librarianship =

I’m the Data Services & Government Information Librarian at the University of NC at Greensboro and this is my third go at Library Day in the Life.

Today is an atypical “work” day for me as I have taken some time off to work on a large project. So, my library day in the life has been errands, writing, tea steeping, writing, miso soup making, writing, and not much more. The point to get from today is that (some) librarians write. Luckily most of us aren’t required to write (unlike academics), but we have opportunities to do so.

I’ve been thinking about writing and librarianship a bit this weekend (wonder why?!) and the common complaints about the quality of library literature. Granted, some articles could have a better editing process. And granted, some people should just not write. But coming from a field with excellent research agendas (political science) and pretty dismal writing quality (I dare you to read Bruce Bueno de Mesquita), I guess I appreciate an article that is just plain READABLE. Plus one that applies to what I actually do in my library daily life.

Library literature lacks the rigor of other types of academic writing, undoubtedly, but while I appreciate a well-researched article, I admit that I read more often to learn about how other libraries are doing new projects or offering new services. Our work would be lacking if we didn’t have the case study format. The evidence is in my treatment of College and Research Libraries News (CRLN) versus College and Research Libraries (CRL). Of these two ACRL publications, CRLN is focused on case studies and “how we did it” type articles while CRL is solidly research in the library field (lots of citation analyses). I typically read CRLN cover to cover. I rip out articles that I want to keep and file or give to others. I’ll find articles in PDF format to keep for my interns to read. I actually look up quite a few of the URLs and post them to my delicious account. I use it.

CRL on the other hand usually sits on my shelf. I’ll skim the titles, and read them if I think I’ll get fired if I don’t or if one of them starts a conversation. Mostly though, it sits on my shelf. (Sorry CRL!) Maybe I’m just too busy to absorb the wisdom of CRL, which is probably very true, but with my busy day I have to make choices and I will choose the options that will benefit my work (or patrons). The cynical librarian may even say that CRL is only meant to satisfy some institutions’ tenure requirements while CRLN is the publication we actually read. But that would be cynical and you didn’t hear it from me.

So, in honor of the library day in the life round 5 and to a day of writing, I raise my mug of tea to the case study. May you thrive and prosper and keep lyndamk forever well-informed.

Now, enough procrastinating! Back to writing…