International Librarianship at Home and Abroad

195 Pages·2017·3.1 MB·English

by  Karen Bordonaro (Auth.)

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INTERNATIONAL
LIBRARIANSHIP AT
HOME AND ABROAD
KAREN BORDONARO
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Google Books Ngram viewer: foreign students, international
students 8
Figure 3.1 Geographic location of survey respondents 37
Figure 3.2 Personal meaning of international librarianship 39
Figure 3.3 Library positions most involved with international librarianship 40
Figure 3.4 Reasons why these positions are most involved 42
Figure 3.5 Importance of the role of international librarianship 43
Figure 3.6 International librarianship as curriculum in library school 44
Figure 3.7 International librarianship and multilingualism 45
Figure 3.8 Library functions most suited to international librarianship 46
Figure 3.9 Best ways for learning about international librarianship 48
Figure 3.10 Experiencing international librarianship without travel abroad 49
Figure 3.11 Considering yourself an international librarian 51
ix
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Bordonaro is a liaison librarian at the Brock University Library in St
Catharine’s, Ontario, Canada. She has been a practicing librarian for over
30 years. She works extensively with international students and scholars in
her current full-time librarian position, as well as working as a part-time
ESL (English as a second language) instructor. In addition, she has a very
personal interest in international librarianship from working in a Canadian
library environment as an American in a border area (the Niagara region).
Karen has a bachelor’s degree in German and Spanish, master’s degrees in
German, library and information studies, and teaching English to speakers
of other languages, and a PhD in foreign and second language education.
Her research interests focus on library learning and language learning, the
use of libraries by ESL students, and how internationalization is practiced in
German academic libraries.
xi
CHAPTER 1
The Study of International
Librarianship
INTRODUCTION
International librarianship evokes a world of possibilities. The phrase itself
conjures up images of glamorous travel and heartfelt humanitarian aid. It can
represent librarians around the world connecting patrons to needed informa-
tion and promoting the cause of literacy. Yet the reality can also include many
librarians feeling disconnected from these perceived high-minded ideals.
Practicing librarians from developing nations, for example, can be marginal-
ized in areas such as the scholarship of higher education and attendance at
international library conferences. Practicing librarians from developed nations
can also feel marginalized from international librarianship in their day-to-day
work settings, far from the glamour of international study and travel.
This book examines the concept and reality of international librarianship
at home and abroad. Its purpose is to discover what practicing librarians
from both developing and developed nations think it means, and from there
to glean ways that it can inform everyday practice. “Everyday practice” as
used throughout this book refers to the work of librarianship performed by
librarians in their home libraries. As such, the intent of this book is not to
glorify international librarianship, but instead to investigate its understand-
ings to enrich and potentially improve the everyday work done by librarians
in their home institutions in very practical ways.
Sari Feldman, American Library Association (ALA) president for 2015–16,
noted that “While we often define community locally, we are part of a global
profession. Articulating a message of opportunity and progress is essential for
both developed and developing countries. We are truly one profession serving
many communities” (Feldman, 2015, p. 2). Similarly, upon being named the
new secretary general of IFLA (the International Federation of Library
Associations), Gerald Leitner issued a statement through a personal email
communication on June 1, 2016 to the IFLA list promoting the motto “Think
globally—act regionally and locally.” This book starts from the spirit of both
“one profession, many communities” and “think globally, act locally.”
International Librarianship at Home and Abroad
ISBN 978-0-08-101896-5 © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-101896-5.00001-6 All rights reserved. 1
2 International Librarianship at Home and Abroad
From these professional anchor-points, the book seeks to explore facets of
international librarianship that could lend themselves to daily practices in
home library settings.
FROM MY CORNER OF THE WORLD
I am an American citizen working in a Canadian university library. I live in
the United States and commute across the border every day to work.
Although I live and work in English-speaking environments, this cultural
shift I experience daily has led me to wonder about international librarian-
ship. I wonder what it means, if I am experiencing it myself, and how other
librarians might experience it.
I have long been interested in working with international students and
scholars in academic libraries in both the United States and Canada. I have
also worked for many years as a part-time ESL (English as a second language)
instructor in addition to being a full-time librarian. So my experience of
working with students and researchers who are both nonnative English
speakers and native English speakers from different countries spans both
libraries and formal classroom settings.
In the last 2 years I have started to investigate international aspects of
librarianship as well, to broaden my own professional and research horizons.
I took a study trip abroad in the spring of 2015 to Germany to see how
librarians there work with international students in their academic libraries.
And in November 2015 I hosted a Jamaican academic librarian for 3 weeks
at my own home library. Speaking and interacting with librarians in different
countries and different settings has piqued my interest in learning more
about international librarianship.
In addition to visiting and hosting librarians from other countries, I
became a co-editor of International Leads, the newsletter put out by the
International Relations Round Table (IRRT) of the ALA. Soliciting news
articles, working with other members of the round table, and attending
international librarian events at ALA conferences continue to expand my
personal horizons.
Committing to a research project to investigate international librarianship
more systematically and then sharing results through this book are the foci of
my learning efforts right now. It is my hope that the book can help shed more
light on what librarians as a profession think about international librarianship,
and in so doing potentially expand not only my own understandings but
other librarians’ understandings as well.
The Study of International Librarianship 3
BACKGROUND LITERATURE IN LIBRARIANSHIP
International librarianship has been understood and investigated in the
professional literature in myriad ways. Its current manifestation appears in
the form of recent calls for librarians to share perspectives on international
topics. College & Research Libraries News, for example, began a new column
called “International Insights” in May 2016. Its purpose is to “provide a
global perspective on issues relevant to academic and research libraries, and
offer ideas and opportunities for action” (Chu, Ford, Witt, Lau, & Scheeder,
2016, p. 239). Likewise, portal: Libraries and the Academy launched a column
in its July 2015 issue called “Global Perspectives”; its stated purpose is to
“to emphasize the increasing internationalization of higher education and
the essential role of libraries in global engagement” (Ryan, 2015, p. 387).
And the Journal of Library Administration starting running a new section
called “Global Perspectives” in 2013 aiming to present information shared
by and for library administrators in columns that
…represent different parts of the globe…that challenge practices in distant places,
reflect the realities of various economies, or share cultural views that will help erase
boundaries and demystify unfamiliar places and practices, while they show a larger
world view to column readers.
Agee (2013, pp. 167–168)
These calls for librarians to share ideas on international library topics signal
a renewed interest in exploring, describing, sharing, and promoting current
international library work. This book syncs neatly with this contemporary
professional emphasis on exploring international library work with a fresh
look at what it might mean and how it could be practiced.
The current call for new descriptions and research about international
library perspectives comes out of a longer history in the literature of descrip-
tive reports. Descriptive reports about library experiences abroad are the most
common way that the topic of international librarianship seems to appear and
be understood in the literature. This time-honored way of understanding
international librarianship consists of travel narratives (Stewart, 2006), pro-
gram descriptions (Coombs, 2013), tips for working abroad (Barr-Walker,
2013; Phillips & Holvoet, 2017), personal reminiscences (Liang, 2015), and
sharing information about how libraries operate in different countries
(Gyeszly, 2010). These types of reports in the literature serve as a way for trav-
eling librarians to share insights with colleagues at home libraries. They are
often based on describing differences with home library policies, functions,
and operations. Because of their content, these reports are generally viewed as
4 International Librarianship at Home and Abroad
examples of international librarianship. This content, however, is often a more
typical reflection of comparative librarianship.
COMPARATIVE LIBRARIANSHIP
Comparative librarianship is defined by Robert D. Stueart in International
Librarianship: A Basic Guide to Global Knowledge Access as “a method of inquiry
that specifically focuses on a systematic analysis of the development, prac-
tice, and philosophy of library and information services in the various social
contexts, comparing one country or region with one or more others”
(Stueart, 2007, p. 8). Comparative librarianship is not necessarily synony-
mous with international librarianship, because each presumes a different
focus. Comparative librarianship compares how librarianship is practiced in
a home country versus different countries, and aims primarily to highlight
differences. International librarianship, in contrast, could potentially include
comparative librarianship, but can also offer a wider lens for investigation.
International librarianship can collect both differences and similarities more
broadly, and then examine and interpret those patterns to understand
worldwide manifestations of librarianship.
DEFINITIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARIANSHIP
International librarianship has not been conclusively defined in the literature
to date. A well-known and often-quoted definition from 1974 posits that
International librarianship consists of activities carried out among or between
governmental or non-governmental institutions, organizations, groups or indi-
viduals of two or more nations, to promote establish, develop, maintain and
evaluate library, documentation and allied services, and librarianship and the
library profession generally, in any part of the world.
Parker (1974, p. 221)
Further definitions have both simplified these sentiments and offered
different perspectives. Krzys, for example, boiled down the essence of
international librarianship to “the study or practice of librarianship in a
manner that transcends national boundaries” (Krzys, Litton, & Hewit,
1983, p. 112). Witt, on the other hand, emphasizes its historical aspect by
seeing international librarianship as an evolving historical paradigm, a
“novel network…that led to a worldwide library profession and establish-
ment of an international organization that continues to support library
development across the globe” (Witt, 2014, pp. 506–507). In addition to
The Study of International Librarianship 5
descriptive and historical definitions, Bliss (1993, pp. 39–40) notes that
library literature offers four components that serve as a fundamental
framework for the field of international librarianship: “international
librarianship as a theoretical context; international librarianship as it relates
to professional practice; international librarianship as it relates to library
education; and international librarianship as it relates to the control and/
or standardization of information and information formats.” This lack of
consensus in the library literature as to whether international librarianship
refers to studies of practice between countries, across all borders, through
individuals or organizations, through history, or through investigations
of theory, practice, education, or standardization worldwide remains
problematic.
CRITIQUES OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARIANSHIP
Critiques of international librarianship stem from this very ambiguity as to its
meaning. Peter Lohan Jor, for example, questions whether “international
librarianship” may in fact simply mean “collections of articles describing
aspects of librarianship in countries other than the United States” (Lor, 2011,
p. 1). Given that many librarians writing about international librarianship do
seem to come from the United States, he may have a point (Groves, 2007).
And if true, this would suggest that international librarianship is being defined
mainly from an American perspective. As an American librarian working in
Canada, I might perhaps broaden this perspective to “North American,” but
the point still stands: the ideas surrounding what international librarianship
means seem to come mainly from librarians practicing in the developed
nations, principally in North America.
While this book may in fact be adding another brick to that base, it is
hoped that shedding light on this point will encourage librarians from
developing nations to realize their own importance in contributing to
this literature. Ultimately, a more balanced idea of what “international
librarianship” truly means will require a wider international response to
produce a more encompassing view.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BEYOND NORTH AMERICA
This is not to say, however, that librarians from developing nations have not
contributed to the literature on international librarianship. On the contrary,
librarians from nations both developing and developed outside North