Recordings of recent C&CS sessions available
Recordings of the most recent Connect & Communicate sessions are available on our YouTube channel. Thank you to everyone who joined us live, and special thanks to our presenters.
In November, Katie Odhner from Penn State Abington presented “How to Build an Engaging Library Workshop.”
In December, Heidi Abbey Moyer from Penn State Harrisburg presented “Oral History 101: Creating an Oral History Program for Your Library.”
And, in January, Andrea Pritt, from Penn State Harrisburg, and Briana Ezray Wham, from Penn State University, presented “Academic Librarians, STEM Researchers, and Research Data Management – Oh My!”
Burnout Should not be the New Black
This week we’re back teaching, learning, working in person once again after two weeks of virtual learning. I wonder what this constant change and adaptation is doing to our mental health. Are we becoming more resilient and flexible? Or are we adding to our existing burnout and stress as we approach the two year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I’ve been thinking a lot about burnout recently. I have this irrational belief that I could never actually have burnout because I love my job as a librarian. I love helping students, I love the projects I get to work on, and I love libraries. Therefore, I could never and will never get burnout, right?
Wrong.
After I asked myself why I felt so tired, unable to focus, with little motivation, I realized it was actually happening to me. It forced me to confront and reevaluate my own habits. How can I possibly help and support students and their mental health if I’m not recognizing my own struggles and addressing my own mental health? As they say, you can’t pour from an empty cup. So, in case no one has told you recently, here are some tips to help address burnout:
- Take your vacation days (if you have them)! I’ll be the first to admit that I have not used all of my vacation days in several years. I always think I’ll try and take at least one day off a month in addition to longer vacations and I never do. So this is yours (and my) reminder to do so.
- Don’t look at your work email outside work hours. Really, I mean it! Better yet, don’t even think about work outside of your work hours. Your brain will thank you!
- Take your full lunch break. Make this a nonnegotiable. (Tip: block it out on your calendar so no one sneaks in a last minute meeting).
- Get outside on said lunch break. Even if you take a 5 minute walk around the parking lot, that’s enough.
- Say “No.” How much do you already have on your plate? Take moment to evaluate if you have the capacity to add to your workload.
- Have more play time. When was the last time you did something you loved to do as a kid? Dust off those coloring books, rollerblades, puzzles, and board games. Have fun!
- Turn off those notifications. Do you really need to know at all hours of the day and night when someone has sent you an email or posted on social media? Try it out, see how you feel.
Remember, we’re still in a pandemic. Even on our best days, we’re still navigating through unknown territory. I write this as a reminder to myself, as well as those around me. Self-compassion is key.
Spring CRD Journal Club
This Spring, the College & Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association is sponsoring a virtual journal club, which holds a series of online meetings to discuss scholarship in the library science field. The CRD Journal Club was originally established in Summer 2018, and typically runs in the summer, spring, and fall of each year. The theme for the Spring 2022 series is inclusive libraries.
The CRD Journal Club will meet on the third Thursday of the month from 2:00-3:00 pm. Meeting dates are February 17, March 17, and April 21. For our first meeting, we will discuss “From mutual awareness to collaboration: Academic libraries and autism support programs” by Amelia Anderson, published in the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science in 2020.
While our first article is focused on academic libraries and the journal club is sponsored by CRD, journal club is open to people who work at all types of libraries across the Commonwealth. You do not have to attend all three meetings; you are welcome to attend any number of meetings. If you are interested in participating in journal club this Spring and have not yet signed up, please email one of the members of the planning team, Melissa Correll, Alexander Kirby, or Rebecca Thompson.
Talking to Students about Open Access
Last month I was contacted by a student at my alma mater – they oversaw the department’s newsletter and were looking for people to interview for their alumni column. Among the questions sent to me was an insightful one about open access. They wanted to know what I thought current students in the department, especially those on the Publishing & Editing track, should know about open access.
Often, as librarians we discuss open access with students through the frame of how it can affect the access and affordability of course materials (especially textbooks) and research resources. It can be easy to draw students in with the cost of textbooks, or a conversation as to why the library can’t afford a certain database or journal. What if students aren’t introduced to open access issues as just passive consumers of information, but as those who will have an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the future of open access to information? With students on the Publishing & Editing track, we can assume they have an interest to work in the industry – at a journal, magazine, newspaper, or publishing house. They want to be part of the process that packages information and provides access points for the reader/consumer. How might that perspective change the conversation of open access and its relationship with the students?
As consumers of information (purchasers of textbooks or subscribers to magazines) a student has one view of open access – mainly how it saves them money or provides more value to the information gathering endeavors. Open access is often behind the scenes. A link they click in Google Scholar or in the library’s catalog may be open access, or it may be a subscription from the library – often they don’t know or don’t care. It is a means on an end that they don’t necessarily understand but can value when it is brought to their attention.
Some students may end up being authors or content creators, and in that frame open access might have more meaning, at least regarding their rights as a creator. They may worry about publishing in an open access journal or putting their content in an institutional repository because they are worried about someone plagiarizing their ideas or stealing their findings. The free availability that was so important to them as consumers isn’t as appealing. Though as content creators they may begin to consider the role publishers play in information access, at least considering whether they are willing to forego their rights to their content in exchange for publishing in a well known journal.
Rarely though do we have the opportunity to discuss open access from the perspective of future members of the publishing industry. The third, and potentially most influential, side of the issue. In the current structure, both content creators and information consumers are at the whims of publishers. They are the ones that have the distribution models in place, and name recognition, to still serve as influencers in the information industry. But open access model is slowly starting to move the dial, and students currently in the Publishing & Editing track will have the opportunity to be advocates for open access in their industry and active participants in furthering open access content and the cause of free/accessible information.
As an answer to the student’s questions, I brought up the example of misinformation or “fake news” and how easily that type of information, and the content creators of this information can spread their misinformation through social media. The monetary cost of “credible” information, especially those from more traditional newspaper/magazine sources results in a paywall that keeps that information from people. The lack of open access to credible and reliable information sources means that those more moderating voices are often missing from online discussions and social media posts.
This barrier to information access is affecting our society. Libraries often have been the stop gap, absorbing the cost of information and providing “free access” as a public good. But the rising cost of information, and increasing attacks on libraries’ roles in their communities, has become a barrier to this access. The rising costs of subscriptions have pit libraries and publishers against each other, but we need to work together if we are going to fight misinformation and restore the value of more measured information sources. The current model of publishing is quickly becoming unsustainable, but today’s students will be tasked with finding a different model for publishing and distributing information. So, it doesn’t hurt to start talking to them about open access early, and often.
The Thinking Behind Misinformation
While misinformation has been on the public mind the last few years, libraries have dealt with this problem for a long time. What many librarians may not be aware of are some of the psychological factors at play when people choose to believe misinformation. Here is a summary of a few of those ideas.
Continued Influence Effect: This idea was new to me but once I heard it the concept rang true. The Continued Influence effect states that once a person believes misinformation that misinformation can sometimes stay in their mind and continue to influence future thinking, even after they have been presented with incontrovertible counter evidence that disproves that misinformation. The person may even acknowledge that the misinformation wasn’t true, yet somehow the idea maintains a hold in their mind. There doesn’t seem to be a broad consensus why this happens. Perhaps people cling to information they want to believe.
The Illusory Truth Effect: This theory posits that people are more likely to believe information that is simple and familiar over the complex and novel. So phrases that are said repeatedly can make their way into a person’s mind from shear familiarity. Claims like “people only use 10% of their brain” are a good example of this, since there is no proof of this claim yet many of us believe it from having heard it so often. The complexity of an idea also matters to the Illusory Truth effect. According to this theory people are more apt to believe simple ideas instead of complex hard to understand ones. That two plus two equals four is simple and intuitive, but the theory of relativity is complex and hard to grasp, so the mind wants to reject it. Another example, some people entertain the idea that “5g causes COVID” without any rational evidence for that. Yet, if you consider that idea in light of the Illusory Truth Effect, you can see how people might be drawn to the simplicity of “5g causes COVID”. That idea, however irrational, is simpler than concepts of spike proteins, viral load, airborne transmission, etc.
Anger and Misinformation: Information is not emotionally neutral and information that triggers specific emotions will have cause different reactions. Information that triggers anger is especially likely to cause strong reactions from people. With our emotions aroused we are more likely to be swayed by illogical arguments. Misinformation can use this natural reaction to spread. Facebook has used algorithms to promote anger inducing content which then generates more clicks and ad revenue.
Confirmation bias: Most people have heard of this before and the role it can play in misinformation is clear. People are more susceptible to misinformation that appeals to their preconceived notions about the world.
If you find these ideas interesting, I highly recommend for you to continue reading about them. Much of the knowledge shared above comes from the excellent Debunking Handbook 2020. It might give you some ideas to integrate into your information literacy teaching.
It's Academic 