It's Academic

What counts as a mode of scholarly discourse has changed and continues to change. Scholarship today is a plexus, and intellectual output takes on an ever-widening array of variegation. Yet the paradigm for evaluating academic contributions is still very hierarchical and somewhat arbitrary. To look at the sum of books, articles and papers produced at the end of an academic career is interesting, but not necessarily informative about the paths of inquiry and detours of significance along the journey, especially if they are highly collaborative. Also, past performance, as the old saw goes, certainly is not indicative of any future success. Why then do promotion and tenure in higher education still have the very conservative threshold of publish or perish? What does it even mean to publish anymore?

Image from presentation on research workflows
NPOS Workflow-perspective-Bosman-Kramer.pptx
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5065534.v1

Librarians can be in the forefront in answering questions such as these, because we can see the reticulation more objectively. While we occasionally have a vested interest in promotion and tenure policies, our vantage-point helps us to see more impartially the burgeoning ways scholarly research is openly communicated. We have, slowly at times and sometimes out of necessity, adopted format agnosticism. We also need to be aware of better markers for evaluation than just counting. Librarians are not usually expert enough to evaluate the quality of scholarship in terms of what it contributes to a field of study, but we do have a unique view on how, when and where scholarship is publicly delivered, discovered and employed. It may very well be too controversial at many institutions to include the librarian’s perspective in evaluating a faculty member’s contributions to an academic discipline, but we should give our teaching and research partners cause to call upon us for insight and librarians need to be ready.

One entree would be to continuously familiarize ourselves with how research workflows are currently being laid open. One rather ambitious social project that gives academic librarians a purview, which originated with librarians Bianca Kramer and Jeroen Bosman at Utrecht University: “400+ Tools and innovations in scholarly communication” (http://bit.ly/innoscholcomm-list). Another good first step would be to take part in shaping how we even describe what it is scholars produce. Beware, though, some faculty may still very well bristle when librarians say they provide research assistance for new forms of scholarly communication, such as digital projects, products and artifacts.

Under the leadership of Kelly Clever, Public Services Librarian at Seton Hill University, the Reeves Library Undergraduate Research Award was created in 2014 to recognize and encourage the development of information fluency in resource-based research.  This has been a wonderful way not only to honor students, but also to increase awareness of the library and its resources.

“Collection”-based research (i.e., field/laboratory research, original literary criticism, or creative works are judged based only on their literature review/discussion sections and not on the portions of the project consisting of original work). Research projects in either traditional (e.g., academic paper) or multimedia (e.g., podcast, website, video, etc.) formats may be submitted.

Research projects created during the previous academic year’s Spring semester or the entire current academic year can be considered. There is no length requirement for works submitted. One entry is accepted per student.   A faculty member must sponsor each submission by completing a recommendation form. The faculty sponsor may be the instructor who assigned the project, or the student’s advisor. The student must submit the project being entered, a completed application form, and a brief (250-500 word) introduction to the project and a discussion of the research process.

The student’s name is removed from the body of the project to facilitate blind review.  Using a rubric, a panel of faculty and librarians judges the research. To make things easier, information is uploaded to the Canvas online learning system, which allows speed grading.

Each award recipient is recognized at Honors Convocation and receives a monetary prize in the amount of $250. One award is given to a first-year or sophomore and a second to a junior or senior.

Last semester, one of my undergraduate classical studies professors asked me to speak to his current class about how my education prepared me for professional work. (To summarize: I studied classical studies, English, and anthropology. I’ve worked as a tutor, proofreader and editor, program manager in a business school, and in libraries.) Being able to articulate the skills that have leveraged me throughout my career helped my professor’s current students understand the value of their education. On a larger scale, being able to connect soft skills to practical experiences will provide anyone a leg up when making a career change, getting a new job or promotion, or otherwise bringing their unique background to the table. Below are the five skills I identified that have served me well, especially as a librarian.

Creativity
Many of my undergraduate professors encouraged creativity for their assignments. Instead of writing a standard research paper, I once presented information on life in Ptolemaic Alexandria through a fictional monologue. For my capstone project I experimented with writing a play in the style of Euripides to explore Greek drama from a writer’s perspective. As a tutor I translated the chorus of a Metallica song into Ancient Greek as an exercise for a tutee who listened to that music genre. Being creative has been instrumental when working on a limited budget to provide services to business school and library stakeholders. Innovating and producing work “out of the box” as a student turned into something I value now as a library instructor. Presenting information literacy in creative ways makes learning fun, relevant, and most importantly, memorable.

Analysis and Healthy Skepticism
Close reading of both classics and English texts in nearly every class I took built my ability to read between the lines and not take information at face value. Lateral research regarding the travel supplies and space needed for modern armies reveals that Herodotus’ numbers for the Persian army were impossibly overinflated. One English class had us analyze texts through the lenses of different literary criticisms. Evaluating information in context of the bigger picture and from different interpretations, especially now in the era of fake news, are skills I emphasize in the classroom.

Organization and Pattern Recognition
An initiative’s origins, current implementation, and future potential are all vital components of identifying impact. I followed how the changes in parts of speech over the course of a Greek play align with the play’s actions and themes. I marked Jane Eyre’s growing sense of self-worth through her increasing use of active versus passive voice. Recognizing the importance of the big picture helps me as an instructor match my lesson goals to the Framework, student learning outcomes, and students’ academic careers as a whole.

Detail Oriented
On the other side of the big picture and equally important is the ability to see and identify fine moving parts. Much of my undergraduate work involved grammatical analysis of Ancient Greek and Latin texts at the line and word level. For an anthropology project my group spent hours counting felid tooth marks on the bones of their prey. This type of focused detail work makes it more difficult for vital items to fall through any cracks. It formed the necessary foundation to successfully plan, implement, and evaluate events, lessons, and everyday work tasks from web content maintenance to email communication.

Contextualization
Behind every course of action is always the question, “So what?” What is the value of what we do, and does it justify the time and energy spent doing it?

English texts can be interpreted from a feminist, or historical, or reader-centric lens; so what? Well, understanding that people can look at the same piece of information and come to different conclusions highlights the diversity and complexity of the world. In turn, this understanding improves communication and inclusion.

Well-planned events have good food and high attendance; so what? Well, these events improve networking, relationships, good will toward the organization, and stakeholder buy-in. All of these factors play into the organization’s overall health.

This article paints a small portrait of one person’s soft skills; so what? Well, take this opportunity to identify how your academic experiences have mapped to your professional ones so that you too can best articulate what you bring to the table.

My liberal arts background provided the foundation for my career success. I look forward to seeing where my professional skill building experiences take me next.

What steps along your path led you to where you are today?