I woke at 4 am again today. Could I get back to sleep? No. As I rode into town on the bus, I reflected that many of my wakeful thoughts had revolved around scholarly sharing. My mind seemed to bring out a series of issues, examining them one by one.
Tell me Everything
The breathless, ‘Tell me all you know’? Flattering, endearing, and with a piquant irony, considering one of our academic colleagues asked, more than two decades ago, ‘what does a librarian want with a PhD, anyway?’ Indeed, it was around that time that I overheard two graduate librarians opining that librarians don’t actually need degrees at all. Another academic told a colleague that they were ‘only a librarian.’ (Postscript. That librarian subsequently went on getting postgraduate qualifications too!)
So it’s nice that, as the postdoctoral librarian approaches retirement, she is acknowledged to be possessed of Useful Knowledge. Even if it’s scholarly knowledge, which now sits in books on the library shelves.
Quote (Unattributed)
Then my thoughts turned to the individuals whom I would characterise as academic vacuum cleaners, noting your pearls of wisdom and later quoting them, unattributed. I know it’s good to share, but it leaves a bitter taste when your sharing is taken advantage of, whether it’s scholarly research or professional assistance. On the other hand, if we acknowledge help given, it reflects well on both the sharer and the sharee!
The problem is that I’m a librarian AND a scholar. And as librarians, we’re accustomed to sharing. I sometimes find it hard to decide where a line has been crossed.
I Can’t. Please Can You …?
Similarly, we librarians share our expertise about referencing, but there’s perhaps a subtle difference between our, ‘this is how you reference’ advice, which I gladly and willingly do all the time – and, ‘can you sort my references?’ As a scholar, I don’t ghost-write articles for publication. Should I, as a librarian, ghost-format references? Would I be colluding in giving the impression that the author has done a superb job with all that technical detail?! Or do other librarians do this without a qualm? I just don’t know what’s the norm here.
This is Not a Question, But
There are also times when sharing is not so good, though. An interrupted talk where anecdotes are shared, uninvited, whilst you’re in mid-flow. Or ‘Questions’ afterwards, that are not questions so much as demonstrations of knowledge.
Worth a Try!
And best of all, requests for sharing that simply overstep the mark! Now you’re wondering what I mean, aren’t you?! Well, you won’t believe this one.
I was expecting a research question, in one particular email that I received a while ago. But that wasn’t what was being requested, on this occasion.
‘You have a sewing machine, don’t you? Can you show me how to sew curtains?’
[Meaning, ‘Can you sew them for me …?’]
Clker-Free-Vector Images from Pixabay
The Doctor doesn’t have time to sew other scholars’ curtains. Helpful, I am, but not a mug!
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 