International Librarianship at Home and Abroad

International Librarianship at Home and Abroad

Karen Bordonaro

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Series Page

Copyright

List of Figures

About the Author

Chapter 1. The Study of International Librarianship

Introduction

From My Corner of the World

Background Literature in Librarianship

Comparative Librarianship

Definitions of International Librarianship

Critiques of International Librarianship

Contributions From Beyond North America

Core Journals in International Librarianship

The Role of English

North American Content

Weaknesses of Library Literature

Literature of International Higher Education

Summary

Chapter 2. Current Practices in International Librarianship

Practices From Documents

Document Analysis

Summary

Chapter 3. International Librarianship Survey: What Are Librarians Broadly Thinking?

Methodology

Survey Results

Summary

Chapter 4. International Librarianship Interviews: What Are Individual Librarians Thinking About Deeply?

Participants

Being International

Personal Definitions of International Librarianship

Are You an International Librarian?

Librarian Roles in International Librarianship

Meaning of Roles

Should International Librarianship Be a Course in Library School?

What Should the Role of English Be in International Librarianship?

Summary

Chapter 5. The Many Forms of International Librarianship Abroad and at Home

Forms of International Librarianship Abroad

Forms of International Librarianship at Home

Further Considerations

Summary

Chapter 6. Internationalization at Home

Internationalization at Home in Higher Education

Bringing It Home in Libraries

Practicing at Home in Libraries

Dual Nature of Internationalization at Home

Attitudes and Self-Beliefs

Summary

Chapter 7. Reframing International Librarianship

Reframing

Reframing International Librarianship

Summary

Chapter 8. Putting International Librarianship Into Practice: Beginning Points

Multiple Entry Points

International Aspects

Borders

Processes as Ways to Begin

Connections, Education, and Service

Summary

Chapter 9. Wider Themes and Trends

Revisiting Themes From International Higher Education

Trends in Librarianship

Wider Trends

Individual Circumstances

Anchoring the Practice of International Librarianship

Summary

Chapter 10. What Next? Moving International Librarianship Forward

Assessment

Added Value

Best Practices

Geographical Levels

Nationality of Participants

Global English

Summary

Chapter 11. The Role of English in International Librarianship

Genesis

Role of English Findings

Extending These Findings

Further Perspectives

Finding New Voices

Summary

Chapter 12. Ending and Beginning

Summary of Three Major Findings

Implications for Practice

Limitations

Need for Further Research

Practice and Theory

Connections, Education, and Service

Revisiting My Definition

A New Beginning

Appendix A. Online Survey

Appendix B. Personal Interview Guide

Index

Series Page

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Copyright

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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

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.

Chapter 1

The Study of International Librarianship

Abstract

This chapter introduces the topic of international librarianship and explains why I want to take a new look at it in terms of how it is practiced both at home and abroad. It offers readers various definitions and perspectives from the library literature, including considerations of its North American expressions and the role of English in its practice. It also offers further perspectives from the literature of higher education that can potentially broaden its understanding and practice for librarians, such as internationalization at home and transnational education. Its purpose is to set the stage for the research study that comprises the core content of this book.

Keywords

Higher education literature; International librarianship; Internationalization; Library literature; Role of English; Transnational education

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 information 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 marginalized 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 understandings 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. 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 librarianship. 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.

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 descriptive 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), program 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 traveling 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 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, practice, 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 synonymous 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 individuals 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 establishment of an international organization that continues to support library development across the globe (Witt, 2014, pp. 506–507). In addition to 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 America have made definite contributions. Mohd, Yusof, and Umar (2014), for example, reported in depth on the building of academic consortia in Malaysia, Al-Ansari (2008) performed a bibliographic analysis on LIS (library and information science) journals in Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the Middle East, and Kanyengo (2009) studied patterns of collection development needs in Zambia, Africa. Librarians from Europe have contributed to the literature of international librarianship as well, as seen in Zmroczek’s (2002) investigation of characteristics of Baltic collections in United Kingdom libraries and Von Jordan-Bonin and Ruch’s (2008) notes on German school librarians’ international work. In other examples of library literature concerning librarianship outside North America, Kendrick (2014) conducted a phenomenological study of Korean academic librarians, and cooperative efforts with librarians in the Caribbean and Latin America have also been explored (Massis, 2002). Australian librarians in particular have had a strong history of contributing to the literature of international librarianship, as evinced by Byrne (2005).

Taken together, however, these contributions from non-North American authors still represent a minority of the literature tagged as international librarianship in journals that form the commonly accepted core of scholarly library literature. Core journals in LIS include titles such as College & Research Libraries, the Journal of Academic Librarianship, Library Quarterly, Library Trends, and so on, according to studies produced in both North America (Kohl & Davis, 1985; Nixon, 2014) and Australia (Smith & Middleton, 2009). This predominance of North American authors and peer reviewers in an increasingly internationalized library world was noted succinctly in July 2016 in the first editorial by the new College & Research Libraries editor: While these findings make sense in view of the fact that C&RL is an English language publication, the lack of international representation is thought-provoking when considering the ongoing conversations around the significance of globalization and diversity in higher education (Kasper, 2016, pp. 406–407).

Core Journals in International Librarianship

Interestingly, a study conducted in 1992 using five different journals as core journals specifically in the area of international librarianship yielded much more mixed results in terms of North American authorship (Raptis, 1992). In that study, Raptis looked at author characteristics for the five journals which he defined as best representing international library and information science journals because they had been in existence for