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Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies
The Feminist Reference Desk: Concepts, Critiques, and Conversations
Number eight in the Litwin Books Series on Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies, Emily Drabinski, Series Editor
Feminist pedagogy employs strategies such as collaborative learning, valuing experiential knowledge, employing consciousness-raising about sexism and other forms of oppression, and destabilizing the power hierarchies of the traditional classroom. Ultimately, feminist library instruction seeks to empower learners to be both critical thinkers and critical actors who are motivated and prepared to bring about social change. The concept of feminist pedagogy has recently energized current conversations on library instruction, so it is fitting and timely to consider how feminism might intersect with another vital student-centered service the academic library provides: the reference desk. Inspired by the ideas, possibilities, and discussions set in motion by Maria T. Accardi’s Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction (2013), this edited collection continues these conversations by considering how feminist strategies and philosophies might reshape, invigorate, and critique approaches to reference services. In short, this collection will provide critical and thought-provoking explorations of how academic librarians might rethink central reference concepts and services, from the reference interview, to the reference collection, to the staffing of the reference desk itself, from a feminist perspective.
About the Editor: Maria T. Accardi is the author of Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction (2013), for which she received the 2014 ACRL WGSS Significant Achievement Award, and a co-editor of Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods (2010). She is Associate Librarian and Coordinator of Instruction and Reference at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana.
Feminist pedagogy employs strategies such as collaborative learning, valuing experiential knowledge, employing consciousness-raising about sexism and other forms of oppression, and destabilizing the power hierarchies of the traditional classroom. Ultimately, feminist library instruction seeks to empower learners to be both critical thinkers and critical actors who are motivated and prepared to bring about social change. The concept of feminist pedagogy has recently energized current conversations on library instruction, so it is fitting and timely to consider how feminism might intersect with another vital student-centered service the academic library provides: the reference desk. Inspired by the ideas, possibilities, and discussions set in motion by Maria T. Accardi’s Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction (2013), this edited collection continues these conversations by considering how feminist strategies and philosophies might reshape, invigorate, and critique approaches to reference services. In short, this collection will provide critical and thought-provoking explorations of how academic librarians might rethink central reference concepts and services, from the reference interview, to the reference collection, to the staffing of the reference desk itself, from a feminist perspective.
About the Editor: Maria T. Accardi is the author of Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction (2013), for which she received the 2014 ACRL WGSS Significant Achievement Award, and a co-editor of Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods (2010). She is Associate Librarian and Coordinator of Instruction and Reference at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana.
410 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
on-hold
May 9, 2019Very thought provoking and I'll come back to it at some point.
December 21, 2024
"Transforming relationships through an ethic of care" is everything we need in reference librarianship today, especially in the face of the loneliness epidemic and a world on fire.
January 13, 2021
Un peu une introduction au féminisme pour les questions entourant le bureau de référence dans les bibliothèque. Malheureusement, c'est beaucoup de choses que je connaissais déjà, il y a beaucoup d'articles qui mettent beaucoup de l'avant l'expérientiel et qui propose peu de chose. Vers la fin, on est beaucoup plus dans le concret, mais c'est un peu appliquer des concepts du féminisme donc ce n'est pas révolutionnaire non plus.
La discussion à la fin m'a aussi un peu dérangé, je comprends la réflexion de je peux faire beaucoup plus donc je ne devrais pas avoir à répondre à des questions de bases, mais c'est limite un peu élitiste leur affaire avec les étudiant·es qui doivent faire les tâches pénibles et répétitives et les libraires la formation et les tâches cool ; je comprends les subtilités, mais on n'est pas dans des questions de rentabilité ici, en coop, on essaie de travailler tou·tes ensemble et d'effectuer divers tâches quitte à les faire en rotation.
Bref, super pour une introduction au féminisme en bibliothèque, mais si vous avez déjà plusieurs années d'expérience en organisation/pédagogie féministe et/ou lu Paulo Freire ou Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom de bell hooks (qui ne cessent d'être mentionnés à presque chaque article), il y aura peu de choses intéressantes pour vous.
La discussion à la fin m'a aussi un peu dérangé, je comprends la réflexion de je peux faire beaucoup plus donc je ne devrais pas avoir à répondre à des questions de bases, mais c'est limite un peu élitiste leur affaire avec les étudiant·es qui doivent faire les tâches pénibles et répétitives et les libraires la formation et les tâches cool ; je comprends les subtilités, mais on n'est pas dans des questions de rentabilité ici, en coop, on essaie de travailler tou·tes ensemble et d'effectuer divers tâches quitte à les faire en rotation.
Bref, super pour une introduction au féminisme en bibliothèque, mais si vous avez déjà plusieurs années d'expérience en organisation/pédagogie féministe et/ou lu Paulo Freire ou Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom de bell hooks (qui ne cessent d'être mentionnés à presque chaque article), il y aura peu de choses intéressantes pour vous.
March 17, 2019
This provides an interesting way of looking at reference and information services. I liked the point about allowing space for silence in a reference interview, even if that is not always practical because of work pressures. It was a useful reminder that for some people asking for assistance is not easy. They will not have formulated what they want to ask, and they will need space and time to be able to answer your questions so that you can help them. Culturally there may need to be a discussion for context, and there needs to be space (and time) to be able to do this. This may need a different approach to some service, but that would enable it to be provided with equity, and and this can be really important for all service provision. It also highlighted that the 'reference interview is a conversation, a dialectical exchange between two people with an exchange of ideas and information with the goal of meeting the information need' p53.
There are many useful references which will lead to further reading. It is another excellent publication by Library Juice.
There are many useful references which will lead to further reading. It is another excellent publication by Library Juice.
October 9, 2020
An innovative look at how reference work can be transformed.
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November 17, 2017028.7 F3296 2017
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March 14, 20183.5 to 4 stars
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews