ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 912 / C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1999 A librarian’s manifesto The library is an essential classroom by Jennifer W. Kim ball I n this age of information glut, we must never let the academic library lull in the background too easily overlooked. The pre ence of computers in our world seems to be clouding people’s vision so thoroughly that the library is only discernible through a fog. Pretty soon we w on’t need library buildings? Surely we can at least cut back on library space? Can the reference desk staff telecom­ mute? Can we merge information systems departments and libraries, since they’re basi­ cally concerned with the same thing? Our response is too often unheard. Are we too nice to rock the boat? Too comfort­ able? Too defeated? Or simply so beleaguered w e do n ’t know what to tackle first? This ar­ ticle addresses the last scenario. In dealing with the not-so-hypothetical questions in the p ara g ra p h above, an sw ers o u g h t to be worded for the ears of the administrators, fac­ ulty, and students w ho ask them. And the answers become a polemic to dispel the li­ brary fog. The library continues to be an absolutely essential classroom, scene of a “core course” for every student. In this nonregistered course that spans the student’s academic career, cog­ nitive thought processes are challenged and form ed as th e difficulty o f assignm ents progresses: reading w hat a professor has placed on reserve; writing a brief analysis of an assigned article; finding, critiquing, and applying scholarly material as it addresses a s­ defined question; conducting an extensive literature review and analyzing all the mate­ rial gathered in order to apply it to a com­ plex problem. The library is not simply about informa­ tion, but about knowledge. It is not only knowing what button to push on the com­ puter, but knowing how to evaluate what the computer emits. It is not only knowing w hen to use a computer, but also recognizing when to use a book. It is not simply knowing where to go, but w hat to do w hen you get there. In the skills of information literacy—the ability to find, evaluate, and use information effectively—the librarians are readily associ­ ated with teaching the first component in this list. For the second, librarians and professors collaborate (intentionally or not). Evidence of the third is mainly left to the professor to see upon assessing the student’s work. The first two are all too often assumed, and al­ most never graded. It is assumed either that students possess these skills upon entrance to college, or that these skills will automati­ cally develop themselves along the way, re­ quiring neither the time nor the attention of faculty. The reality (as all reference librarians know) is in fact the opposite; these skills take time, effort, and guidance. Because the li­ brary is the significant place where these skills are practiced and developed, students ask for guidance from the teachers nearby: the A bout th e author Jennifer W. K im ball is reference librarian a t Eastern M ennonite University; e-mail: kimballj@emu.edu THE W AY I SEE IT mailto:kimballj@emu.edu C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1999 / 913 librarians. Because librarians see and under­ stand w here the students are and how far they need to go to becom e information liter­ ate, it is the librarians’ responsibility to make the need for this education known. And we are well qualified to illuminate this need. Who teaches more students every year than the librarians? We are in a unique position to speak about student trends, com­ petencies, and characteristics that can only be seen w hen working with such large seg­ ments of the student population annually. After grading library assignments from every first-year student (whom I’ve met in their col­ lege writing classes at the onset of their research paper), I see w here they are and know how much they have to accomplish to become capable lifelong learners. (I am also very tired.) I’ve met the w hole first-year class, so, over time, I will have met the w hole under­ graduate student body (minus transfers). I will see many of them later w hen upper-division classes come for one-shots, and w hen indi­ vidual students com e to the reference desk— so I can see how much they’ve learned, and w hat they still need to learn. I also m eet with graduate classes, and see w here they are. When these research skills and cognitive developm ents are overlooked, the library is overlooked, as well. O ur teaching function is forgotten … our budget requests seem low priority … our study carrels are empty … people can’t remember why they should come to the library. Perhaps our strongest argument for the library as a place, is no longer, “This is w here all the stuff is,” but, “This is w here the librar­ ians are!” If yo u w ere try in g to im p ro v e y o u r hookshot, w ould you take your basketball to the cafeteria and ask an unathletic passerby to critique your form? So w hen research is the game, why not come to the library, and have a librarian nearby w hen you get stuck? The voice o f the librarian should be a clarion call that establishes the presence of the library at the center of the university. We must articulate the necessity o f this m onu­ mental laboratory w e call the library. To do it, w e must open the discourse with strong claims, and continue it with lucidity. Forget about com puters and books for a minute— Why are w e really here? We are interested in something bigger: learning. And as we all know, “higher learning” does not merely mean acquiring a larger mental store o f material. It is about process as well: how to look at something wisely how to solve a complex problem; how to put ideas to use. All of these are practiced in the library time and again as part of research. We cannot al­ low this crucial, sustained, experiential learn­ ing to fall by the wayside—forgotten in an age w hen it is needed most, and too many stu­ dents are trying to navigate through trees with­ out having any comprehension of forest. Are professors complaining about the poor quality o f student learning as evidenced in papers based on Internet snippets? Tell them to bring their students to the real place for research— the library, complete with faculty waiting to coach them. ■ ( “New fr o n tie r s .… continued fro m page 910) to gain access to more GL, including self- posted writings by those without institutional affiliations. How w ould such work—referred to by Sociologist Helmut Artus in his paper as “dirty grey literature” with no bibliographic qualities at all—be filtered by users? This question show ed an interesting gap betw een special librarians— w ho did the searching themselves to package results for clients— and academic librarians, w ho could too eas­ ily see the impact on uncritical undergradu­ ates of a Web full of good, bad, and ugly r e s e a rc h in d is crim in a te ly p r e s e n te d by aggregators and engines. Another distinction that becam e evident during the conference related to ephem eral­ ity and obscurity. How much GL was the lar­ val stage o f published research, necessary to identify in the interest o f speed and currency, and how much research of enduring value never will be published beyond the original, GL report? Not addressed was the related question— posed, for example, by U.S. environmental- impact studies, of how much research that used to be published by museum occasional papers and other well-controlled sources is now found in agency branch office contract research reports, far outside the view of li­ braries? Note 1. M ark Twain: Mark T w a in ’s Notebook, May 23, 1903. ■ 9 1 4 / C&RL News ■ D e ce m b e r 1999