ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 1 6 / C&RL News ■ May 2003 J o b of a Life time D a n ia n n e M iz z y When your campus is Alaska I f y o u h a v e g re a t c o m m u n ic a tio n skills a n d enjoy w o rking w ith a diverse population, then serving as o ff-cam pus librarian fo r th e U nivers o f A laska-F airbanks (UAF) m ig h t b e y o u r jo b o f a lifetime. S uzan H a h n , w h o a lso se rv e s as assis­ ta n t p ro fe s s o r o f lib ra ry sc ie n c e , h a s w o r k e d at UA F’s E lm e r E. R a s m u s o n L ibrary s in c e 1997. R a sm u so n h a s th e b ig g e s t c o lle c tio n in A laska, b u t m a n y o f its p a tr o n s n e v e r g e t t o u s e it in person. T hat’s b e ca u se th ey reside in re m o te areas spanning two-thirds o f the largest state in th e union. O ff-cam pus lib rary services “Off-Cam pus Library Services w a s e s ta b l i s h e d in 1 989,” H a h n e x p la i n e d , “to s e rv e UAF s tu d e n ts a n d fa c u lty w h o d o n ot have access to a p ­ p r o p r i a t e in f o r m a t io n r e ­ so u rces in their com m unity. I s u p p o r t UAF stu d e n ts , staff, a n d facu lty lo c a te d a t a n y o f the six extended cam puses a nd se v e n o th e r units, com prising th e C ollege o f Rural A laska.” S h e o u t li n e d h o w th is w o rk s . “T ypically, s tu d e n ts p h o n e in u sin g a n 8 00 n u m ­ Suzan Hahn, off-cam assistant professor o th e University o f Ala b e r, o r e -m a il o u r office. If w e ’re d oing the research, th en w e ask th em to describe their topic o r area o f inter­ est. Som etim es it takes several p h o n e conversations b a c k a n d fo rth to h e lp th e m n a r ro w d o w n th e ir to p ic . W e c a n s u p p l y all th e m a te ria l a s tu d e n t n e e d s to c o m p le te [his o r her] p a p e r o r p ro jec t, w h e t h e r it is a sp e c ific ite m th a t t h e y h a v e lo ­ cated, o r a request for research.” She w orks closely w ith Interlibrary Loan Services to accom plish this. W h e n I a s k e d h o w m aterials a re d e liv e re d to students so far aw ay, H a h n said, “U.S. mail, e-mail, it fax, o r th e W eb. M ail is t h e s lo w e s t a n d m o s t u n re lia b le m e th o d o f delivery, as it is fre q u e n tly y d e la y e d b y w e a th e r conditions. A n d b u s h p la n e s d o n ’t fly in every day, som etim es only o n c e a w e e k o r so. T hat m e a n s m ail c a n b e d e la y ed tw o w e e k s o r m ore, d e p e n d in g o n w h e re it is g o in g a n d th e tim e o f year. Students really h a v e to p la n a h e a d if m aterial is b e in g m ailed.” What a d iffe re n ce the Web m akes W e d is c u s s e d h o w th e a d v e n t o f th e W eb h a s c h an g e d access to inform ation for th e better. “Five years ago, very fe w rural stu d en ts h a d Internet ac­ cess, so everything w a s b e ing p h o to c o p ie d a n d sent o u t via fax o r in th e mail, som etim es both. You m ight fax the p a p e r to th e local g ro c e ry s to re o r local tribal offices. T h e q u a l­ ity o f faxes w as n o t g o o d and, in m a n y cases, it m ig h t c o st th e m a d o lla r a p a g e . N o w , m o s t folks h a v e I n te rn e t a c ­ c e s s a t h o m e , s c h o o l, o r th ro u g h w o rk . So to s e n d ar­ ticles, w e scan it a n d p u t it u p o n th e W eb in PD F o r s e n d it pus librarian and via e-m ail.” f library science at O n e th in g th a t h a s n o t ska Fairbanks. changed is h o w willing people a re to h e lp o n e a n o th e r. “P e o p le in ru ral A laska really w o rk well together,” H a h n rem arked. “Faxes can still b e sent to tribal offices, em ployers, the local schools, a n d the ex ten d ed cam puses. T hey all allow p e o p le to use their Internet access. It’s a com m unity effort. It’s just am azing w h a t they d o w ith very few resources, sharing a n d cooperating.” H a h n s h a re d a n o th e r p o sitiv e d e v e lo p m e n t. “W ith th e institution o f o u r p ro x y server, lic e n se agreements with information aggregators, a n d a n e w D an ia nn e M iz z y is p u b lic services lib ra ria n a t th e U nive rsity o f P ittsb u rg h ’s H illm an Library. Have a n idea fo r a ” Job o f a L ife tim e ” story? E-mail: danianne+@p itt.e d u pitt.edu C&RL News ■ May 2003 / 317 W eb-based catalog, rem ote access is pretty good.” She has noticed that the type o f questions is chang­ ing to, ‘“H o w d o I access this?’ “W here d o I go?’ o r H o w d o I search?’ R eq u ests fo r re se a rc h h a v e d ro p p e d slightly, b u t th e n ature o f the research is m ore complex. T hey are getting m ore sophisticated in their information needs.” Com m unication is key H ahn spoke about the challenge o f working w ith a diverse pop u latio n . “O n e o f th e m ost im portant aspects o f this position is the ability to c om m uni­ c ate w ith p e o p le from all w alks o f life. We assist everyone, p e o p le w h o are just beginning their col­ leg e careers, a s w e ll as th o se w h o are teaching o r doing research for the Off-campus librarian W h e r e : E lm er E. R a sm u so n Library University o f A laska-F airbanks F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , v i s i t : h t t p : / / w w w .u a f.ed u /lib ra ry/ university. Som e p e ople in rural a re a s h a v e n o t ever seen a library or been v e ry far fro m th e ir vil­ lage. We have really dis­ tinct cultural g ro u p s in the state. A n d for som e, English is a se c o n d lan­ guage. You n e e d to b e flexible. D o n ’t b e afraid to try different w ays o f explaining th e sam e topic. If o n e d o e sn ’t w ork, try an o th e r.” H ahn m entioned that library instruction has be­ co m e e v en m ore im portant n o w that the students “are able to d o a lot m o re o f their o w n searching. We try to e n c o u ra g e th at b e c a u se it’s p a rt o f the research process.” She has b e e n able to deliver in­ struction using bo th n e w a n d old m ethods. “Using Blackboard, I developed the W eb-based version for a required Library Skills 101 core course that’s taught here o n cam pus.” However, she has found that for m an y o f h e r patrons, th e Library Skills 100 class, ta u g h t w ith a p rin te d w o rk b o o k th ro u g h c o rre ­ spondence, “is probably still the best for rural areas. Som e o f th em h ave DSL, b u t others are subject to fre q u e n t d isc o n n e c ts b e c a u se th e q uality o f the p h o n e line is bad.” She also delivers course-integrated instruction for classes conducted via audio conferencing. “We can talk b ack a n d forth. Quality is improving, b ut sometimes it is hard to communicate that way. There are tim e lags; if a m ik e is left o p e n y o u m ay h e ar som eone com ing in a nd out o f the house, or a baby crying in the background. T h en yo u have privacy issues. S om eone m ay n o t w a n t to ask a personal question that way. So w e always encourage them to contact us o r I’ll call them .” Putting a face to a voice This p a st spring w a s th e first tim e H a h n h a d the o p p o rtu n ity to visit a n y o f th e e x te n d e d c a m ­ puses. She a n d library director Paul McCarthy h ad to fly to A nchorage first, th en catch a nother plane. “W h e n w e w e n t to N o m e a n d K o tz eb u e , so m e folks [on th e flight] w e re a lre a d y o n th e ir th ird attem pt to get hom e, b u t w e ath e r conditions kept delaying them . Harsh w eather conditions are com ­ m on. After over-nighting in A nchorage, h ours o f w aiting in th e airport, a n d a long flight, th e crew received a re so u n d in g r o u n d o f a p p la u se w h e n w e finally landed. ” She w e n t o n to observe, “Nom e is m o re like a sm all to w n th a n y o u m ight expect, except the houses are on p ilin g s b e c a u s e o f th e permafrost a nd there are o nly a h andful o f trees. Kotzebue is smaller and farther north, w ith only 27 miles o f road. All the people are really friendly a n d it’s alw ays exciting to p u t a face to a voice.” W hile there, sh e g o t to m e e t th e re sid e n t UAF lib ra rian , th e faculty, a n d so m e students. T his spring th ey p la n to visit the cam puses in Bethel a n d Dillingham. It’s all about connecting the people w ith the resources W h e n I a s k e d w h a t s h e fin d s r e w a rd in g a b o u t h e r job, H a h n re p lied , “I e n jo y th e v ariety I e n ­ c o u n te r daily. I g e t th e o p p o rtu n ity to talk w ith p e o p le from m a n y different cultures all o v e r the state a n d a fe w living o u tsid e th e country. I also get to re sea rc h a b ro a d ra n g e o f topics b a s e d o n th e interests o f o u r stu d e n ts a n d faculty. So I g et to b roaden m y know ledge right along w ith them. ” H a h n se e m s to e m b o d y th e d e d ic a tio n a n d com m unity spirit sh e adm ires in h e r rural Alaska p a tro n s. “T his jo b h a s ta u g h t m e th a t p e o p le in Alaska really w o rk h a rd to w a rd their educational goals, im proving their lives, a n d im proving their com m unities. This is a great o p p o rtu n ity to help! A laska is a h u g e sta te w ith a sm all p o p u la tio n . Most ru ral Alaska students are Native A m ericans w h o live in com m unities w ith lim ited o r n o local library services. A nd th ey are alw ays so h a p p y to k n o w th a t h e lp is ju st a r o u n d th e c o m e r, o r at t h e e n d o f t e l e p h o n e lin e o r a n e -m a il m e s ­ s a g e .” T h e y a re i n d e e d lu c k y to h a v e S u z a n H a h n th e re . ■ http://www.uaf.edu/libraty7