Bibliotherapy:
A Collaboration Goes to the Web
Paula McMillen & Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson
Oregon State University
ALA National Conference - Poster
Orlando, FL – June 26, 2004
Abstract
After four years of revisions, a collaborative project involving library and
counselor education faculty on evaluating therapeutic use of child/adolescent
literature has made the leap to the World Wide Web. Originally designed as a
paper and pencil measure for training graduate students in bibliotherapy, the
tool was upgraded to a Web-accessible format and Web-accessible database of
completed evaluations. Graduate counseling and library interns were involved
in the process of refining the evaluation items to insure Web-based
compatibility. Future directions include Website usability testing, tracking
therapeutic literature use trends, and determining tool effectiveness for
increasing competence of emerging counselors in literature use for therapy. An
overview of bibliotherapy needs and benefits, review of project development
and implementation, and presentation of the current Bibliotherapy Website will
be presented. Although this project emerged from collaboration in an academic
arena, previous project presentations at library elicited strong interest from
public librarians in the potential value of such a database of evaluations for
working with their patron populations.
Bibliotherapy Education
Project
The birth of this four year
project began with a cup of
coffee and a simple
conversation. We pondered on
the use of books by various
helping professionals .
Spontaneously, we posed two
questions to each other,
“How do therapists, teachers,
etc. know what books to
recommend?” and
“How do they choose and
evaluate materials?”…
…the project was born.
Bibliotherapy
“a rose by any other name…”
• (AKA) Known by many
names:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bilbio-counseling
Biblio-guidance
Biblio-psychology
Book matching
Literatherapy
Library Therapeutics
Literapeutics
Reading Therapy
And many more…
Use of reading materials for
help in solving personal
problems or for
psychiatric therapy
• Webster’s Collegiate 10th Ed., 1997
Literally involves treatment
through books
• Pardeck & Pardeck, 1998
Guided reading of written
materials to help the
reader grow in self
awareness
• Harris & Hodges, 1995
Process of dynamic
interaction between the
personality of the reader
and literature under the
guidance of a trained
helper
• Shrodes, 1950
Defining
Bibliotherap
y
Benefits
of
Bibliotherap
y
• Increases Empathetic Understanding of Others
(cultures, lifestyles and lived experiences)
• Enhances Insight and Integration
• Promotes Coping Skills
• Provides Information and Alternatives
• Stimulates Discussion of Feelings and Ideas
• Increases Enjoyment of Literature and Reading
-Problem
Statement• Books are widely used in
clinical settings
• Limited training, tools or
strategies for emerging
or practicing clinicians
• Limited funds/materials
for graduate students
• Criteria for selecting
materials for a working
collection
• Criteria for selecting
materials for clients
The
Learning
Objectives
•
•
•
•
•
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To increase understanding of the uses of literature in therapy
To provide a tool to help practitioners consistently evaluate materials
To offer supervision in evaluating materials & use in therapeutic settings
To build a library collection to support curriculum and research
To increase the availability of evaluated books to subsequent students
To increase the number of book evaluations available by making the
evaluation tool more widely available
• To organize resources for learning about Bibliotherapy & finding books
Process: Web Relocation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Reformatting the Evaluation Tool
–
Paper & pencil  Web based
–
Narrative  categories,
ratings, short answers
–
Library school intern
Tooling Up to Technology
–
Web design
–
Database design
Usability testing
Graduate counseling students
Communication
Regular team meetings
Project E-mail list
Other “stakeholders”
Sponsorship of the Web site
Page appearance
Ongoing funding mechanisms
Administrative Support
Project
Methods
• Literature review
• Articulate clinical
criteria
• Expert face validity
• Learning module
• Student involvement
• Survey research
• Cross-disciplinary
consultation
• Regular communication,
feedback, input
• Mutual respect for
unique contributions
Research
Discoveries
• Literature Review
– Widespread use
– Years of research
– Specific topics and populations
– Few practice and evaluation
guidelines
• Electronic development
– Complex
– Plan infrastructure to
accommodate future research
• Graduate Counseling students
tested pre- and post-learning
module (self-report survey)
– Significant increase in
knowledge of Bibliotherapy
benefits and uses
– Significant increase in comfort
level with using literature in
therapy reported
• Clinical Supervision
– Practice and teaching lead to
competence
Future
Directions
• Continued usability testing
of overall Web site design
• Further development of
database search options
• Increase flexibility of site
and database structure for
ease of maintenance
• Establish ongoing funding
mechanisms
• Promote use to librarians
and helping professionals
to build database of
evaluated literature
Future Projects
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Create Librarian Guide
Analyze Database
Fund Student Assistantships
Refine Evaluation Tool
Create Therapist Guide
Enhance Website Content
Upgrade Website Functions
Publish and Disseminate
• Refine Teaching
Lessons Learned
• You can’t overcommunicate
• Regular meetings of
the collaborators are
essential for progress
• Find money!
Aggressively solicit
grants, donors,
sponsors
• Collaboration is messy
& complex but worth it!
For more
information …
http://bibliotherapy.library.oregonstate.edu
Dr. Paula McMillen
paula.mcmillen@oregonstate.edu
Phone 541.737.7272
Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
Dr. Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson
dale.pehrsson@oregonstate.edu
Phone 541.737-8551
New School of Education
311 Education Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon 97331