ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries November 1995/ 701 The lib ra ria n is in By Daniel K. Blewett Keeping office hours in an academic department A bibliographer in today’s academic library environment must be a flexible and multi­ talented individual. This person must not only provide reference service, bibliographic instruc­ tion, and develop a library’s collection in a cer­ tain subject area, but also conduct effective li­ aison work with the faculty. Lawrence Miller said, “Liaison work is one o f the few poten­ tially effective methods we have to make an impact on the problem o f the nonuser [or inef­ ficient user]. At the same time, it can assist in maintaining the library’s visibility as the pri­ mary campus information agency.”1 Efficient liaison work requires effective com­ munication to departments about what the li­ brary is doing, as well as hearing the complaints and suggestions from the faculty and students.2 One must conduct a variety o f outreach activi­ ties to maintain and improve effective relations and communications with the faculty.3 History and political science are very much print-oriented fields, much more so than the sciences, which do much o f their research in laboratories. Indeed, the library is the labora­ tory for many academicians. When a report was received that a California university had bibli­ ographers conducting office hours in academic departments, it was decided that Loyola Uni­ versity should experiment with a similar pro­ gram for these two academic departments. Planning Issues that were considered during the prelimi­ nary planning process included: 1) Could this additional role be added eas­ ily to the bibliographer’s workload? Since fac­ ulty liaison work is a natural and important part o f a bibliographer’s duties, changes could be made in other portions o f my workload to al­ low time for this experiment. 2) Would the absence o f the bibliographer cause staffing problems in the Reference De­ partment? The Cudahy Library is fortunate in having enough reference staff to be able to handle any reference questions coming in while the bibliographer is gone, so this was not con­ sidered a problem. 3) What would the bibliographer be doing hile in the office hours? The librarian would be making contacts with the faculty and stu­ dents, providing assistance with their informa­ ion needs, informing his clientele o f library activities and services, and working on projects he had brought from the library. 4) Would publicity about a successful pro­ ram create a demand in other academic de­ partments for more service that the library could ot meet, due to staffing and time constraints? So far this has not proven to be a problem. Intended audience o alert the faculty and students to the avail­ ability o f this new service, appropriate an­ ouncements were made in departmental meet­ ings, flyers were posted in the library and in he departments, and individuals were informed y word o f mouth. With regard to the types and numbers o f visitors, experience has proven hat faculty members by far outnumber all other isitors, as expected. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the bibliographer is positioned lose to their offices, so it is easy for them to ust drop in, rather than having to make a spe­ cial trip to the library. Most o f their questions sually have something to do with collection evelopment, such as ordering a book or ask­ ing why a particular title is not in the collec- w t g n T n t b t v c j u d D aniel K. Blewett is government documents librarian a nd bibliographer f o r bistory and p o litica l science at Loyola University o f Chicago; e-mail: DBLEWET@LUCCPUA.BITNET 702/ C&RL News tion. Research questions are much fewer in number, but more interesting to work with. It is important to focus on faculty in that they are a relatively stable population o f library users who need to be informed o f new biblio­ graphic sources and research techniques. Also, through them, librarians can reach more stu­ dents, either directly when a professor brings a class into the library for a bibliographic instruc­ tion session, or indirectly when the professor tells the students about some new source or service in the library, or else encourages them to seek out librarians for research assistance.4 Graduate students are the next most numer­ ous visitors, and most o f their questions con­ cern how to do certain types o f research, ei­ ther for themselves or for faculty members. This makes sense, since they are supposed to be learning how to carry out more complicated research projects, and since many o f them do not know how to conduct library research. It is important to catch graduate students early in their training, so as to educate them on the role and importance o f librarians, how to conduct research effectively, and to open their minds to the wide range o f information resources avail­ able. O f the two departments, I get more re­ search questions from graduate students in political science than in history. Perhaps this is because many o f their questions deal either with government publications (always a confusing subject), or current information that is harder to find and which may require the use o f vari ous computer systems to track down. The departmental secretaries consult with me about problems they are having in com­ pleting some faculty request having to do with library procedures, such as hours or services. It is rare that they ask a more standard refer­ ence question for other types o f information. Undergraduates are the least frequent visi­ tors, probably because they are in the depart­ ment offices less than the other patron groups. Also, because their information needs are gen­ erally less complex, they are usually satisfied with the assistance they receive at the library, so they rarely make it a point to seek out the librarian during office hours, or even at the li­ brary for that matter. They also tend to have little patience with learning about new refer­ ence tools or research techniques. Location Librarians, like business people, know that lo­ cation is o f primary importance. The same holds true in this instance. Not every academic de­ partment will have the equipment or space re­ sources to offer the librarian a good place to hold office hours, so one may have to work from an informal seating area. In the History Department I am allowed to use the faculty study. Although it is not situ­ ated with the administrative offices, it is sur­ rounded by faculty offices. The real plus o f this site is that there is a computer available through which I can access the library’s catalog, as well as the university gopher and the Internet. In the Political Science Department I am al­ lowed to use an office in the administrative suite. This is an excellent location as there is a lot o f traffic through the area by both students and faculty. Visibility is important; let the fac­ ulty see that you are helping people during the office hours, and not just at the library. Services an d a d v a n ta g e s • Faculty and students no longer have to call or walk over to the library for everything, they can just visit the librarian in the depart­ ment for assistance (the convenience factor). • Faculty and students can have more con­ tact with their bibliographer, in a quiet and com­ fortable location, to discuss research projects or problems they are having using the library (the communication factor). John Donahue said, “dialogue with library faculty is an important first step in [a faculty member’s] own academic use o f the resources found in the library.”5 • The bibliographer can use the computer (if one is available) to instruct visitors on how to use the library’s databases or the Internet. N eg atives As with most things in life, there are some nega­ tive aspects associated with office hours for li­ brarians. An obvious point is that the person holding office hours outside the library does not have full access to the various printed and electronic information sources available within the library. The question must be written down and worked on later, or an appointment made to demonstrate research tools and techniques at a later time. Many times librarians must de­ lay in answering a question due to lack o f avail­ able staff, the workload o f the librarian, and the complexity o f the question. Faculty and stu­ dents have, in my experience, been understand­ ing o f the limitations the librarian is working under while holding office hours, and are will­ ing to wait a reasonable time for an answer. November 1995/703 Another objection is that attending office hours outside the library removes an experi­ enced professional from the location where he or she is expected to be found by patrons and staff. In these cases it is accepted that either a message will be left for the absent individual, or someone else will handle the question. Positives Office hours should not be viewed as wasted time by either the librarian or the library ad­ ministration. Librarians always have plenty of things that can be done outside the library, such as reading the mail, working on collection de­ velopment, keeping up with the professional literature, etc. Not having all o f the usual inter­ ruptions that occur when I am in my office is delightful. And getting away from the library, as well as interacting with other people in a relaxed setting, can be rejuvenating. If a librarian is fortunate enough to use the departmental reading room for the office hours, then one can become familiar with the serial and monographic materials available in the department and see how they complement the library’s holdings. The librarian could offer to organize the reading room during office hours, and maybe even be allowed to transfer to the library those items not already in its collection. Perhaps the primary benefit is one that can­ not really be measured scientifically, and that falls under the realm o f improving relations between the library and the faculty. The fac­ ulty and students seem to appreciate being able to discuss with a librarian their problems and concerns about the library. I am now more aware o f faculty and student research interests, they contact me directly for help more often, and more students are referred to me for assis­ tance. The faculty are powerful actors in the aca­ demic environment. It is important for them to see that librarians are more than just collection maintainers, and that w e are supporting the institution’s (and their own) teaching and re­ search missions in imaginative ways. This can translate into valuable political support for the library during the institutional budget process. Conclusion Although both the negative and positive fac­ tors associated with a librarian’s office hours are virtually unquantifiable, it is my opinion that the positives far outweigh the negatives. The negative factors appear to be relatively minor, and should easily be addressed by proper consultation and planning between the bibliographer and library administration. This kind o f proactive program improves library-fac ulty relations. Feedback from the faculty and students, to both myself and the library admin­ istration, has been very positive, and I have increased my personal contacts with the fac­ ulty and students o f the departments for which I am responsible. As the faculty have become more familiar with me, and as I have proven that I can answer their questions and assist in their problems, I have become more accepted as a professional colleague. This is an easy and enjoyable noncopyrighted program that should be examined and adopted by other academic libraries. Author note: I’d like to thank the library ad­ ministration as well as the reference staff o f the Cudahy Library for their support, and Diane J. Graves, associate dean o f libraries at the Uni­ versity o f Mississippi, for her comments. In addition, it should be noted that the Cudahy Library’s Interlibrary Loan Department provided fast and efficient service in acquiring requested research materials. Notes 1. Laurence Miller, “Liaison Work in the Aca­ demic Library,” RQ 16 (spring 1977): 215. 2. John Lubans suggests that librarians do not listen enough to their clientele. See John L. Lubans, “Sherlock’s Dog, or, Managers and Mess Finding,” Library Administration and Manage­ ment 8 (summer 1994): 144. 3. Connie Wu, Michael Bowman, Judy Gardner, Robert G. Sewell, and Myoung Chung Wilson, “Effective Liaison Relationships in an Academic Library,” College and Research Librar ies News 55 (May 1994): 254, 303; and Richard M. Dougherty, “Needed: User-Responsive Re­ search Libraries,” Library Journal 116 (January 1991): 62. 4. Anne G. Lipow discusses faculty desires for convenience and control in “Outreach to Faculty: Why and How,” in Linda Shirato, ed., Working with Faculty in the New Electronic Li­ brary: Papers and Sessions Materials Presented at the Nineteenth National LOEX Library Instruc tion Conference Held at Eastern Michigan Uni­ versity, 10 to 11 May 1991, Library Orientation Series (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Pierian Press, 1992), 7– 10. 5. John M. Donahue, “Essential Dialogue,” Research Strategies 7 (spring 1989): 54.