China Study Finding

(Michael Lorenzen at the Great Wall of China in July 2007)

I have returned from China and my study of the information literacy habits of Chinese students is complete. My jet lag is bad but I am starting to feel better!

I interviewed many students at the North China University of Technology based on my research proposal. I found both positive and negative aspects of research in the population I studied.

Looking at the data from my notes, here is what I believe is the major finding of this study:

How do you know if the information on a web site is good?

When asked this question, the vast majority of students responded by saying that if a site was popular, it was a valid source of information. I was repeatedly told that if a site had lots of comments on it from readers and if the site was well known, it was a good source of information. Further, I was told that sites with few or no comments that they had never heard of were bad sources of information.

Based on this, I have to conclude that if you want Chinese students to take you seriously, you had better advertise your site aggressively, use every search engine optimization trick you know to up your search engine rankings, and contrive as many fake comments as you can until the Chinese students find your site and start commenting on their own. This behavior is different from American students I have interviewed in the past.

I still need to dig into my notes and the tape recordings of the interviews before I write my paper. However, this finding came through so strongly that I know it will be in the final paper. Is this research belief of the Chinese students a result of living in an authoritarian state where the news is dominated by one only allowed point of view which appears to be popular due to its uniqueness in the media?

I had a good trip. China is a great country and I am happy to have visited it. I hope to get this study published in the next year or so.

Diversity

Diversity is a word that can mean many things in the workplace. It can refer to racial background, gender, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, etc. However, diversity is more than just numbers from differing backgrounds. The world (and the United State of America) is diverse and full of people with different backgrounds and experiences. Organizations are seeking to reflect this diversity to strengthen their own organizations internally and to also better understand the external world so that they can compete better.

Not surprisingly, a lot has been written on this topic in scholarly literature. A search of the database WilsonSelect in October 2006 returns 8,349 hits on the term diversity. While not all deal directly with the idea of diversity in the workforce, most do. There are a variety of issues evident in this literature. Three themes in particular stand out. These include the importance of diversity, hiring for diversity, and diversity training. All three of these issues will be examined through the theoretical framework of contingency (middle range) theory. This theory holds that management is relative to the situation at hand and is not fixed. It also postulates that the manager must be reactive and come to correct decisions based on environmental scanning. As diversity is often dependent on defining definitions, this seems an apt way to consider some of the literature from the field.

Importance of Diversity

Of course, the whole issue of diversity is moot if this is not an area of concern for organizations. The questions remains, is addressing diversity is an organization an important issue? The literature would seem to answer with a resounding yes. It is very difficult to find anyone actually arguing that diversity is not a worthwhile goal for society at large or for any particular organization.

Eyring (2006) wrote that the international marketplace, diversity, and the rise of offshoring combine to underscore the importance of understanding different cultures. She provided advice on how to attain success in the international business arena by focusing on international customs and etiquette. It is easy to see how this advice could be translated in ways that could help internally change an organization to make it more diverse as well.

The advice that Eyring provides ranges from understanding differing organizational cultures in different countries to understanding different greetings. The key to this is in the flexibility of the manager. There is no right way to go about doing business. It will vary from country to country and region to region. Hence, the manager must be willing to adjust management styles to accommodate diversity differences both internationally and also within the organization.

Looking at an organization that has failed to embrace diversity can also help to understand the importance of diversity. Fitzpatrick (1997) examined the case of Texaco from the 90s and how a failure to make diversity a priority hurt Texaco’s business. Due to insensitive comments (and a failure to hire a diverse leadership) Texaco was boycotted nationally and had its stock lose value. Fitzpatrick then listed some ideas for making diversity important in an organization.

Fitzpatrick (1997) wrote, “By placing the goal of leadership diversity at the top of the corporate agenda, business leaders can realize many advantages; they will be able to attract an increasingly competent leadership pool and they'll be prepared for the sweeping demographic changes occurring in the national and international business arenas. By tapping into the underutilized skills, perspectives, and experiences of women, minorities and foreign nationals, they're far more effective than their competitors in mastering the complex demands that surround them. Their human resource systems and processes will be on a par with their operational and financial systems and processes, making them potential sources of added value and competitive advantage” (p. 119).

As the population of the United States has changed, so has the workforce. This brings diversity to the forefront for organizations as they need to reflect this in their hiring and marketing efforts. Lien (2004) noted that the American labor pool continues to see increasing diversity. Minorities continue to increase their shares of the labor force, with the rates of growth for these groups expected to be faster than the rate for whites. Helping this trend have been equal-opportunity laws and the realization of organizations of the value of having a staff resembling the composition of the population. Lien examined three occupations (nurses, teachers, and lawyers) to describe how diversity is a benefit at work. Lien’s article again shows reasons why managers may benefit from a contingency approach to diversity. Not all occupations have the same pool of diversity available. How can they then take advantage of any diversity opportunities that certain occupations or regions may offer them?

Hiring for Diversity

Many writers have bee keen on exploring how diversity hiring practices can help an organization become stronger. Diversity is not always the easiest task. In many occupations, there may be a shortage of diversity in the labor pool. In other occupations, a gender considered a diversity hire in one profession may not be one in another. Is hiring a man to be an elementary teacher diversity hire? After all, women dominate this field. Yet, men tend to dominant the majority of professional occupations. Hiring for diversity can be tricky and many authors are reflecting this idea.

Libraries are one area that are having problems hiring a diverse workforce. Gandhi (2000) presented an overview in which she describes the issue of diversity in recruiting for librarians and why it is important. She reviewed demographic information showing that librarians did not reflect the ethnic distribution of the United States of America. She also examined why culturally diversity is important, what libraries were doing to attract more diverse librarians, what impact these efforts were having, and what minority librarians thought about these efforts.

Gandhi (2000) wrote, “It is imperative for libraries in the United States to enhance cultural diversity both in the development of collections and human resources. Without a major effort in this direction libraries may not be able to fulfill their mandate of providing service to all. As we move towards the new millennium and population patterns shift to create a multiethnic society, libraries will also have to change to meet the demands of this new society” (p. 64).

Higher education institutions are having trouble hiring a diverse faculty. What success academics have had is often due to affirmative action according to Smith (2004). Using data obtained from 689 searches from three large public research universities, the Smith examined the use of diversity indicators or special-hiring interventions and whether these explain most of the hiring of underrepresented faculty members of color. Smith concluded this was true based on the data. In addition, he also outlined the implications of the results for institutional policy and practice.

Both Gandhi (2000) and Smith (2004) demonstrate how managers need to be aware of what works in hiring for diversity. The same approach may not work each time. The manager will need to be flexible and respond to varying situations to be successful in this area.

Diversity Training

Once a diverse workforce has been attained, keeping it that way is hard. Many employees may be ignorant of how they should actually behave in a diverse environment. If this is not corrected, it could lead to lawsuits and needless turnover. Again, flexibility on approaches is important for managers.

Haines and Sumner (2006) wrote that diversity training could make a difference in diversity awareness. They noted latency-based measurements that quantified attitudes, stereotypes, and self-concepts. The routine inclusion of diversity training in organizations can inform practice by better predicting behavior in diversity situations. Hence, it is worthwhile for managers to regularly include diversity training in the workplace.

Eckloff (2006) wrote about how sociodrama (an action-based therapeutic practice) could be used to solve group problems. He noted that the aims of the practice are an increase in participants' knowledge about their own and other people's roles in relation to the situation, and an emotional release or catharsis as people express their feelings about the subject. This could then be use to explore the feelings people in an organization have about diversity issues and help to train them to deal the issues in a positive manner. . Eckloff also outlined the different stages of the technique.

Training is important but it needs to be integrated into an organizations culture. Vallario (2006) wrote how organizations can increase their chances of succeeding in a global economy by incorporating diversity programs into their business strategies and priorities. Vallario wrote, “Diversity policies are most effective when they are solidly integrated throughout an organization through executive leadership, ongoing and support, and training accountability” (p. 52).

Conclusion

Diversity is a large issue impacting most organizations. It is a multi-faceted issue with many important sub aspects which include the importance of diversity, hiring for it, and training staff to accept and deal with it. As contingency theory would predict, these issues require a manager to be flexible and engage in extensive environmental scanning to pick the best course of action.

References

Eckloff, M. (2006). Using sociodrama to improve communication and understanding. Etc. 63(3), 259-69

Eyring, P. (2006). Broadening global awareness. T+D 60(7), 69-71.

Fitzpatrick, B. (1997). Make the business case for diversity. HRMagazine 42, 118-20+

Gandhi, S. (2000.) Cultural diversity and libraries: Reaching the goal. Current studies in librarianship, 24(1/2), 55-65.

Haines, E. & Sumner, K. (2006). Implicit measurement of attitudes, stereotypes, and self- concepts in organizations: Teaching old dogmas new tricks. Organizational research methods 9(4) 536-554.

Lien, M. (2004). Workforce diversity. Occupational outlook quarterly 48(2), 28-37.

Smith, D. (2004). Interrupting the usual: Successful strategies for hiring diverse faculty. Journal of Higher Education 75(2), 133-60.

Vallario, C. (2006). Creating an environment for global diversity. Financial executive 22(3), 50-2.

Ideas for Advancing Diversity in Libraries: A Research Paper and Bibliography

by Michael Lorenzen

Libraries serve communities. Not surprisingly then, libraries reflect the diversity inherent in communities in both the clientele served and the composition of the library staff. This paper will review some recent literature on the topic of diversity and libraries. Three themes in particular will be examined in detail including hiring for diversity, reflecting diversity in collection development, and programming library services to reflect diversity. An action plan is presented which has some ideas for how libraries can better incorporate and reflect the diversities of their communities.

Ideas for Advancing Diversity in Libraries: A Research Paper and Bibliography

Libraries come in many varieties. They may be located on a college campus, in the middle of a city, in a law firm, or in a prison. However, every library serves people. Further, every library is staffed by librarians and support staff. As such, it is not surprising that librarians have been thinking seriously about the topics of diversity and multiculturalism.

This paper will examine a select collection of recent articles dealing with diversity and multiculturalism from library journals. In particular, it will look at three themes which include hiring for diversity in libraries, reflecting diversity in library collection development, and programming library services to reflect diversity. While these three topics are not all inclusive of all topics which relate to diversity in libraries, they are representative of the major areas.

Selected Literature Review

The library literature is rich on topics relating to diversity and multiculturalism. A search of the database Library Literature in July 2006 resulted in 438 hits on the keyword of diversity. A search on the keyword of multiculturalism resulted in 745 hits. While some of these hits were referring to book reviews, the vast majority of the results pointed to actual scholarly articles or news reports on the topics.

Of all the recent articles which deal with these topics, only a few dealt with diversity as a whole and how it impacted all aspects of librarianship. Although relatively short, Balderrama (2003) has one of the best summaries. She breaks down the topic into collections and programming, library staffing, coalition building, and the trading of values and respect. This is a good introduction (although a bit strangely written) to several of the themes which this paper is covering.

Most American librarians are white. In the past, this was due to discrimination. In the present, it is due to a lack of graduates of library schools from minority backgrounds. For whatever reason, college graduates from minority backgrounds do not tend to select librarianship as a career. This has resulted in many articles which discuss methods which the library profession can attract more diversity.

Gandhi (2000) presented an overview in which she describes the issue of diversity in recruiting for librarians and why it is important. She reviewed demographic information showing that librarians did not reflect the ethnic distribution of the United States of America. She also examined why culturally diversity is important, what libraries were doing to attract more diverse librarians, what impact these efforts were having, and what minority librarians thought about these efforts.

Gandhi (2000) wrote, “It is imperative for libraries in the United States to enhance cultural diversity both in the development of collections and human resources. Without a major effort in this direction libraries may not be able to fulfill their mandate of providing service to all. As we move towards the new millennium and population patterns shift to create a multiethnic society, libraries will also have to change to meet the demands of this new society” (p. 64).

In line with Gandhi’s (2000) thinking, many universities have initiated initiatives which speak of the importance and need for more diverse representation within university departments. Hankins et al (2003) noted that many libraries have moved beyond these initiatives which while worthy may only result in tokenism. On alternative is to establish residency programs which provide entry level jobs to librarians. These residencies are restricted to librarians from underrepresented groups with the idea that this will give these librarians the skills and experience necessary to acquire more significant jobs within the profession.

Smith (2006), while not specifically addressed at diversity retention of staff, lists three ideas for retaining library staff. These ideas seem sensible and may be helpful in retaining all staff, including staff from diverse backgrounds. Ideas include 1. Offer flexibility in schedules. 2. Make sure that all staff members feel valued for their contributions. 3. And, encourage creative thinking.

One important task of librarians is building collections. Every book, video, periodical, map, etc. is purchased by a librarian who decides that the item is worthwhile and one that will help expand the collection in ways useful to the patrons of that library. Different libraries have different needs and that will help to dictate what is purchased. Collection development decisions have lasting impact. Even with the weeding and replacement of items over time, a purchase made may last for centuries or more. As American libraries have been usually operated by members of the dominant ethnocentric group, a large number of collection decisions have reflected western centric views. Not surprisingly, many librarians have been writing about making library collections more diverse and reflective of the world at large.

Steiner & Steiner (2003) wrote about the need for libraries to collect the oral and written stories of various diverse communities. They include a large bibliography of suggested works with their article. They wrote, “Multicultural stories are an especially important tool for our diverse world. Books and well told stories form a strong bridge between cultures. A book, written and illustrated with authentic detail, is a window to view the myriad ways people live in our diverse world. A personal story shared between real people brings down barriers. We cannot hate someone when we know their story. Even a folktale, though it exists in the realm of imagination and metaphor, though it is often a venerable piece of literature from a long ago time, still carries basic cultural values and helps us to make long strides toward understanding one another” (p. 17).

Another way that educators (and librarians) can help with diversity is education. Ernst and McCourt (2004) wrote about lesson plans which included multicultural library collections for connecting first graders with world literature. Children’s books from around the world were used to educate students about culture and geography. The authors included an annotated bibliography of books which were used in the lesson plans.

Kanatsouli and Tzoka (2005) wrote about how Greek children’s books were being used to give Greek children in Greece a sense of Greek national identity. However, unlike in the past, some of the new Greek children’s books are being written to give both a sense of Greekness and ideas for embracing a more multicultural ethic. This article is written in English and intended for an audience outside of Greece. As such, it was intended to help English speaking librarians ideas for introducing multiculturalism to children in books.

Kanatsouli and Tzoka (2005) wrote, “Greek children's literature today has undergone a variety of ideological shifts, many of which are a result of multicultural trends that have influenced children's literature all over the world today. In so far as issues of national identity are concerned, Greek children's books today are free of the ethnocentric ideology and heavy didacticism that characterised Greek children's literature for the greater part of the 20th century. Although elements of Greekness clearly permeate the books under discussion, they are not in the least bit coloured by an ethnocentric ideology. They are rather a simple depiction of the various aspects of Greek life and Greek thought both in the present and the past. The reader may be transported in time to the wonders of ancient Greek civilisation, or may learn about rural Greek life. The more obviously multicultural books emphasise the need not only for accepting cultural differences but also for learning how to live harmoniously with people who are different from us” (p. 36).

The final aspect of being explored is programming library services to reflect diversity. Almost all libraries have a level of formal programming which is meant to highlight library collections and services. This can range from book readings, exhibits, film series, and lectures all the way to formal fund raising functions. To many in the community, this is the most visible function of the library.

Not surprisingly, this has led many to write about how libraries can help with diversity by their programming efforts. Redd (2003) wrote about a concentrated attempt by Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado to introduce diversity in programming efforts. The library sponsored events honoring an ancient Celtic holiday, the founding of the Mormon Church, Easter, Persian New Year, and Thai New Year. Several field trips were also programmed. Most of the events were accompanied by appropriate food and music.

Walter (2005) wrote about how libraries could move beyond diverse collections too actually marketing to diverse groups. In this article, Walter dealt with how working with a campus multicultural center allowed a library to highlight collections and services. The author cited a study he conducted to bolster his claims.

Library exhibits can also help to support diversity and multiculturalism. They can also be controversial and demonstrate how librarian can perhaps take inappropriate roles in the culture wars. Reece (2005) reported about an exhibit which supported a one-sided Palestinian view of the Israeli-Arab conflict sponsored by American University. Many patrons objected to such a politicized exhibit. The author justified this exhibit in the name of multiculturalism. No mention was made if supporters of Israel were allowed to also put up an exhibit that would provide balance to the Palestinian exhibit.

Reece (2005) attempted to justify this one-sided representation. She wrote, “Multiculturalism guarantees that there will always be a multiplicity of representations and occasions for those representations, their meanings, and the values inherent within them to be contested. The role of educators, including librarians, is to help students learn how to interrogate those representations with an emphasis on fighting oppression” (p. 371). Unfortunately, she failed to acknowledge that many see the besieged state of the Israeli nation as a representation of Arab oppression of Jews. This exhibit appeared to reinforce in the minds of many that librarians are sometimes only interested in pushing their own personal views rather than providing a balanced view of an issue to the public. Could this be viewed as an ethnocentric example of a librarian representing her cultural views without attempting to acknowledge the internationally recognized views of the other side?

Library instruction (also know as bibliographic instruction or information literacy instruction) is also an important programming feature of libraries. It is most important in academic libraries but other types of libraries also engage in it. This can be tied directly to diversity instruction. Tao (2005) noted, “We conclude, as do many researchers, that they are effective teaching strategies for all students. Those strategies such as affectivity, speech, and collaborative learning suggested for specific diverse students should be considered part of the framework for diverse students as well as for students in general. What is important is that we have become aware of special characteristics and needs of our diverse populations, and have now identified specific strategies that will meet those needs, while serving our traditional students as well” (p. 36).

Action Plan

Although this is a limited literature review, I believe there are a few ideas which come from these three areas which can provide an action plan for libraries. While not inclusive of all possible good ideas, it could be used as a starting point for many libraries. This paper will break it down by the three areas noted in this paper which are hiring for diversity, reflecting diversity in collection development, and programming library services to reflect diversity.

Hiring for Diversity:

1. Recognize that current library staffs do not reflect the diversity evidenced by the demographics of current community populations.

2. Merely hiring a few token members of minority or underrepresented groups is not sufficient for diversity.

3. Residency programs for new minority librarians are effective for bringing more diversity into the library profession. More libraries should establish these programs.

4. Library school programs are not producing enough librarians which reflect the diversity of the population. What can libraries do to get more diverse candidates into these programs? More thought and reflection is required here.

Collection Development:

1. Many library collections currently over-represent a Western bias. Efforts should be made to recognize and remedy this bias by acquiring more materials representing non-Western authors or Non-Western viewpoints.

2. Further, many collections fail to adequately represent Western minority sources. Efforts should be made to remedy this.

3. Children’s books are among the most important areas for a library to focus on due to the high impact these books have on our juvenile patrons. There is nothing wrong with these books taking one cultural view as long as they also acknowledge the validity of alternative views.

Library Programming:

There are many opportunities for libraries to program for diversity. This includes programming around diverse holidays and religions.

1. There are many opportunities for libraries to program for diversity. This includes programming around diverse holidays and religions.

2. The inherent diversity in library collections can be used to directly market to and entice diverse groups. Libraries should let diverse stakeholders know of their collections and services and use this as a marketing tool.

3. Both liberal and conservative biases within the US library profession represent an ethnocentric American view of the world. Any library programming which would appear to be biased towards one side or the other needs to be balanced

References

Balderrama, S. R. (2003). Deep change – diversity at its simplest. Oregon Library Association quarterly, 9(2), 20-24.

Ernst, S. & McCourt, S. (2004). If children can’t go out into the world, bring the world to them through children’s books. Bookbird, 42(3), 19-27.

Gandhi, S. (2000.) Cultural diversity and libraries: Reaching the goal. Current studies in librarianship, 24(1/2), 55-65.

Hankins, R. et al. (2003). Diversity initiatives vs. residency programs: Agents of change? College & research library news, 64(5), 308-315.

Kanatsouli, M. & Tzoka, T. (2005). Embracing multiculturalism through understanding “Greekness”: Contemporary Greek books for children. Bookbird, 43(2), 30-37.

Reed, A. (2003). Diversity programming in an academic library: The Auraria experience. Colorado libraries, 29(4) 26-29.

Reece, G. J. (2005). Multiculturalism and library exhibits: Sites of contested representation. Journal of academic librarianship, 31(4), 366-372.

Smith, S. D. (2006). Recruitment and retention: A tale of one library. Public libraries, 45(1), 9, 10.

Steiner, S. & Steiner, J. (2003). Multiculturalism stories: Preserving oral and written treasures. PNLA Quarterly, 68(1), 17-27.

Tao, D. (2005). Bibliographic instruction for a diverse population: Understanding, planning, and teaching in the twenty-first century. Art documentation, 24(1), 29-37.

Walter, S. (2005). Moving beyond collections: Academic library outreach to multicultural student centers. Reference services review, 33(4), 438-458.

Student Diversity and Learning Needs

Student Diversity and Learning Needs. This is an ERIC Digest which looks at how diversity can impact how students learn. The article is focused on K-12. It also tends to focus on special needs students. However, the underlying theme is a good one that I think is applicable to librarians. How do we best accomodate different learning needs in our classrooms and in our libraries?

From the site:

To successfully reach out to a diversity of learners requires substantial support. Although budget-minded critics will argue that such support is costly, they need to be reminded that an investment in prevention today will eliminate or lessen the expense of remediation tomorrow. Not surprisingly, educators who receive substantial help are more effective when carrying out worthwhile innovations that increase all students' potential for success. This notion of support is vitally important because students' "at-riskness" will not disappear and because the government and educational community continue to believe in the efficacy of raising academic standards. This Digest will discuss some sources of support intended as a complement to and a scaffold for teachers and administrators who experiment with different ways of meeting a diversity of learning needs.

Growing a Diverse Workforce in the Library and Information Science Professions. ERIC Digest. This is an article which has some ideas oh how the library profession can find a way to become more diverse. It is by Kate Lippincott and it was published as an ERIC Digest in 1997.

From the site:

The 1997 report, Planning for a Diverse Workforce in Library and Information Science Professions by Kathleen de la Pena McCook and Kate Lippincott, and their accompanying article "Library Schools and Diversity: Who Makes the Grade?," examine statistical data on the number of minority graduates that accredited graduate library and information science programs add to the professional workforce. The source of their statistical information is the Library and Information Science Education Statistical Report published by the Association for Library and Information Science Education. ALISE compiles statistics from ALA accredited library and information science programs. The published ALISE data was reorganized to analyze minority graduation rates. The number of minority graduates increased in the decade from 1984-85 to 1994-95. The 1994-95 minority graduation total (419) and the percent of minorities entering the profession are up from 1984-85. Though this growth rate seems encouraging, it still reflects a small percentage of the total graduates for those years, 6.79 percent minority graduation in 1984-85 and 10.01 percent minority graduation in 1994-95.

The greatest gains were made by Asian/Pacific Islanders. They represent 3.5 percent of the population and 3.44 percent of 1995 graduates-near parity. Hispanic graduation rates increased to 2.17 percent; African Americans moved up slightly to 4.24 percent of all graduates. Native Americans saw a decline to only .16 percent of the total. These gains, however, are undercut by the shift in the U.S. population as a whole. During the same ten-year period, the minority population of the U.S. grew from 22.2 percent to 26.4 percent. The Library and Information Science (LIS) profession's gain is not enough to bring minority representation in the profession to a parity level for individual minority groups. In 1994-95, minorities comprised 26.4 percent of the U.S. population, but only 10.01 percent of new LIS graduates. A 162 percent increase is needed to achieve true diversity.