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Hana Metzger's e-Portfolio

Competency O: Global Librarianship

Section 1
Understand global perspectives on effective information practices that are supportive of cultural, economic, educational, or social well-being.

Section 1A: Competency Description and Scope

Global Perspectives
Librarians are members of a global information community. As the internet connects people across oceans and international borders, there is an increasing need for global perspectives and intercultural competencies in the field of library and information science.

Hirsh (2018) writes that some library and information science trends are found equally across the globe, while some are more prevalent in particular countries or regions (p. 6). Some global trends include increased access to digital resources and up-to-date information, networked libraries sharing books and resources, and open access information on the internet that is free to all (Ford, 2018, pp. 270-271). According to Hirsh (2018), certain regional trends include copyright and digital content challenges in Europe, the rapid expansion of mobile technologies in Asia and Oceania, and privacy and data protection concerns in Africa (p. 6).

Ford (2018) writes that libraries and globally shared information have the potential to create "[a]n increasingly horizontal, collaborative model for interactions" (p. 272). However, information inequality is common and on the rise in areas that have high costs internet costs or other prohibiting factors. National and local governments also have the potential to threaten this collaborative model by blocking the free flow of information (Ford, 2018, p. 272).

Global Libraries, Done Locally
Ford suggests that a library with a "global reach" and a "local touch" is the best possibility for future access to information (p. 274). In this model, libraries and librarians reach outward to other cultures through the internet, through celebrations of diversity, by building relationships with libraries and librarians in other countries, and by supporting libraries overseas through donations (Ford, 2018, pp. 274-275). In Ford's model of the global future, technology is harnessed by librarians and information professionals to protect "indigenous and unique languages and cultures" (p. 273).

Hudson (2012) troubles this imagined techno-optomist future by questioning the association of technology with development and progress. Hudson writes that "the concept of technology— like development itself—has come to be treated as unquestionable as a mode of minority-world intervention in majority-world suffering" (p. 75). Rather than viewing technology as the factor that can save cultures by capturing or sharing information, LIS professionals should "pause and reconsider our assumption of what constitutes technology in the first place and what traditions and solutions we ignore—and, indeed, dishonour— in the course of practices founded on and fueled by such tacit assumptions" (p. Hudson, 2012, p. 76). Although Hudson does not discount the importance of cultural exchange and increased access to information across the globe, he does call upon LIS professionals to question their assumptions about knowledge and technology.

International Standards
Historically, American libraries have followed national standards, such as those established by the American Library Association and Library of Congress (Dobreski, 2021, pp. 227-228). More recently, librarians and information professionals have sought to create international standards that libraries across the world can rely on. One such standard is Resource Description and Access (RDA), which was created in 2010 as an international set of cataloging guidelines that can function in many languages (Dobreski, 2021, p. 230).

At times, international standards are adapted so that they are more helpful or can fit into current national standards. For example, American archives often use Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) as a descriptive cataloging standard for archival materials (Society of American Archives, 2022). DACS is a national standard, but it is derived from ISAD(G), the General International Standard Archival Description, which is an international standard developed by the International Council on Archives.

Societies also exist to help foster global connection and establish international standards and core values for librarians. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is perhaps the largest. IFLA has grown from 15 members from 15 countries in 1929 to its current numbers of over 1500 members from 150 countries (IFLA, n.d.-a). IFLA's mission statement is "[t]o inspire, engage, enable and connect the global library field" (IFLA, n.d.-b). The association hosts conferences and provides resources to foster connectivity among librarians and libraries on an international level.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity
Even in a globalized world, libraries are community anchors tied to local and national cultures. Comparing public libraries in Japan, Norway, and the US, Widdersheim et al. (2021) found that each country's libraries displayed certain cultural tendencies. Thus, in Norway, "[p]ublic libraries are first and foremost treated as cultural institutions, not as educational institutions, as in Japan and the US" (p. 365). Norwegian libraries tend to have more public meeting areas, and it is more common for politicians to hold community meetings at Norwegian public libraries than it is in the US or Japan (Widdersheim et al., 2021, p. 366). In Japan, libraries are seen more as recreational places than as public spaces, and in the US libraries are a mix of both recreational and educational spheres (Widdersheim et al., 2021, p. 371). Understanding these basic differences between how libraries function in different countries suggests that libraries can serve diverse purposes depending on cultural and political differences.

Section 1B: Importance to the Profession
Due to globalization and rapid advances in technology, our world is more connected than ever before. Even though the day-to-day operations of many libraries are locally-oriented, information professionals have a responsibility to look outward toward cultures other than their own. The Core Values of Librarianship, which I discussed in Competency A of this ePortfolio, endorse access to information, democracy, education and lifelong learning, intellectual freedom, the public good, social responsibility, and sustainability (ALA, 2019). As an American librarian living in a globalized world, the core values named here are all reasons to have a more global perspective.

At the same time, a socially-minded global perspective must be tempered with cultural humility. Cultural humility is a philosophy that "requires the professional to put their own identity aside to fully immerse themselves in a culture different from their own" (Getgen, 2022, p. 2). Rather than looking outward and deciding on what another culture needs, an approach imbued with cultural humility begins with empathy and self-reflection (Getgen, 2022, p. 3). One advantage of cultural humility is that it has no endpoint; rather, it is a process of lifelong learning (Getgen, 2022, p. 3). This means that it is an approach that can be used and learned from continuously as librarians grow and change with the world around them.

Section 2
Here I will provide three evidentiary items for Competency O.

Section 2A: Preparation
To prepare for this competency, I took several relevant courses, including INFO 200: Information Communities with Dr. Michael Stephens and INFO 281: Intercultural Communication with Dr. Debra Buenting. In INFO 200, I studied mushroom hunters as an information community. Although I primarily studied the information behaviors of American mushroom hunters, I researched and wrote a blog post about international information behaviors that opened my eyes to some of the ways in which information behaviors in different cultures can differ or even contradict. For INFO 281, I studied intercultural communication and learned about cultural humility as it applies to Library and Information Science. In this class, I had the opportunity to engage with cultures other than my own through in-person visits and media. The reflective process after these intercultural engagements were instructive in thinking about myself as a global professional.

Another experience that has prepared me for this competence is my work as a bookseller. In 2021, I sought to add books in languages other than English to the shelves of the shop that I work at. This turned out to be a bigger endeavor than expected, as it can be difficult for a small bookshop to find distributors for books in other languages. Two years later, I am proud to say that we now carry books in French and Spanish, and I am hoping to add more languages next year.

Section 2B: Evidence

Evidentiary Object 1: INFO 200 Blog Post: Mushroom Hunters Around the World
For this assignment, I researched and wrote about the information behavior of mushroom hunters around the world. One of my more interesting discoveries was that certain cultures thought of the mushroom Paxillus involutus as poisonous to the extent of being lethal, while other cultures viewed it as edible. 

This assignment demonstrates my competency at researching and understanding global and cultural diversity within a single information community. For example, my investigation found that most mushroom hunters rely on word-of-mouth to learn to identify mushrooms. This is true in the US, but even more so outside of it. By showing my understanding of this difference, I demonstrate my awareness of diverse types of knowledge and information sharing.

I also show that I understand why it is important for information professionals to have a more global perspective and cultural humility. I discuss potential inaccuracies in American field guides in comparison to the documented oral mushroom knowledge of the Mixtec, or Ñuu savi, in Mexico. By recognizing that the information contained in books in American libraries may be less accurate the knowledge of the Ñuu savi, I demonstrate that I see the link between information science and knowledge traditions elsewhere.

Evidentiary Object 2: INFO 281 Film Review: American Outrage
I reviewed the movie American Outrage, a documentary about Mary and Carrie Dann, two Shoshone sisters who fought to keep their ancestral land when the US attempted to seize it. My review demonstrates my competency at understanding diversity of language and culture and the limits of my own knowledge. For example, I compare American and Shoshone attitudes toward nature as described in the movie, thus demonstrating my understanding of the diversity between them. I further compare the different attitudes toward free will demonstrated in the movie, placing these differences in theoretical frameworks developed by Stella Ting-Toomey and Tenzin Dorjee in their book Communicating Across Cultures (2019). This also shows that I am competent at understanding diversity between cultures.

Evidentiary Object 3: Creatig French and Spanish sections in an English-language Bookshop
For the past two years, I have built up non-English language sections in the bookshop where I work. This has been a labor of love from which I have learned a lot. The work that I have done shows that I understand global perspectives on information practices. To select books for the shop, I researched books in Spanish and French that were of literary merit, held popular interest, and/or represented diverse voices. To do so, I had to become competent at reading reviews in French and English and finding other new (to me) sources of information about these books. Selecting books is a skill honed by many librarians as part of collection development. Selecting books in other languages shows that I am able to work as an information professional while working with perspectives different from my own.

Section 3: Conclusion
Learning global perspectives on effective information practices is an important skill. Living in San Francisco, I encounter people from other countries and cultures on a daily basis. When I am a librarian, the skills that I have learned and will continue to learn will guide me through intercultural communications. Cultural humility and learning global perspectives is a lifelong learning process. I look forward to continuing my education in this area after graduation through travel, reading, professional trainings, and conferences.


References
ALA. (2019). Core values of librarianship. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues

Dobreski, B. (2021). Descriptive cataloging: The history and practice of describing library resources. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 59(2-3), 225-241. DOI: 10.1080/01639374.2020.1864693

Ford, B. J. (2018). Lis professional in a global society. In K. Haycock & M.-J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (2nd ed., pp. 267-276). Libraries Unlimited.

Hirsh, S. (2018). The transformative information landscape: What it means to be an information professional today. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information services today: An introduction (2nd ed., pp. 3–13). Rowman & Littlefield.

IFLA. (n.d.). Our history. https://www.ifla.org/history/

IFLA. (n.d.). Our vision and mission. https://www.ifla.org/vision-mission/

Society of American Archives. (2022). Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). https://www2.archivists.org/groups/technical-subcommittee-on-describing-archives-a-content-standard-dacs/describing-archives-a-content-standard-dacs-second-

Ting-Toomey, S., & Dorjee, T. (2019). Communicating across cultures (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.

Widdersheim, M. M., Koizumi, M., & Larsen, H. (2021). Cultural policy, the public sphere, and public libraries: a comparison of Norwegian, American, and Japanese models. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 27(3), 358–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2020.1751142

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