Many of you may recall the DM
course assignment called “Reflection Paper.” Continuing that theme, we will
regularly feature a Q&A with members of the DM community. The winter
edition of the DM Digest features a conversation with Karen Oye.
How did you get involved with the DM
program?
I came to Case
in March of 1996 and started working with the program midway in the fall
semester. I solved a problem of “the need for speed” and with every new cohort,
I think of the student who voiced that need! It’s still very real, just in a
different manner.
I had been
hired into a new position called Head of Customer Services, to move the
collections from 2 former libraries into the new Kelvin Smith Library (KSL),
due to open in June. It was a radically new design for an academic library, and
the job was one of a lifetime–leverage the uniqueness of a building where you
don’t see any books when you walk in, with spaces for people (not materials) as
the primary focus, and then take traditional services paperless, and create a
new culture of service. In essence, it was to think up new things and get them
done. New buildings create new expectations, and it was my role to keep
satisfaction high throughout the move and into a new school year.
Late in the
fall of 1996, John Aram and several of the new students had come to the library
early one morning to talk about improving service for the new program. I had
just arrived for the day and in passing the doorway next to mine, I saw a room
with a lot of grim faces, so I was not surprised a minute later when I was
asked to join them, i.e., help to fix something. The problem was time – getting
articles via library request forms was taking too long. The male student was
correct when he said it was important to read them either on the plane or at
least when he got home, so he could digest them and be ready before he returned for the next
residency.
It was my first
knowledge of the program, and I was impressed by John’s description of it. The
student’s remarks made sense, and a solution was easy – simply prioritize all
student requests in the program above all the others in the queue. The class
was a manageable number, and priority service was a customary practice at my
former role at the NASA research center library in Cleveland. I also knew that
urgent items a library didn’t own could be obtained from lending partners with
what our industry called a request for “a screaming rush delivery.” I also knew
that speed and service would come with a significant added cost. If John agreed
to the expedited rush costs, I could prioritize the program’s student requests.
He took a deep breath, agreed, and DM requests were (and still are) routed
automatically to the top of the request queue.
By 1999, after
much determination and negotiation, plus financial help from our then vice
president, I had the 16th license for ILLiad at Case, for 3 of the 4
libraries. ILLiad is a product that has revolutionized resource sharing for
over 1300 libraries around the globe. It sped up delivery for all users,
streamlined staff functions through technology, and made staff and our
customers insanely happy. With fast desktop delivery of articles, I knew it’d
be life-changing for the DM program, and yes, that original student who wanted
his articles faster, was able to experience his articles arriving
electronically!
So, 23 years
later, we still prioritize the DM requests, articles from KSL or lending
partners from around the world can arrive within hours (now for everyone on
campus), DM books are expedited 2-day UPS, people are still thrilled with
speedy delivery. I’m still here…and it’s still winter.
You now provide a lot more support than
simply getting articles to them faster. What do you focus on in being part of
their transformational research journey?
In those early
years, I visited lots of offices and promoted the “new library” so it was
natural to ask for some time each fall to do an orientation session with the
new DM students. It’s a block of time to show how we support their needs, what
options for research exist, and to show some resources that are strictly
license-only, with no web presence. Questions kept evolving, from more than “how can I find xyz?” to “now how can I go forward with this one?”
The fall orientation became more generous, and besides research appointments, I
began offering night-before residency appointments for those students who
wanted to take advantage of open time without a class schedule. Whatever works
best for someone, we’ll work it in!
Those early
general talks evolved into an invited and more targeted orientation session at
each first residency for services, staff, how-to, resources, 24/7 services,
quiet or collaborative room spaces, and more. A few days before that initial 90
minute session I start with the biographies, with a purpose–finding
similarities, shared experiences (sports, travel, etc.), goals, and
ear-catchers (think cave diving, living in a tiny house on a mountain), there
are good ones every year. It gets excitement going about what might be ahead,
and probably erases whatever they thought the library introduction was going to
be like. Everything I do and say in that first session is deliberate. I
literally draw a map of what the cohort looks like, what kinds of backgrounds
we have that year, what they write as their problem of practice, and more. I
make a point to warn them that “it’s not
your father’s library” here and then move into a quick look at information
resources and the kind of support they’ll have from both the library and from
me. The electronic information world is rich, but it’s not that old, and
evolves more every year. I focus with energy as well as assurance that they can
succeed in this new information environment, and that I’m here to show them how
to start to navigate that new road, and welcome their trust to get them started
on it–and immediately take care of the simpler queries.
The focus at
the start is on our rich information landscape at Case, and it’s critical to
know its wealth, where it all is, how to navigate it. Database platforms are
rich with tools and refinements that can save weeks and months of time over the
program–or days, for a single paper. I strongly believe in maximizing a
product’s best features and our resources’ content and refinements as the new
power tools for a new cohort. The goal is to maximize time and results for new
students who don’t want an open-web result list. It’s a challenge. I can help
with that–and save time. That resonates with everyone today, but especially DM
students.
So, we’re back
at the beginning–time! Time is valuable, as is the adage that time is money. It
is. That’s where a research appointment has value. In the last few years, by
the end of the first orientation session plus the welcome reception, my
calendar is usually filled with appointments for about three-fourths or more of
the new cohort. We also do a how much is that question worth exercise now,
based on your salary worth and some specific minutes/hours per year. The
alternative to that sticker shock is to adopt a few tools save your time.
The cohort size
makes one-on-one appointments an effective way to slow down and show some basic
skill sets around a student’s interest. It also reaffirms some of the
efficiency concepts. I’ll admit I have a certain need for speed and when you’re
maximizing your best tools, the work becomes seamless, quicker, and less
frustrating. Most students who meet with me have a lot of ‘’show me how to do that!” moments, whether it’s simply making your
browser or databases work smarter for you, or how to refine a set of 5K results
down to 300 in a concentrated (and quick) manner.
My goal for any
appointment is simple: that you leave with more confidence, more skills, know
that I’m there for follow up, that more questions are normal, and are expected.
They also leave with a few browser tips and tricks, i.e., that speed and
efficiency value!
We know that research appointments with
you often happen during the lunch hour at Dively, or in the break room at PBL,
or in your office. What kind of need or lasting impact do you see from
continued, advanced research instruction?
In a world of
“new everything” they meet me early, and often reconnect after they come out of
the quantitative sections. There’s a need for continuous improvement in
research skill technique, on structured resources, throughout the first year.
Appointments help, I keep thinking that a summer checklist of topics might be
useful. Over time, relationships naturally change to more targeted email
questions, requests for phone conversations, appointments for specific or
changing needs. Those who take the time and grasp database search technique
patterns, the more they want to know, the more quickly they move through their
work, and the easier it becomes. Knowing that a refresher is beneficial is a
valuable thing, too.
Ideally,
there’d be more time or ways to include research refreshers for any small DM
group, as more targeted needs develop, or as they come out of quantitative work
and back into literature sources and review. There’s opportunity for learning
how to maneuver the more complex sources for citation analysis, the roadmap of
a literature review and the picture of that in a structured database search.
And for some, there are opportunities to use our digital scholarship staff and
resources on the main floor of KSL, as well as the poster printing appointments
and services. It’s a lot to remember!
A positive
change is the increase of targeted questions with the addition of the Saturday
morning research-only session that follows the broader orientation session.
Phil Cola is credited with believing in the need for that research session, and
generously allocating some time first thing in the morning. I joke that I can’t
talk until 10 am (night-owl syndrome), but I particularly love that session.
It’s work + answers. There’s some trust developing. It’s also a message of
value to the new students, since Phil’s been down that path and knows the
benefit of concentrated time on task, and of taking time to get started with
new skills. He’ll interject during the class to reinforce something that’s
being shown, and we always spend a few minutes at the end on what worked well,
or differently. This past year, I met with some other students after that
class, then standing in the hallway, I took more questions and remarks from the
new cohort as they went to and from lunch. My morning ended around 1:45!
Presence works, it’s the “Oh good, you’re
here, I’ve been meaning to call you…”
The Saturday
research class has definitely helped to reduce the amount of lingering basic
questions, which saves time for the more complex ones later, or other sessions
with faculty. I also emphasize accurate citations and citation tools to help
students get organized and remain accurate, making their writing easier as well
as their road to publishing. It’s another learning challenge, but absolutely
necessary in terms of accuracy, integrity in citations, and pathways for
further research. My emphasis on it was firmly seconded by a coach who had been
through the program and was sitting in on a Saturday session, when he said that
they were going to be required to choose a citation manager in the first
semester and “the reference lists have
gotten better and better over the last couple of years!” It’s was a
positive statement, and I appreciate that he made it in that Saturday research
session. More voices on a message is a good thing. We’re all continuous
learners, and we value effective tools.
It’s a long
journey, and time gets compressed. A year ago, I created a short series of
quick-take videos for common Q&A where a visual task on the screen plus my
voice could help on easier tasks, or be repeated at will. They’re listed on
Canvas and according to a quick survey of former cohorts, it seemed to hit
targets–plus, it reduced the number of weekend emails for “help, I can’t find
this article online!” The videos will be revised this spring to match new
screen displays, and suggestions are always welcome.
Re continued,
advanced research techniques and/or instruction, I’d love to find a way to show
or review targeted and/or advanced techniques in quick 20-30 minute class time,
or lunchtime, or night-before residency optional sessions. While they’d be
quick refreshers vs. active learning, they might spark enough interest to
schedule sessions on Zoom or in person to learn how to analyze citations, to
search for journal impact, to expand a set of good articles and see what has
followed them, and more. We have tools for that, and more. One of the best
short conversations I had a year ago was with a 2007 graduate who is teaching.
At PBL one day he asked if I’d come to his class for 15-20 minutes to do some
quick refreshers. My response was “Sure!
When?” [Pause. Answer] “…In about 45
minutes?”
Of course, I
said yes, and we had an excellent session with lots of Q&A, and it
generated more questions and a reboot of enthusiasm to revisit some other
things. We scheduled another short session at the next residency and it
resulted in an evening appointment that changed a student’s approach to
research, in a significant way.
As individuals
move along in the program, they go down many deep paths, but they keep turning,
and questions evolve that might not have been raised before. An opportunity to
have short Research Refresher sessions
on targeted topics would be beneficial, especially as the information products
we license keep getting better and better, with visualization tools, more
speed, more enhancements.
Reflections … Relationships. What comes
to mind?
Years ago,
someone from the 2006 cohort included me when he sent in one of his
Reflections. I had received a few of his before, I suspect that particular one
was intentional. It was powerful, and it’s stayed with me. I’ve shared the
concepts. I see him at some of the fall reunions, so I had to smile at the
title of this newsletter column. Research is powerful. The relationships from
this program are powerful. If you’re at all involved in it, you reflect.
Thus, I’d be
remiss if I didn’t include a few internal reflections from a few longtime KSL
staff members who remember the beginning:
Interlibrary loan staff recalls hours of
photocopying for Massachusetts Board of Railroad Commissioners Annual Reports
1870-1920s – done manually at our Law Library. They’re now online for us via
our Case membership in the Hathi Trust.
Public services staff recalls how DM
students always come into the library with a ‘Karen says to tell you that I’m a DM student ‘and reiterated “That’s so we can know exactly what we need
to do to help them timewise, etc.”
A staff member from early 2000s recalls
the students as “adults backtracking for
education in a new era of change, tough to juggle time, position, family,
school, from afar!”
Another staff member who was there in the
beginning and now has another role in KSL recalls that “DMs always were a great enthusiastic bunch of people, and came from
such a variety of companies and places!”
I could go from
New York City to San Francisco and more, and meet up with any of the nearly 300
graduates from this program. When they’re on campus, they stop in to see me,
and at alumni weekends, it’s incredible to be so fondly remembered. Plus, I
still get questions.
I was asked if
program graduates stay in touch, or reach back to me. Yes, frequently I get an
email from a graduate or a news item from a new venture. Just this past week I
had an email from a graduate (requesting bibliographic help on a personal
project), and I’ve also heard from that first cohort student who was upset at the
length of article delivery (he had started another new business). I’ve put new PhD
graduates in touch with their new librarian at their new college or university,
and have helped others with knowing what database to ask for at their new
academic employers…via their new librarian. It’s a circle.
We’ve come a
long way from the days when we had to fax articles to J.P. Morgan in New York
City (where, on a Friday, there wasn’t enough paper left in the unit to print
the long scholarly article) and that graduate ended up in academe and has sent
me a trail of information items that he’s found fascinating. He’d better be at
the 25th reunion.
What makes me
smile, as we’re almost at the 25th mark? The questions. It’s always
about the questions! It’s the trust that I’ll have answers or help, and I get
interested in so much of the research. Questions are my business, I should make
it into a nameplate. Also, it’s the trust from the people in the program that
there’ll be a response. I smile a lot.
It must be
something I don’t see. Example: In spring 2005 in Washington D.C., I was at the
Newseum at dusk, perusing the wall outside that displays “Today’s Front Pages,”
the front page of papers from around the globe, that staff have printed and
mounted each day at around 4 a.m. (They’re online, check on them. Better, visit
the Newseum.)
I was noting
the world events of the prior day, looking at which paper chose to put the
discovery of a formerly 60-years’ extinct, ivory-billed woodpecker (found in
Arkansas) above or below the fold–because the President of the United States
had done a prime-time news conference on the same day as the discovery. It was
a fascinating look at the geographic interests (or not) of the nation, and at
the choices they had made that day.
I’m neither
fearless nor careless, but suddenly an adult man appeared at my side, asking
where he could find the National Gallery of Art. I just smiled and told him it
was just about my favorite place in the city, next to standing on the Capitol
steps at dusk, and turned to tell him it was right beside us – the back
entrance faces the Newseum. It was probably 15 steps away.
A youngish
female jogger ran up to us with an exasperated “Dad!!” He ignored that, then
introduced me–to his daughter, who was a local TV newscaster. Chastised by her
for talking to a stranger, he nonetheless said he simply asked a question and
got the answer, thanked me and as they both turned to leave, she asked him why
he asked me in the first place, since she was on her way to meet him. I waited
for his response, which was a gracious grin from a stranger who simply said
“She looks like she knows things.” A great compliment. I’m still smiling.
And every year,
the DM program keeps me smiling, with the quest for “search smarter,” their
thankful remarks that always get quoted in our KSL Connects magazine, and the
new things I discover on their journeys. (Who
knew there was a title called Journal of Happiness Studies?) It’s new every
day.
Note to Readers:
Thanks for the
DM program for asking me to share a Reflection about what was the beginning of
the strong partnership with KSL and this incredible program. The timeline is
staggering, it’s moved so fast for me.
I’m honored to
have been there at the right time, for the people involved with the program and
who have been in it – and for the research that so often matches the things in
which I’m also interested.
After these
questions were posed to me, I was told to “have
fun with this, perhaps share something nobody knows about you!”
That would take
a visit to my office, inquiring minds would probably guess something about
those things in about a minute, by looking around the room. And they’d also be
asked if they remember where the “special room” is – because besides answers
and a smile, you’ll always be prompted to learn something new or bring it mind
again. Hint: don’t let this new class of 2021 get ahead of you–they found it
immediately after their Saturday research class, and took a photo to prove it.
Inquiry. Answer, Experience. Smiles.
Best,
Karen Oye
Research
Services, Kelvin Smith Library
Liaison,
Weatherhead School of Management
Case Western
Reserve University
