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This article was downloaded by: [Stony Brook University] On: 29 October 2014, At: 18:40 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Library Administration Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjla20 Creating Opportunities: Embedded Librarians Martin A. Kesselman a & Sarah Barbara Watstein b a Rutgers University , New Brunswick, NJ, USA b UCLA Library, Charles E. Young Research Library , Los Angeles, CA, USA Published online: 15 May 2009. To cite this article: Martin A. Kesselman & Sarah Barbara Watstein (2009) Creating Opportunities: Embedded Librarians, Journal of Library Administration, 49:4, 383-400, DOI: 10.1080/01930820902832538 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930820902832538 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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Page 1: Creating Opportunities: Embedded Librarians

This article was downloaded by: [Stony Brook University]On: 29 October 2014, At: 18:40Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Library AdministrationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjla20

Creating Opportunities: EmbeddedLibrariansMartin A. Kesselman a & Sarah Barbara Watstein ba Rutgers University , New Brunswick, NJ, USAb UCLA Library, Charles E. Young Research Library , Los Angeles, CA,USAPublished online: 15 May 2009.

To cite this article: Martin A. Kesselman & Sarah Barbara Watstein (2009) CreatingOpportunities: Embedded Librarians, Journal of Library Administration, 49:4, 383-400, DOI:10.1080/01930820902832538

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930820902832538

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Creating Opportunities: Embedded Librarians

Journal of Library Administration, 49:383–400, 2009Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0193-0826 print / 1540-3564 onlineDOI: 10.1080/01930820902832538

Creating Opportunities: Embedded Librarians

MARTIN A. KESSELMANRutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

SARAH BARBARA WATSTEINUCLA Library, Charles E. Young Research Library, Los Angeles, CA, USA

ABSTRACT. Embedded librarianship focuses on the user andbrings the library and the librarian to the user, wherever they are —office, laboratory, home, or even on their mobile device. This articleprovides an overview of the various ways libraries and librariansare embedding themselves into research and learning environs. Sev-eral roles are highlighted, including course-integrated instructionlibrarians as members of research teams, librarians collaboratingwith faculty in scholarly communication activities and librariansas partners in multidisciplinary, global, and virtual collaborations.Definitions of key terms precede the overview and provide context;consideration of the human resources side of the equation follows.Reflections on organizational structure conclude the article.

KEYWORDS Embedded librarianship, collaboration, organiza-tional structures, course-integrated instruction, research teams

INTRODUCTION

Of the myriad issues important to those new to the field of librarianship, itwas interesting to see “embedded librarianship” acknowledged upfront andcenter in the New Librarians’ Blog (NLB) on April 23, 2008. The bloggerwrites,

I’ll be blogging for the rest of the week from the Off-Campus ServicesLibrary Conference in Salt Lake City. As we talk about things that areinteresting and perhaps useful to others, I will share with those of youwho read the NLB.

Address correspondence to Sarah B. Watstein, UCLA Library, 11334 Charles E. YoungResearch Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

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The first discussion I went to really got into what different people aredoing as embedded librarians. This is something that I’m really interestedin because my university has a few programs that are either entirelyonline or are in remote locations. Honestly, we are not doing much forthe most part at this point to really address the needs of this group ofstudents and the instructors in these programs. But it looks like I’m goingto get to learn quite a bit about what people are doing.One things that I discovered is that librarians are involved in variouslevels of embeddment (is that a word? Well, it is now!) In general, this isnot something that is occurring in every online or distance course. Partlybecause faculty/instructors don’t understand or need it. Also, the amountof time commitment over the semester varies depending on what type ofservices the embedded librarians is providing.So, my thoughts are that this is definitely something most places can do.It will depend on the level of involvement that the librarian has. I thinkthat we can have a library section and be a designer in the courses. Thisis a way to push particular resources that are specific to the classes andwould be most helpful to the students. With the wealth of electronicand online resources, librarians should take an active role in distanceeducation to let students know that they don’t have to actually go to alibrary to use what we have.Of course, marketing this can be difficult. One things that can makethings more enticing is show faculty what stuff is really valuable to themwhen they teach classes. The university does provide training on usingBlackboard and it might be good to explore partnerships with the ITpeople in being part of the training to introduce what the library canoffer through Blackboard.I’m interested in hearing more about what people are doing in regardsto embedded librarianship.

Indeed, explorations of new, embedded roles for librarians in all types oforganizations abound as seen in the increase of articles on this topic.

However, embedded librarianship is more than a recent trend. To ap-preciate the prevalence of “embedded librarians” throughout our profession,one need only to read Lewis’s article on the future of academic libraries.Lewis proposes a five-part strategy for academic libraries. Item 4 on his liststates, “Reposition library and information tools, resources, and expertise sothat they are embedded into the teaching, learning, and research enterprises”(Lewis, 2007).

Embedded librarians in the blogosphere are blogging about their ad-ventures, engaging the issue, and pushing the envelope even further (seesidebar for a list of blogs and other resources for keeping up with develop-ments in embedded librarianship). One example is David Shumaker’s TheEmbedded Librarian blog, which made its debut in July 2007. This blog is“dedicated to exploring and analyzing the trend of embedding librarians inteams and communities of all kinds, in various types of organizations.”1

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Funded research underscores the fact that embedded librarianship is aphenomenon that merits our attention. Indeed, the Special Libraries Associa-tion (SLA) has recently funded a research project on embedded librarianship.David Shumaker, clinical associate professor at the Catholic University ofAmerica’s School of Library and Information Science, and his co-investigator,Mary Talley, senior consultant and project director with Axelroth and Asso-ciates, were the recipients of an SLA Research Grant for their proposal, titled“Models of Embedded Librarianship, that was based on a previous initialstudy.” Shumaker writes,

The goal of this study is to develop an evidence-based model for the suc-cessful initiation, implementation, and evaluation of embedded libraryservices. It will build upon the initial survey conducted by Shumakerand Tyler (2007) by achieving the following objectives: defining criteriaof “embeddedness” for library and information service programs; defin-ing indicators of success for embedded library services and identifyingmodel programs outside the health-related sector; collecting data aboutthe practices followed by these model programs in initiating, operating,and evaluating their services; and synthesizing collected an evidence-based set of recommended practices from the data that other librariansto use in their initiation, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of em-bedded library services. (Special Libraries Association, 2007)

If we are truly to be where the user is and to be user-centric, we needto be embedded. Embedded librarianship is a major focus for the future forour profession. The physical library will continue to provide a major role forstudents and others as a place for research, for study, and for group work.But, with the dramatic increase in electronic resources and technologicalcapabilities, bringing the library and the librarian to the user, wherever theyare—office, laboratory, home, or even on their mobile device—is at theforefront of what it means to be embedded.

This article provides an overview of the various ways libraries andlibrarians are embedding themselves into the research and learning environsof our users. Definitions of key terms precede the overview and providecontext; consideration of the human resources side of the equation follows.Reflections on organizational structure conclude the article. It is the hopeof the authors that these vignettes will inspire our readers to refocus theirenergies toward embedded librarianship, one of the prime tenets of auser-centered library.

DEFINITIONS

An understanding of key terms such as embed, embedded, embedding, aswell as an understanding of core concepts—-“embedded librarian” and “em-bedded library services”—helps frame the issue.

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Embed

The most common meaning of embed, according to Random House, is “tofix into a surrounding mass: to embed stones in cement” (1992, p. 436). Moregermane to our discussion, however, is another meaning—-“to contain orimplant as an essential or characteristic part” (Random House, 1992, p. 436).

The “Embedded Librarian”

What exactly is an “embedded librarian?”As early as April 29, 2005, the Distance Education Librarian at Buley

Library at Southern Connecticut State University suggests the following:

The Iraq war brought us the concept of “embedded journalists.” Now wehave the concept of “embedded librarians.” An embedded journalist issupposed to have better access to a story; an embedded librarian providesbetter access for students to him/herself and to the library’s resources.2

David Shumaker3 suggests a definition in his call for participants in theaforementioned research project to document and analyze what he describesas a “growing trend”—:

Whether your title is “Knowledge Analyst,” “Field Librarian,” “Infor-mationist,” “Librarian-in-Context,” “Client-Embedded Services Librarian,”“Project Information Specialist,” or something else, if a regular part ofyour work involves participating in a group, community, or organiza-tional unit primarily made up of non-librarians, providing knowledgeand information services as a part of the group, then you are partici-pating in a growing trend of embedding librarians and their services insettings outside the library. (p.)

Shumaker and Tyler (2007) also offer a redefinition of the variablesthat are associated with “embeddedness.” The factors they associate with“embedded librarianship” include the following:

1. Location: Where is your office? With other librarians, or with your cus-tomers?

2. Funding: Who pays your salary and other costs? Do they come out ofa general purpose library budget or from a budget that pays for otherexpenses of your customer group?

3. Management and supervision: Who writes your performance review? Ifyou left the organization, who would interview and hire your replacement?

4. Participation: Do you go to meetings of your customer group? Meetingsof library staff?4

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In addition to the aforementioned factors, we suggest associating twoother factors with “embedded librarianship”—integration and collaboration.Embedded librarians are, first and foremost, integrated into their settings, bethey traditional or nontraditional. In academic settings, embedded librariansare in collaborative learning environments. They are on research teams.They are in academic departments. They are co-instructors in the classroomand in the online classroom. They play a major leadership role in pushing anacademic co-creator model for scholarship and scholarly communication. Inspecial libraries, they are deployed into the specific research areas of the or-ganization. In the health sciences, clinical medical librarians have long beeninvolved with patient care; today’s informationists perform diverse roles forthe medical team they support. Finally, embedded librarians are in virtualworlds, collaborating with researchers worldwide. Embedded librarians arenot in support roles, peripheral to these environs. Embedded librariansare, instead, integral to these environs as key players on research andinstructional teams.

Shumaker and Tyler suggest a model of embedded librarianship inwhich “the librarian’s value is defined primarily by services that contributeimportant information to the customer group in a timely fashion, even antic-ipating unrealized and unexpressed needs” (Shumaker & Tyler, 2007). Theseservices may include any or all of the following:

• In-depth research and analysis: solving problems by discovering, obtain-ing, reviewing, analyzing, and synthesizing relevant information. Examplesinclude a competitive intelligence librarian analyzing press stories for cluesabout a competitor’s strategies, or a medica informationalist locating sci-entific literature to help a clinician make a diagnosis.

• Current news alerting: monitoring news sources and forwarding only newsitems that are both relevant and important to the customer group—storiesthat will have an effect on the customer’s work. In the competitive intelli-gence example, the librarian would distinguish a competitor’s significant,novel announcement from a routine update, and forward the former withsuitable urgency.

• Capturing group knowledge and lessons learned: in a project team, the li-brarian may be the only member with both a substantial understanding ofthe group’s work and a responsibility for information management. In thiscase, the librarian is the logical member to capture outcomes and informa-tion from meetings, key decisions, and end-of-project lessons learned.

• Acquiring and organizing internal and external information: maintaining awell organized, information rich collaborative workspace and informationresource for the group. The librarian applies information organization prin-ciples to make information in the group’s repository more easily accessible,and may administer the group’s virtual workspace with other tools, such as

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messaging, calendar management, and collaborative authoring. (Shumaker& Tyler, 2007, pp. 2–3)

INTO ACTION: EMBEDDED LIBRARIANS IN THE ACADEMY

In the following sections, two major ways in which academic librarianshave embedded themselves in learning and research are reviewed—throughcourse-integrated instruction and as members of research teams. A discussionof select emerging opportunities and challenges for embedded librarians incollaborating with teaching and research faculty in scholarly communication,interdisciplinary arenas, and global virtual environments follows.

Course Integrated Instruction

Librarians have been active in information literacy for quite some time, usu-ally teaching one or two classes covering search strategies and various printand online resources, including how to evaluate results. The significantly in-creased availability of electronic resources and courseware has provided newalternatives and opportunities for different methods and modes of instruc-tion. Courseware products such as Blackboard, Moodle, and Sakai enablelibrarians to be embedded throughout an entire course providing both on-going instructional support and reference assistance. In these environments,librarians are an integral participant in the class.

As Stewart (2007) points out in her experience as part of classes usingBlackboard at Pulaski Technical College, her expertise as a librarian is in-tegrated into the class structure alongside the availability of various libraryresources. Distance learners, in particular, have immediate access to servicesand information resources that would not otherwise be as accessible. Stewartnotes various ways in which librarians are involved: threaded discussions,development of tip sheets and online tutorials, and an “ask a librarian” linkfor reference and instructional support. Threaded discussion lists allow allstudents in the class to benefit by seeing answers to particular questions.(Stewart, 2007). A similar initiative utilizing WebCT was developed by librar-ians at the University of Rhode Island, which also used blogging as a way tocommunicate with both on-campus and distance learners about new libraryservices and resources (Ramsay & Kinnie, 2006).

Matthew and Schroeder (2006) discuss their activities with online teach-ing at Vermont Community College (VCC). They point out that the presenceof a librarian within courseware is by itself not effective. The librarian’sknowledge and expertise are only utilized if the instructor makes research arequirement and recommends that the students seek out the assistance of theparticipating librarian. Due to the growing demand of embedded librarians atVCC, the library has developed library support courses that teaching faculty

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can link to from their online course sites. VCC has also experimented withthe use of video conferencing capabilities for groups of students workingwith librarians in their online courses (Matthew & Schroeder, 2006).

At Rutgers University, librarians have taken an active role by collabo-rating in both the design and teaching of a novel multidisciplinary course,Food and Nutrition Business Information and Communication. The coursewas developed as part of a USDA CSREES (Cooperative State Research, Edu-cation, and Extension Service) Higher Education Challenge Grant involvinglibrarians, faculty, and students from Food Science, Nutritional Sciences, theDepartment of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, and the Schoolof Communication, Information, and Library Studies. One of the librariansco-wrote the original grant and serves as a co-principal investigator (Co-PI)for the project. The Co-PIs recognized the growing need for food businessleaders that are not only comfortable with, and conversant in, dealing withindividuals from business and science, but also able to utilize informationeffectively in their work. To help prepare students for these challenges, thecourse focuses (a) on developing an awareness of the vocabularies and per-spectives of each discipline, (b) on learning how to research and evaluateinformation and data, and (c) developing the suite of leadership and team-work skills necessary for the effective communication and dissemination ofresults. In the course, students from each department work together as ateam addressing the actual research needs of an industry partner. Along within-class sessions, the course utilizes Sakai for collaborative writing by studentteams, team reports and presentations, and direct access to important infor-mation resources in food science, nutrition, and business. The student teamsalso make use of RefWorks for shared bibliographies. Students taking theclass have gained invaluable real-life experience working on an actual prob-lem of an industry partner. They also have the experience of working with alibrary school student and gaining an appreciation of having an informationspecialist as part of their research team.

Embedded Librarians in Academic Departments

The benefit of embedded librarians in both medical and corporate environ-ments has been written about widely. The term clinical librarianship wascoined to denote the valuable function librarians provide by being integralmembers of clinical teams providing research support to help in the plan-ning of appropriate patient care. As the focus on clinical librarianship hasincreased dramatically since its inception in the 1970s, there has been a movefrom reference librarians reaching out to clinical teams beyond the walls ofthe library to clinical informationalists—librarians that work outside of thelibrary and are salaried by the clinical department. Clinical informational-ists provide a full range of information-intensive activities such as support of

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information needs for evidence-based patient care, informatics, and, at times,hotel and conference arrangements (Brown, 2004).

According to Shumaker and Tyler, embedded librarians in the corpo-rate setting can provide in-depth research and analysis and alerts of cur-rent information and news; they can also capture group knowledge withina research team and support the acquisition and organization of informa-tion. Shumaker and Tyler provide the results of an extensive survey ofover 300 special librarians who identified themselves as embedded librarians(Shumaker & Tyler, 2007). Special librarians and particularly those in cor-porate settings tend to be more integrated within the company they serveand are often instrumental in cost-related services such as competitive intel-ligence, scientific, and patent research.

Traditional academic environments pose different challenges to the li-brarians who seek to embed themselves in academic departments. Outreachand marketing, particularly by subject liaison librarians, are key to successfulintegration. With the increased access to electronic resources from facultyoffices and laboratories, the need to come into the physical library is greatlydiminished. Glynn and Wu (2003) note that electronic resources have de-creased the reliance of faculty and students on liaisons for research assis-tance, while electronic communication can help make liaison activity moreefficient and effective. According to Glynn and Wu, there is an increasedneed for liaison focus due to greater interdisciplinarity, issues related tobudgets and collections, and the expanding digital information environment(Glynn & Wu, 2003). Some librarians have found one way to provide servicesin the digital library—-holding office hours and, in some cases, moving theiroffices into academic departments.

A business librarian at Murray State University relates her experiencesin moving her office outside the library and within the College of Businessand Public Affairs. A key to the success of this initiative, notes Linda Bartnik,is having faculty status. Bartnik was accepted as a colleague and an adhoc member of the college’s faculty attending departmental meetings andbeing actively involved in the recruitment of new teaching faculty. Bartnikfurther notes that by having a visual presence in the college, she is askedon an almost daily basis for literature reviews, assistance with data sources,document delivery and interlibrary loan options, selecting journals in whichto publish their research, and help with manuscript development and citationstyles. Although these were services provided from the library, the numberof requests increased dramatically in proportion to her having a physicalpresence in the department (Bartnik, 2007).

In a recent College and Research Libraries News column, “Job of a Life-time,” Ann Wheeler writes about Marianne Stowell Bracke at Purdue Univer-sity. Bracke is identified as an embedded librarian working with the agron-omy department and the geographic information systems (GIS) librarian todigitize soil surveys. As another example, Bracke is working with business

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librarians in an agricultural marketing class that has teams of students devel-oping marketing plans for various pork products sold at Purdue’s campusmeat shop. In both cases, Bracke is integrated as a team member and, inthe case of the soil survey work, is part of a campus USDA CSREES HigherEducation Challenge Grant (Wheeler, 2008).

Librarians Collaborating With Faculty in ScholarlyCommunication Activities

E-science and, more generally, e-research have exploded with the increasedcapabilities of Web-based collaborations and large sets of digital text, data,and multimedia. The traditional role and expertise of librarians with knowl-edge management has much to offer in this new environment. The require-ment by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that scholarship resultingfrom federal funding be made available via open access likely will soon berequired by other governmental granting bodies. The resulting increase inopen-access titles will, in turn, greatly increase the need for libraries to play amajor role in the deposit of these articles and accompanying data sets withintheir institutional repositories.

As one example, Purdue University Libraries have been playing an ac-tive role with scientists and engineers in organizing and managing their datasets, creating metadata to aid in searching, and archiving their data sets andcollections (Brandt, 2007). Technical services librarians also have an impor-tant role to play as embedded librarians related to digital libraries. At theUniversity of North Carolina–Wilmington, librarians are working with sci-entists and utilizing their expertise with metadata and database structures.Benedetti, Cody, and Hanerfeld (2007) describe their efforts in harvestingmetadata from digital objects in an iLumina database into the library cat-alog. Here, the scientists had not previously been aware of this expertiseof librarians in the use of cataloging and bibliographic standards (Benedettiet al., 2007).

A unique collaboration at University of Rochester between reference li-brarians and an anthropologist sought to determine why campus faculty didnot deposit their work in the institutional repository. A primary finding wasthat faculty did not understand the benefits of using the institutional reposi-tory such as increased availability and having the library maintain perpetualaccess to their content. Based on their findings, the library developed newstrategies for institutional repository design and for librarians to take a moreactive role in engaging faculty in discussing their research (Bell, Foster, &Gibbons, 2005).

Scholarly publishing also provides opportunities for librarian–facultycollaborations. Examples include, on a larger scale, initiatives such as Stan-ford University’s Highwire Press; Johns Hopkins University’s Project MUSE,which provides new avenues for publishing journals from scholarly societies;

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and the Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) participation with ScholarlyPublishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an initiative to de-velop new scholarly journals that compete with commercial publishers. On asmaller scale, the availability of open-source electronic publishing softwaresuch as the Open Journal System from the Public Knowledge Project at theUniversity of British Columbia has enabled librarians at Rutgers Universityand elsewhere to collaborate with small groups of faculty and departmentsto establish open-access scholarly journals with very low overhead costs.

The role of the academic library in preservation is well known, butthe increased numbers of resources that only exist in digital form (“borndigital”) create new challenges and opportunities for librarians to work withresearchers. Linda Eels from the University of Minnesota notes that althoughlibraries have been involved in preserving digital archives of items that wereoriginally in print (“reborn digital”), many resources that were born digitaland once available via the Web, have now been lost. Eels and others areworking on a pilot project on behalf of the Agriculture Network InformationCenter (AgNIC) and other library and information organizations partneringwith colleges of agriculture and cooperative extension to collaborativelydevelop policies, standards, and cyber infrastructure to create a repositoryof born digital agricultural resources (Eels, 2008).

Role of Librarians With Multidisciplinary Collaborations

Increasingly, research in the sciences and social sciences is collaborativeand multidisciplinary. Librarians can play a unique role in helping differentdisciplines communicate with one another and with locating, managing, andarchiving their information. A traditional role for librarians has been locatingthe most appropriate information in response to the information, reference,or research needs of a particular researcher. Librarians might also have arole in bringing researchers together who normally might not have foundeach other on their own. Resources such as VIVO, developed by the MannLibrary at Cornell, help researchers discover others working in a particulardomain, their publications, course they have taught, and facilities and toolsthey use in their research (VIVO, 2008). Other technologies such as Sakai,besides being used as courseware, can support collaborative relationshipsand also include embedded librarians.

Multidisciplinary collaborations often take an integrated systems ap-proach, looking at problems and solutions in a very holistic way, requiringnot only subject knowledge, but also various other types of expertise. Thesekinds of collaborations might also require the collective expertise of sev-eral different librarians—public services subject librarians, technical serviceslibrarians, and those well versed in digital technologies.

An emerging outgrowth of multidisciplinary collaborations worthyof librarians’ attention is the arena of collective intelligence. Collective

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intelligence utilizes the power of individuals and computing in a way thatincreases the effectiveness of solving problems more than these individualswould be able to do collectively on their own. The (Massachusetts Instituteof Technology) MIT Center for Collective Intelligence has several ongoingprojects such as a Climate Collaboratum to harness the collective intelligenceto help solve problems of global warming and a healthcare program thatbrings together medical professionals and researchers to improve healthcarefor individual patients. The MIT Center is also studying collective intelligencefor distributed collaborations in organizations and ways of measuring this in-telligence (MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, 2008). It is apparent thatlibrarians could have a major role to play; Librarians, as generalists, can pro-vide a bridge to collaborative groups in forging a common understating ofeach discipline’s unique perspectives, methods, and vocabularies. It is inher-ent upon librarians in these environs to be proactive and embed themselvesin these new kinds of collaborations.

ROLE OF LIBRARIANS WITHIN VIRTUAL WORLDS AND VIRTUALCOLLABORATIONS OF RESEARCHERS

Global issues such as those related to environment and health care con-cerns require worldwide collaborations that transcend single institutions or,for that matter, national boundaries. Web 2.0 offers several opportunitiesfor collaborations such as Second Life and other virtual environments andsocial networking sites. These Web-based collaborative environments offeropportunities for librarians and libraries—all that is required is a differentmind-set as user populations are no longer defined by a single institution.

Many libraries are experimenting with Second Life and, in particular,with information literacy initiatives within this environment. Researchersare also experimenting with Second Life and other virtual environmentsas ways to communicate and collaborate with one another. One notable ex-ample is Second Nature Island sponsored by Nature Publishing, which offersspaces for lectures, exhibits, and models and simulations (SecondNature,2008).

Besides Facebook and MySpace, which include social networks of pro-fessionals, there are micro-social networks that focus on niche groups of re-searchers. This is an area that is expanding quite rapidly. Examples of micro-networks are 2collab.com from Elsevier, exchange.chemistry.org from theAmerican Chemical Society, my experiment.org, professor’s network (prone-tus.com), and ning.com, which allows one to create their own social network(one for science librarians is based on Ning). These micro-networks includefeatures that enable researchers to locate and collaborate with one another,share information within a team or make information publicly available, anddiscuss their research via blogs, wikis, and forums. Some micro-networks

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include areas where other researchers can comment on their works inprogress and share their experimental designs and workflows.

An outgrowth of social networking systems is the emerging technologyof social operating systems. According to the 2008 Horizon Report, socialoperating systems are systems that organize, interpret, and evaluate the con-nections we have with other people as a way to foster and develop moreeffective collaborations. These systems can lead us to connections we maynot have otherwise thought of, and, according to the report, “these tools willtransform the academy in significant ways we can only begin to imagine”(Horizon Report, 2008).

Virtual worlds, social networks, and social operating systems highlightnew ways that support collaborations between researchers regardless ofinstitutional affiliation and are ways that lessen competition between orga-nizations. As collaborations take place beyond institutional and geographicboundaries, several questions come to mind. Whose users are these, for ex-ample? And does it really matter? Virtual collaborations between researcherswould be well served by virtual collaborations of librarians and informationprofessionals. An example of an organization that might be positioned toprovide this kind of support is AgNIC, a voluntary collaboration of librariesand institutions that are dedicated to provide access to quality, freely avail-able information and research support in agriculture and related areas nomatter what the user’s affiliation might be.

THE HUMAN RESOURCES SIDE OF THE EQUATION

There are certain attributes, knowledge, skills, and abilities that are increas-ingly associated with embedded librarianship. Often reflected in positionannouncements or position descriptions, these include the following:

• Professional background that demonstrates a high degree of creativity,teamwork, and flexibility

• Demonstrated commitment to providing excellent and innovative servicesand the development of new and challenging virtual and real library pro-grams

• Knowledge and understanding of the research needs of customers andthe organization of electronic, Web, or print scholarly materials in thecustomer’s domain

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work creatively, collabora-tively, and effectively both as a team member and independently and topromote teamwork among colleagues

• Ability to work with a diverse constituent population or populations• Capacity to thrive in both traditional as well as nontraditional settings and

to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities

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• Commitment to professional issues demonstrated through strong interestin local, regional, or national committee work, research, and publication.

Integration and collaboration, central to the role and function of embed-ded librarians, also represent values advanced by embedded librarianship.Wherever or however embedded librarians are deployed, a strong serviceethic is central to the successful management and practice of embeddedlibrarianship. Advanced knowledge of the client or customer’s domain, re-gardless of the setting, is a fundamental component of this service ethic.Shumaker articulates a dimension of this particular value—“targeted, ‘just-in-time’ delivery of information of immediate importance to the work ofthe customer group” (Shumaker & Tyler, 2007). Indeed, we suggest, andthe literature and case studies demonstrate, that the successful development,management, and delivery of embedded library services is fueled as much bythe human side of the equation—by attributes, knowledge, skills, abilities,and values—as it is by anything else.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

In 2003, Anne Grodzins Lipow wrote an article applauding the then recentgrowth of virtual point-of-need reference services in libraries as a step inthe direction of paying attention to users who, “now that they have handycommercial alternatives, won’t ask a question at the physical reference deskfrom within the library building or no longer come into the building” (Lipow,2003). Lipow’s focus is on rethinking reference, and indeed, this is an area inwhich she has unquestionably had an impact. Here, however, she is equallyconcerned with reshaping professional work. Lipow challenges her readersto examine and think beyond the status quo. She concludes,

In sum, librarians have begun to move the reference desk beyond thewalls of their building. Now their minds and bodies need to move, too,toward changing a status quo that is becoming outdated. The result willsurely be an image and reality of libraries and librarians raised to a newlevel of importance within their communities and beyond. A significantbyproduct of such a dramatic change will be a stronger position fromwhich to demand better pay. (p. 17)

Whether she is writing about rethinking reference or redefining our profes-sional work, Lipow has challenged reference librarians to, in short, get outof the building—which is, we suggest, what embedded librarianship is allabout.

If our services are to remain relevant, and if we are to remain responsiveto our users’ diverse information, reference, and research needs, we envision

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a future in which embedded librarians—and embedded librarianship—arethe norm rather than at the forefront. Taking this scenario one step further,we envision a future in which our libraries are organized in such a wayto support those efforts. Organizational design provides a way to connectstructure with resources, strategies, and reward systems.

Three different types of organizational structures are generallyrecognized—hierarchical, matrix, and flat. We suggest that each of these con-ventional structures promotes, to some extent, its own brand of silos—silosthat inherently pose obstacles to the assumption of new roles and respon-sibilities. For example, we question whether the hierarchical organizationstructures that define many of our libraries, with their emphasis on line, lat-eral staff and functional relationships and the relative ranks of parts and po-sitions or jobs, are flexible enough to support new roles and responsibilities.

In contrast, matrix management offers a different type of organizationalmanagement model in which people with similar skills are pooled for workassignments. We suggest that, in contrast to hierarchical structures, matrixmanagement allows team members to share information more readily acrosstask boundaries and allows for specialization that can increase depth ofknowledge and allow professional development and career progression tobe managed.

The third organizational structure mentioned—flat or horizontal organi-zations, refers to an organizational structure with few or no levels of interven-ing management between staff and managers. “The idea is that well-trainedworkers will be more productive when they are more directly involved inthe decision making process, rather than closely supervised by many layersof management. This structure is generally possible only in smaller organi-zations or individual units within larger organizations. When they reach acritical size, organizations can retain a streamlined structure but cannot keepa completely flat manager-to-staff relationship without impacting productiv-ity. Certain financial responsibilities may also require a more conventionalstructure. Some theorize that flat organizations become more traditionallyhierarchical when they begin to be geared towards productivity.”5 We ques-tion just how flexible and responsive a flat organization can be and wonderif this structure can adequately scale to support not only the rapidly evolvingand increasingly competitive environs in which we work but also new rolesand responsibilities.

Team-based organizations offer an alternative to hierarchical, matrix, orflat structures—an alternative structure that by its very nature embodies andsupports many of the values of embedded librarianship. While all organi-zations have teams, some formal, some informal, not all organizations areteam-based organizations. Teams will vary from organization to organiza-tion, not only in terms of size, composition, and formation, but also in termsof type. Independent and interdependent teams, self-managed teams andproject teams represent four types of teams often found in large, complex

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organizations. Virtual teams constitute yet a fifth type of team. Much has beenwritten about not only the prevalence, characteristics, and effectiveness ofteams in organizations but also about the promise and reality of work teamsin organizations and about the value of teams to organizational effectiveness.Virtual teams might prove to be the best organizational structure for embed-ded librarians as most of the users or teams of users embedded librariansserve are virtual themselves. Virtual teams transcend the physical boundariesof buildings, and for that matter the physical boundaries of our institutions.Whether these virtual teams are managed by one institution or supported byseveral institutions will vary depending on the needs of the users. The focuson which organizational structure works best for embedded librarianshipshould be based on user needs and not on how a particular library has beenorganized in the past.

If we truly are to get out of our buildings, we need to critically rethinkour organizational structures. All too often, our organization charts are reac-tive, rather than proactive, devices. The challenge is not simply to draw up abunch of boxes and lines to show everybody who does what. Nor is it to adddashed lines and similar artificial devices to show that what we drew first isnot really always the case. Our challenge is to craft an organization chart thatreflects where we want our organizations to go, rather than simply reflecthow they are now. Engaging the key underlying issues here—organizationplanning, communication, and management—is critical; indeed, our futureas embedded librarians depends on it.

CONCLUSION

Embedded libraries and librarians transform the conventional way of de-signing and delivering library and information services to our users. Anoverview of the various ways libraries and librarians are embedding them-selves into the research and learning environs of our users illustrates both thepotential and the power, not to mention the return on investment, of thesemodels. A review of key terms helps navigate the landscape and providescontext; appreciation of the human resources side of the equation deep-ens understanding of the landscape. Reflections on organizational structurebarely scratch the surface, raising issues that are bound to resonate withlibrary management—and librarians—in all types of libraries.

Libraries are an essential component of a nation’s—and our commu-nities,’ our institutions’, and our users’—information infrastructure. Findingthe best fit in the information infrastructure of our networked world is a tallorder, a challenge facing libraries and librarians in the twenty-first century.6

We suggest that much is to be gained by refocusing our energies toward em-bedded librarianship. Readers who seek to refocus their energies toward em-bedded librarianship might consider creating a Google alert for “embedded

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librarians,” adding a blog search gadget for “embedded libraries” to theirGoogle homepage, or subscribing to a blog search feed for “embedded li-braries” in Google Reader. Searching the Web on either topic is anotherchallenge entirely. Of course, there are myriad other ways to keep currentand monitor the latest news articles, blog posts, Web pages, and, not to men-tion, scholarly articles on the topic of embedded libraries and librarians. Ourintent here is not to favor one form of search and discovery over another.Rather, our intent is to encourage readers to explore new embedded roles forall types of libraries and for librarians in these various settings. Successfullyembedded libraries and librarians demonstrate the many ways it is possibleto transcend traditional roles and underscore the unique value we add asinstitutions and individuals.

NOTES

1. Retrieved June 14, 2008, from http://embeddedlibrarian.wordpress.com/2. http://frequanq.blogspot.com/2005/04/embedded-librarians.html3. April 13, 2008 “What’s an Embedded Librarian?” http://embeddedlibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/

04/13/whats-an-embedded-librarian/4. From David Shumaker’s blog “The Embedded Librarian;” “What’s an Embedded Librarian?”

posted April 13, 2008.5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat organization (June 21, 2008)6. For a complete discussion of the invisible library and the global information infrastructure, see

Borgman (2003). Borgman presents four challenges faced by libraries and proposes research designs toaddress each of them. The challenges involve invisible infrastructure, content and collections, preservationand access, and institutional boundaries.

REFERENCES

Bartnik, L. (2007). The embedded academic librarian: The subject specialist movesinto the discipline college. Kentucky Libraries, 71(3), 4–9.

Bell, S., Foster, N. F., & Gibbons, S. (2005). Reference librarians and the success ofinstitutional repositories. Reference Services Review, 33(3), 283–290.

Benedetti, S., Cody, S. A., & Hanerfeld, A. (2007). Integrating a digital library anda traditional library: Librarians and scientists collaborating for sustainability.Technical Services Quarterly, 24(3), 15–27.

Borgman, C. L. (2003, Spring). The invisible library: Paradox of the global informationinfrastructure. Library Trends, 51(4), 652–674.

Brandt, D. S. (2007). Librarians as partners in e-research. College & Research LibrariesNews, 68(6), 365–396.

Brown, H.-A. (2004). Clinical medical librarian to clinical informationist. ReferenceServices Review, 32(1), 45–49.

Eels, L. (2008, April). The role of librarians in the curation of born-digital resources:Building history. Tradition in Transition: Information Fueling the Future ofAgbiosciences USAIN Biennial Conference. Wooster, Ohio.

Glynn, T., & Wu, C. (2003). New roles and opportunities for academic library liaisons:Survey and recommendations. Reference Services Review, 31(2), 122–128.

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Horizon Report. (2008). Retrieved June 15, 2008, from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2008–Horizon-Report.pdf

Lewis, D. W. (2007). A strategy for academic libraries in the first quarter of the 21stcentury. College & Research Libraries, 68(5), 418–434.

Lipow, A. G. (2003). The librarian has left the building—but to where? InternetReference Services Quarterly, 8(1/2), 9–18.

Matthew, V., & Schroeder, A. (2006). The embedded librarian program. EducauseQuarterly, 29(4), 61–65.

MIT Center for Collective Intelligence. (2008). Retrieved June 15, 2008, http://cci.mit.edu/index.html

Motin, S. H., & Salela, P. M. (2006). A liaison model for integrating the library, IT,Web, and marketing teams. Technical Services Quarterly, 24(1), 1–15.

Ramsay, K. M., & Kinnie, J. (2006). The embedded librarian. Library Journal, 131(6),34–35.

SecondNature. (2008). Retrieved June 15, 2008, from http://www.nature.com/secondnature

Shumaker, D., & Tyler, L. (2007, June). Embedded library services: An initial in-quiry into practices for their development, management, and delivery. SpecialLibraries Association Annual Conference. Denver, CO. Retrieved May 24, 2008,from http://www.sla.org/pdfs/sla2007/ShumakerEmbeddedLibSvcs.pdf

Special Libraries Association. Board Document A07-32. (2007). http://www.sla.org/PDFs/boarddocs/2007/O-A07-32SLAResearchGrants.pdf. Retrieved April 27,2009.

Stewart, V. D. (2007). Embedded in the blackboard jungle: The embedded librarianprogram at Pulaski Technical College. Arkansas Libraries, 64(3), 29–32.

Trainor, C. (2007, February). We’re not in Kansas anymore! Delivery of library re-sources & services through learning management. Electronic Resources andLibraries Conference, Atlanta, GA.

VIVO. (2008). Retrieved June 15, 2008, from http://vivo.library.cornell.edu/Wheeler, A. (2008). Teaching old dirt new tricks. College & Research Libraries News,

69(2), 80–81.

SELECTED SITES TO KEEP UP WITH DEVELOPMENTSIN EMBEDDED LIBRARIANSHIP

Blended Librarian Portal, http://blendedlibrarian.org/Classroom 2.0 Network, http://www.classroom20.com/Designing Better Libraries, http://dbl.lishost.org/blog/Embedded Librarianship Blog, http://embeddedlibrarian.wordpress.com/Embedded Librarian Blog, http://embeddedlibrarian.blogspot.com/Embedded Librarians Network, http://embeddedlibrarians.ning.com/Friends: Social Networking Sites for Engaged Library Services, http://onlinesocial

networks.blogspot.com/Kept-Up Academic Librarian, http://keptup.typepad.com/Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title

=Main Page

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FURTHER READINGS

Abram, S. (2007). The future of reference in special libraries is what Informationpros can make it. Information Outlook, 11(10), 35–37.

Dewey, B. I. (2006). The embedded librarian: Strategic campus collaborations. Re-source Sharing & Information Networks, 19(1), 5–17.

Drumm, M., & Havens, B. C. (2005). A foot in the door experiments with integratinglibrary services into the online classroom. Journal of Library & Information Servicesin Distance Learning, 2(3), 25.

Fourie, I. (2006). Improving Internet reference services to distance learners. Elec-tronic Library, 24(6), 867–868.

Gillespie, D., & Brooks, M. (2001). Mission possible: Partnerships for innovation.In J. Frylinck (Ed.), Partners in Learning and Research: Changing Roles for Aus-tralian Technology Network Libraries (pp. 105–121). Adelaide: University of SouthAustralia Library.

Hightower, B., Rawl, C., & Schutt, M. (2007). Collaborations for delivering the libraryto students through WebCT. Reference Services Review, 35(4), 541–551.

Random House. (1992). Webster’s college dictionary.Smith, S. S., & Sutton, L. (2008). Embedded librarians. College & Research Libraries

News, 69(2), 71–85.Whitmore, S. C., Grefsheim, S. F., & Rankin, J. A. (2008). Informationist programme

in support of biomedical research: A programme description and preliminaryfindings of an evaluation. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 25(2), 135–141.

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