The interview was conducted over email. My questions appear in italics. Steve's answers are preceded by the initials SB, and Sarah's answers are preceded by the initials SJ
1. What genre of writing do you normally operate in? Emails, grants, reports, blogs, etc? Do you have a particular genre that you enjoy more than others? Why?
SJ--I
do a fair amount of writing every day on various projects: handouts for
library instruction classes, emails, responses to online reference
questions, and book reviews, among other things. I write a blog (readingthepast.com)
covering historical fiction. If I had to choose, I’d say I enjoy blogging and writing
reviews the most, because the process involves the most creativity.
SB--I guess I am most often writing daily communications and announcements
which are in the form of email. But I also write reports for other
faculty and staff in the library, prose to accompany exhibit displays,
course and subject guides for web pages, presentations for my
professional colleagues at library conferences, reviews of books, and
journal articles reporting on library science research. My favorite
writing is probably writing that I will present as public speaking at
conferences. I can't look at a list of bullet points and speak
off-the-cuff in a way that flows well or holds together, so I have to
write my remarks. Writing in this way forces me to think about how I
speak and the difference between listening and reading.
2. One of my favorite high school teachers repeated
daily the maxim "Strong readers make strong writers." Who would you
suggest reading in order to improve writing?
SJ--I
definitely agree with that statement! I recommend reading as much as
possible in the genre in which you plan to write.That way you’ll not
only familiarize yourself with other authors’ typical content and style,
as well as any conventions of the genre in question, but you’ll also
learn which techniques work most effectively (and which don’t).
SB--I think reading contemporary poets can be very useful to helping us
write because their use of language is often playful, creative and
frequently such a fine distillation of meaning(s). I find myself
surprised and excited by the always new and unique ways that poets use
words.
3.
You're a librarian, so I gotta ask: What are your pet-peeves? Students
being loud? Sometimes I attempt to re-shelve books that I look at
briefly. How serious a crime is this?
SJ--I
know students are often trying to help out when they re-shelve books
themselves, so I’d hardly call it a crime! But in case you were
wondering why library staff ask people to leave books they’ve consulted
on book carts instead, it’s because we keep track of which books are
getting used. If we notice that many reference books on world
education, to give one popular example, are being consulted regularly,
we may look around and see if there are more we should be buying. It
helps with our collection development. Plus, not all students may be
familiar with the Library of Congress classification system that we use
to shelve books (although they can feel free to ask one of us at
Reference if they’d like more info). It makes
me nervous to see food and drinks around the computers, so I try to
discourage that. But it hasn’t been a significant issue, fortunately.
SB--Honestly, stereotypes about librarians bother me the most. I see
references to media stories several times a year coming from all over
the country in which they publish a "scoop" about how librarians aren't
bun wearing, glasses-chain having bookworm ladies anymore, that they are
interesting people from all walks of life. Well duh. Sheesh, get over
it!
To answer your question more directly, the learning process requires
talking and discussion as much as it requires reading, writing and
listening. We promote the library as a space for collaborative and group
study as much as it is a place for silent and contemplative study. Librarians and library staff don't have to police the
noise level (although I _will_ shush you if I can hear music or video
from your computer/phone/tablet. :)
As for re-shelving the books, stop it! If books are re-shelved incorrectly even by a little bit they are effectively lost to anyone else who needs the book. Let's say you are the next person looking for that book and you can't find it. How likely are you to seek out a staff member or a reference librarian to try to locate it? If you don't ask about it, the book stays lost until someone takes the extra step to let us know it isn't where it is supposed to be. As for the severity of the crime, let's call it a misdemeanor that carries a mild penalty.
As for re-shelving the books, stop it! If books are re-shelved incorrectly even by a little bit they are effectively lost to anyone else who needs the book. Let's say you are the next person looking for that book and you can't find it. How likely are you to seek out a staff member or a reference librarian to try to locate it? If you don't ask about it, the book stays lost until someone takes the extra step to let us know it isn't where it is supposed to be. As for the severity of the crime, let's call it a misdemeanor that carries a mild penalty.
4.
What do you consider to be the most important elements of writing?
Organization? Voice? Grammar? Obviously, all of the elements should work
together, but if you had to choose a top three of writing elements,
what would be on that list?
SJ--If
I had to pick, they’d be: clarity, content, voice. That may be
cheating a bit, because part of making one’s writing clearly understood
involves the appropriate use of grammar. My answer also depends a lot
on the purpose of the writing; developing a unique voice is less
important when writing meeting minutes, for instance.
SB--Coming from the perspective of someone who reads a lot but who also
feels like he never has enough time to read, I would say that voice,
organization and economy are my top three. Since my time to read is
limited I appreciate the originality and distinctiveness of a writer's
voice because it is what stands out to me as most memorable in a
person's writing.
Secondly, organization is key. When the elements of a theme are disorganized it stands out.The flow is broken. I also rate organization as highly important because it is something I struggle with in my own writing.
Finally, by "economy" I mean the efficient yet elegant use of language to convey your point. I appreciate brevity that does not come at the expense of meaning or elegance.
Secondly, organization is key. When the elements of a theme are disorganized it stands out.The flow is broken. I also rate organization as highly important because it is something I struggle with in my own writing.
Finally, by "economy" I mean the efficient yet elegant use of language to convey your point. I appreciate brevity that does not come at the expense of meaning or elegance.
5.
There is a lot of talk circling around regarding the "digitalization"
of literature. What does this mean for the future of libraries and
librarians?
SJ--Libraries
and librarians are heavily involved in digitization projects, both as
users of previously digitized material and as content creators. At
Booth, for example, we subscribe to the Early English Books Online
database, which has digital images of nearly all materials published in
Britain between 1473 and 1700. We also maintain The Keep, EIU’s own
institutional repository, with contains publications of EIU faculty as
well as scanned-in items from the university’s history.
More
products continue to be offered in digital form – newspapers, books,
journals – and having this material available online means increased
access for users, which is a good thing. As a reference librarian, one
of my responsibilities is to help students use these collections by
guiding them to the most relevant resources and showing them how to
develop good search strategies. On the other hand, while there’s a lot
of useful free content out there, many of these wonderful products are
subscription-based – and can be expensive. This poses challenges for
library budgets, and this won’t get any easier over time. Looking ahead
to the future, I expect librarians will continue to play integral roles
in the digitizing of literature, and in helping people locate the best
sources for their needs. That’s what we’re trained to do.SB--As the digital age has come upon us, libraries and librarians have adapted their practices and skills to accommodate the changes in the way published knowledge is collected, maintained and consumed.
Generally speaking, from the perspective of the physical library, as digital information has grown, the numbers of walk-in visitors and circulation of physical books has dropped. In response, libraries have redesigned their spaces, collections and services to serve their patron's changing needs. From the perspective of the public services librarian, whose primary mission is to assist library users find and effectively use information, the proliferation of electronic literature in all forms has only made finding it and using it effectively that much more complicated. From the perspective of the technical services librarian, whose goal is to accurately and consistently describe the information objects, print or electronic, for optimal discovery by library users, their jobs are increasingly diversified and, in my opinion, interesting.
To put it briefly, new forms of information exist side by side with older forms and it takes a long time for any format to truly go away, if it goes away at all. Libraries may shift some of their focus from "brick and mortar" issues to issues of access to digital books and digital information, and the delivery of that information over digital networks, but the central mission of the library remains. I've got a book you can read about it: Clough, G. Wayne. _Best Of Both Worlds: Museums, Libraries, And Archives In A Digital Age_ Smithsonian, Washington D.C. 2013. [http://booth.eiu.edu/digi-lib]
