Papers by Rachel Ivy Clarke
In the seminal work on emotional labor (EL), Arlie Hochschild (1983, 2012) defines EL as "the man... more In the seminal work on emotional labor (EL), Arlie Hochschild (1983, 2012) defines EL as "the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display." EL is "sold for a wage" (Hochschild, 2012). To date, there have been a few studies on emotional labor in librarianship. Julien and Genuis (2009) found EL to have a central place in the experiences of instructional librarians. Shuler and Morgan (2013) interviewed reference librarians, finding they are expected to perform EL yet are not formally trained to do so. Matteson and Miller (2013) surveyed librarians nationwide, with statistical analysis confirming EL present in librarianship. Matteson et al. (2015) asked MLIS holders to reflect via diary entries on performed EL. The results of these studies have clearly demonstrated EL as a part of librarianship. To further advance the study of EL in librarianship, our work offers a quantitative perspective on EL across different types of library labor. We used a nationwide survey, recording types of library work performed, EL labor relative to task performed, with a section for openended comments. We sought to include all library workers, with a shorter questionnaire that still covers the established components of EL, such as hiding negative emotion. We will discuss how EL happens across the librarianship, with specific attention to differences to EL amongst various library tasks and between academic and public libraries based on the results of the survey, and implications for future studies. ALISE RESEARCH TAXONOMY TOPICS critical librarianship; academic libraries; public libraries.
MLIS graduates need to be collaborative, creative, socially innovative, flexible, and adaptable p... more MLIS graduates need to be collaborative, creative, socially innovative, flexible, and adaptable problem solvers-characteristics that may be achieved by incorporating design thinking into master's level library education. Yet explicit integration of design thinking and methods appears to be missing in MLIS degree programs. This paper presentation will report on findings from Designing Future Library Leaders, a project that investigated the current state of design thinking and methods in master's level library education in the United States through a field scan of existing curricula, a nationwide survey of library practitioners, and a national forum connecting MLIS educators and library professionals. TOPICS curriculum; education programs/schools
We have seen a multitude of methods used to calculate and communicate the value of libraries to s... more We have seen a multitude of methods used to calculate and communicate the value of libraries to society. However, most of the existing techniques-such as return on investment or individual receipts that provide cost savings information to patrons-focus on the value of resources and services: that is, the products provided to library users and related stakeholders. None of these calculations quantitatively consider the value inherent in the labor necessary to provide those resources and services and make them available. This project draws on critical design (Dunne 1999; Bardzell and Bardzell 2013)-a specific form of activist research inquiry that uses the creation of provocative artifacts to challenge established assumptions, shift perspectives, and think in new ways-to uncover and communicate the value of library labor. Using the results of a nationwide survey distributed to librarians and library workers in varying contexts, we are creating an interactive website that will allow library users and other stakeholders to calculate the value of library services, including the value of labor. Without this fundamental consideration, librarianship will always lack successful communication of true calculation of value-one that may lead to increased understanding of the full range of what libraries offer society.
Video games are popular consumer products as well as research subjects, yet little exists about h... more Video games are popular consumer products as well as research subjects, yet little exists about how players and other stakeholders find video games and what information they need to select, acquire, and play video games. With the aim of better understanding people’s game-related information needs and behaviors, we conducted 56 semi-structured interviews with users who find, play, purchase, collect, and recommend video games. Participants included casual and avid gamers, parents, collectors, industry professionals, librarians, and scholars. From this user data, we derive and discuss key design implications for video game information systems: designing for target user populations, enabling recommendations on appeals, offering multiple automatic organization options, and providing relationship-based, user-generated, subject and visual metadata. We anticipate this work will contribute to building future video game information systems with new and improved access to games
Picturing Classification: The Evolution and Use of Alternative Classification in Dutch Public Libraries
For thousands of years, libraries and librarians have made artifacts to enable access to and use ... more For thousands of years, libraries and librarians have made artifacts to enable access to and use of information resources. Tools and services like cataloging rules, classification schemes, cooperative programs, and readers’ advisory were the expert purview of libraries around the world for centuries, enabling and assisting users with access to information. Academic librarians are steeped in tool and service creation, with products ranging from new physical spaces to institutional policies. But despite this focus on creation, American librarianship has positioned itself as mainly a social science discipline. Although various specific scientific approaches have been harnessed throughout the 20th century, all fundamentally rest in the realm of science. Scholars often argue about the nature and underlying philosophical and epistemological assumptions of library science, yet few since the beginnings of the 20th century have approached librarianship as if it was not a science at all. Howe...
This study investigates whether potential library users can identify distinctions of associative ... more This study investigates whether potential library users can identify distinctions of associative relationships in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and whether they perceive such relationships as useful. This work tests previous presumptions about user needs and capabilities regarding associative relationships. It lays a foundation for an interconnected network of subject relationships to navigate both library catalogs and the Web. Using sample related term pairs sourced, potential library users on Amazon Mechanical Turk were asked to identify narrower distinctions of established associative relationship types. Results indicate that some associative relationship types, especially near-synonymous/frequently interchangeable terms, are easily identifiable while others, like position in time and space, remain problematic. Despite an inclination against library catalog use, potential library users do perceive associative relationships as useful and suggest a variety of addition...
At the Margins of Epistemology: Amplifying Alternative Ways of Knowing in Library and Information Science
Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
This panel argues a paradigm shift is needed in library and information science (LIS) to move the... more This panel argues a paradigm shift is needed in library and information science (LIS) to move the field toward information equity, inclusion, relevance, diversity, and justice. LIS has undermined knowledge systems falling outside of Western traditions. While the foundations of LIS are based on epistemological concerns, the field has neglected to treat people as epistemic agents who are embedded in cultures, social relations and identities, and knowledge systems that inform and shape their interactions with data, information, and knowledge as well as our perceptions of each other as knowers. To achieve this shift we examine epistemicide—the killing, silencing, annihilation, or devaluing of a knowledge system, epistemic injustice and a critique of the user‐centered paradigm. We present alternative epistemologies for LIS: critical consciousness, Black feminism, and design epistemology and discuss these in practice: community generated knowledges as sites of resistance and Indigenous data sovereignty and the “right to know”.
Re-envisioning the MLS: Perspectives on the Future of Library and Information Science Education, Mar 27, 2018
After an early career in graphic design, Rachel Ivy Clarke turned to librarianship, putting her s... more After an early career in graphic design, Rachel Ivy Clarke turned to librarianship, putting her skills to work as the cataloging librarian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, a private art and design college in Los Angeles, California. She subsequently pursued doctoral studies and is currently an assistant professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, where her research focuses on the application of design methodologies and epistemologies to librarianship to facilitate the systematic, purposeful design of library services. She holds a BA in creative writing from
Learning by design: Creating knowledge through library storytime production
Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Librarianship has not traditionally been considered a design practice. However, children's li... more Librarianship has not traditionally been considered a design practice. However, children's librarians plan, deliver, and reflect on storytimes in implicit ways that seem to align with design principles. Drawing on empirical data from the VIEWS2 study, this poster explores the premise that design principles implicitly inform the creation of these library programs for young children. Comparing models of storytime production and models of design reveals that key design principles—especially iteration and reflection—are present throughout storytime production. The reciprocal and influential nature of these design concepts combined with the model of storytime production lead to a new model of storytime design, with implications for library research, practice, and pedagogy as well as models of design.
The American Archivist, 2009
As archival collections incorporate wider varieties of materials, the complexity of preserving th... more As archival collections incorporate wider varieties of materials, the complexity of preserving them increases proportionately. Juxtapositions of mixed-format materials create artifactual and intrinsic value that is lost if the materials are separated for format-specific preservation. This paper examines the Ann Getty Fashion Collection, a collection of designer materials at the Library at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and discusses challenges and options for its preservation. Physical condition, usage, and resources are considered in arriving at the most efficient balance of preservation actions. I n t r o d u c t i o n Archives can comprise a variety of materials. Correspondence, photographs, and ephemera are but a few of the common document types found in archival collections. Each of these document types has particular preservation needs. Photographs, for example, often have different preservation needs than paper documents. Many archival collections are not limited to a single format and can
Games and Culture, 2015
This article explores the current affordances and limitations of video game genre from a library ... more This article explores the current affordances and limitations of video game genre from a library and information science perspective with an emphasis on classification theory. We identify and discuss various purposes of genre relating to video games, including identity, collocation and retrieval, commercial marketing, and educational instruction. Through the use of examples, we discuss the ways in which these purposes are supported by genre classification and conceptualization and the implications for video games. Suggestions for improved conceptualizations such as family resemblances, prototype theory, faceted classification, and appeal factors for video game genres are considered, with discussions of strengths and weaknesses. This analysis helps inform potential future practical applications for describing video games at cultural heritage institutions such as libraries, museums, and archives, as well as furthering the understanding of video game genre and genre classification for ...
iConference 2014 Proceedings, 2014
Genre is an important feature for organizing and accessing video games. However, current descript... more Genre is an important feature for organizing and accessing video games. However, current descriptors of video game genres are unstandardized, undefined, and embedded with multiple information dimensions. This paper describes the development of a more complex and sophisticated scheme consisting of 12 facets and 358 foci for describing and representing video game genre information. Using facet analysis, the authors analyzed existing genre labels from scholarly, commercial, and popular sources, and then synthesized them into discrete categories of indexing terms. This new, more robust scheme provides a framework for improved intellectual access to video games along multiple dimensions.
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2015
Despite increasing interest in and acknowledgment of the significance of video games, current des... more Despite increasing interest in and acknowledgment of the significance of video games, current descriptive practices are not sufficiently robust to support searching, browsing, and other access behaviors from diverse user groups. To address this issue, the Game Metadata Research Group at the University of Washington Information School, in collaboration with the Seattle Interactive Media Museum, worked to create a standardized metadata schema. This metadata schema was empirically evaluated using multiple approaches-collaborative review, schema testing, semistructured user interview, and a large-scale survey. Reviewing and testing the schema revealed issues and challenges in sourcing the metadata for particular elements, determining the level of granularity for data description, and describing digitally distributed games. The findings from user studies suggest that users value various subject and visual metadata, information about how games are related to each other, and data regarding game expansions/alterations such as additional content and networked features. The metadata schema was extensively revised based on the evaluation results, and we present the new element definitions from the revised schema in this article. This work will serve as a platform and catalyst for advances in the design and use of video game metadata.
Throughout history, libraries have been the repositories of culturally significant informational ... more Throughout history, libraries have been the repositories of culturally significant informational materials. From the scrolls of the library at Alexandria to the holdings of the Library of Congress, libraries collect, preserve, and offer access to these information artifacts. Charged with both preservation-prolonging the existence of materials [1]-and access-enabling the right and opportunity for material use[2]-many libraries find themselves in a precarious balance. To preserve a book, its use must be restricted. To offer access opens the possibility for mishandling, even destruction.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2012
As interest in video games increases, so does the need for intelligent access to them. However, t... more As interest in video games increases, so does the need for intelligent access to them. However, traditional organization systems and standards fall short. Through domain analysis and cataloging real-world examples while attempting to develop a formal metadata schema for video games, we encountered challenges in description. Inconsistent, vague, and subjective sources of information for genre, release date, feature, region, language, developer and publisher information confirm the imporatnce of developing a standardized description model for video games.
Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2012
This poster describes a pilot study investigating what, if any, associative thesaural relationshi... more This poster describes a pilot study investigating what, if any, associative thesaural relationships are identifiable and distinguishable to information seekers. Using associative relationships from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), we asked potential library users via Amazon Mechanical Turk to identify six narrower distinctions of established associative relationship types. Preliminary results from the survey indicate that some associative relationship types, such as near synonym and agent/process, are indeed identifiable, while others, like position in time and space, remain problematic.
International Journal on Digital Libraries, 2013
As interest in video games increases, so does the need for intelligent access to them. However, t... more As interest in video games increases, so does the need for intelligent access to them. However, traditional organizational systems and standards fall short. To fill this gap, we are collaborating with the Seattle Interactive Media Museum to develop a formal metadata schema for video games. In the paper, we describe how the schema was established from a user-centered design approach and introduce the core elements from our schema. We also discuss the challenges we encountered as we were conducting a domain analysis and cataloging real-world examples of video games. Inconsistent, vague, and subjective sources of information for title, genre, release date, feature, region, language, developer and publisher information confirm the importance of developing a standardized description model for video games.
Video game information needs and game organization: differences by sex and age
Inf. Res., 2015
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Papers by Rachel Ivy Clarke