is too many to compare. same length. Just as optical illusions such Similarly, if two relatively equivalent options as Shepard’s highlight predictable mistakes are made available, the propensity to choose hardwired into our visual system, Ariely’s one over the other will dramatically increase work in behavioral economics highlights if a slightly defective version of that one (a mistakes we make with similarly consistency “decoy,” in marketing terms) is added to the when it comes to rational decisions. list of options (our comparison of the two Ariely regaled the audience at the ACRL initial options is unbalanced by the weight President’s Program, “Predictably Irrational: of the decoy). The lesson: we do not know

C&RL News September 2008 442 our own preferences in every context, and Ariely also made suggestions for con- decisions we make are often infl uenced by veying the value of libraries outside of the forces we fail to consider. For illustrations of traditionally collected statistics. First, he these forces at work (and how to contend recommended coming up with other forms with them), see Ariely’s best-selling book of “value” and changing the role of the li- Predictably Irrational. brary. For example, experts tend to create After his talk, the audience and a panel knowledge that is not easily digested by lay- of librarians had the opportunity to discuss persons, so perhaps a value libraries could with Ariely some of the implications of his add would be to “repackage” this knowledge theories and findings for libraries. Panelists into more accessible and usable forms. He sought his advice on how libraries can better continued to propose that academic libraries communicate and leverage the quality and should play a larger role in the intellectual value libraries possess to the communities life of a university and should think about they serve. and prepare staff for what a good library of In response, Ariely described the notion the future will be. that products or services of “unknown value” When asked, Ariely indicated supervisory do not result in regret if the user does not take staff could instill purpose and meaning in advantage of them. He posed the question, employees’ work without fi nancial benefi ts “What is the quality of something we don’t by offering transparency of process, plan- pay for?” In response, ning, and intent. Offering panelists wondered if employees a say in things librarians should explic- can replace their external itly inform their users motives (i.e., a paycheck) they indeed are paying with internal motives (i.e., for library resources (via desire to assist in plan- tuition, taxes, etc.) as ning a program for library one means of beginning users), while affirming to communicate their their roles within the or- worth. Ariely indicated ganization. doing so would be a On the larger ques- start because empha- tion of whether libraries sizing the real costs of in higher education in products or services the United States today results in feelings of re- Dan Ariely of MIT’s Sloan School of Manage­ should increase spending ment and Media Laboratory. gret if one has not made or advocate for changing use of them. the social norm, Ariely responded by describ- One panelist noted librarians may also ing how he feels the No Child Left Behind Act create Ariely’s notion of the “optimal hard has decreased the desire to learn. Government decision scenario” by offering users too funding is not a proper incentive for motivat- many information resources, leaving them ing learning, since it demonstrably results in feeling overwhelmed and unlikely to use organizations developing workarounds to al- library resources at all. When asked how ter their data and receive the funding anyhow. librarians could learn about our own deci- Replacing internal motives (desire to learn) sion processes in order to help users identify with external motives (government funding) their own, Ariely suggested being open is not a good model for improving higher to and conducting simple experiments to education, either.—Leslie Bussert and Danielle begin identifying user preferences in vari- Rowland, University of Washington­Bothell/ ous situations and developing solutions in Cascadia Community College, lbussert@uwb. response. edu and [email protected]

September 2008 443 C&RL News Global scholarly communication (A Middle Eastern Electronic Library), which More than 70 people attended the 2008 is in partnership with several universities, AAMES annual program, entitled “Global global publishers, and the Bibliotheca Alex- Scholarly Communication: International andrina (Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s Access and Accessibility.” One moderator, visionary creation on the site of the ancient five speakers, and two reactors formed the library). panel and discussed the issues, challenges, The second presentation, titled “Two- and solutions librarians encounter and seek Way Scholarly Communication between the in assisting scholarly research in an environ- United States and China,” by Hong Cheng ment that is becoming more interdependent (UCLA), raised interesting questions: How and global in outlook. does global scholarly communication affect The general moderator, Jim Cogswell our services in academic libraries, and how (University of Missouri), pointed out in do we respond to it? In an attempt to answer his introduction that scholarly research is these questions, Cheng presented the results increasingly becoming global with Internet of a survey conducted among Chinese and connectivity and growing interdisciplinarity. American scholars. His presentation covered It is obvious now that academic research and several interesting points: 1) Global scholarly global communication mutually affect and communication is transforming from one-way reinforce each other. to two-way, and even to multidirectional In her presentation, titled “Overview of traffic. Researchers in all international study Global Scholarly Communication Issues,” Ann fields are becoming more dependent than Okerson (Yale University) considered some ever on global scholarly communication. 2) of the influences that impact the libraries of International studies scholars in the United the 21st century and scholarly communica- States and China widely accept some new tion, such as the transforming information concepts of global scholarly communication, economy in global settings that is creating such as international publishing, borderless a new generation of technology-savvy audi- service, and cyberianship. Scholars support ences, and the evolving global economy that the concept of open access, a key element of is closely related to information-economy scholarly communication, as well. However, fueled innovation and prompts libraries to there are a few concerns over the actual rethink their business plans and revenue practice, such as tenure/promotion in faculty streams. status and the role of professional associa- Okerson emphasized that technology tions, which are the main issues librarians gadgets are creating a large audience for the have to consider in promoting global schol- next information revolution. “Librarians need arly communication. to think about how to reach marginalized Cheng’s surveys and interviews revealed that and under-supported populations around the the Internet and related information technology world, people with perhaps no fi xed address, allow scholars in international studies to share or people unable to leave their residence or many common thoughts; however, notable fishing boat or market stall to find a build- differences still exist. It seems that Chinese re- ing with computers and network connec- searchers are more in favor of global scholarly tions.” Okerson went on to offer examples communication than American scholars; on of librarianship on a global, partnered scale the other hand, American librarians are aware at Yale, such as Project OACIS (Online Ac- of global scholarly communication more than cess to Consolidated Information on Serials), Chinese counterparts. To explain such a phe- which has created a multipartnered union nomenon, different social and cultural environ- list of Middle Eastern serials from a diverse ments might be a key factor. set of institutions in the Middle East, Europe, Deepa Banerjee (University of Washing- and the United States, and Project AMEEL ton) presented on “Scholarly Communication

C&RL News September 2008 444 and International Access in India and South Kwon’s Presentation Impact of Scholarly Asia.” She noted that there has been an explo- Communication in Korea on Korean Studies sion of scholarly output by the researchers in North America.” Kim focused on how these and scholars around the world. The develop- recent developments in Korea have affected ing nations, including South Asia, are faced Korean Studies scholars and librarians in with constant challenges to provide access North America. Recognizing the importance to the global scholarly literature due to the of information in the knowledge-based digital divide within their own countries and economy, the Korean government coined the communities and the scarcity of resources. term informatization (meaning the process Libraries in South Asia are constantly faced of creating an advanced information society) with the issue of shrinking budgets. and adopted it as a core strategy in its effort Some of the current challenges and new to emerge from its troubled economy. initiatives in South Asia regarding accessibility Kim made an interesting point that librar- to international scholarly literature are: ians are “in the business of match making, • The changing nature of global scholarly connecting information to people. The collec- communication. tions and metadata that we create will remain • Current challenges in providing access and touch the lives of many generations to global scholarly literature in South Asia. around the globe.” • Current major initiatives in South Asia Anchi Hoh (Library of Congress) was the to enhance access to global scholarly litera- second reactor. She commented that libraries ture. and librarians around the world seem to face • Ongoing major research and digital the common issues and challenges, i.e., the projects in South Asia, which will signifi cantly “digital divide,” budget constraints, lack of impact global scholarship and communica- policies on equal participation as producers tion. and users of knowledge, social/cultural differ- Eunkyung Kwon (Daegu University, Ko- ences, etc. At the same time, similar strategies rea) gave a presentation entitled “Scholarly seem to have been sought, such as creating Communication and International Access more open access sources, conducting more in Korea.” In her presentation, she offered digitization projects, and forming alliances examples from the projects of the National with libraries in other parts of the world. Library of Korea and other major libraries that Some of the challenges mentioned in these are engaged in facilitating global scholarly presentations seem to be strongly associated communication and the challenges that have with socio-cultural and/or economic condi- confronted them, such as budgetary con- tions of a society. straints and limited outreach mechanisms. For instance, the gap of understanding and Elizabeth Kiondo (associate profes- the use of global scholarly communication sor, UNESCO National Commission, Dar between Chinese and the American scholars es Salaam, Tanzania) spoke on “Scholarly lies largely in the language barrier. More Communication and International Access in Chinese scholars can use English sources, Sub-Saharan Africa.” In addition to offering whereas fewer English-speaking scholars examples of the scholarly communication can use resources in Chinese. These types projects that libraries in Tanzania are currently of factors are probably beyond the con- involved in, Kiondo also raised similar issues trol of libraries. However, by focusing on as those mentioned in Kwon’s and Banerjee’s technical advancement and raising people’s presentations. awareness of the importance and trends of The first reactor was Joy Kim (Korean global scholarly communication, librarians are Heritage Library, University of Southern committed to providing more resources via California). Her response to the presentations new technologies in order to improve global was entitled “Comments on Dr. Eunkyung access to information.

September 2008 445 C&RL News The entire session ended with a very good Tom,” who was often portrayed by whites in discussion between the speakers and the blackface or the “coon” figure who became audience. Program attendees became more the comic, dancing, prancing African Ameri- aware of this subject and the issues surround- can man as manifested in the Steppin Fetchit ing it. Some of the presentations may be ac- character. Despite this insistence of the fi lm cessible at www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents industry to present African American life as /acrlatannual.cfm.—Anchi Hoh, Library of unsavory and salacious, the “tragic mulatto,” Congress, [email protected] the long-suffering “mammy” or the oversexed “buck,” many actors were able to transcend African Americans in Hollywood these characterizations, offering Oscar-worthy The African American Studies Librarians performances. Bogle showed how these very Section (AFAS) sponsored a session titled same characters and characterizations have “African Americans in Hollywood: Images, permeated the performances of present day Performers, Films, Filmmakers, from 1903 African American actors. to the Present,” a lecture and presentation In concluding, Bogle noted that some by noted film historian, author, and scholar great changes have occurred since the early Donald Bogle. Cosponsors for the session film years of African American performances, were ProQuest and Oxford University Press, but, unfortunately, the stereotypes have nev- publisher of the African American National ertheless endured.—Rebecca Hankins, Texas Biography. A&M University, rhankins@lib­gv.tamu.edu Carmelita Pickett (AFAS chair) thanked the standing-room-only audience of 224 attend- Only a fairly tale? ees for coming out for the program and then The Anthropology and Sociology Section turned over the introduction of the speaker (ANSS) program, “The Lady, the Tramp and to Myrtis Cochran (AFAS Program Planning the Lion King: Mixed Messages about Gen- Committee member). (AFAS Program Plan- der, Race and Ethnicity in Disney’s Magic ning Committee Chair Lisa Pillow was unable Kingdom,” featured four Disney scholars to attend.) Cochran’s introduction noted that who each spoke about their research on Bogle is considered the foremost authority representations of race and gender in Disney on African Americans in film, teaches at the media its effect on popular culture. University of Pennsylvania and at New York Patricia Little (California State Univer- University’s Tisch School of the Arts, is the sity-San Bernardino) gave an overview of creator of a four-part PBS series titled “Brown the ubiquity of Disney in current American Sugar: Eighty Years of America’s Black Fe- culture. Research is clear that media effects male Superstars,” and is the author of several children’s behavior and with the advent of books, including the focus of his presenta- technology such as DVD players, children tion Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and can press play again and again, exposing Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in them to substantially more Disney media than American Films. in previous generations. While many of the Taking a cue from the title, Bogle began by values expressed in Disney films are posi- providing a chronology of African American tive (follow your dreams, stand up for what performers and performances in Hollywood you believe is right, etc.), Little argued that films, from the “race movies” of the early there are many less positive and less obvious 1900s to the present day state of African subtexts expressed through means such as Americans in the motion picture industry. depicting women as mostly concerned with He spoke about the often unfl attering and their looks and getting married, and racial dehumanizing stereotypical characters Af- coding in accents. rican Americans were forced to portray in Keith Harris (University of California-Riv- early Hollywood films and the classic “Uncle erside) analyzed a television program that

C&RL News September 2008 446 was very different from the rest of the Disney constrained or decreasing training budgets. corpus. Gargoyles, which ran as part of the Instead of a “talking heads” panel discussion, Disney Afternoon block from 1994-1997, four speakers (Dan Balzer, BP Corporate was targeted to an older demographic and Training; Elaine Fabbro, Athabasca Univer- its darker themes were heavily infl uenced sity; Jonathan Finkelstein, Learning Times; by mythology and Shakespeare. In the series, and Jon Stahler, ACRL) interacted with the New York is depicted as a racially diverse members of the on-site audience, as well as utopia and both genders operate on equal the virtual participants who joined the pro- planes. Harris argued that while Disney’s gram via Learning Times. They shared ways multicultural vision was groundbreaking and to plan for and prioritize needs for profes- valid, it was also unfortunately premature and sional development using free and low-cost the series fell apart after a couple seasons. tools and discussed possible future trends in Claudine Michel (University of California- online learning. Santa Barbara) discussed some of the darker Modeling the “learning virtually” theme aspects of Disney history. According to Mi- of the program, the program was Webcast chel, hidden underneath the glowing image simultaneously via the Learning Times Web of “Uncle Walt” is the real Walt Disney who site and is archived at www.learningtimes. was anti-semite, anti-union and a FBI infor- org. Other program materials are available mant. She stated that Disney’s world is indeed atwikis.ala.org/acrl/index.php/Joint-CJCLS- very small and reality has been intentionally CLS-DLS-Program. removed from Disneyland and replaced with One virtual participant, a librarian work- cultural imperialism disguised as children’s ing with 100 teaching librarians in the Middle entertainment. East, e-mailed the speakers the following day The final speaker, Betsy Hearne (University to say that this session was “by far one of the of Illinois) advocated not censoring Disney’s most intriguing sessions at ALA.” work, but offering alternatives to our children. A poster session followed the main ses- We are slowly losing the vast panorama of sion. Twelve presenters showed examples ethnic folklore due to the domination of the of using Web-based training for library staff. “Disney Version.” Alternative versions of The wiki link above also includes the list of many folktales, such as Cinderella, which has poster sessions and presenters.—David A. appeared in various guises in many cultures Wright (panel moderator and chair, Program for thousands of years, are being displaced Planning Committee), Surry Community Col­ by the Disney Cinderella. She concluded by lege, [email protected] encouraging us to subvert the Disney version by grabbing any child we could and reading Media literacy, artistic expression, and non-Disney versions of folktales to them. copyright, After all, she said, “We are librarians; we are The ACRL Copyright Committee program, missionaries of knowledge.” “Media Literacy, Artistic Expression, and More information about the program and Copyright,” drew an audience of 175 persons. the speakers can be found at anssdisney08. Committee chair Becky Albitz (Pennsylvania wordpress.com.—Anne­Marie Davis, Univer­ Sate University) opened the program and pro- sity of Washington, [email protected]. gram organizer Leslie Milner (Northeastern edu University) introduced the speakers. Renee Hobbs (founder of the Media Learning virtually Education Lab at Temple University) defi ned Three sections of ACRL combined forces to media literacy as an expanded conceptualiza- present a timely program on ways to create tion of literacy to embrace a wide variety of engaging online training/learning oppor- forms of expression. Literacy involves “Shar- tunities for library staff, while dealing with ing meaning through symbolic forms,” and

September 2008 447 C&RL News has both receptive and productive aspects. John Willinsky (Stanford University) To develop the latter, students must be able opened the session with a dynamic call to to compose messages drawing in part upon action for librarians, framing the open ac- existing information that may be copyrighted. cess movement as a “human right to know.” Promotion of belief that sharing always equals He described key events in the open ac- stealing, relying on fair use is too risky, and cess movement, including Harvard’s open respect for authors means always getting per- access directive and the Stanford Encyclo- mission, has increased “copyright confusion” pedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu/), among users. This creates less effective teach- a scholarly project funded not only by the ing, distribution hurdles, and the perpetuation National Endowment for the Humanities of misinformation. and the National Science Foundation, but Marybeth Peters (director of the U.S. Copy- also by many university libraries. Willinsky right Offi ce) stated that, “Copyright law refl ects discussed the Public Knowledge Project the social and moral values of a country.” Copy- (pkp.sfu.ca/), a collaborative, grant-funded right rejects patronage as an incentive for the effort by the Faculty of Education at the creation of new knowledge in favor of exclusive University of British Columbia, the Simon author rights in a marketplace. Copyright also Fraser University Library, the School of limits the rights of authors to prevent the stifl ing Education at Stanford University, and the of subsequent work. She reiterated the idea of Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing balance, but said that, “There are many ideas of at Simon Fraser University. appropriate balance. Over time, what appears PKP is “a research and development ini- to be balance will change.” tiative directed toward improving the schol- Mary Rasenberger (attorney and former arly and public quality of academic research senior policy advisor at the Library of Con- through the development of innovative gress) compared the revolutionary potential online publishing and knowledge-sharing of the invention of the printing press to environments.” recent technological developments in media Willinsky also announced that the Stan- production. While the former made it pos- ford School of Education had recently voted sible for everyone to become a reader, the to require faculty to allow the university to latter has made it possible for everyone to deposit their publications in an open access become an author. The creative acts made database. In closing, Willinsky acknowledged possible by media technologies were not the challenges to open access, while charging envisioned in the Copyright Law of 1976. the members of the audience to advocate and The unmet challenge is to change copyright fight for open access for the good of human- law to meet societal needs to use copyrighted ity and to enrich their relationships with their material, but without destroying incentives for communities. authors.—Frank Gavett, Colgate University, Alison Mudditt (executive vice president [email protected] of the Higher Education Group at SAGE) provided fascinating insight into the publisher Knowledge wants to be known perspective. Mudditt discussed how SAGE is The Education and Behavioral Sciences Sec- contributing to the open access movement, tion (EBSS), along with the Science and Tech- through its partnership with open access nology Section (STS) and the ACRL Scholarly publisher Hindawi (www.sage-hindawi.com), Communication Committee, sponsored an in- its engagement in the open access debate, spiring and multifaceted look at open access and its enhanced author license. Mudditt issues in the social sciences. The moderator presented thought-provoking information for the session was Kate Corby (Michigan about the differences between science, tech- State University, cochair of the 2008 EBSS nology and medicine (STM) fields and social Program Planning Committee). science disciplines, including differences in

C&RL News September 2008 448 federal funding levels and citation patterns. University-Los Angeles, 2008 Ethics Committee She framed concerns about open access from Program chair) provided the audience with a the publisher perspective. bibliography of selected readings on the topic While the primary objective of a publisher and introduced the distinguished speakers. is to disseminate research, scholarly associa- Patricia Stanley (U.S. Department of Educa- tions and small publishers in particular need tion, Office of Vocational and Adult Education) journal revenues to support other activities. focused on information literacy as a policy Publishers acknowledge the advantages of issue. Although information literacy is not open access, they are concerned with ques- mentioned as such in government policy, it tions of how research is vetted in the open is reflected in many educational concepts, access environment, and how information such as lifelong learning and critical thinking. could potentially be misused. Cost is also a Professional development for educators, either concern, since publishers do pay for systems pre-service or in-service, can be a mechanism to support the peer review process, editing, for preparing faculty to partner with librarians production, archiving, and global dissemina- to teach information literacy skills. However, tion. Mudditt concluded with the hope that all Stanley suggested that there needs to be better parties involved in the discussion would move definition and understanding of information into a pluralistic phase, trying many different literacy before it will become part of policy at models and taking into account the needs of the governmental level. Information literacy all stakeholders. is critical to student success. Education, es- The final speaker was open access advocate pecially higher education, in the U.S. has to Ray English (Oberlin College, current chair of change for the nation to remain competitive the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Re- in the world economy. sources Coalition [SPARC] Steering Committee). Lori Roth (California State University) began English spoke about open access strategies for her presentation with the question of who libraries, including creating open access jour- is responsible for information literacy. She nals and encouraging faculty to deposit their asserted that librarians, teaching faculty, and work in either institutional repositories or disci- college administrators all have an important plinary repositories, or both. English spoke of role to play in ensuring students leave our the need for campus education about author institutions as information literate graduates. rights, including the SPARC Author Addendum To the question of how to move information (www.arl.org/sparc/author/addendum.shtml) literacy into policy, Roth suggested we need and the value of open archiving, citing the a controversial “exposé” similar to the article slow pace of adoption on the part of faculty “Why Johnny Can’t Write” that appeared in to deposit their work in any type of repository. Newsweek in December 1975. He outlined possible future research options Penny Beile (University of Central Flori- for librarians, such as the distribution of open da Libraries) stated that information literacy archiving across all disciplines, including the relates to the purpose of higher education social sciences.—Stephanie Davis­Kahl, Illinois as a foundational skill that supports key Wesleyan University, [email protected] outcomes of critical thinking, scholarship, and intellectual integrity. Beile referred to The right to information literacy in the the UNESCO conceptual framework paper Information Age “Towards Information Literacy Indica- The topic “Is There a Right to Information tors” by Ralph Catts and Jesus Lau, where Literacy? Academy Responsibility in the In- responsibility for information literacy is formation Age” attracted a large crowd of ap- assigned to “librarians and other educa- proximately 250 people to the Committee on tors.” She suggested that librarians must Ethics program (cosponsored by the Instruc- offer evidence for the value of information tion Section). Catherine Haras (California State literacy to student learning.

September 2008 449 C&RL News Stephanie Sterling Brasley (California within the traditional 50-minute class period. State University) titled her presentation Librarians should prioritize and work with “Dream Deferred to Dream Realized.” She faculty to assist them in understanding the began by saying that information literacy is importance of not overloading a presentation. a “right” as with other human rights, but later Additionally, librarians should strive to use asked why has this concept failed to take multiple teaching techniques. This will ap- hold beyond school and academic libraries. peal to a variety of learning styles, and keep Brasley proposed several reasons: informa- students engaged. For example, librarians can tion literacy is seen as a “library thing,” faculty lecture for a short time and then ask students see discipline content as more important, lack to reflect on a question and interact with their of pedagogical preparation of librarians and peers to devise a response. They can also mistaken notions of what information literacy have students practice new skills through is and is not. How we frame the conversation creative classroom activities or employ peer is important. There has not been a paradigm instruction, which is a research- proven shift from bibliographic instruction to in- technique for effective student learning. formation fluency. Brasley urged librarians Liles pointed out that librarians should want to avoid library jargon and instead use the students to have an “educative” learning ex- language of the campus. She described the perience—meaning that students will want California experience where in spite of the to return and learn more. state being a leader in information literacy/ Aside from the program content, Liles’ information fluency initiatives, the dream is humorous and enthusiastic speaking style yet to be realized. She closed on a note of inspired the audience, and provided an ex- optimism, but encouraged librarians to part- ample of the type of instruction that librarians ner with faculty to bring information literacy should strive to provide. Liles’ PowerPoint education to students.—Jeanne L. Pfander, slides, and other materials, may be accessed University of Arizona Libraries, pfanderj@u. on the ACRL Web site at www.ala.org/ala library.arizona.edu /acrlbucket/is/conferencesacrl/annualconfer- ence.cfm.—Tiffany R. Walsh, State University Librarians as teachers of New York­Buffalo, [email protected] The Instruction Section’s (IS) Conference Pro- gram Planning Committee invited Jeffrey Liles Reading pictures to present for the annual program, “Creating What’s black and white and read all over? Change: Teacher Librarians and New Learn- A panel consisting of three scholars and ers.” Liles is professor of education at St. John one artist answered that question at “Read- Fisher College in Rochester, New York, and ing Pictures: The Language of Wordless former coordinator of library instruction at Books.” This engrossing and thought- the State University of New York at Geneseo’s provoking program was cosponsored by Milne Library. Literatures in English (LES) and Arts. Juliet The program focused on learning theories Kerico (chair of the ACRL Planning Com- and ways that teacher-librarians can best mittee) moderated. prepare for their interaction with students. To Perry Willett (University of Michigan) be- accomplish this, librarians should aim to be gan the program with “My Obsession: ‘Wood- “teacher designers”—that is, instructors who cut Novels’ and the Lessons I’ve Learned.” find creative ways to relay necessary informa- Willett came across a copy of Lynd Ward’s tion, and to incorporate student-instructor and 1929 engraved novel, God’s Man, in a used student-student interaction. Liles emphasized bookstore. With the help of book dealers he that “less is more.” Students will not retain found many other books and devotees. Ap- vast amounts of information packed into a proximately a dozen artist/authors, mainly whirlwind introduction to a litany of sources European, were working in this medium after

C&RL News September 2008 450 World War I, tion to Frans and they met Masereel’s art with a good by way of his deal of com- grandfather. mercial suc- He then let his cess. Frans own work do Masereel, for the “talking” example, sold by presenting thousands of a chapter of copies of his Flood (Thun- 1930 work, My der Mouth, Book of Hours. 1992) in a Yet Willett was slide show frustrated in accompanied his attempts by music and Peter Hernon receiving Academic/Research Librarian of the to learn more Year Award from Julie B. Todaro and Mark Kendall of YBP Library sound effects. about the Services. Flood is the genre. Either story of an libraries did not have collections of woodcut artist’s fantasy that begins on the Coney Is- novels or they were not discoverable. Willett land boardwalk and ends on Noah’s Ark. In left the audience with three lessons to ponder: between are scenes of corporate globaliza- 1) not everything that is worth studying, has tion, fascism, police brutality, and alcohol- been; 2) libraries can actually hinder research ism. Drooker’s black-and-white drawings are if they don’t collect or catalog well; and 3) reminiscent of the Expressionist movement culture moves on. and frequently look as though they might David A. Beronä (Lamson Library, Plym- have been done using woodcuts. The ex- outh State University) followed with “The perience of viewing the panels on a screen Language of Pictures: Wordless Books—A is not equivalent to reading the book. Aside Review.” Like Willett, Beronä’s introduction from the soundtrack, Drooker showed the to wordless books was through the American chapter panel-by-panel, so the relationship artist Lynd Ward. Ward’s themes included the of the panels to one another on the page Great Depression, politics, and labor issues, was lost. In response to a question from the among others. Beronä, whose work Word­ audience, Drooker explained that he added less Books: The Original Graphic Novels was the soundtrack to compensate for the lack of published by Abrams last June, presented intimacy between a book and its reader. samples of work from two dozen artists. Charles Hatfield (California State Uni- Some of the notable artists from the fi rst half versity-Northridge), the final speaker of the of the 20th century were Otto Nückel, Hel- program, spoke about using wordless books ena Bochoáková-Dittrichová, and Si Lewen, in the classroom. Hatfield is the author of author of Parade (1950), which was praised Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature by Albert Einstein for its powerful anti-war (University Press of Mississippi, 2005). Ac- message. There has been a resurgence of cording to Hatfield, wordless books constitute wordless novels since the 1990s, and Beronä an international language in the same way also displayed work by Peter Kuper, Shaun that silent movies did. He spoke extensively Tan, Sara Varon and others, among them Eric about his pedagogy in teaching comics. Drooker, the next panelist up. Referencing James Paul Gee’s concept of an Eric Drooker is a New York City artist and “identity kit,” Hatfield contended that we all author of, to use his phrase, “novels in pic- know how to read graphic literature from tures.” Drooker briefly spoke of his introduc- the skills we learned in “reading” our fi rst

September 2008 451 C&RL News children’s books, but we need to be reminded they must reflect their communities and be of that fact. He proves this to his students by able to provide quality services to their in- using “Champion,” a six-page story by the creasingly diverse constituencies. Therefore, French artist Zou. He shared the story with it is imperative that they attract and retain new the audience in his presentation, “Reading and diverse talent. In order to do so, libraries Pictures.” The only words in “Champion” must create an inclusive and respectful work are brand logos: Chanel No. 5, Champion environment that necessitates supporting sportswear, Marlboro cigarettes, Holiday Inn, the development of cultural competencies etc. Hatfield involves his students by making in library staff. them coauthors of Zou’s work: they interpret, These guidelines could be used by librar- narrate, and finally analyze the images, and, ies to foster internal development and to through so doing, they come to recognize help articulate the library’s role in higher that they understand the language of graphic education in incorporating cultural compe- storytelling. Hatfield concluded by cautioning tencies into learning and scholarship. These that graphic literature has its own language guidelines could provide a framework to sup- of theory and analysis and should not have port libraries in engaging the complexities of existing methods of literary criticism imposed providing services to diverse populations and upon it. recruiting and maintaining a diverse library Questions from the audience stimulated workforce. The guidelines could also serve much discussion about the 1920s and 1930s, as a starting point from which libraries could when the woodcut novel arose; the repeated develop local approaches and goals in the use of certain themes; and why woodcut context of their institution’s unique mission art remains popular, even though technol- and situation. ogy has made it anachronistic.—Liorah Speakers Paul M. Smith (Pennsylvania Golomb, Wichita State University, liorah. State University-Abington) and Sandra Ríos [email protected] Balderrama (principal of Rios Balderrama Consulting) presented insightful information Developing cultural competency related to both individual and organizational guidelines in academic libraries cultural competency. The following is a sum- The Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee’s mary of some of the points they made. program “Developing Cultural Competency Cultural competency is a developmental Guidelines in Academic Libraries: Mean- process that happens over time. It can be ing, Purpose and Direction” included two conceptualized as a continuum. Organiza- presentations and group discussion. The tions and individuals are at different places presentations and group discussion explored along the continuum in regards to different definitions of cultural competency, reasons aspects of cultural competency. The question for developing guidelines, and possible as- “Is cultural competency just another word for sessment criteria and methodology. diversity?” has been raised. There is a need The program began with an overview of to go beyond just touching the surface of the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee’s issues of diversity in order to address social purpose and goals for creating guidelines. justice issues. The question “Can libraries The charge to the Racial and Ethnic Diversity be successful in serving diverse communi- Committee includes initiating action related to ties without developing both individual and the promotion of “services for members of ra- organizational cultural competency?” was cial and ethnic groups” and the “recruitment, also raised. advancement, and retention of underrepre- On an individual level, cultural framework sented groups to academic librarianship.” If shapes the way we behave and interpret libraries are to continue to be indispensable other’s behavior. We each look at the world organizations in their campus communities, from our own cultural perspective, through

C&RL News September 2008 452 multiple lenses. Colorblind theory wants to The Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee emphasize commonalities, when it is in the will be using the input received during this differences that we learn. Vulnerability is program to help inform the development of critical to authentic inquiry. cultural competency guidelines for academic On an organizational level, there is a need libraries.—Michele Saunders, University of to make room for multiple perspectives and Arizona, [email protected] to assess the organization to identify and remove barriers to the voicing of multiple Action! perspectives. Organizations need to recognize The Rare Books and Manuscript Section when there is a disconnect between espoused (RBMS) presented “Action! Setting Preserva- and actual values, i.e., the gap between what tion Priorities and Ensuring Access to Your we say and what we do. Models of inclusion Moving Image Collections,” cosponsored by could be looked at in order to align values Arts Section and the Preservation and Re- with policies and practices. Diversity initia- formatting Section of ALA’s Association for tives take place without addressing methods Library Collections and Technical Services for supporting the development of skills for (ALCTS). The presentation aimed to highlight intercultural interaction. There is a distinction the necessary steps to preserving audiovisual to be made between our perception that we collections in three perspectives. are being welcoming and inclusive versus do Snowden Becker (cofounder of The Cen- people feel welcomed and included. ter for Home Movies) discussed the basic During the next portion of the program, steps of identifying, assessing, and preserving attendees broke up into small groups and audiovisual materials. She offered a numeric discussed the following questions: order to follow, but prefaced the order by • How do you define cultural compe- stating that this process can happen organi- tency? cally, and not to consider the numeric order • Do you see a need for cultural compe- gospel. These steps were outlined: counting, tency guidelines for academic libraries? Why identifying, assessing, describing, quantify- or why not? ing, prioritizing, preserving, and publicizing. • In what areas do you think guidelines She emphasized the importance of counting could be of assistance to libraries? first, as it creates a new semantic reality to • What do you see as indicators of an the collection, as well as makes grant writing organization’s cultural competence? easier, since numbers are more compelling • What do you see as the library’s than expressions of “the sky is falling.” She role(s) in higher education in incorporat- also advocated a pilot of the project, stating ing cultural competencies into learning and that it saves money and will show how wrong scholarship? things can go, or “how much you don’t know After the small group discussions the at- about your collection.” To close, she pro- tendees reconvened as one group to share moted publicizing what you do, stating that what was talked about. Some themes and ideas the more we do it, the easier it is for people that came out of the discussion included: who follow us. • The ability to serve diverse communities Hannah Frost (Stanford University) pre- is essential, not a “would be nice.” sented “Reformatting Moving Images: Oppor- • Infrastructure and support from leader- tunities, Compromises and Decision-making ship is needed to increase awareness. in Today’s Media Landscape.” YouTube pres- • Cultural competency guidelines should ents a challenge to the list of new resources; address competency at an individual and although the argument can be made that it is organizational level. a form of preservation, YouTube changes the • A case needs to be made for why cul- expectation of the user, who in turn assumes tural competency matters. that everything can be online. Analog tape

September 2008 453 C&RL News or video are really a thing of the past. Frost She explained that by using images, she advocates turning to digital technology. The hopes to create an accessible “language” audio community has a widely held consen- that can counteract science illiteracy. Images sus on the specs for reformatting: 24 bit, 96 get people to look, and from that they may kilohertz (at a minimum), and uncompressed ask questions. Her presentation was full of PCM data in a broadcasting format. Unfor- wonderful photographs and explanations tunately, video is not so straight forward. of how she created them to express the Frost gave examples of her experiences in information that the scientists where trying reformatting, providing examples of dirty to convey. film, after digitization, as well as fl aws in Frankel talked about how images can analog formats that cannot be helped, and help communicate an essential piece of are thus transferred to the digital copy. research and the aesthetics of an image can Mike Pogorzelski (director, Academy Film help clarify ideas, but the integrity of the Archive, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and science must be maintained. Images may Sciences) presented “Essential Film: A How- be digitally altered, but whenever an im- To Guide to Photochemical Preservation in age is altered it should be indicated in the 20 Minutes or Less.” He offered a basic defi - caption. However, in order to edit out what nition of terms to help define the different is not necessary, you must understand the elements involved (original camera negative, science behind it. fine grain master positive, duplicate nega- Not only can images be edited to remove tive, answer print, check print, preservation things, but Frankel also talked about including element, to name a few). the “other.” There are times when including Pogorzelski then walked through the more of the image can show the relationship process of producing a preservation element, of data to one another. Having a comparison access to the film, and finally (if the budget available to the viewer allows a better under- allows) a production element for subsequent standing of the scientifi c concept. copies. Cost is a relative variable, depending She discussed her book On the Surface on the project. of Things: Images of the Extraordinary in Presentation materials and handouts used Science in which she presents her photo- during the program will soon be made avail- graphs along side explanations by the chem- able on the RBMS Web site at www.rbms. ist George Whitesides. The photographs info/.—Serena Vaquilar, Wayne State Uni­ draw viewers in and the text provides an versity, ILS Program, serena.vaquilar@gmail. explanation of scientific topics at an acces- com sible level. As part of the Envisioning Science One part inspiration Program at Harvard, Frankel began the The Science and Technology Section (STS) Image and Meaning workshops (www. program “One Part Inspiration: Creative imageandmeaning.org/), which bring to- Trends in Science Learning” brought together gether scientists, graphic artists, engineers, speakers who are using visual and interac- librarians, and teachers to “develop and tive techniques to improve the teaching share improved methods of communicating and understanding of scientific and library scientific concepts and technical information concepts. through images and visual representations.” The first speaker was Felice Frankel (se- She wants researchers to go beyond “cool- nior research fellow at Harvard University). looking images” and work towards making She is a photographer who uses images to the images explain and clarify data. She visually communicate scientifi c concepts. remarked that visuals get scientists to talk Her photos have been in hundreds of journal to each other and help demonstrate connec- articles and covers. tions of research in different laboratories.

C&RL News September 2008 454 Frankel also has a National Science Founda- The three presenters and two students came tion-funded program (www.picturingtolearn. from a mix of backgrounds, a circumstance org/), where undergraduate students learn which allowed for a great variety of ideas about science by creating visual representa- and perspectives on the topic. tions of concepts and then exhibiting their The program began with a presentation work. By creating these drawings students by Brad Boeke (Southern Methodist Univer- can clarify their own understanding of sci- sity). Boeke introduced the topic by sum- entific concepts and teachers can assess a marizing the mindset of today’s college-age student’s understanding and then identify students and the technologies upon which where any misconceptions are. they depend for entertainment and work. His The second part of the program featured concise review of what we know about Mil- two librarians, Valrie Davis and Laurie Tay- lennials and how they function was a useful lor, who are part of the University of Florida reminder of their habits and preferences. Libraries BioActive Game Group. They cre- Maria Dixon (Southern Methodist Univer- ated an interactive game to help alleviate sity), brought a new perspective to the table the demands of one-shot instruction sessions by focusing on the “stories” our libraries tell. that happen over a short period of time Buildings tell stories as well as people, she with limited instruction space. The develop- explained, and our libraries are telling sto- ers wanted the game, which teaches basic ries about us every day through their colors library research skills, to be short, entertain- and placement of furniture, among other ing, and require minimal maintenance. features. In order to build good relationships The game is an interactive fi ction staged with our students she directed the audience in a lab where the student is confronted with to take control of those stories and ensure a professor who has passed out because that we are telling our students what we of some biological substance that she ac- intend to tell them. cidentally released. Players have to fi gure Marie Radford (Rutgers University) out what ingredients go into the antidote, rounded out the panel by reviewing her using library resources such as the catalog, own extensive research on virtual reference. course reserves, and article databases. And Her two-and-a-half-year study supports they need to do it quickly because the Ga- many of our assumptions about millennial tors have a big football game coming up. students; for instance, that they are active Davis and Taylor described how the devel- multitaskers who prefer to figure things out oper group had to focus the game far more for themselves rather than rely on experts. narrowly than their original scope, peeling Radford concluded her presentation by of- back the number of learning objectives and fering advice for working with Millennials, making the game simpler to produce. They including: developed the game with no funding, so that • Build positive interpersonal relation- impacted their choices of game developer ships one person at a time, no matter the software. The game was deployed to class- medium. rooms this fall.—Alison Bobal, Oregon State • Provide support for independent University, [email protected] learning. • Don’t force instruction! Try show and Meeting Millennials on their ground tell. The University Libraries Section (ULS) pro- • Market online resources as timesav- gram “R U Communicating? Speaking the ing. Language of Millennials” took an energetic • Pursue outreach, both face-to-face look at the mindset of millennial students and online. with the aim of identifying ways to teach and • Encourage, mentor, and learn from communicate with them more effectively. them.

September 2008 455 C&RL News The program concluded with a question- tion, Access and Retrieval (www.casparpre- and-answer session featuring two current serves.eu); and Preservation and Long-term students at the University of California-Ir- Access through NETworked Services (www. vine, Kimberly Roth and Samantha Huynh. planets-project.eu). The two students were frank and open in Janifer Gatenby (Research Integration and sharing their perspectives on library tech- Standards, OCLC, Leiden, The Netherlands), nologies, the effectiveness of library instruc- discussed “Library Preservation Challenges: tion, and many other topics. Perhaps most Managing the Collective Collection over memorable was their response to a question Time.” The loss of valuable material from about whether they thought libraries should natural disaster, broken links, and buried be in Second Life, to which they responded: data present challenges to digital preserva- “What’s Second Life?” tion. In response, European libraries have Overall, the participants brought a di- formed “centralized and collective digitalized verse mix of viewpoints to the conversation stores, or assets of libraries,” such as Gallica, of how best to serve the new generation EU Digital Library, and OCLC Digital Archive. of students. The program hosted an audi- She stressed the importance of “exposure” of ence of approximately 200 people and the library resources as essential to their survival presentations appeared to be very well and preservation. received. The program Web site, including Fleur Stigter (The European Library and PowerPoint files from the presentations, can “Users for Usability” coordinator for Euro- be found at r.u.communicating.googlepages. peans/EDLnet) provided an entertaining and com/.—Kim Leeder, Boise State University, informative video on “Enhancing Access to [email protected] Europe’s Cultural and Intellectual Heritage: Accomplishments and Future Directions of Cooperative Strategies for European The European Library and Europeana.” She Libraries discussed Europeana, a European digital This program highlighted the cooperative library of archives, audiovisual collections, efforts among European libraries to en- museums, and libraries that will launch in hance access to library resources through November 2008 (www.europeana.eu/home. collaborative cataloging and preservation php). standards. The program was planned by the Additional information about this pro- Western European Studies Section (WESS) gram can be found on the WESS Conference and cosponsored by the Slavic and East Program Web site at wess.lib.byu.edu/index. European Studies Section (SEES). php/Main_Page.—Yvonne Boyer, Vanderbilt Birte Christensen-Dalsgaard (State and University, [email protected] University Library, Aarhus, Denmark) dis- cussed “Future Access to the Cultural Heri- Feminist publishing tage “and the challenges of digital preserva- This year’s annual conference program of the tion. Her career began in theoretical atomic Women Studies Section (WSS), gave voice to physics, turning to an interest in libraries and the perspectives of a rich sampling of current digital preservation. “We establish collections feminist and women-centered publishing to give future generations access to cultural professionals, experts, and activists. Com- heritage, but how will they access and use it?” memorating the 25th anniversary of the WSS, She discussed European projects that address Jennifer Gilley (WSS chair) stressed that “we collaborative digital preservation. WePre- cannot overstate publishing’s importance to serve (www.wepreserve.eu) presents the ac- feminism.” tivities of DigitalPreservationEurope (www. Cosponsored by ALA’s Social Respon- digitalpreservationeurope.eu); Cultural, Ar- sibilities Roundtable’s Feminist Task Force tistic and Scientific knowledge for Preserva- and the committee on the Status of Women

C&RL News September 2008 456 in Librarianship, the program highlighted database manager, Greenwood Publishing the various ways in which women’s lives Group. Through the stories of the pan- are impacted and empowered as consum- elists, the still marginalized position of ers, producers, and mediators of published feminist writing became apparent. Yet it materials, as well as addressed the, some- thrives in those very margins, in blogs as times not so easy, imbrication of feminist it once did (and still does) in pamphlets activism, feminist scholarship, and feminist and bulletins. publishing. The post-presentation discussion cen- Each panelist told a compelling story of tered on the relationship between and what brought them to feminist publishing, value of electronic and print publishing. from 1960s experimentation with teaching Even while more publishing goes electronic women’s-centered literature courses to fi nd- (newspapers, archives, working papers, ing community as a young mother. commentary), print is still privileged in terms The panel included Florence Howe, of academic, as well as monetary, value. emerita publisher/director, The Feminist The librarians in the room highly valued Press at CUNY; Kristin Bender, reporter/ electronic access to obscure or otherwise writer, Women’s eNews and The Oakland inaccessible materials, but voiced concern Tribune; Tedra Osell, feminist blogger, at the cost of such materials, especially for BitchPhD; Jennifer Nace, assistant librar- small institutions. For feminist publishing, ian/reference and instruction librarian, and mainstream publishing, these issues will Pennsylvania State-Worthington Scranton; continue to be negotiated.—Shana Higgins, Kimberly Guinta, acquisitions editor, His- Armacost Library, University of Redlands, tory, Routledge; and Lisa Pierce, editorial [email protected]

September 2008 457 C&RL News