Diversity, Inclusion, and Underrepresented Populations in LIS Research Author(s): Paul T. Jaeger, John Carlo Bertot, Renee E. Franklin Reviewed work(s): Source: The Library Quarterly, Vol. 80, No. 2 (April 2010), pp. 175-181 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/651053 . Accessed: 22/11/2011 13:06 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Library Quarterly.
http://www.jstor.org
RESEARCH IN PRACTICE DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS IN LIS RESEARCH Paul T. Jaeger,1 John Carlo Bertot,2 and Renee E. Franklin3 Struggles with Diversity and Representation As a profession, librarianship draws many people who wish to connect users to information by, in part, identifying critical information resources, instructing users on ways to find the information that they seek, and advancing user information and technology literacy. Librarianship is a profession that has embraced the inclusive creed of helping all of those who enter the library and of providing materials that reflect the diverse range of perspectives and groups in society. These beliefs are central to the Code of Ethics and the Bill of Rights of the American Library Association (ALA) [1]. Many library services are designed to reach specific underrepresented populations—children, young adults, older adults, immigrants, non–English speakers, persons with disabilities, and people with literacy challenges, among others. Libraries benefit from this inclusive stance through community trust not enjoyed by other governmental institutions. The professional commitment to serving diverse patron communities, however, has never translated into librarianship becoming a truly diverse profession. A great number of studies document the lack of diversity among practicing librarians and library administrators, masters students and doctoral students in library and information science (LIS) programs, and faculty teaching in LIS programs [2–6]. The lack of diversity is most dramatic in terms of African Americans and Latinos. Only 3.3 percent of librarians are Latino, as compared to 14.7 percent of the total U.S. population, and only 6.0 percent are African American, as compared to 12.4 1. Assistant professor and director of the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland. 2. Professor and director of the Center for Library and Information Innovation, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland. 3. Assistant professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University. [Library Quarterly, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 175–181] 䉷 2010 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0024-2519/2010/8002-0004$10.00
175
176
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
percent of the U.S. population [5]. Furthermore, 3.7 percent of the fulltime LIS faculty members are Latino, while African Americans make up just 5.5 percent of the full-time LIS faculty [7]. Diversity is certainly about more than issues of ethnicity, encompassing gender and sexual orientation, for example. However, no meaningful attempts have been made to determine the representation in librarianship and LIS of many diverse populations—including persons with disabilities; the socioeconomically and geographically disadvantaged; and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) individuals, among others. For example, while sixty-five million Americans have a disability, we do not know how many librarians, LIS students, or LIS faculty have a disability. Sporadically, attention has been focused on recruiting and retaining ethnically diverse master’s students in an attempt to produce a larger pool of ethnically diverse librarians, virtually ignoring the other forms of diversity. “During periods of intensified recruitment, the profession as a whole will focus on MLS students” [8, p. 389]. The low levels of diversity among LIS faculty and doctoral student populations, however, have farreaching impacts for LIS education and library services well beyond Master of Library Science (MLS) students [9]. In particular, there is a need to increase the number of information professionals who are as diverse as the communities that they serve and who are ready to provide services that are inclusive to these diverse populations. “In the circular, self-cycling style of education and librarianship, minority school and public librarians who serve as role models for minority children may inspire the children to go to college. In college, minority academic librarians and library school faculty may inspire them to go to graduate school to become librarians and role models themselves” [10, p. 16].
The Omnipresence of Research Opportunities For the difficulties in addressing diversity within librarianship and LIS, studies about diversity, inclusion, and underserved populations of many different types have become central to LIS. As an example, consider the recent October 2009 issue of Library Quarterly; of the four research articles, three were devoted to research about diverse or underrepresented populations. One article explored the sources of information and cultural place of reading in a small, poor, rural community with a high level of information poverty [11]. Another article examined the roles of unions in libraries and the impacts of unions on both libraries and librarians [12]. The third article detailed cultural concepts of information and information access among indigenous populations with very different conceptions of information access than the general information values of librarianship [13]. And there is nothing par-
RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
177
ticularly unusual about finding this many articles about diverse and underrepresented populations in an issue of Library Quarterly; this issue includes an article examining the relationships between public libraries and gay men’s book clubs [14]. This group of recent articles definitely demonstrates the range of potential research topics about diverse and underrepresented populations in LIS. Identifying research opportunities related to diversity and underrepresented populations can occur in numerous ways. Any specific population can serve as the starting point for research. Within every social group, there are numerous issues that can be explored, including information needs and expectations, the trust of information and social institutions that provide information, norms and behaviors about information, and the attitudes toward information, sources, services, and types of access. Consider, for example, a study conducted in a western New York school district that surveyed special education teachers and school media specialists in elementary and secondary schools. The research project focused on documenting and analyzing the perceptions of both sets of individuals about whether—and how—school librarians acquire the skills necessary to effectively serve students with disabilities [15]. The researcher found that, while a large majority (90 percent) of the school librarian respondents expressed that they modify delivery of instruction for special education students, about 52 percent of special education teachers believed this same thing. Reassuringly, 87 percent of the school librarians also expressed interest in becoming more educated about meeting the needs of special education students. One of the study’s major implications is the importance of collaboration between school librarians and special education teachers in order to provide adequate and equal services for students with various learning needs. Research can also start with one of the multitude of sources, formats, services, policies, or institutions related to information and examine the ways in which the focus of the study affects various social groups. For example, one recent study explored how exposure to careers related to information affected conceptions of gender among populations underrepresented in information professions [16]. In studies of this type, conceptual frameworks may be created that help to promote diversity and inclusiveness in LIS [9]. From research about social institutions to research about information behavior, topics of diversity, inclusion, and underrepresented populations can be a core aspect of virtually any type of LIS research. Perhaps the most obvious place to start with research about diversity and underrepresentation in LIS is to formulate a study that examines a specific population as it stands within an LIS issue. One example of this kind of study is an examination of the dissertation topics chosen by female African American graduates of LIS doctoral programs [17]. This research focused
178
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
on the nature of topics, how they were chosen, and whether the topics addressed issues related to diversity. The goal of this research was to add to the understanding of the reasons that members of underrepresented populations enroll in specific LIS doctoral programs, the types of research pursued by members of diverse populations in LIS, and the acceptance of research about diverse populations in LIS doctoral programs. Research about diversity and underrepresentation can also be built through approaches that study the social structures framing the rights and roles of various social populations. Law and policy related to information— which include many intended protections for the rights of various populations at the national, state, and local levels—provide an excellent means by which to study the social perceptions of, expectations for, and treatment of diverse and underrepresented populations. This approach is visible in a series of studies related to the implementation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, a law intended to make federal government information technology and Web sites accessible to persons with disabilities [18–20]. By interviewing people with a range of disabilities about their experiences, surveying government Web designers about their attempts to create accessible technologies, and assessing the levels of accessibility that were actually achieved, these studies contributed to understandings of the implementations, struggles, and challenges resulting from a law intended to grant information rights to a specific population in society. Another approach to studying issues of diversity and underrepresentation can be found by folding such issues into studies about broader topics. Since 1994, the Public Libraries and the Internet studies have annually documented the rise of the Internet as an essential part of library services and information delivery [21]. While examining the technology and the attendant services expectations, the studies have also revealed a great deal about the ways in which libraries try to use technology to reach and provide services to diverse and underrepresented populations. These insights include identifying populations that are targeted for special technology training or the populations for which services are designed, as well as the social populations most likely to rely on libraries. However, these studies have also demonstrated critically important issues of underrepresentation in terms of the disparities in quality and amount of access based on geography, poverty level, region, and other factors that result in disadvantages and inequalities in access to information. As these examples demonstrate, issues of information related to diverse and underrepresented populations are so prevalent that they can seamlessly fit into the work of any LIS scholar, either as a specific focus or as an aspect of an area of research. The field is suffused with topics of diversity, representation, and inclusion related to libraries and to other kinds of information
RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
179
issues when one takes time to notice them. The issue is that LIS scholars by and large do not pursue these research opportunities.
Research Shaping Practice and Education There are several important reasons to bring more focus to ongoing research about diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation in LIS, as well as to encourage more work in this area. Consistent exposure to this area of research stands as a key means through which students in LIS programs can become ready to provide inclusive information services to the wide range of patrons they will encounter in their professional lives. The diversity of the population in the United States is rapidly increasing and will continue to do so. If students are not aware of the range of issues of diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation related to information and the ways to provide services that meet the needs and expectations of diverse populations, these students will not be able to adequately serve their communities or their profession. Simply put, research in this area needs to be an integral part of every MLS curriculum. An increased focus on research about diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation in LIS also is important for increasing the diversity of LIS students, LIS faculty, and professional librarians and administrators. The decision-making process of choosing a profession is significantly affected by whether individuals see people and issues with which they identify in the profession [22–23]. Increasing the amount of and attention paid to research in this area, including the emphasis given to it in MLS education, will help people from populations currently underrepresented in LIS and librarianship identify with and see themselves as part of the field. Only a small number of LIS programs have committed to diversity as a key educational focus. While the American Library Association accreditation guidelines for MLS programs include language that issues of diversity need to be covered to some extent in instruction, few LIS programs have made diversity an explicit pedagogical focus. Certain schools are exceptions to this trend, such as the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Maryland. These two programs show the breadth of educational options related to diversity for LIS programs—the former school focuses on cultural diversity in terms of specific populations, while the latter has a program designed to expose students to the range of diverse populations they might work with as information professionals. More educational focus on diversity and accompanying research on diversity will likely have positive impacts on the diversity of LIS schools and professions, resulting in more culturally aware graduates.
180
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
In addition to educational initiatives, research in this area is a way in which LIS can make sizable contributions to society. In a world defined by information and information technology, LIS already is positioned to make significant scholarly contributions to the nature of life in the information society. With the growing diversity of this information society, more focus on issues of diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation in LIS research presents a way to create many further contributions to the understanding of the roles of information in society and among the populations that constitute society. As a profession, librarianship made a commitment many decades ago to diversity and inclusion as foundational elements of the profession. Research in LIS is now presented with seemingly limitless opportunities—and a large number of very good reasons—to conduct research that makes good on the same commitment and ensures that such research is a key part of LIS education. In a 2005 speech at Lincoln College, President Obama stated, “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” In terms of research about diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation, LIS has been on the right path for a long time. But it is time to pick up the pace, particularly as the United States becomes increasingly diverse in terms of its population, information needs, and information sources. The nexus of information and people, especially through the lens of diversity, offers the LIS community fertile ground for research and practice.
REFERENCES 1. American Library Association. “Code of Ethics” and “Bill of Rights.” http://www.ala.org. 2. Adkins, Denise, and Espinal, Isabel. “The Diversity Mandate.” Library Journal 45, no. 2 (2004): 149–61. 3. Bonnici, Laurie, and Burnett, Kathleen. “A Web Model of Recruitment for LIS Doctoral Education: Weaving in Diversity.” In Unfinished Business: Race, Equity, and Diversity in Library and Information Science Education, edited by Maurice B. Wheeler, pp. 119–30. Lantham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005. 4. Buddy, J. W., and Williams, M. C. “A Dream Deferred: School Libraries and Segregation.” American Libraries 36, no. 2 (2005): 33–35. 5. Lance, Keith C. “Racial and Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Library Workers.” American Libraries 36, no. 5 (2005): 41–43. 6. Wheeler, Maurice B. “Faculty Development and Cultural Diversity in Teaching: LIS Education’s Last Frontier.” In Unfinished Business: Race, Equity, and Diversity in Library and Information Science Education, edited by Maurice B. Wheeler, pp. 181–92. Lantham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005. 7. Sineath, Timothy W. “Faculty.” In ALISE Library and Information Science Education Statistical Report, 2004. Oakridge, TN: Association for Library and Information Science Education, 2005.
RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
181
8. Gollop, Claudia J. “Library and Information Science Education: Preparing Future Librarians for a Multicultural Society.” College & Research Libraries 60, no. 4 (1999): 385–95. 9. Jaeger, Paul T., and Franklin, Renee E. “The Virtuous Circle: Diversifying LIS Faculties to Create More Inclusive Library Services and Outreach.” Education Libraries 30, no. 1 (2007): 20–26. 10. Totten, Herman L. “Ethnic Diversity in Library Schools: Completing the Education Cycle.” Texas Library Journal 76, no. 1 (2000): 16–19. 11. Rothbauer, Paulette. “Exploring the Placelessness of Reading among Older Teens in a Canadian Rural Municipality.” Library Quarterly 79, no. 4 (2009): 465–83. 12. Applegate, Rachel. “Who Benefits? Unionization and Academic Libraries and Librarians.” Library Quarterly 79, no. 4 (2009): 443–63. 13. Becvar, Katherine, and Srinivasan, Ramesh. “Indigenous Knowledge and Culturally Responsive Methods in Information Research.” Library Quarterly 79, no. 4 (2009): 421–41. 14. Pruitt, John. “Gay Men’s Book Clubs versus Wisconsin’s Public Libraries: Political Perceptions in the Absence of Dialogue.” Library Quarterly 80, no. 2 (2010): 121–41. 15. Brind’Amour, Colleen. “Special Education Students and the School Media Center.” Unpublished manuscript, Syracuse University, n.d. 16. Burnett, Kathleen; Subramaniam, Manimegalai M.; and Gibson, Amelia. “Latinas Cross the IT Border: Understanding Gender as a Boundary Object between Information Worlds.” First Monday 14, no. 9 (2009). http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index .php/fm/article/viewArticle/2581/2286. 17. Franklin, Renee E., and Jaeger, Paul T. “A Decade of Doctorates: An Examination of Dissertations Written by African American Females in Library and Information Studies, 1993–2003.” Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 48, no. 3 (2007): 187–201. 18. Jaeger, Paul T. “Assessing Section 508 Compliance on Federal E-Government Websites: A Multi-Method, User-Centered Evaluation of Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities.” Government Information Quarterly 23, no. 2 (2006): 169–90. 19. Jaeger, Paul T. “User-Centered Policy Evaluations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Evaluating E-Government Websites for Accessibility.” Journal of Disability Policy Studies 19, no. 1 (2008): 24–33. 20. Jaeger, Paul T., and Matteson, Miriam. “E-Government and Technology Acceptance: The Implementation of Section 508 Guidelines for E-Government Websites.” Electronic Journal of E-Government 7, no. 1 (2009): 87–98. http://www.ejeg.com/volume-7/vol7-iss1/v7i1-art8.htm. 21. Bertot, John Carlo; Jaeger, Paul T.; and McClure, Charles R. Public Libraries and the Internet: Roles, Perspectives, and Implications. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2010. 22. Kim, Kyung-Sun, and Sin, Sei J. “Recruiting and Retaining Students of Color in LIS Programs: Perspectives of Library and Information Professionals.” Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 47, no. 2 (2006): 81–95. 23. Kim, Kyung-Sun, and Sin, Sei J. “Increasing Ethnic Diversity in LIS: Strategies Suggested by Librarians of Color.” Library Quarterly 78, no. 2 (2008): 153–77.