between a rock pool and a hard place

librarians as a keystone species in the information

ecology

nardi says“ access to information is a fundamental

need in today’s world, it must be supported to the fullest, which means a living breathing community of helpful

people.the human touch will become more, not

less important as online information resources grow and information tools

proliferate ”Information Ecologies: Using Technologies with Heart:

Nardi, O’Day:1999

a little background• Neither O’Day or Nardi are librarians. They

both have research backgrounds and have spent many years in Silicon Valley

• Nardi is an anthropologist. Her ethnographic study at the Apple library was part of a project to develop computer based “intelligent agents” that could do reference and research as well as humans…sound familiar?

• it was her aim to study how intelligent human agents operate….agents in the form of Reference Librarians

ecologies:the diversity of lifebiologist Edward O Wilson writes

“as biodiversity is reduced, so is the quality of services provided by the ecosystems. As extinction spreads in

stressed ecosystems, some of the lost forms prove to be ‘keystone species’…The loss of a keystone species is

like a drill accidentally striking a powerline. It causes lights to go out all over”

Wilson: The diversity of life p347-348

why information ecologies?

“an information ecology is defined simply as a system of people, practices, technologies and

values in a particular local environment. In information ecologies the spotlight is not on technology but on human activities that are

served by technology”Nardi:1999:50

library as an information ecology

a library has• librarians• clients• tools• a specific set of work practices - reference interview• techniques - electronic database searching• different technologies - print, paper, electronic• values

characteristics

information and biological ecologies both have• diversity • locality• presence of a keystone species

diversity

• Necessary for the health of the ecology itself• it permits the system to survive continual sometimes

chaotic change• in an information ecology there are different kinds of

people with different kinds of needs (engineers, lawyers, doctors, anthropologists)and different tools to meet these needs (books, journals, web resources, people)

• everything works together in a complementary way

locality• Different and specific needs• not one size fits all• attention to distinctiveness of particular local

ecologies • the four Special Libraries at UNSW Kensington (Law,

Social Science & Humanities, Biomedical and Physical Sciences) cater to discipline based information needs. Academic faculties value expertise in their own areas of research

keystone species

• the wedge-shaped stone at the pinnacle of an arch is the keystone- it stabilises the arch and holds it together.

• like the keystone, certain species in an ecosystem are crucial to the shape & stability of the system.

• the presence of the keystone species is crucial to the survival of the ecology itself

• librarians are the keystone species in the information ecology, we are facilitators, translators, navigators, mediators mentors and teachers

• a lot of our work is invisible, keystone species don’t wear their indispensability on their sleeves

invisible nature of our work• part of our professional practice is to protect

our clients from the messy details of our work– the many different places we look & people we talk with– what worked– what didn’t– refinements / deletions/ paper & e-trails– how long it took really

• few people have much of an idea of what librarians do and are unaware of how libraries work

• our ‘therapist’ activities are largely invisible• there’s a real temptation to assume librarian’s

work can be easily automated -- “Desk Set”

that thing that we do

Nardi identifies three important things librarians do

• information therapy

• mediation between clients and technology

• quality and cost control

information therapy• needs analysis - helping people determine what they

really need (reference interview)

• reflective and timely interactions- modify as they go (mentor)

• refinement of goals, ‘to hell with the criteria’ OR sometimes the client doesn’t know best (our expertise)

• cross reference linkages including people and local knowledge (knowledge management)

mediationBetween humans (clients) and technology (information

seeking tools)• between client’s perceptions, expectations and reality, taking

into account variant information seeking behaviours• reference interview

– clearing the vision– the question behind the question– determining the client’s real need

• not simply finding THE answer but helping to – refine the question– find type and level of technology that best serves the search – choosing best fit: the ‘question behind the question’ and what the

user wants to do with information retrieved

• all the above is more difficult in electronic environment

quality• Find, filter, sort and interpret information

(erlich & cash)

• tracking changes / quality of resources

• evaluate resources and their appropriateness to specific tasks

• assessment/recommendation of information seeking tools

• expertise in knowing the information landscape and how to traverse the terrain

• ‘knowledge management’ - local database of expertise (people)

what we do that ITIT doesn’t• We talk to people: full natural language capabilities are

needed for this interaction• we talk to each other: exchange tips and pass on

search tasks to others with more expertise or local knowledge; we build relationships with others

• we read search results: (completely) citations, abstracts, TOCs, reviews, the whole article, weed out duplicates, irrelevancies and keep the high beam on the client’s needs

• we look at intermediate results and adjust our strategies accordingly, maintaining contact with the client

• we make connections• we use print resources • we evaluate resources over time• we incorporate values... the human touch

university of new south walesExtending our local expertise to remote users• Subject guides - web based

• internet links• databases - quick links to “biggies”• electronic journals• information skills guide

• external students webpage• tailored services, forms and resources for remote (FAQ)

(link) maintained and delivered by ‘dedicated’ reference librarian

• ask a librarian• email link to Special Library email address read daily

• live reference• LivePerson interactive chat with a reference librarian

• LILT interactive, self paced information literacy web tutorial

our experiencesJulie• liaison - ‘the friendly face in the faculty’ demystification of the

information seeking process • proactive - anticipate information needs, match needs to resources and

tools, promote appropriate tools and resources, collection development according to user needs, in-situ hands-on training

• information desk• special library allows in-depth one on one reference interview and on-

the-spot training.• post-graduate consultancies: in depth 1:1 tailored to research

project,personalised web page produced• “Ask a librarian” - read and answered daily or referred on

Lesley• roving eye at terminals

• “blue-tooth chip” // catalogues vs databases

• assignment questions in the literal sense• “degradation”

• ITET: LILT• information literacy as a graduate attribute for life-long learning

the spotted owls

“We are not a McDonald’s of information, defaulting to the lowest

common denominator, but instead we offer client-specific service engaged

with local circumstances and provide a human orientation to information

access.”Jo Falcon:2000

references and urls• Ehrlich, Kate & Cash, Debra. (1998) “The invisible world

of intermediaries: A cautionary tale” Computer Supported Cooperative Work 8 (1-2) 147-167

• Dobbie, Hazel. (2001) “It wasn’t a problem!” Library Life: Te Rau Ora 262 Nov. p3

• Falcon, Jo. “Weirdly Wonderful”-Librarians as Spotted Owls (2000) The Bulletin Special Libraries Association San Francisco Bay Regionhttp://www.sims.berkeley.edu/sfsla/bulletin/sepoct00/info_ecology.html

• Nardi, Bonnie & O’Day, Vicki. (1999) “Information Ecologies: Using technology with heart” Massachusetts, MIT Press

• Nardi, Bonnie.(1998) “Information Ecologies”Keynote address Reference service in a digital age Library of Congresshttp://www.loc.gov/rr/digiref/archive/nardi.html