Résumés
Abstract
Within scholarly and professional LIS literature, researchers and practitioners have applied the language, theory, and practices of stage performance to the context of academic library instruction. Recognizing the power of discourse in shaping professional norms and values, I wonder: How might the widespread presence of performance-based approaches to library instruction impact assumptions and expectations of those librarians who provide it? To better identify, interrogate, and imagine the implications of this discourse, this article first provides a review of the scholarship that has contributed to and resisted the phenomenon of library-instruction-as-performance, drawing upon the work of researchers who have engaged with theatrical, dramatic, or comedic approaches to library instruction. Using content analysis and close reading, I then analyze recent academic library conference programs to further understand how this thinking has been brought to life through professional development opportunities. Upon discovering a cluster of emotional themes within these texts, I follow how the discourse of performance in library instruction intersects with the concept of emotional labour in libraries, exploring how performance-based approaches can both demand emotional labour from and provide emotional reprieve to instruction librarians. In doing so, I focus on the interplay of professional discourse in library instruction and behavioural expectations of librarians—including their emotional expressions—to better understand how these phenomena co-exist and reinforce one another.
Keywords:
- emotional labour,
- instruction as performance,
- library instruction
Résumé
Dans la littérature scientifique et professionnelle sur les sciences de l'information et de la communication, les chercheuses.eurs et praticien.ne.s ont appliqué le langage, la théorie et les pratiques des arts de la scène au contexte de l'enseignement universitaire en bibliothéconomie. Reconnaissant le pouvoir du discours dans le façonnement des normes et des valeurs professionnelles, je m'interroge : Comment la présence généralisée d'approches de la formation en bibliothéconomie basées sur la performance scénique peut-elle avoir un impact sur les hypothèses et les attentes des bibliothécaires qui la dispensent ? Pour mieux identifier, interroger et imaginer les implications de ce discours, cet article propose d'abord un examen des travaux qui ont tant contribué que résisté au phénomène de la formation en bibliothéconomie en tant que performance, en s'appuyant sur les travaux des chercheuses.eurs qui se sont engagé.e.s dans des approches théâtrales, dramatiques ou comiques de la formation en bibliothéconomie. En utilisant l'analyse de contenu et la lecture attentive, j'analyse ensuite les programmes de conférences récentes en bibliothéconomie universitaire pour mieux comprendre comment cette pensée a été concrétisée via des opportunités de développement professionnel. Après avoir découvert un ensemble de thèmes émotifs dans ces textes, j'observe la façon dont le discours de la performance dans la formation en bibliothéconomie recoupe le concept de travail émotionnel dans les bibliothèques, en explorant la façon dont les approches basées sur la performance peuvent à la fois exiger un travail émotionnel de la part des bibliothécaires chargés de la formation tout en leur fournissant un répit émotionnel. Ce faisant, je me concentre sur l'interaction entre le discours professionnel dans la formation en bibliothéconomie et les attentes comportementales des bibliothécaires, y compris leurs expressions émotives, afin de mieux comprendre comment ces phénomènes coexistent et se renforcent l'un l'autre.
Mots-clés :
- enseignement en bibliothèque,
- enseignement en tant que performance,
- travail émotionnel
Parties annexes
Bibliography
- Antonelli, Monika, Jeff Kempe, and Greg Sidberry. 2000. “And Now for Something Completely Different … Theatrical Techniques for Library Instruction.” Research Strategies 17 (2–3): 177–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0734-3310(00)00045-8
- Arbuckle, Kathryn. 2008. “Emotion and Knowledge: Partners in Library Service?” Feliciter 54 (5): 219–21.
- Artman, Julie, Jeff Sundquist, and Douglas R. Dechow. 2016. The Craft of Librarian Instruction: Using Acting Techniques to Create Your Teaching Presence. Chicago, Ill: American Library Association.
- Ashforth, Blake E., and Ronald H. Humphrey. 1995. “Emotion in the Workplace: A Reappraisal.” Human Relations 48 (2): 97–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679504800201
- Azadbakht, Elena. 2021. “The Many Faces of Instruction: An Exploration of Academic Librarians’ Teaching Personas.” Communications in Information Literacy 15 (1): 57–74. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2021.15.1.3
- Bright, Kawanna. 2016. “A Woman of Color’s Work Is Never Done: Intersectionality in Reference and Information Work.” In Pushing the Margins: Women of Color and Intersectionality in LIS, edited by Rose L. Chou and Annie Pho, 61–82. Sacramento: Library Juice Press.
- Cherry, Jane, and Philip Calvert. 2012. “Library Service as Theatre: Using Dramaturgy to Investigate Attitudes to the Retail and Professional Models of Service.” Aslib Proceedings 64 (2): 201–14. https://doi.org/10.1108/00012531211215213
- Donovan, Carrie, and Jennifer Corbin. 2013. “Stand by Your Lesson Plan: How the Karaoke Experience Can Improve Your Instructional Practice.” Abstract. In LOEX 2013 Conference Program. https://www.loexconference.org/2013/sessions.html
- Edwards, Jay A. 2022. “Yes-And/Or/Not: Information Literacy and Instruction Through an Improvisational Lens.” Abstract. In LOEX 2022 Conference Program, 13. https://loex2022.sched.com/
- Emmelhainz, Celia, Erin Pappas, and Maura Seale. 2017. “Behavioral Expectations for the Mommy Librarian: The Successful Reference Transaction as Emotional Labor.” In The Feminist Reference Desk: Concepts, Critiques, and Conversations, edited by Maria T. Accardi, 27–45. Sacramento: Litwin Books.
- Furay, Julia. 2014. “Stages of Instruction: Theatre, Pedagogy and Information Literacy.” Reference Services Review 42 (2): 209–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-09-2013-0047
- Gareau-Brennan, Céline, Merran Carr-Wiggin, and Julia Guy. 2021. “Allowing Your Ideas to Resonate: Public Speaking Techniques for Librarians as Presenters.” In WILU 2021 Conference Program, 21.
- Goffman, Erving. (1959) 2021. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
- Gross, Judith M. S. 2018. “Document Analysis.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, edited by Bruce B. Frey. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506326139
- Hochschild, Arlie Russell. (1983) 2012. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Julien, Heidi, and Shelagh K. Genuis. 2009. “Emotional Labour in Librarians’ Instructional Work.” Journal of Documentation 65 (6): 926–37. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410910998924
- Julien, Heidi, and Jen (J. L.) Pecoskie. 2009. “Librarians’ Experiences of the Teaching Role: Grounded in Campus Relationships.” Library & Information Science Research 31 (3): 149–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2009.03.005
- Kellam, Lynda, Lauren Pressley, and Jenny Dale. 2013. “Building a Dream Team: Library Personas in the 21st-Century Library.” Abstract. In ACRL 2013 Conference Program, 30–31. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2013/acrl2013_program.pdf
- Louis, Lisa. 2013. “Lift up Your Voice! Using Vocal Techniques to Strengthen and Enliven Your Teaching.” Abstract. In LOEX 2013 Conference Program. https://www.loexconference.org/2013/sessions.html
- Matteson, Miriam L., and Shelly S. Miller. 2012. “Emotional Labor in Librarianship: A Research Agenda.” Library & Information Science Research 34 (3): 176–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2012.02.003
- Matteson, Miriam L., and Shelly S. Miller. 2013. “A Study of Emotional Labor in Librarianship.” Library & Information Science Research 35 (1): 54–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2012.07.005
- McLay Paterson, Amy. 2019. “Pick a Topic, Any Topic!: Using Improvisational Comedy to Make Feminist Pedagogy Work for Library Instruction.” Abstract. In WILU 2019 Conference Program. https://wilu2019.sched.com/
- Montella, Fabio, and Vanessa Viola. 2023. “The Library Goes Hollywood: Using Theater in Education for Library Instruction and Information Literacy Principles.” Abstract. In LOEX 2023 Conference Program. https://www.loexconference.org/program/
- Nazario, Athena. 2010. “All the World’s A Stage: Using Theater Games to Enhance Library Instruction.” LOEX Quarterly 37 (2): 4–5. https://commons.emich.edu/loexquarterly/vol37/iss2/2
- Pappas, Erin, and Kate Dohe. 2016. “‘Starting with ‘Yes, and...’: Collaborative Instructional Design in Digital Scholarship.” Abstract. In LOEX 2016 Conference Program. https://www.loexconference.org/2016/program.html
- Polkinghorne, Sarah. 2012. “Caught in the Act: An Autoethnographic Analysis of the Performance of Information Literacy Instruction.” Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes Du Congrès Annuel de l’ACSI. https://doi.org/10.29173/cais656
- Polkinghorne, Sarah. 2015. “Unpacking and Overcoming ‘Edutainment’ in Library Instruction.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/edutainment/
- Preves, Sharon, and Denise Stephenson. 2009. “The Classroom as Stage: Impression Management in Collaborative Teaching.” Teaching Sociology 37 (3): 245–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X0903700303
- Quinn, Brian. 2005. “A Dramaturgical Perspective on Academic Libraries.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 5 (3): 329–52. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2005.0039
- Rae, Lindsay. 2014. “Owning the Stage: Using Dramatic Theory to Improve Teaching.” Abstract. In LOEX 2014 Conference Program. https://www.loexconference.org/2014/program.html
- Rae, Lindsay. 2015. “The Show Must Go On: Using Principles of Dramatic Acting to Transform Us into More Intentional Teachers.” Abstract. In WILU 2015 Conference Program. https://wilu2015.wordpress.com/pre-conference-workshops/
- Reference and User Services Association. 2013. “Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers.” https://www.ala.org/rusa/resources/guidelines/guidelinesbehavioral
- Rhodes, Tamara, Naomi Bishop, and Alanna Aiko Moore. 2023. “The Work of Women of Color Academic Librarians in Higher Education: Perspectives on Emotional and Invisible Labor.” Up//Root: A We Here Publication. https://www.uproot.space/features/the-work-of-women-of-color
- Ruiz de Castilla, Clariza. 2017. “Close Reading.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, edited by Mike Allen. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483381411
- Scott, Susie. 2007. “College Hats or Lecture Trousers? Stage Fright and Performance Anxiety in University Teachers.” Ethnography and Education 2 (2): 191–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457820701350582
- Shea, Alison, and Sarah Lane. 2023. “Don’t Get Too Spicy: Effective Use of Humor in the Gen Z Classroom.” Abstract. In LOEX 2023 Conference Program. https://www.loexconference.org/program/
- Shuler, Sherianne, and Nathan Morgan. 2013. “Emotional Labor in the Academic Library: When Being Friendly Feels Like Work.” The Reference Librarian 54 (2): 118–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2013.756684
- Stoddard, Morgan, William Timpson, and Jill Smith. 2017. “All the World’s a Stage, Including the Classroom: Using Acting Techniques and Performance Theory to Engage Students and Enhance Learning.” Abstract. In ACRL 2017 Conference Program, 35. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2017/acrl2017_program.pdf
- Tewell, Eamon C. 2014. “What Stand-up Comedians Teach Us About Library Instruction.” College & Research Libraries News 75 (1): 28–30. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.75.1.9055
- Trefts, Kristin, and Sarah Blakeslee. 2000. “Did You Hear the One About the Boolean Operators? Incorporating Comedy into Library Instruction.” Reference Services Review 28 (4): 369–78. https://doi.org/10.1108/00907320010359731
- Tsaousi, Christiana. 2020. “That’s Funny … You Don’t Look like a Lecturer! Dress and Professional Identity of Female Academics.” Studies in Higher Education 45 (9): 1809–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1637839
- Walker, Billie E. 2006. “Using Humor in Library Instruction.” Reference Services Review 34 (1): 117–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/00907320610648806
- White, Marilyn Domas, and Emily E. Marsh. 2006. “Content Analysis: A Flexible Methodology.” Library Trends 55 (1): 22–45. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2006.0053