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Geographic Information Systems Librarianship: Suggestions for Entry-Level Academic Professionals
PERSPECTIVES ON. . . .
Geographic Information Systems Librarianship: Suggestions for Entry-Level Academic Professionals by Jaime Martindale 1
Future Geographic Information Systems (GIS) librarians face a number of challenges that other Library and Information Studies (LIS) graduates may not when preparing for a career in academic librarianship. This article discusses these challenges and offers suggestions to help entry-level GIS librarians begin successful and rewarding careers.
INTRODUCTION Entering the world of academic librarianship is an exciting and rewarding time for new Library and Information Studies (LIS) masters program graduates. It is at this time when all the hard work put into graduate courses, independent studies, fieldworks, and internships finally pays off. It is the combination of all these activities and not course work alone that will prepare students for the professional world. This is why many ALA-accredited LIS programs usually require or encourage some amount of practical experience. For students interested in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) librarianship, practical experience is essential because most LIS program curricula do not address GIS or digital geospatial data management issues. With a serious decline in library literature related to GIS since the 1990s, LIS students interested in GIS librarianship face a challenge when performing current literature reviews. The state of GIS support and services in academic libraries today is a topic missing from much of the literature and is an area that has most likely changed a great deal over the last five years. The opportunity to read literature published by professionals in the field benefits LIS students by helping them to know what may lie ahead upon graduation. This article addresses some of the issues related to entry-level academic librarianship, with a primary focus on GIS. It discusses the results of an informal survey that posed questions to the fifty-six ALA-accredited LIS masters programs regarding the presence of GIS within the curricula, and attempts to provide an explanation for the decline of current library literature related to GIS since the mid-1990s. In conclusion, this article offers some suggestions (based on the author’s own experiences) that aspiring GIS librarians should consider when beginning their first professional job in an academic library.
GIS Jaime Martindale is GIS and Geospatial Data Librarian, Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4301. 1
Present address: Map/GIS Librarian, Arthur H. Robinson Map Library, 310 Science Hall, 550 N. Park Street, Madison, WI 53706.
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 30, Number 1, pages 67–72
IN
LIBRARY LITERATURE
Offering GIS support and services in academic libraries is not a new concept. In the 1990s when the idea of incorporating GIS services was extremely popular, prompted by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) GIS Literacy Project in 1992,1 there was a surge in the publication of peer-reviewed articles related to the subject. These articles were authored by librarians whose
January 2004 67
institutions participated in the ARL project and dealt with issues like staffing, hardware, software, and building geospatial data collections. At the time, these articles were helpful in assisting with the initial implementation of GIS in the academic library environment. In 1997, the ARL surveyed all 121 GIS Literacy Project participants to see how they were supporting GIS initiatives in the library.2 By the time the survey report was published in 1999, 89 percent of the respondents reported that they offered some kind of GIS service.3 Undeniably, there have been tremendous changes and improvements in academic library GIS services since 1999, yet since that time there has been a decline in the numbers of articles on the subject published within library literature. Performing a current literature review for GIS poses a challenge, not only to librarians conducting research, but also to students in LIS programs writing papers and citing professional literature in their courses. Students with an interest in GIS librarianship and the desire to conduct research or learn about what experienced GIS librarians do in this field will have no trouble finding articles from the1990s, but will have greater difficulties locating up-to-date literature—simply because few exist. This is not to say that there have been no recent contributions to the field, just fewer. In a short but entertaining piece in the November 2002 issue of Against the Grain, Tony Ferguson discussed his feeling of ‘‘GIS induced guilt’’ after attending the Pacific Neighborhood Consortium (PNC) meeting in Osaka, Japan.4 He talked about the tremendous capabilities of GIS and offers two suggestions for bringing the technology to the library: (1) getting involved (himself) in the GIS phenomena so that library users will have access to GIS data and resources and so that the library is equipped to handle viewing and manipulation of these data, or (2) hiring or retraining someone to be a GIS librarian to develop GIS support.5 In a September 2002 Information Technology and Libraries article by Kimberly Kowal, Internet GIS resources and library users was the topic of interest. Kowal talked about the three major categories these resources can be separated into according to user requirements, technology, and application capabilities in the library: high level, mid level, and low level, and then offered explanations and suggestions for appropriate resources at each.6 David Dorman authored a column in the February 2002 issue of American Libraries that discussed using GIS to see library service areas in a whole new way. The article introduced a software package called ‘‘LibraryDecision,’’ a GIS application that can be used to map library circulation, collection, or patron demographic and statistical data.7 This library GIS application was offered as a possible suggestion for an improved way to gather and present relevant library statistics. GIS is a versatile and interdisciplinary technology, applicable to any situation from the geologist working in the field to the librarian helping students find digital geospatial data. Although the Ferguson, Kowal, and Dorman examples given here were found in more traditional ‘‘library’’ literature sources, today it is possible that GIS librarians are increasingly publishing their work in journals or delivering papers at conferences that focus more on geography, geosciences, or GIS technology rather than libraries. It is likely that literature relevant to the LIS community could be found in publications such as ‘‘Geotimes,’’ ‘‘The Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting Proceedings,’’ ‘‘GeoWorld,’’ ‘‘The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting Proceedings,’’ or ‘‘The ESRI International
68 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
Conference Proceedings.’’ In short, researchers may need to look beyond traditional library literature and dig deeper into the geography and geosciences publications or proceedings to find articles that discuss libraries and GIS. Having said that, the LIS community would benefit from more discussion in the literature about the state of GIS support and services in academic libraries today. Most likely, individual libraries offer varying levels of service and GIS librarians have different responsibilities depending on campus GIS interest or the amount of GIS software and data available from the library. The world of GIS librarianship is constantly evolving and the LIS community has not addressed many of the issues related to the role of academic GIS librarians. It is important that LIS students who have an interest in this area of librarianship have access to literature written by professionals to help them to know about GIS in libraries as well as what may be expected of them upon entering the real world.
GIS REPRESENTATION IN ALA ACCREDITED LIS MASTERS PROGRAMS Based on informal survey results summarized in this article, one could say that the likelihood of a student gaining exposure to GIS or the concept of GIS librarianship while attending a current ALA-accredited LIS masters program is low. In an effort to find out how much support there is for the field of GIS librarianship within these programs, an informal twoquestion e-mail survey was sent to the admissions offices of the fifty-six accredited schools listed in the Directory of ALA Accredited LIS Masters Programs.8 The survey included two questions: (1) it asked whether or not there were any GIS or digital geospatial data management courses within the program; and (2) it asked if there were any faculty members within the program interested in this area of librarianship. There were fortythree respondents to the survey (77%). Of these forty-three schools, twenty-three (53%) stated that there were no members of the faculty with an interest in GIS and no courses offered in the area. Five schools (11%) stated that they do have faculty members interested in GIS who have introduced it into the classroom. It was not clear if, among these responses, there were any formal semester-long GIS courses offered. The remaining fifteen responses (37%) were from schools that offered a variety of explanations of how students within their LIS programs have opportunities for exposure to GIS. Some of these schools, including the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Oklahoma, and St. John’s University, introduce GIS during select sessions of existing LIS courses like ‘‘government information’’ or ‘‘metadata.’’ Other programs like the one at the University of Hawaii occasionally have visiting faculty who teach GIS, while the program at the University of Florida previously had one faculty member interested in GIS who is no longer at the university. Most LIS masters programs allow students to take anywhere from three to six graduate credits outside of the program that count toward the MLIS degree. This is how some of the schools say their students have an opportunity to get exposed to GIS. The University of Texas at Austin stated that there are excellent GIS courses within the UT Geography department, so they see no need to teach them from within the LIS program. Other schools like the University of Indiana, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Puerto Rico all stated that there are other departments on
campus from which LIS students have taken GIS courses in the past. Some of the schools that responded offer dual-degree programs with other departments that teach GIS courses like ‘Geography’ or ‘Public and Environmental Affairs’. This means that the students can earn two masters degrees in a two-year period during which they can focus on GIS and librarianship simultaneously, if desired. It is worth noting that there were some limitations to the results of this survey. The questions were not detailed enough to attract every possible explanation of GIS support within the LIS masters programs. The survey did not specifically ask whether GIS was introduced in existing LIS courses, nor did it ask specifically about dual-degree programs. Some respondents voluntarily offered more explanation than others. Of the twenty-three schools that stated there were no GIS courses or faculty member interest, it is possible that some have introduced GIS briefly in existing LIS courses. It is likely that the majority of the LIS masters programs surveyed are located within universities where there are other (non-LIS) departments that teach GIS, and students are free to enroll in these courses as part of their LIS degree requirement. My biggest concern is that LIS administrators (including some that responded to the survey) see this opportunity as an acceptable and effective way for students to discover GIS librarianship and pursue that area of study. Courses offered from other departments, however, do not teach the skills that librarians would find useful in managing geospatial data collections. Yes, they teach basic concepts that GIS librarians need to know to work with the software, but they generally do not address issues like geospatial data collection development, dissemination of licensed or proprietary data, different types of reference services, instruction initiatives, or project management. There is also a concern for students with non-Geography/Geosciences/GIS backgrounds that choose to attend LIS masters programs. Students with undergraduate degrees in disciplines such as history or art who may have no prior knowledge of GIS are at a disadvantage. The current design of most LIS masters programs prevents students from discovering GIS technology or the GIS librarianship career path. LIS programs should offer a brief introduction to GIS and geospatial data in existing courses like ‘‘government information,’’ ‘‘reference,’’ or ‘‘organization of information’’—just enough to provide the students with some exposure that could spark real interest and prompt further exploration into the field. If, as a result of this exposure, a student has interest in GIS librarianship, it is important to teach him or her how to prepare for such a field. The practical experience gained from working in map or government information collections is an invaluable component in the preparation for a career in GIS librarianship. In this field, a large portion of knowledge that a student gains will come from working directly with GIS software, data, and the community of GIS users.
SUGGESTIONS
FOR
ENTRY-LEVEL GIS LIBRARIANS
My education includes a Bachelor’s Degree in ‘‘Environmental Aspects of Conservation’’ and an MLIS Degree, both from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When I began looking for employment I had no professional library experience, but I did have two and a half years of experience as a student GIS specialist at UW-Milwaukee’s American Geographical Society Library. Upon graduation, I had also completed a fieldwork in government information, during which I was exposed to working
the library’s main reference desk. I was a true entry-level candidate, but felt that I had prepared myself for the real world as best I could while in school. The following list of suggestions is one I put together after my first six months as GIS librarian at Cornell University. The environment at Cornell was very different than what I was accustomed to in Milwaukee, and I overwhelmed myself by thinking that I had to know everything about the Cornell University Library policies and procedures right away. The bottom line is that no matter how much experience you have before beginning a new career, there are aspects of it that will be very different than what you’ve previously learned and are used to. It is essential to keep an open mind, be flexible and patient, and not always think: ‘‘This is how we did that in the library I used to work in. . .’’. Of course it is helpful to take what you’ve learned in previous experiences and apply it to new situations, but do not let this be a limiting factor. This is true for anyone beginning a new career, not just entry-level professionals. By the time my first six months had passed, I had successfully transitioned into my role as a GIS librarian. The following is a list of suggestions I assembled for new professionals; they are important lessons that I learned along the way during those crucial first six months. The list is meant to help aspiring GIS librarians know what may be expected of them and to help them to understand that the first few months of a career are a time of transition and growth, both professionally and personally. Listen Listen carefully when you are being introduced to the general policies and procedures of the library, and think about how they relate to GIS data and services. Make sure you receive an extensive orientation and training session where you can easily get abundant information about different aspects of the library and see how the individual departments function. Compliance with library working policies is very important, but if there are changes that you think are necessary with regard to GIS services, bring them up at meetings. For example, you might explain how certain library procedures may be affected differently with regards to proprietarily produced or license-restricted GIS data sets; then offer suggestions on how to handle proper dissemination of this data. In most academic libraries, there is rarely one person making decisions that affect the service policies of the library. It is usually a team effort, which is an effective way to consider the thoughts and suggestions of everyone involved. Interact with Other Departments, Both In and Out of the Library Make appointments with staff in library departments other than your own to get an idea of how they might contribute to GIS support and services. Getting to know the supervisors in departments such as collection development, technical services, or information technology will give you the opportunity to find out what (if any) are the roles these departments play in GIS data acquisition, cataloging, and technical development of Web-based or digital services. Look through the campus course directory to see what departments offer courses in GIS and find out who the prominent GIS faculty members are. Get to know the faculty members and meet with them initially to introduce yourself, then sporadically throughout the year to discuss your supportive role as GIS librarian. Find out what ideas they have about
January 2004 69
how you could be involved in supporting their research and teaching. Let them know that you are there as a resource for their students who may need assistance locating geospatial data, organizing their projects, or using GIS software. Inform the faculty of your knowledge level so they know what types of questions you can handle and which of their students could benefit from a consultation or instruction session. Working closely with faculty can have many benefits including collaborations in grant writing, campus-wide GIS integration efforts, and joint presentations at conferences. Embrace Instruction Embrace instruction initiatives. What better way to spark campus-wide GIS interest than to offer courses and hands-on workshops? Your ultimate goal as a GIS librarian should be to introduce the technology to as many people on campus as you can. Explore the idea of offering introductory as well as advanced-level courses. Designing exercises for audiences with different skill levels is an experience that will help you stay in tune to the needs of the campus GIS community. Post flyers or create a Web site to advertise your instruction program and include a summary of what you cover in your courses and workshops. Talk with GIS faculty to see what sessions you could offer that would compliment their courses, or see if they would be interested in having you provide a guest lecture about GIS and geospatial data resources from the library. At some universities librarians have the opportunity to become adjunct lecturers within other academic departments. The digital spatial data librarian at UWM taught a GIS course in the Geography department, and taking this course helped spark my interest in the field. Consider the idea of becoming a lecturer for one of the major GIS departments on campus such as Geography, Planning, Natural Resources, or Geosciences. This is a great way to meet students who could work as student GIS assistants in the library. These students are usually anxious for some real GIS experience after taking an introductory course. Get Technical Become involved with the GIS and geospatial data services on a technical or programmatic level even if your technical background is not extensive. This is especially important if you are managing a Web-based geospatial data collection or have an interest in creating one at the library. As project manager for a Web-based collection and active node within the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), I realized early on that making good decisions requires a thorough understanding of all aspects of the project, including its technical development. You need to understand how people are searching the system, how the metadata is indexed, and how the data is organized in the relational database. Knowing these details will help you to make informed decisions about the effectiveness of the Web interface and will help you assist users in navigating the system to find the data they need. Understanding these aspects of the service will also allow for better communication between you and the programmer or other staff members involved with technical development. GIS is technical in nature, and you should keep up with the latest software products, services, and standards. If your institution has a campus site license for a particular GIS software line, be prepared to handle technical support for all of these softwares that are available from library computers. You should know fundamental GIS software operations and have a thorough understanding of both spatial relationships and methods for
70 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
analysis. It is also important to have the ability to manipulate data in any format and make it usable within a GIS. Know About Metadata Familiarize yourself with geospatial metadata structure and standards. If your role as a GIS librarian does not put you in charge of metadata creation or quality control, meet with the metadata librarian or appropriate personnel for a thorough explanation of the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM).9 Keep up with evolving metadata standards such as ISO 1911510 and keep in mind that as standards change, your metadata resources also need to change. Documentation and metadata are often overlooked, but it is vital to users interested in locating and using digital geospatial data. For GIS librarians managing Web-based NSDI collections, it is important to understand that without proper metadata the data would not be discoverable. If the library does not offer them already, propose the idea of providing metadata training workshops to local data producers or people on campus interested in documenting their data. This will give you the opportunity to stress the importance of documentation and to provide GIS practitioners with examples of well-constructed metadata records. Be willing to work with the campus GIS community on an ongoing basis by providing support and guidance for metadata creation initiatives from start to finish. Keep Up with What Is Happening in the GIS Community It is your responsibility to keep up with new technology, software upgrades and other current news within the GIS community. Subscribing to listservs like MAPS-L 11 or GIS4lib12 will help you stay in touch with what is happening in the world of map and GIS librarianship. Be sure to sign up for your official campus GIS listserv (if one exists) to stay aware of what is happening locally. Listservs like ArcView-L13 or MapInfo-L14 provide valuable tips and techniques within specific software packages that will help you to provide accurate and informative reference service or consultations. Keep up on the latest software upgrades, technological advancements, and cutting-edge GIS applications by reading popular GIS literature like Geo World, GeoTimes, GIS User, ArcNews, or MapInfo Magazine.15 It is important to read about the creative and innovative ways practitioners are using GIS technology. You will most likely get questions from students, faculty, or staff who have heard about GIS but are unsure of how they might apply it to their own research. It is wise to always have a few application examples on hand to show people. Strive to Improve Current Service Always strive to improve current library GIS services. Ask users for feedback and find out what types of GIS support they would like to see available from the library. During instruction sessions or consultations, ask for opinions about current services. Document the thoughts and suggestions of the faculty, staff, students, and the general public who use the services the most. Oftentimes library staff members directly involved with the development and management of the geospatial data collection overlook key resources that users may need, or may spend substantial time developing a part of the service or collection that is not particularly useful. The goal is to make sure the users are getting the most out of the services being
offered. The best way to find out if this is true is to ask them what they might like to see included among the services or within the collection. For Web-based collections, an email feedback link available directly from the site makes it convenient for users to ask questions, make suggestions, or offer their data to the collection. Librarians managing in-house collections could send a survey to the campus GIS listserv, or distribute a paper survey near the geospatial data collection at the library. Community outreach is an invaluable component to all library services. Find out if your county, city, or town has a GIS user group and become a member. Plan to organize and host events like the nationally recognized GIS Day16 at the library. Invite the general public as well as the university community to come into the library to learn about GIS and how it affects everyday life. Explore New Ideas Take the initiative to explore and formulate new ideas for GIS services within the library. Make a list of all the current GIS services offered and think about how they could be perfected, more efficient, better advertised, or more diverse. If there are none at all, make a list of the services you think would benefit the campus community and devise a plan for implementation. Present these ideas along with the reasons why you think certain services would be necessary and who the target audience would be. Make suggestions about offering a new workshop or class, and back up the idea with an original lesson plan or exercise. You can then use this as your basis for asking relevant questions about how responsive the library is to change. Record Statistics Keep an administrative database to record statistics and everyday activities (including consultations, reference interviews, instruction sessions, etc.). Usage and activity statistics provide valuable information about in-house or Web-based collections. This type of documentation justifies the existence and proves the success of the GIS support and services being offered. When annual reports are due, these statistics are vital to accrue a proper amount of funding from internal and external sources. Depending on how detailed the database is designed, it could allow you to determine what types of questions or consultations are most popular, what campus departments use the library’s GIS services the most, or how many hours are spent performing various types of support (technical, general reference, project management, teaching, etc.). Other departments within the library or across campus may be unaware of how expensive some GIS software and data can be. The GIS librarian should promote the library’s services and geospatial data collection so that others on campus are aware of what is available and adequate funding is allotted each year. Statistics can be useful for those outside the library as well. Librarians managing Web-based collections where large portions of the data have been originally produced by government agencies or other external providers can make use of statistics by providing numbers that show ‘‘data partners’’ how often or how much of their data is being viewed or downloaded. Professional Development Professional development is strongly encouraged in the academic library setting and you should strive to make original contributions to the field. Good professional development activities include authoring articles for publication in peer-reviewed jour-
nals, giving papers at professional conferences, attending preconference workshops or sessions, and reading current literature. Contributing to current literature by writing articles not only benefits you professionally, but also provides an opportunity for you to give something back to the academic library community. Original research and ideas are worth sharing, especially within a unique field like GIS librarianship. Be active in the peer review process or author articles about innovative and cuttingedge services you offer at your library. Always think critically and question the service methods or techniques that currently exist in libraries to form arguments for change or improvement. Conferences are an opportunity to share and compare your library’s GIS support and services with others. Attending conferences can help you determine the ‘‘best’’ ways to approach an idea or to derive effective solutions to problems based on what others have done. Conferences and preconference workshops also offer you the chance to work with the latest in GIS technology. It is important to find ways to embrace these new technologies and create defining spaces for them within the library environment. Reading about what other academic librarians are doing in the way of GIS can prove to be extremely helpful because often times problem solving within an organization starts by describing the way others have handled similar issues.
CONCLUSION GIS librarianship is a rewarding career for entry-level professionals. With little exposure to GIS from within ALA-accredited LIS masters programs today, students with previous backgrounds in geography or GIS are more likely to pursue GIS librarianship as a career. There are LIS courses through which GIS could be introduced as part of the curricula. If LIS masters programs become more proactive and address some of the issues related to GIS in academic libraries, there is a better chance that more graduates could obtain these valuable skills and choose GIS librarianship as a career. From my experiences thus far at Cornell, it has been evident that GIS technology is popular within the university research environment. There is a demonstrated need in academic libraries for librarians that know the most effective ways to collect, manage, and disseminate geospatial data. The ten suggestions highlighted in this article are meant to help entry-level GIS librarians begin successful careers. Of course, each academic library is different and the role of the GIS librarian from one institution to another can vary greatly. The main idea that new professionals should remember is to keep an eye on the big picture; think about the needs of the campus community and strive to meet those needs by designing new GIS services or improving existing ones.
NOTES
AND
REFERENCES
1. ARL GIS Literacy Project. Online. Available: http://www.arl.org/
info/gis/index.htm (22 May, 2003). 2. Kevin D. Davie, James Fox, & Barbara Pierce, The ARL Geo-
graphic Information Systems Literacy Project (Washington: Association of Research Libraries, SPEC Kit 238, March 1999). 3. Mary French, ‘‘The ARL GIS Literacy Project: Support for Government Data Sources in the Digital Library,’’ IASSIST Quarterly 24 (2000): 19 – 23. 4. Anthony W. Ferguson, ‘‘Back Talk—GIS Induced Guilt,’’ Against the Grain 14 (5) (2002): 94. 5. Ibid., p. 94.
January 2004 71
6. Kimberly C. Kowal, ‘‘Tapping the Web for GIS and mapping tech-
11. MAPS-L at the University of Georgia. Online. Available: http://
nologies: For all levels of libraries and users,’’ Information Technology and Libraries 21 (3) (2002): 109 – 114. David Dorman, ‘‘GIS provides a new way of seeing service areas,’’ American Libraries 33 (2) (2002): 62 – 63. American Library Association: Accredited LIS Masters Programs by Institution. Online. Available: http://staging.ala.org/Content/ NavigationMenu/Our_ Association/Offices/Accreditation1/lisdir/ LIS_Directory.htm (24 May, 2002). The Federal Geographic Data Committee: Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. Online. Available: http://www. fgdc.gov/metadata/contstan.html (23 May, 2003). International Organization for Standardization (ISO 19115). Online. Available: http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.openerpage (23 May, 2003).
listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1 = maps-l&A = 1 (27 May, 2003). GIS4lib—GIS for libraries information page. Online. Available: http://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/gis4lib (27 May, 2003). ArcView-L (ESRI). Online. Available: http://support.esri.com/ listserve/ (27 May, 2003). MapInfo-L. Online. Available: http://lists.directionsmag.com/ discussion/list.php?f = 7 (27 May, 2003). GISDevelopment.net GIS Magazine Resources. Online. Available: http://www.gisdevelopment.net/publications/magazine/ (27 May, 2003). National GIS Day Celebration: Discovering the World Through GIS. Online. Available: http://www.gisday.com/ (27 May, 2003).
7. 8.
9.
10.
72 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
12.
13. 14. 15.
16.
Geographic Information Systems Librarianship: Suggestions for Entry-Level Academic Professionals by Jaime Martindale 1
Future Geographic Information Systems (GIS) librarians face a number of challenges that other Library and Information Studies (LIS) graduates may not when preparing for a career in academic librarianship. This article discusses these challenges and offers suggestions to help entry-level GIS librarians begin successful and rewarding careers.
INTRODUCTION Entering the world of academic librarianship is an exciting and rewarding time for new Library and Information Studies (LIS) masters program graduates. It is at this time when all the hard work put into graduate courses, independent studies, fieldworks, and internships finally pays off. It is the combination of all these activities and not course work alone that will prepare students for the professional world. This is why many ALA-accredited LIS programs usually require or encourage some amount of practical experience. For students interested in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) librarianship, practical experience is essential because most LIS program curricula do not address GIS or digital geospatial data management issues. With a serious decline in library literature related to GIS since the 1990s, LIS students interested in GIS librarianship face a challenge when performing current literature reviews. The state of GIS support and services in academic libraries today is a topic missing from much of the literature and is an area that has most likely changed a great deal over the last five years. The opportunity to read literature published by professionals in the field benefits LIS students by helping them to know what may lie ahead upon graduation. This article addresses some of the issues related to entry-level academic librarianship, with a primary focus on GIS. It discusses the results of an informal survey that posed questions to the fifty-six ALA-accredited LIS masters programs regarding the presence of GIS within the curricula, and attempts to provide an explanation for the decline of current library literature related to GIS since the mid-1990s. In conclusion, this article offers some suggestions (based on the author’s own experiences) that aspiring GIS librarians should consider when beginning their first professional job in an academic library.
GIS Jaime Martindale is GIS and Geospatial Data Librarian, Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4301
Present address: Map/GIS Librarian, Arthur H. Robinson Map Library, 310 Science Hall, 550 N. Park Street, Madison, WI 53706
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 30, Number 1, pages 67–72
IN
LIBRARY LITERATURE
Offering GIS support and services in academic libraries is not a new concept. In the 1990s when the idea of incorporating GIS services was extremely popular, prompted by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) GIS Literacy Project in 1992,1 there was a surge in the publication of peer-reviewed articles related to the subject. These articles were authored by librarians whose
January 2004 67
institutions participated in the ARL project and dealt with issues like staffing, hardware, software, and building geospatial data collections. At the time, these articles were helpful in assisting with the initial implementation of GIS in the academic library environment. In 1997, the ARL surveyed all 121 GIS Literacy Project participants to see how they were supporting GIS initiatives in the library.2 By the time the survey report was published in 1999, 89 percent of the respondents reported that they offered some kind of GIS service.3 Undeniably, there have been tremendous changes and improvements in academic library GIS services since 1999, yet since that time there has been a decline in the numbers of articles on the subject published within library literature. Performing a current literature review for GIS poses a challenge, not only to librarians conducting research, but also to students in LIS programs writing papers and citing professional literature in their courses. Students with an interest in GIS librarianship and the desire to conduct research or learn about what experienced GIS librarians do in this field will have no trouble finding articles from the1990s, but will have greater difficulties locating up-to-date literature—simply because few exist. This is not to say that there have been no recent contributions to the field, just fewer. In a short but entertaining piece in the November 2002 issue of Against the Grain, Tony Ferguson discussed his feeling of ‘‘GIS induced guilt’’ after attending the Pacific Neighborhood Consortium (PNC) meeting in Osaka, Japan.4 He talked about the tremendous capabilities of GIS and offers two suggestions for bringing the technology to the library: (1) getting involved (himself) in the GIS phenomena so that library users will have access to GIS data and resources and so that the library is equipped to handle viewing and manipulation of these data, or (2) hiring or retraining someone to be a GIS librarian to develop GIS support.5 In a September 2002 Information Technology and Libraries article by Kimberly Kowal, Internet GIS resources and library users was the topic of interest. Kowal talked about the three major categories these resources can be separated into according to user requirements, technology, and application capabilities in the library: high level, mid level, and low level, and then offered explanations and suggestions for appropriate resources at each.6 David Dorman authored a column in the February 2002 issue of American Libraries that discussed using GIS to see library service areas in a whole new way. The article introduced a software package called ‘‘LibraryDecision,’’ a GIS application that can be used to map library circulation, collection, or patron demographic and statistical data.7 This library GIS application was offered as a possible suggestion for an improved way to gather and present relevant library statistics. GIS is a versatile and interdisciplinary technology, applicable to any situation from the geologist working in the field to the librarian helping students find digital geospatial data. Although the Ferguson, Kowal, and Dorman examples given here were found in more traditional ‘‘library’’ literature sources, today it is possible that GIS librarians are increasingly publishing their work in journals or delivering papers at conferences that focus more on geography, geosciences, or GIS technology rather than libraries. It is likely that literature relevant to the LIS community could be found in publications such as ‘‘Geotimes,’’ ‘‘The Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting Proceedings,’’ ‘‘GeoWorld,’’ ‘‘The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting Proceedings,’’ or ‘‘The ESRI International
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Conference Proceedings.’’ In short, researchers may need to look beyond traditional library literature and dig deeper into the geography and geosciences publications or proceedings to find articles that discuss libraries and GIS. Having said that, the LIS community would benefit from more discussion in the literature about the state of GIS support and services in academic libraries today. Most likely, individual libraries offer varying levels of service and GIS librarians have different responsibilities depending on campus GIS interest or the amount of GIS software and data available from the library. The world of GIS librarianship is constantly evolving and the LIS community has not addressed many of the issues related to the role of academic GIS librarians. It is important that LIS students who have an interest in this area of librarianship have access to literature written by professionals to help them to know about GIS in libraries as well as what may be expected of them upon entering the real world.
GIS REPRESENTATION IN ALA ACCREDITED LIS MASTERS PROGRAMS Based on informal survey results summarized in this article, one could say that the likelihood of a student gaining exposure to GIS or the concept of GIS librarianship while attending a current ALA-accredited LIS masters program is low. In an effort to find out how much support there is for the field of GIS librarianship within these programs, an informal twoquestion e-mail survey was sent to the admissions offices of the fifty-six accredited schools listed in the Directory of ALA Accredited LIS Masters Programs.8 The survey included two questions: (1) it asked whether or not there were any GIS or digital geospatial data management courses within the program; and (2) it asked if there were any faculty members within the program interested in this area of librarianship. There were fortythree respondents to the survey (77%). Of these forty-three schools, twenty-three (53%) stated that there were no members of the faculty with an interest in GIS and no courses offered in the area. Five schools (11%) stated that they do have faculty members interested in GIS who have introduced it into the classroom. It was not clear if, among these responses, there were any formal semester-long GIS courses offered. The remaining fifteen responses (37%) were from schools that offered a variety of explanations of how students within their LIS programs have opportunities for exposure to GIS. Some of these schools, including the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Oklahoma, and St. John’s University, introduce GIS during select sessions of existing LIS courses like ‘‘government information’’ or ‘‘metadata.’’ Other programs like the one at the University of Hawaii occasionally have visiting faculty who teach GIS, while the program at the University of Florida previously had one faculty member interested in GIS who is no longer at the university. Most LIS masters programs allow students to take anywhere from three to six graduate credits outside of the program that count toward the MLIS degree. This is how some of the schools say their students have an opportunity to get exposed to GIS. The University of Texas at Austin stated that there are excellent GIS courses within the UT Geography department, so they see no need to teach them from within the LIS program. Other schools like the University of Indiana, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Puerto Rico all stated that there are other departments on
campus from which LIS students have taken GIS courses in the past. Some of the schools that responded offer dual-degree programs with other departments that teach GIS courses like ‘Geography’ or ‘Public and Environmental Affairs’. This means that the students can earn two masters degrees in a two-year period during which they can focus on GIS and librarianship simultaneously, if desired. It is worth noting that there were some limitations to the results of this survey. The questions were not detailed enough to attract every possible explanation of GIS support within the LIS masters programs. The survey did not specifically ask whether GIS was introduced in existing LIS courses, nor did it ask specifically about dual-degree programs. Some respondents voluntarily offered more explanation than others. Of the twenty-three schools that stated there were no GIS courses or faculty member interest, it is possible that some have introduced GIS briefly in existing LIS courses. It is likely that the majority of the LIS masters programs surveyed are located within universities where there are other (non-LIS) departments that teach GIS, and students are free to enroll in these courses as part of their LIS degree requirement. My biggest concern is that LIS administrators (including some that responded to the survey) see this opportunity as an acceptable and effective way for students to discover GIS librarianship and pursue that area of study. Courses offered from other departments, however, do not teach the skills that librarians would find useful in managing geospatial data collections. Yes, they teach basic concepts that GIS librarians need to know to work with the software, but they generally do not address issues like geospatial data collection development, dissemination of licensed or proprietary data, different types of reference services, instruction initiatives, or project management. There is also a concern for students with non-Geography/Geosciences/GIS backgrounds that choose to attend LIS masters programs. Students with undergraduate degrees in disciplines such as history or art who may have no prior knowledge of GIS are at a disadvantage. The current design of most LIS masters programs prevents students from discovering GIS technology or the GIS librarianship career path. LIS programs should offer a brief introduction to GIS and geospatial data in existing courses like ‘‘government information,’’ ‘‘reference,’’ or ‘‘organization of information’’—just enough to provide the students with some exposure that could spark real interest and prompt further exploration into the field. If, as a result of this exposure, a student has interest in GIS librarianship, it is important to teach him or her how to prepare for such a field. The practical experience gained from working in map or government information collections is an invaluable component in the preparation for a career in GIS librarianship. In this field, a large portion of knowledge that a student gains will come from working directly with GIS software, data, and the community of GIS users.
SUGGESTIONS
FOR
ENTRY-LEVEL GIS LIBRARIANS
My education includes a Bachelor’s Degree in ‘‘Environmental Aspects of Conservation’’ and an MLIS Degree, both from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When I began looking for employment I had no professional library experience, but I did have two and a half years of experience as a student GIS specialist at UW-Milwaukee’s American Geographical Society Library. Upon graduation, I had also completed a fieldwork in government information, during which I was exposed to working
the library’s main reference desk. I was a true entry-level candidate, but felt that I had prepared myself for the real world as best I could while in school. The following list of suggestions is one I put together after my first six months as GIS librarian at Cornell University. The environment at Cornell was very different than what I was accustomed to in Milwaukee, and I overwhelmed myself by thinking that I had to know everything about the Cornell University Library policies and procedures right away. The bottom line is that no matter how much experience you have before beginning a new career, there are aspects of it that will be very different than what you’ve previously learned and are used to. It is essential to keep an open mind, be flexible and patient, and not always think: ‘‘This is how we did that in the library I used to work in. . .’’. Of course it is helpful to take what you’ve learned in previous experiences and apply it to new situations, but do not let this be a limiting factor. This is true for anyone beginning a new career, not just entry-level professionals. By the time my first six months had passed, I had successfully transitioned into my role as a GIS librarian. The following is a list of suggestions I assembled for new professionals; they are important lessons that I learned along the way during those crucial first six months. The list is meant to help aspiring GIS librarians know what may be expected of them and to help them to understand that the first few months of a career are a time of transition and growth, both professionally and personally. Listen Listen carefully when you are being introduced to the general policies and procedures of the library, and think about how they relate to GIS data and services. Make sure you receive an extensive orientation and training session where you can easily get abundant information about different aspects of the library and see how the individual departments function. Compliance with library working policies is very important, but if there are changes that you think are necessary with regard to GIS services, bring them up at meetings. For example, you might explain how certain library procedures may be affected differently with regards to proprietarily produced or license-restricted GIS data sets; then offer suggestions on how to handle proper dissemination of this data. In most academic libraries, there is rarely one person making decisions that affect the service policies of the library. It is usually a team effort, which is an effective way to consider the thoughts and suggestions of everyone involved. Interact with Other Departments, Both In and Out of the Library Make appointments with staff in library departments other than your own to get an idea of how they might contribute to GIS support and services. Getting to know the supervisors in departments such as collection development, technical services, or information technology will give you the opportunity to find out what (if any) are the roles these departments play in GIS data acquisition, cataloging, and technical development of Web-based or digital services. Look through the campus course directory to see what departments offer courses in GIS and find out who the prominent GIS faculty members are. Get to know the faculty members and meet with them initially to introduce yourself, then sporadically throughout the year to discuss your supportive role as GIS librarian. Find out what ideas they have about
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how you could be involved in supporting their research and teaching. Let them know that you are there as a resource for their students who may need assistance locating geospatial data, organizing their projects, or using GIS software. Inform the faculty of your knowledge level so they know what types of questions you can handle and which of their students could benefit from a consultation or instruction session. Working closely with faculty can have many benefits including collaborations in grant writing, campus-wide GIS integration efforts, and joint presentations at conferences. Embrace Instruction Embrace instruction initiatives. What better way to spark campus-wide GIS interest than to offer courses and hands-on workshops? Your ultimate goal as a GIS librarian should be to introduce the technology to as many people on campus as you can. Explore the idea of offering introductory as well as advanced-level courses. Designing exercises for audiences with different skill levels is an experience that will help you stay in tune to the needs of the campus GIS community. Post flyers or create a Web site to advertise your instruction program and include a summary of what you cover in your courses and workshops. Talk with GIS faculty to see what sessions you could offer that would compliment their courses, or see if they would be interested in having you provide a guest lecture about GIS and geospatial data resources from the library. At some universities librarians have the opportunity to become adjunct lecturers within other academic departments. The digital spatial data librarian at UWM taught a GIS course in the Geography department, and taking this course helped spark my interest in the field. Consider the idea of becoming a lecturer for one of the major GIS departments on campus such as Geography, Planning, Natural Resources, or Geosciences. This is a great way to meet students who could work as student GIS assistants in the library. These students are usually anxious for some real GIS experience after taking an introductory course. Get Technical Become involved with the GIS and geospatial data services on a technical or programmatic level even if your technical background is not extensive. This is especially important if you are managing a Web-based geospatial data collection or have an interest in creating one at the library. As project manager for a Web-based collection and active node within the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), I realized early on that making good decisions requires a thorough understanding of all aspects of the project, including its technical development. You need to understand how people are searching the system, how the metadata is indexed, and how the data is organized in the relational database. Knowing these details will help you to make informed decisions about the effectiveness of the Web interface and will help you assist users in navigating the system to find the data they need. Understanding these aspects of the service will also allow for better communication between you and the programmer or other staff members involved with technical development. GIS is technical in nature, and you should keep up with the latest software products, services, and standards. If your institution has a campus site license for a particular GIS software line, be prepared to handle technical support for all of these softwares that are available from library computers. You should know fundamental GIS software operations and have a thorough understanding of both spatial relationships and methods for
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analysis. It is also important to have the ability to manipulate data in any format and make it usable within a GIS. Know About Metadata Familiarize yourself with geospatial metadata structure and standards. If your role as a GIS librarian does not put you in charge of metadata creation or quality control, meet with the metadata librarian or appropriate personnel for a thorough explanation of the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM).9 Keep up with evolving metadata standards such as ISO 1911510 and keep in mind that as standards change, your metadata resources also need to change. Documentation and metadata are often overlooked, but it is vital to users interested in locating and using digital geospatial data. For GIS librarians managing Web-based NSDI collections, it is important to understand that without proper metadata the data would not be discoverable. If the library does not offer them already, propose the idea of providing metadata training workshops to local data producers or people on campus interested in documenting their data. This will give you the opportunity to stress the importance of documentation and to provide GIS practitioners with examples of well-constructed metadata records. Be willing to work with the campus GIS community on an ongoing basis by providing support and guidance for metadata creation initiatives from start to finish. Keep Up with What Is Happening in the GIS Community It is your responsibility to keep up with new technology, software upgrades and other current news within the GIS community. Subscribing to listservs like MAPS-L 11 or GIS4lib12 will help you stay in touch with what is happening in the world of map and GIS librarianship. Be sure to sign up for your official campus GIS listserv (if one exists) to stay aware of what is happening locally. Listservs like ArcView-L13 or MapInfo-L14 provide valuable tips and techniques within specific software packages that will help you to provide accurate and informative reference service or consultations. Keep up on the latest software upgrades, technological advancements, and cutting-edge GIS applications by reading popular GIS literature like Geo World, GeoTimes, GIS User, ArcNews, or MapInfo Magazine.15 It is important to read about the creative and innovative ways practitioners are using GIS technology. You will most likely get questions from students, faculty, or staff who have heard about GIS but are unsure of how they might apply it to their own research. It is wise to always have a few application examples on hand to show people. Strive to Improve Current Service Always strive to improve current library GIS services. Ask users for feedback and find out what types of GIS support they would like to see available from the library. During instruction sessions or consultations, ask for opinions about current services. Document the thoughts and suggestions of the faculty, staff, students, and the general public who use the services the most. Oftentimes library staff members directly involved with the development and management of the geospatial data collection overlook key resources that users may need, or may spend substantial time developing a part of the service or collection that is not particularly useful. The goal is to make sure the users are getting the most out of the services being
offered. The best way to find out if this is true is to ask them what they might like to see included among the services or within the collection. For Web-based collections, an email feedback link available directly from the site makes it convenient for users to ask questions, make suggestions, or offer their data to the collection. Librarians managing in-house collections could send a survey to the campus GIS listserv, or distribute a paper survey near the geospatial data collection at the library. Community outreach is an invaluable component to all library services. Find out if your county, city, or town has a GIS user group and become a member. Plan to organize and host events like the nationally recognized GIS Day16 at the library. Invite the general public as well as the university community to come into the library to learn about GIS and how it affects everyday life. Explore New Ideas Take the initiative to explore and formulate new ideas for GIS services within the library. Make a list of all the current GIS services offered and think about how they could be perfected, more efficient, better advertised, or more diverse. If there are none at all, make a list of the services you think would benefit the campus community and devise a plan for implementation. Present these ideas along with the reasons why you think certain services would be necessary and who the target audience would be. Make suggestions about offering a new workshop or class, and back up the idea with an original lesson plan or exercise. You can then use this as your basis for asking relevant questions about how responsive the library is to change. Record Statistics Keep an administrative database to record statistics and everyday activities (including consultations, reference interviews, instruction sessions, etc.). Usage and activity statistics provide valuable information about in-house or Web-based collections. This type of documentation justifies the existence and proves the success of the GIS support and services being offered. When annual reports are due, these statistics are vital to accrue a proper amount of funding from internal and external sources. Depending on how detailed the database is designed, it could allow you to determine what types of questions or consultations are most popular, what campus departments use the library’s GIS services the most, or how many hours are spent performing various types of support (technical, general reference, project management, teaching, etc.). Other departments within the library or across campus may be unaware of how expensive some GIS software and data can be. The GIS librarian should promote the library’s services and geospatial data collection so that others on campus are aware of what is available and adequate funding is allotted each year. Statistics can be useful for those outside the library as well. Librarians managing Web-based collections where large portions of the data have been originally produced by government agencies or other external providers can make use of statistics by providing numbers that show ‘‘data partners’’ how often or how much of their data is being viewed or downloaded. Professional Development Professional development is strongly encouraged in the academic library setting and you should strive to make original contributions to the field. Good professional development activities include authoring articles for publication in peer-reviewed jour-
nals, giving papers at professional conferences, attending preconference workshops or sessions, and reading current literature. Contributing to current literature by writing articles not only benefits you professionally, but also provides an opportunity for you to give something back to the academic library community. Original research and ideas are worth sharing, especially within a unique field like GIS librarianship. Be active in the peer review process or author articles about innovative and cuttingedge services you offer at your library. Always think critically and question the service methods or techniques that currently exist in libraries to form arguments for change or improvement. Conferences are an opportunity to share and compare your library’s GIS support and services with others. Attending conferences can help you determine the ‘‘best’’ ways to approach an idea or to derive effective solutions to problems based on what others have done. Conferences and preconference workshops also offer you the chance to work with the latest in GIS technology. It is important to find ways to embrace these new technologies and create defining spaces for them within the library environment. Reading about what other academic librarians are doing in the way of GIS can prove to be extremely helpful because often times problem solving within an organization starts by describing the way others have handled similar issues.
CONCLUSION GIS librarianship is a rewarding career for entry-level professionals. With little exposure to GIS from within ALA-accredited LIS masters programs today, students with previous backgrounds in geography or GIS are more likely to pursue GIS librarianship as a career. There are LIS courses through which GIS could be introduced as part of the curricula. If LIS masters programs become more proactive and address some of the issues related to GIS in academic libraries, there is a better chance that more graduates could obtain these valuable skills and choose GIS librarianship as a career. From my experiences thus far at Cornell, it has been evident that GIS technology is popular within the university research environment. There is a demonstrated need in academic libraries for librarians that know the most effective ways to collect, manage, and disseminate geospatial data. The ten suggestions highlighted in this article are meant to help entry-level GIS librarians begin successful careers. Of course, each academic library is different and the role of the GIS librarian from one institution to another can vary greatly. The main idea that new professionals should remember is to keep an eye on the big picture; think about the needs of the campus community and strive to meet those needs by designing new GIS services or improving existing ones.
NOTES
AND
REFERENCES
1. ARL GIS Literacy Project. Online. Available: http://www.arl.org/
info/gis/index.htm (22 May, 2003). 2. Kevin D. Davie, James Fox, & Barbara Pierce, The ARL Geo-
graphic Information Systems Literacy Project (Washington: Association of Research Libraries, SPEC Kit 238, March 1999). 3. Mary French, ‘‘The ARL GIS Literacy Project: Support for Government Data Sources in the Digital Library,’’ IASSIST Quarterly 24 (2000): 19 – 23. 4. Anthony W. Ferguson, ‘‘Back Talk—GIS Induced Guilt,’’ Against the Grain 14 (5) (2002): 94. 5. Ibid., p. 94.
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6. Kimberly C. Kowal, ‘‘Tapping the Web for GIS and mapping tech-
11. MAPS-L at the University of Georgia. Online. Available: http://
nologies: For all levels of libraries and users,’’ Information Technology and Libraries 21 (3) (2002): 109 – 114. David Dorman, ‘‘GIS provides a new way of seeing service areas,’’ American Libraries 33 (2) (2002): 62 – 63. American Library Association: Accredited LIS Masters Programs by Institution. Online. Available: http://staging.ala.org/Content/ NavigationMenu/Our_ Association/Offices/Accreditation1/lisdir/ LIS_Directory.htm (24 May, 2002). The Federal Geographic Data Committee: Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. Online. Available: http://www. fgdc.gov/metadata/contstan.html (23 May, 2003). International Organization for Standardization (ISO 19115). Online. Available: http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.openerpage (23 May, 2003).
listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1 = maps-l&A = 1 (27 May, 2003). GIS4lib—GIS for libraries information page. Online. Available: http://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/gis4lib (27 May, 2003). ArcView-L (ESRI). Online. Available: http://support.esri.com/ listserve/ (27 May, 2003). MapInfo-L. Online. Available: http://lists.directionsmag.com/ discussion/list.php?f = 7 (27 May, 2003). GISDevelopment.net GIS Magazine Resources. Online. Available: http://www.gisdevelopment.net/publications/magazine/ (27 May, 2003). National GIS Day Celebration: Discovering the World Through GIS. Online. Available: http://www.gisday.com/ (27 May, 2003).
7. 8.
9.
10.
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12.
13. 14. 15.
16.