Collections: Media Libraries, Librarians, and Librarianship
The library is more than books, things, and spaces, it's about sharing information and ideas to expand opportunities for thinking. - Lamb
Seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching are some of the ways we experience our world. Listening to a poem read aloud is very different from reading the poem in a book. Hearing a poem read by the original author on an audiobook CD can provide even more insight. In the same way, reading a speech on paper is much different than seeing and hearing the speaker on video. If a library’s mission is to provide a rich information environment, then audio and video are essential components.
The Future of Libraries
Historically, the library has been the home of books. The introduction of photographs, audiotape, videotape, DVD, and other materials have expanded our thinking about the "things" that are housed in libraries. Today, it's time to expand our thinking about the the location of our collection. No longer is information confined to shelves in a building. The walls of the library are becoming transparent as we see the library as a place where both local and remote collections of information can be accessed. The role of the physical library is evolving as it becomes a "think-tank" for the general public where information and ideas can be shared face-to-face or through technology. Some libraries are viewing their patrons as collaborators who share in the evolution of the collection by providing suggestions or making contributions in the form of historical photographs, works of poetry, artwork, and other information and resources.
Try some of the following activities:
(1) Go to the text of Maya Angelou's poem The Human Family and read the poem silently. Then, read it aloud.
(2) Consider listening to her poetry on her audiobook.
(3) View and listen to the Quicktime movie of Maya Angelou reading The Human Family from the National Conference for Community and Justice.
Compare the experiences.
Format Preferences
Certain types of information are best served by particular formats. Some people have format preferences based on their learning styles. For example, some people would prefer written directions while others would prefer to follow a map.
If you’re looking for information about whales and dolphins, you might enjoy reading a book, viewing photographs of whales, watching videos of whales moving, and listening to audios of whale songs.
Explore the following resources. If you wanted to address the individual differences of learners, what materials might be considered?
Whales and Dolphins at eduScapes 42eXplore- varied resource
Dolphins Videos - video resource
Sounds of Whales and Dolphins - audio resource (sound files are near bottom of page)
Humpback Whale - podcast
Defending Our Oceans - podcast from Greenpeace
When printed books for the masses became commonplace, concerned citizens felt that they would lead to idle workers and destroy memory. Live storytellers were much more interesting and dynamic than static books. The same has been said of audio and video technology. For decades people have debated the threat of television and technology to thinking and learning.
It seems that all new ideas take time to find their place. Harry Potter books have motivated many children to read, but they also have led kids and their parents to watch the movies too. In the past few years, Barnes and Noble bookstores and Oprah’s Book Clubs have brought reading back into the home. However, there doesn’t seem to be a corresponding reduction of interest in media technology as people continue to buy and discuss their books online.
Maybe it’s not the delivery format that matters, but what the format can do that is appealing to patrons.
Read the off-site article, What are Media Librarians?, by John W. Ellison. This seminal article was written/published in the 1980s; consider how things have or have not changed since then. How are media librarians alike and different from other librarians? Is there really a separate area? What particular skills do you think are needed for librarians working with digital audio and video?
Multimedia Libraries
Multimedia begin with the introduction of the picture book Orbis Pictus in the 1600s that combined pictures and words. In the early 1800s, Harvard introduced maps to their collection. The New York Public Library developed the first music collection in 1882 and the first picture collection began at Denver's Public Library in 1897. By the early 1900's the Library of Congress began motion picture and phonorecord collections.
Skim the off-site article, The History of Media Librarianship, by Amy R. Loucks-DiMatteo. It provides a chronology of the history of media librarianship.
Format Discrimination
Historically, libraries have had difficulty dealing with non-book materials. In a 1976 study published in Catholic Library World (Dec 1976, p. 223), Don Roberts found that “there is a strong disregard and lack of respect for non-print media in the profession. Traditional school media specialists have been heard to say that books belong in the library . . . everything else goes in the classroom or a special 'locked closet'.”
Read the off-site article, Information, Not Books, by John W. Ellison and Judith S. Robinson. This article was written at the beginning of the Information Age when the question of "print" vs "non-print" became an issue. Do most people think “books” or information? Is there format discrimination in libraries today?
Many people equate all video programs with film and television violence and endless commercialism. They may never have seen a quality documentary or good educational program. The same can be said for “books-on-CD” which some people consider only for non-readers, rather than looking to a growing number of travelers and commuters who enjoy listening to books “on the road.”
According to Ellison and Robinson in Media Librarianship (1985), “there should be no discrimination between print, non-print, and computerized channels of information.” We have “The Right to Read” activities and “Banned Book Week”, but where’s the emphasis on “Effective Listening or Viewing”?
Some people see the discriminatory treatment of nonbook materials reflected in shelving practices. In some libraries videos are kept behind the front desk or in the back room. In other centers, all the materials related to a single topic are found together. For example a person who might not pick up a book, might watch a video like the award-winning video Breakin' the Glass about the women's professional basketball. This might lead them to a book like Teresa Weatherspoon's Basketball for Girls: A Pro Superstar Teaches You the Game by Weatherspoon, Sullivan, and Whiteside.
Supporting Audio and Video
The following justifications are adapted from a listed developed by Mason-Robinson in her book Developing and Managing Video Collections (1996):
- Good, solid information can be found in the video format
- Some information is better transmitted visually than in print.
- Many people learn better through the visual than through print.
- Video offers opportunities for leaning and recreation for those whose reading skills are low.
- Film is a highly developed art form.
- More than 80 percent of homes in the US have at least one VCR.
- Videos are in the same price range as books and usually circulate at a very high rate.
- For public libraries, video serves segments of the tax-paying public who have never before used the library.