ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 710/C&RL News The W a y I See 1t M adonna in the h allo w ed h a lls B y E lle n M etter Use o f popular media in collection development and reference T he time has come for all good academic librarians to switch on MTV. That is ex­ actly what graduate student Charles W. Wells did when he wrote his 230-page Florida State University M.A. thesis on Madonna (the singer Madonna, that is). Classroom faculty often urge students, es­ pecially those just learning to do research pa­ pers, to “choose a topic o f interest to you so you will enjoy writing the paper!” Are librar­ ians always familiar enough with popular me­ dia to be prepared when students want to blend a popular media event or phenomena into the topic o f a scholarly paper? Are librarians in tune with some o f the popular passions o f college students? The question is: Are librarians neglecting cer­ tain popular media sources, believing them to be unrelated to collection development and ref­ erence? George Bush, in his 1992 campaign for reelection as president, made what seems in hindsight to have been a miscalculation. He refused to appear on MTV because it was not “presidential.” Hopefully, librarians will not make the same mistake in deciding that popu­ lar media is just not “academic” and so has nothing to offer us. Last year a student came up to the reference desk and asked where he could find articles on Snoop Doggy Dogg. N ow be honest, how many o f you would have responded to this question by looking up articles on Charles M. Schultz and the “Peanuts” comic strip? Through my popular media browsings I knew that Snoop D oggy Dogg was a rap singer and even knew to add the double-g on the last “Dogg.” Now the student wasn’t impressed because he prob­ ably assumed that everyone would know the rapper. (And if you are a rap-music-loving li­ brarian, you are equally unimpressed.) But the point is, I didn’t have to conduct a reference interview in order to start assisting my patron. Becom ing a m ass m edia hound H ow well rounded should librarians be? W e know the importance o f browsing academic and trade journals, but what is the place o f mass media in collection development? And what do w e need to keep up with? Should w e fill our evenings with M a rried with Children, The Simpson’s, and The Home Shopping Network? Well, it might not be as useless as you think. Almost anything you absorb may be useful later: The Home Shopping Network is a good ex­ ample o f new consumerism. What are some of the reasons that people shop from home? What are some o f the psychological techniques those on the network use to convince viewers to spend? You would probably be best able to help a researcher if you had seen this phenom­ ena for yourself. Married with Children is a sa­ tirical look at familial relationships. Do some o f the broad and seemingly foolish interactions depicted have a basis in reality? The Simpsons was mentioned recently in an article from The Sciences (November/Decem­ ber 1994) titled “The Solace o f Patterns,” an article by Stanford professor Robert M. Sapolsky. In this piece Sapolsky uses the actions o f the dad on The Simpsons (Hom er) to illustrate the stages o f grief. If Sapolsky can call on Homer, Bart, and the gang for illustration, then our stu­ dents certainly can! M ass m edia surfing There is simply not enough time to absorb all o f mass media, just as there is not enough time Ellen Metter is professional studies bibliographer at A u raria Library in Denver; e-mail: emetter®castle. cudenver.edu. She has ju s t published The Writer’s Ultimate Research Guide (W rite r’s Digest Press, 1995). November 1995/711 to stay abreast o f the cutting-edge scholarship in different areas, fine arts, and technological advances. But mass media can be easy to slip in here and there. Simple familiarity with some of it can be an asset. Try perusing some o f the following: You r local com m unity p a p e r This recommendation goes out particularly to those who live in areas where major newspa­ pers like the New York Times and the Washing­ ton Post overshadow the local papers. Many years ago, when I was a librarian in N ew Jer­ sey, most o f my colleagues chose to read the Times over the local Star Ledger. While few would dispute that such heavy-hitting papers have worthwhile information for the informa­ tion professional, some might question the lo­ cal rag, which often will contain reprints o f ar­ ticles from the better-known papers. But community papers have one great ad­ vantage over the national papers: they care about the community, state, and region they are based in. Residential college students be­ come a part o f that commu­ nity. There is junk and sen­ sationalism to wade through but there is also news o f community leaders, new businesses, specialized con­ cerns, and in flu en tia l groups that may shape the interests o f your clientele. The local paper also has a unique and popular fea­ ture not found in the Wall Street Journal or the Chris­ tian Science M onitor: com­ ics! You never know what gems you’ll find there. Consider the controversial series o f LuAnn comics in which the teenage lead character begins menstruation and the many characters of the strip discuss it. It was fascinating and thought-provoking (and was unfortunately banned from running in some newspapers). w a rd sh ow s Programs that honor the popular favorites in music, theater, and other performing and vi sual arts, such as the Academy o f Country M u sic Awards and the Grammy Awards offer a quick method o f getting up-to-date on main stream performers. (In fact, I saw and heard Snoop D oggy Dogg on such a program. Not bad.) A Exp erien ce so m e “ hot” n e tw o rk s an d sh o w s on TV an d rad io There is no need to watch each and every show religiously . . . though you may find that you want to! But make it a goal to experience at least some o f the media that a great percentage o f your students are absorbing. MTV runs 24 hours a day. If you are a cable subscriber, flip to it during the commercials o f your favorite shows. Could your patrons be among the 12 mil­ lion plus w ho listen to Rush Limbaugh? While some o f us may not be fans o f his, there is no denying that the man plants many ideas; ideas that may be investigated at the library. C hild ren’s television The children o f today may be freshman some­ where dow n the line. D o you know what morphing action is? If not, you’re not familiar with the popular Mighty Morphin Power Rang ers. Modem children’s educational television can be a marvelous place to learn things. From watching N ick elod eon ’s W ild Side Show I learned that the camel does not store water in its hump (that’s fat up there), and that only 62 condors are now known to exist but that they are slow ly being reintro­ duced to nature. (H ey, I don’t want some six-year- old to know more about camels and condors than I do.) What are the chances that someone will ask you a question or request a source relating to the latest radio talk show program or last night’s sitcom? Most librarians I have spoken with agree on this mysterious phenomena: once you learn or become aware o f something, you get a query about it! So do some channel surfing or pick up a local paper. Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to be a Snoop D oggy D ogg fan. Most librarians I have spoken with agree on this myste­ rious phenomena: once you learn or become a w a re of something, you get a query about it!