[628] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
trees for the forest
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lee Jaffe, McHenry Library, UC San)
Tue Jun 30 11:47:56 1992
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1992 10:45:02 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
From: "Lee Jaffe, McHenry Library, UC Santa Cruz, 408/459-3297" <jaffe@ucscm.UCSC.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I've just had a couple of eye-opening experiences regarding how the
majority of our colleagues see activities such as email, listserv
participation, ftp retrieval and telnet access.
Late May and early June I gave a couple of Internet introduction
workshops to public librarians. Both times, one or two participants
came up to me during the break or after the program and began a
contentious discourse that seemed to be asking for permission to
not have to worry about the Internet. I figured, oh well, these
are public librarians. They have fewer resources and it's not like
they are on a university campus where these tools are readily
available and in widespread use. I didn't go easy on them, because
I wanted them to understand what advantages they were giving up by
taking this attitude, but I decided not be too disappointed that
that's the way they felt.
Then last week I attended a meeting of northern University of
California libraries online searchers. The topic was resources on
the Internet and the morning session consisted of presentations of
Internet activities at Berkeley, Davis, San Francisco, Santa Cruz
as well as the systemwide Division of Library Automation and Stanford
and Sonoma State (home of the LIBS gateway).
The second part of the meeting was an open discussion about the
role of the resources in library services and the role of the
library in Internet services. There was a surprising reticence
about taking on these new responsibilities but a number of librarians.
It wasn't so much that they didn't see these tools as relevent, but
that it was too much extra for them to take on.
The third event was actually a melange of meetings during ALA. One was
the Strategic Visions meeting on Friday and the others included a
number of interest group discussions. I found the Strategic Visions
to be fairly poor. I was particularly underwhelmed by the comments
from the floor which could be typified as representing fear and
defensiveness. The next day I heard one of the Strategic Visions
Steering Committee members comment that he was disappointed by the
show of inertia at that meeting.
At other discussions during ALA I heard a fair amount of antagonism
about using the Internet. Again I would say that few people thought
it unimportant, just too much to take on.
I have a few thoughts about this experience.
First, I asked some colleagues who have also done some teaching and
talking to people not yet involved in the network and they confirm
that there is quite a bit of anxiety out there.
Second, within this type of forum it is fairly easy to imagine that
we sample a wider range of views. The Strategic Visions folks were
experiencing the same thing, having been talking mostly among them-
selves and other small circles of colleagues. The wider world seems
to be far less open to working in a networked library.
Third, it seems to me that this is a profession that is very good
at making a virtue of necessity. I can understand that it might
not work for some libraries and librarians to participate online,
but I'm not willing to accept that this is actually a good thing.
In all of the discussions I've had on this point, in one way or
another I was asked to exonerate colleagues from feeling bad or
guilty about their attitude. One time a librarian said "I think
I can get by without the Internet." To which I replied, "Is that
all you want to do, get by?" In another conversation a librarian
said that she was "going to forgive" herself for not taking this
on. I forgive her too, but that isn't going to help the library
user that she can't help because of this view.
Fourth, having complained up till now, I'd like to try to develop
some visions of the Internet in library work that will 1) place
the Internet solidly within the work we and our colleagues can
readily identify as library work and 2) provide a reasonable
and not so threatening approach to incorporating the Internet into
our work. This is the crux of this posting: How do we talk to
our colleagues about this stuff in a way that they can take owner-
ship and not feel overwhelmed by the task? I'd like to offer some
of my thoughts and invite others to share thoughts and experiences.
Breaking the Internet in smaller pieces: There are a lot of
different kinds and levels of activity that can relate to the
Internet in library work. Is is not necessary, not at this point
at least, for everyone to be fully engaged in all aspects of this.
Some of the lower threshold activities I've been able to identify
include using the printed guides to help users identify sources.
Training: Though there is a lot more training going on, I think
that the expectations should not be too high. After all, most of
probably didn't learn the Internet in a class. It took a long
time and a lot of trial and error and not everyone is inclined
to approach a problem in this way. The best we can hope from
training is to demonstrate what is possible and to get people to
take on even just a little bit of the process.
Support: There is a lot more support for Internet use. More libraries
have a guru and the guides are more readily available. If we can
be available when people need us, this may be the best way to get
folks into it.
Finding the hook: There is something there for everyone, I'm convinced
of it. At one point, someone is going to stumble upon something that
catches their eye and that's all it will take. You can do a lot of
good by watching for things that might attract an individual user and
passing the information on to them.
Breadcrumb trail: Since my path involved first using email, then
subscribing to a listserver, then trying things I read there, I
think that a good way to get people to understand the Internet is
to get them to use mail and then broaden the experience.
This message ended up being about two different kinds of concerns
that turned out to be connected in ways I still don't understand.
I guess I started out complaining about how scared a profession this
is and ended up suggesting some strategies for overcoming that fear.
Somewhere in there is a question I didn't take on concerning finding
appropriate expectations for library service related to the Internet.
That's what I meant by "trees for the forest." Maybe next time.
-- Lee Jaffe, UC Santa Cruz
