I recently took an online survey that asked for input from both public and academic libraries. From my view point as a public librarian (although a brand spanking new one) is seemed pretty obvious that the survey was geared towards academic libraries.
Quite a few of the questions on this survey asked about teaching users how to use our resources and what teaching methodologies that we might be using. This got me to thinking about “teaching” in public libraries. Should public libraries “teach?” How much time should be spent “teaching?” Do our customers even want to be taught and if so what? How do we reach them?
Now understand that I am just starting to ask these questions and have not formed any hard answers yet. For me this is an exploration and a request for information. I welcome your thoughts and examples.
While working the reference desk, I have interacted with large numbers of individuals seeking information. I can say that very few of them seemed interested in learning how to find the information themselves. Many times I have offered to show people how to find the information themselves, but only a very few have ever been interested. I am willing to say that my selling skills are perhaps not the best, but I have a gut feeling that this is what most reference librarians in public libraries experience. Can you teach people how to do something that they would rather you do for them?
I have watched many public and private schools take tours of my library and then they are turned loose to do “research.” These tours seem to be mostly composed of here are the books, ask for help. I would not call this teaching. The reference librarians also give a tour of the databases we have and the catalog, if the teacher has allowed time. But to cover dozens of databases in ten minutes does not make it very educational. Is this the kind of teaching we should be doing? I would basically call this giving a tour. But is it also leads me to ask, if we are not given the opportunity to teach, what can we do?
So I see two main hindrances so far: one, people don’t want to learn, they just want the information so they can get on with their lives; two, we often do not have the opportunity to teach. We might not ever actually encounter the individual or we may not have the time, such as the school tours mentioned above. So what are some solutions?
Until there are no more reference librarians to hand out answers and teachers have all the time in the world, the above issues will not go away. What about giving how to use your library classes? This might work, but I have my doubts. Let me know if you have had success doing classes like this in a public library. For me the most interesting opportunity to teach in the public library setting is presented by technology.
I will start this thought process by making a couple of big assumptions. I would guess that users that use our websites or the terminals within the library are technically more savvy, more motivated (most importantly) and more willing to learn if we offer them the opportunity. As we go through our website redesign process I am looking for potential learning opportunities that I can sneak in. Many academic and some public libraries use guides to assist researchers, which is a great first step, but not quite far enough. I am hoping to offer very unobtrusive “learning moments” throughout the website, along with guides, screen casts and video training. I just love to make more work for myself!
So I have a plan to help the people already using library technology become better at it (if they choose to). So what do I do to get others to become more motivated self learners? This is the challenge and what I am still trying to figure out. As for the school tour scenario, I see outreach as the most effective tool we have. We need to get into the classroom before they set foot into the library. Sounds easy? No!
So to answer my own question from the title of this post… Yes, public libraries should teach. It’s the how that we have to figure out and get better at. Feel free to sock it to me!
Of course, the question therein remains—does your web team know you’re sneaking in all these “learning opportunities” into their “to do” lists
??
At least one of us does!!!
But it is good to remember that we are here to educate along with provide the quick answer. We are in a spoonfeed/insta-information era and it is hard to get the teachable moment to work for the harried patron. It still behooves us to try though.
Yes, we also encounter the same problem of people coming into our library and asking questions about where to find things, and yet never really wanting to learn how to search for themselves. We always give a demonstration on our computers to show them how to search for books, but it doesn’t really go further than that and many people choose to bypass that and come straight to the desk for help.
One thing that seems to work for us when classes come to the library for a tour is to show them to our Dewey decimal posters. These are visual with call numbers associated with pictures such as computers, soccer balls, instruments etc., so that they can see the numbers associated with the thing they are searching for. It helps, but doesn’t stop kids completely from asking for help.
Adults are another breed altogether. Some really want to learn how to use the system and find what they are looking for. Others won’t try, so I don’t think we can force them to search on their own.
It is the nature of our jobs, I think. We are there to help people find what they are looking for when they come to the desk. Maybe we should just be happy that we are needed. After all, if everyone knew how to search and use the computers to find their books and resources all on their own, we could be completely eliminated from the system. Why have us working when the patron can do all the work?
Does your website have an item labeled “searching techniques”, “How to search” or is that something you have to just search for? Last week, we had a small program on Geneology. The meat of it was searching techniques through the relevant archives and databases.
Libraries need to be in the business of 1. providing information and 2. providing opportunities for lifelong learning.
To answer your question of should we be teaching. Yes and no. We should be teaching how to do some basic things…searching the catalog, online resources…but we will be doing our community a greater good if we can inspire them to learn. It’s easier said than done!
Most importantly we need to do what the customer wants. If he does not want to look up a book in the catalog then we should happily do it for him.
We have tried classes on how to use the library and they have not had much attendance. We do far better when we advertise classes as “Internet Search Techniques” or “Find Health Information Online” then we show them how to use library resources during the class.
For students we have found if we can arrange for teachers to give extra credit the students will come to classes.
There are great questions that you have!
Lori,
Thank you for your comments and addition to this discussion. I really appreciate this learning opportunity.
So, I acknowledge that my perspective is highly influenced by my work in academic libraries, but I absolutely think that all reference librarians should teach. With the possible exception of certain special libraries in corporate settings, I don’t think it is sufficient to hand patrons information or sources in response to their questions; rather, I think we should always seek ways to teach folks how to find information for themselves. Sometimes teaching takes the form of simply turning the monitor around so that the patron can see it, modeling effective ways to search and explaining what we are doing and why. In can also be extremely valuable for the patron to see us “fail” in our searching, because it shows them that research is an iterative, sometimes time-consuming process. I think the RUSA Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers are quite good and clearly spell out ways we can all teach during reference transactions (see esp. the section 4.0 Searching).
That said, there are of course patrons that want us to simply hand them answers. I find it quite easy to suss out those folks and I tend to spend less time with them, but when we have time and when the patron shows any interest, we need to consciously teach them what we can. I’m very fortunate to work in an institution and a specific library that highly values teaching at the reference desk. While I realize that many librarians don’t have the time or sufficient staffing to spend 15, or 30 or 60 minutes with patrons at the desk, this kind of individualized, one-to-one interaction is an extremely valuable and effective way to teach.
Many public librarians teach in more formal, time-intensive ways as well. Many public libraries offer a variety of classes, workshops and/or homework help programs. They host book clubs during which patrons learn from each other. As you mention, folks love online tutorials. So, there are many ways in which libraries are already offering instruction.
One more point: as an English major working in an academic health sciences library, I learn from my patrons as much as I teach. I’ve learned there is no shame is saying, “Oh, I don’t know very much about that topic. Could you briefly explain some of the basics to me?” Not only do I learn this way, but it succinctly defining their research topic often helps patrons in their searching. Teaching and learning are inherently cooperative processes, in my mind.