CHAPTER THREE – LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 Library service model
3.1.3 Embedded model
Dugan (2008) explains that although the concept is indeed old, the label “embedded librarian” does not have a long history in academia. She adds that the term might have been borrowed from the US military‟s practice of integrating journalists in their ranks during armed conflicts. This is an effort to expose the journalists to the actual combat to enable them to “tell the story” from an eyewitness‟s point of view not just from soldiers‟ reports. She quotes a number of scholars and sources (such as
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Greppi 2003; Knightley 2004) to explain that this practice became more pronounced during the US army operations in Iraq around 2002. This development was as a result of the pressure applied by the US media on the military to grant the media more access than had been the case during the Gulf War in Iraq and the invasion of Afghanistan in 1991 and 2001 respectively. Consequently, the term
“embedded reporter” was used for the first time in 2003 to refer to the over 775 reporters and photographers who were engaged in the battlefront and considered part of the combat team in the latest US invasion of Iraq. Dewey (2005) explains that the concept of embedding implies a more comprehensive integration of one group with another to the extent that the group seeking to integrate is experiencing and observing, as nearly as possible, the daily life of the primary group. She adds that embedding requires more direct and purposeful interaction than acting in parallel with another person, group, or activity.
Chilton (2009) also explains that the concept of blended librarianship, as we know it today, was first proposed by Steven Bell and John Shank in 2004 but she admits that this could not have been the first time this concept was introduced into librarianship. Dugan (2008) agrees and also points out that the concept is not new to librarianship. However, she adds that its perception has been diverse.
Quoting Bartnik (2007), she explains that while some librarians have used the term to describe physical office relocation others have used it to refer to the inclusion of Instant Messenger (IM) services on library websites targeting specific categories of users. York (2006), on the other hand, uses the term to refer to the placement of a librarian assigned to a class as part of an online distance education programme as a co-designer or teaching assistant of the course. Ramsay and Kinnie (2006) also use the term to describe the services offered to online distance learning programmes.
The term is most commonly used, though, as a label for the practice of establishing a regular presence of a librarian in an on-campus class as a member of the teacher-student team, from the start of the semester through to the end (Dugan 2008).
The embedded library model facilitates the delivery of decentralized services to the users at a closer proximity. It involves creating desk spaces for liaison librarians among the user reading spaces or in some cases near the users‟ offices such as in a research institution or university. Freiburger and Kramer (2009) suggest that the liaison56 librarian should have a special understanding of the subject
56 These librarians work as subject librarians except that their bases of operation are located closer (physically) to the users.
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matter of the department or user area s/he is embedded into. For instance, if the liaison librarian is attached to a medical unit, then s/he needs to have had some training in natural sciences or even medicine itself. The idea is that the embedded librarian should be incorporated as a member of the team who participates in the team activities and is briefed adequately (Chilton 2009; Shumaker 2009;
Talley 2009).
The liaison librarians are ordinarily absorbed into the operations and structures of the departments they are attached to, to the extent that they become members of that team, attending their meetings and participating in their planning. The higher level of bonding with the users attainable through embedding enables the liaison librarian to offer customized services to the users who consider the librarian as one of them. This model also facilitates ready and direct feedback from the users on the services and their needs. Moreover, it also makes the library more visible to the users and has the potential of enriching and increasing library usage (Kinnie 2006; Chilton 2009; Freiburger and Kramer 2009). Dewey (2005) also asserts that “embedding oneself [library] at as many venues as possible will ensure that library staff, collections, and services are more fully integrated into all aspects of the institution‟s life.”
Shumaker (2009) identifies some of the key features of the embedded library model as: 1) Location of the service among the “customers”. What is important here is the physical and psychological proximity of the embedded librarian to the users s/he is supporting. 2) Funding for the embedded library service ideally comes from both the institutional library provisions (budget) and the supported unit. This enhances funding adequacy and ensures better services. 3) The embedded librarian is supervised closely by the appropriate authorities within the supported unit but ultimately by the assigned officers in the library hierarchy. There is debate on this arrangement but it ensures that assessment of the librarian‟s performance is done by the people served and not entirely by officers who may not have a day-to-day experience of the services offered. This has the potential of improving the service delivery. 4) The embedded librarian participates actively in the activities of the department s/he supports.
The literature reviewed also revealed another category of embedded library service model in academic libraries in which the librarians are embedded into courses to support the academic staff and students to locate course text, reading materials, and also to conduct customized information
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literacy training for the same (Ramsay and Kinnie 2006). Hall (2008) explains that embedding librarians into specific classes improves research especially on locating and use of credible information sources.
Overall, for the embedded library model to succeed, Freiburger and Kramer (2009) suggest that the liaison librarian needs strong interpersonal skills and an understanding of the cultures of the organizations and disciplines s/he supports. The liaison librarians should also be motivated and enthusiastic; with a strong personal service orientation. They also recommend that the liaison librarian needs higher librarianship training and suggest at least a Master‟s level degree. Ideally, the liaison librarian should also have background knowledge of the terminology of the scientific discipline or study area she/he is supporting. Freiburger and Kramer (2009) also report that there are already many cases in which professionals, with added librarianship training, have become liaison librarians to support their contemporaries. An embedded librarian knows the needs of the unit, how decisions are made in the unit as well as who makes them. They need to influence relevant decisions through effective communication, information sharing, and being visible to the decision makers.
Significantly, given that they have background understanding, and perhaps experience, of the discipline they support, embedded librarians have the potential of accurately meeting the needs of the users (Shumaker 2009).
Another benefit of the embedded library model is that it attracts the support of the departments easily. In grant supported environments, the aided-departments include the library‟s needs in their proposals and intertwine it with the operations of the departments. Shumaker (2009) explains that the embedded service model enables librarians to overcome the barriers that have sometimes existed between them (librarians) and their customers and to make the services truly and directly valuable.
York (2006) also adds that this model of library service creates a collaboration environment in which the lecturers and the librarian enrich each other and their respective services.
There is debate as to whether embedded librarians should be considered librarians or members of the professions and teams they support. Shumaker (2009) asserts that it is true that embedded librarians are members of other teams, groups, and units and are indistinguishable in status or value to the group from any other members, except for the fact that they bring a unique awareness of the importance of information and knowledge, and skill in applying the same to improve group
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performance. However, he (Shumaker 2009) adds that regardless of where they work from or the institutional arrangements they are involved in, embedded librarians still have unique librarianship skills that make them librarians. He concludes that one doesn‟t have to work in a conventional library setting to be a librarian and emphasizes that what makes one a librarian is the skill-set acquired through appropriate education and the application of these skills wherever they work.
Hall (2008) explains that embedded librarianship takes time and resources and should be introduced with proper planning. It also requires the full support and trust from the team to be supported which often requires time to cultivate. York (2006) also shares the lessons she has learnt from applying this model hereunder which other current and potential embedded librarians should also benefit from:
1. Mark all library or research-related assignments on a calendar because one is likely to forget the deadlines as the pressure of work increases;
2. Anticipate needs of the users and make adequate prior arrangements to satisfy them when they are finally made; and
3. Be constantly in touch with the people s/he supports and “remind them” of [his/her]
existence and value.
Dugan (2008), on the other hand, recommends the following best practices for embedded librarians in academic institutions. All embedded librarians should:
1. Meet with the professor they are supporting before the start of the semester to plan for a more structured and regular presence in the class;
2. Decide up-front with the professor how much they should contribute during group sessions;
3. Coordinate resources with each other and use the course page to post timely information focused on the requirements of the current assignment(s);
4. Be more assertive in giving guidance to resources, especially search strategies in subscription databases;
5. Set appointments to meet with students at least once during each of the assignment periods and monitor the progression of the students‟ learning;
6. Meet with the professor mid-semester for evaluation and possible course modifications; and 7. Contribute to evaluation of the research with the professor, with the elements of that
evaluation including information literacy.
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The embedded library model is currently gaining popularity among research and academic institutions in many parts of the world. Rosemary Kuhn57 explained that during an internship programme she undertook in some North American academic libraries, she noted that most of the libraries employed the embedded model. She also added that there are ongoing initiatives to develop a library model for South African academic and research institutions and hinted that the embedded model seems to be the preferred model.