From Theory to Practice:
the Great Divide?
Tschera Harkness Connell
Head, Access, Support, Accounting Dept.
Ohio State University Libraries
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Why librarianship?
Librarians … still enter the field with a
passion for connecting people to
knowledge, and for the joy that this
engagement and connectivity bring.
-- Karen Schmidt
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
(thc)
Purpose of the Library
To select, organize, protect, and provide access to
significant or representative graphic texts
To organize and present information to foster the
intellectual growth of society
-- Karen Schmidt
What is needed to do this?
Theory and Practice
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Theory
a formulation of apparent relationships or
underlying principles of certain observed
phenomena which has been verified to
some degree
Webster’s New World Dictionary
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Theory
See also
Principle
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Principle
an essential element, constituent, or
quality, esp. one that produces a special
effect (the active principle of medicine)
Webster’s New World Dictionary
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Service
Theory of Service
• Resources are for use
• Every resource its user
• Resources are for all
• Save the time of the user
• The library is a changing
organism
Ranganathan paraphrased
3/4/2005
Questions of Practice
• Which resources?
• Service to whom?
• How?
• At what cost?
• At whose costs?
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Theory
• is neither hypothesis nor law
• builds upon the past
(“is formulation of … underlying principles …
which has been verified to some degree”)
• gives us a contextual framework in which
we develop our passion
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Evolving Theories of Service
in Technical Services
•
•
•
•
Collection Development
Selection
Organization
Provision of access
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Collection (n.)
Changing definitions
• physical items locally owned
• physical items borrowed from others
• purchased or subscribed to items
• leased items
• “free” items
Collection: the resources we provide
access to.
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Selection (n.)
Changing practice of
• selecting individual items
• selecting groups of items
• selecting aggregations of items
• selecting in cooperation with others
• mixing and matching content (e.g.
databases)
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Organization (n.)
New ways developed when quantity of
breaks the current system
•
•
•
•
Memory  Finding lists
Incipits  Titles
Titles  Rules for names
Library “hand”  Printed cards
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Organization (n.)
Changing context
• Local  Shared description
• Single record  Batched records
• Single metadata scheme  Multiple schema
• Librarian created  End-user created data
• People created  Machine created data
• Seaching  a form of organization
• Display driven
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Laws of Technical Services
Service
Service …
and more Service
through selecting, organizing, protecting,
and providing access to information
by organizing & presenting information to
foster the intellectual growth of society
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
For Technical Services:
•
•
•
•
•
5 Rules for Practice
Change is
Learn to learn
Do no harm
Think differently
Risk and grow
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Change is.
Change was.
Change will be.
Change demands response.
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Learn to Learn
Read widely
Research (test assumptions)
Continuing
Education:
Network
Attend content
meetings/workshops
THINK
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Do No Harm
• Know your data
• Know your system
FOLLOW international, national, and state
STANDARDS
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Think Differently
Examples:
• Ubiquitous example: Google
• Peanut butter sandwiches
• Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company
or
IBM?
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Risk and Grow
• Keep dreaming
• Allow failure
• Most important part of the job:
“Other duties as assigned”
3/4/2005
ALAO Tech Serv Interest Group
Thank you
Contact information:
Tschera Connell
connell.17@osu.edu