Librarian-Faculty Collaboration: An
Imperative for Higher Education
DANE WARD
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR PUBLIC
SERVICES,
ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY
 What is collaboration?
What does it look like?
 Why is collaboration
an imperative for
academic libraries and
higher education?
 If it is so important,
how do we get there?
The Quest for Collaboration
 Networking
 Coordination
 Collaboration
Collaboration and Related Concepts
 Networking involves exchanging information
for mutual benefit; an informal process with few
clear goals.
 Coordination occurs when individuals have
identified a common goal, but work towards it
independently, each completing their parts;
they have no overlapping responsibilities.
What is Collaboration?
“A mutually beneficial and well-designed
relationship entered into by two or more
individuals to achieve common goals.”
--Mattesich and Monsey, Collaboration: What Makes it
Work, 1992.
Looking at Collaboration
Martin Buber’s I and Thou
I-It
An everyday view of people
and the world
Viewing others from a
distance
I-Thou
A reaching out to people
and the world
Entering into relationship;
potentially boundary-less
connection to others
World of things and objects World of subjects with
whom we have relationships
and care for
Martin Buber’s I and Thou
“All real living is meeting.”
“Only when things become
our It, can they be
coordinated. The Thou
knows no system of
coordination.”
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division,
Moments of discovery
 “The moments of discovery, the ‘collaborative moments,’
take place when a pair of friends are so open and trusting
with one another that they can share their wildest, most
tentatively held ideas. In these moments, new ideas seem to
emerge from the dialogue without ‘belonging’ to either of
the pair, and afterward they may not be able to say who had
the ideas first.” (Farrell, M. Collaborative Circles, 2001)
Three Phases of Collaboration
 Collegial—the two
partners stay in their
own domains and
work from the
conventions of their
own disciplines.
 Interpersonal—the partners begin to explore personal
and interdisciplinary areas of interest. They take an
interest in aspects of the other field, and attempt to
incorporate new ideas into their own.
Three Phases of Collaboration
 Syncretic—the
boundaries separating
disciplines begin to blur,
and the partners are in the
space of collaboration, or
of listening together in a
special way. The partners
find a common language
and way of working.
Why is robust
collaboration
like this
important for
the future of
libraries and
higher
education?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
Collaboration: Driving Forces
 What we’ve known:
 Deep relationships
yield strong student
learning
 Personal and
professional meaning,
 Faculty and librarian
retention
Collaboration: Driving Forces
“…calls for accountability and for quantitative
measures of library contributions to research,
teaching, and service missions…”
--Mullins, J.L., Allen, F. R., and Hufford, J. R. Top ten assumptions for the future
of academic libraries and librarians,
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews /backissues2007
/april07/tenassumptions.cfm)
Collaboration: Driving Forces
Employers want
graduates who can:
• problem solve
• work in groups
• communicate
effectively
Collaboration: Driving Forces
A pedagogical revolution focused on
relational learning
• Collaborative learning communities
• Active, experience-based learning
• Technologically enhanced learning
(Gene Rice, Senior Scholar, American Association of Colleges &
Universities, April 26, 2008)
Collaboration: Driving Forces
Generational
changes in
academic work,
evolving from
more
individualistic to
more collaborative
work.
(Gene Rice, AACU, 2008)
American Environmental Photographs
Collection, [AEP Image Number, e.g., AEPMIN73], Department of Special Collections,
University of Chicago Library.
Collaboration: Driving Forces
Emerging participative,
boundary-spanning
working and learning
styles is gradually
breaking down the
departmentalization of
an industrial-era
institution.
Lack of time
Individualistic
personalities
Resilience of
organizational
culture
Evaluation
processes
Inadequate
institutional
planning
Barriers to Collaboration
“There are no
recipes or
formulae, no
checklists or
advice that
describe
‘reality.’ There
is only what we
create through
our engagement
with others and
with events.”
--Margaret
Wheatley
Pathways to Collaboration
The 5 Ps of Collaboration
 Passion—Discovering
your enthusiasm as a
librarian and collaborator
 Project—Developing a
clearly defined project
with collaborative
implications
 Play—Finding the ability
to play with another in
pursuit of the project
The 5 Ps of Collaboration
 Promote it—Talking
about the project and
searching for possible
collaborators
 Persist against
opposition —learning
how to sustain your
project when confronted
by obstacles
Developing the Collaborative Culture
 “Transforming the culture—changing the way we do
things around here—is the main point. This reculturing (process is) one that activates and deepens
moral purpose through collaborative work cultures
that respect differences and constantly build and test
knowledge against measurable results—a culture
within which one realizes that sometimes being off
balance is a learning moment.”
--Michael Fullan, Leading in a Culture of Change, 2001
Must question
“what we do
around here”
Moral purpose
Collaborative
work cultures
that respect
differences
Tests knowledge
against results
Fullan on Culture and Collaboration
Clarity about
what we want
to accomplish
and the ability
to see gaps
between our
ideal or vision
and the
present
How to create a
collaborative organization
How to create a collaborative organization
A Learning Library
with Soul
Everybody learns; it benefits
our patrons and ourselves
Greater intentionality
through dialogue
Structured to facilitate
relationships and achieving
our goals
Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline
 Personal Mastery
 Mental Models
 Shared Vision
 Team Learning
 Systems Thinking
Life is about Collaboration
“We discover who we are face to face and side by side
with others in work, love, and learning. All of our
activity goes on in relationships, groups,
associations, and communities ordered by
institutional structures and interpreted by cultural
patterns of meaning.”
Robert Bellah et al, Habits of the Heart, 1985