Since library and information science in its modern meaning was introduced, numerous studies were done on the professional identity of librarians. However, most of these studies only concentrated on proposing the ideal image of librarians. It is not q...
Since library and information science in its modern meaning was introduced, numerous studies were done on the professional identity of librarians. However, most of these studies only concentrated on proposing the ideal image of librarians. It is not quite easy, in particular, to find cases in which the authentic experience of librarians, who face situations internally and externally in a specific space such as the library and in the continuous time of past, present and future, and the true nature of the knowledge that the librarians use in their field are described in detail. The voices of librarians have merely been used as an instrument to draw a particular conclusion. Their vivid accounts and stories from past experiences have been left in the dark. During these times of indifference and insignificance, the mistreatment and ignorance on librarians have widely spread in our society.
Librarians are not mere physical objects that deal with books; they connect and communicate a cultural product made by society, knowledge, to society. Furthermore, to smoothly handle such tasks, the authentic knowledge that the librarians gained in their field is essential. However, the tendency to not acknowledge the professional role that librarians fulfill in interacting with knowledge is prevalent in our society.
The purpose of this study is to clearly define the social role of librarians and propose a discussion that will help eliminate the prevalent ignorance on librarians by describing the professional experience and meaning of librarians in further detail. This study will focus on subject-specialist librarians to take a closer look at the interaction that librarians have with knowledge when working in their field.
The narrative inquiry method proposed by Clandinin and Connelly is used here to study the professional identity of subject-specialist librarians. Narrative inquiry is a qualitative research method that goes beyond the traditional positivist, scientific, and realist approach to show the complex aspect of reality through stories. Stories are a way to give meaning to experience; it is an effective tool in showing the complex and diverse aspects of reality, and a means to show identity.
This study was conducted in a consecutive manner. First, three study participants working in law libraries were each interviewed three times. The records from the semi-structured interviews were analyzed based on the biographical narrative method proposed by Denzin (1989), then reconstructed into new stories, and finally the meaning of each story was interpreted.
The stories of the study participants were reconstructed into individual stories, each in the form of a letter, novel, or autobiography, and the following metaphors, "the ugly duckling," "Sisyphus," and "spring water," were used to express the professional identity of the participants in each story. The common professional identity of the participants were expressed as "a Hermes life." Based on the reconstructed stories, the meaning of the participants' professional experience was interpreted as "devoting life to act as an intermediary of knowledge," "aim in life as a scholar," and "joys and sorrows in life as a helper." Meanwhile, the librarians' personal knowledge from the field showed that they were experiencing alienation from knowledge because they have to handle knowledge that they cannot control themselves.
This study is the first to introduce narrative inquiry in the field of library and information science in Korea. Narrative inquiry will be helpful in understanding the professional experience of librarians and in reflecting on its ultimate meaning.