Narratives of Academic Librarians: Initial Disorientation

Initial Disorientation  

For anyone starting a new career, an initial disorientation is expected, and this is no different for the librarians in these narratives. While organizations such as academic institutions may have various onboarding and initial training, the disorientation that librarians explained in their narratives seemed prominent as they began to construct their respective self-identities.

Nearly all librarians described their initial disorientation and the challenges that having ambiguous job descriptions and responsibilities brought them. These challenges were overcome, sparked growth, and were often a catalyst for librarians to begin the process of constructing their self-identity. However, some librarians still struggle with matching external descriptions or expectations with their own, or at least are aware of a continuous ambiguity even years or decades into their career. In their own words, Librarian 1 described their initial librarian position as “very strange” and a “weird mix”. Further, they write that “once I got my librarian position, they seemed to think that I was going to figure out a new role...It took me a while” This lack of clarity provided by coworkers or administrators regarding their job title and role is also present in Librarian 2’s narrative as they explain “the people that wrote the job description thought instructional technology was just the modern term for teaching.” The challenge for Librarian 2 is laid out in their quote, “my perception of what the job was going to be versus the perception of people that wrote the job description was quite different.” Librarian 3 describes their initial disorientation as “Later on I feel like we lost a little bit of focus because...there was something that has to do with how I was not entirely sure how I was supposed to work with the rest of the library.” Librarian 3 also relates how this job ambiguity relates specifically to instructional technology as at a previous non-academic career, “I was one of the [instructional technicians/designers] at the time. They were essentially telling me that they were not really doing instructional design work. They are just glorified writers, editors.” Librarian 5 gives an account starting a new library job and their initial disorientation was not technology related but cultural and a decidedly positive disorientation,

“It was an environment that I'd never been in before. I mean every cultural aspect one could imagine was quite different from everything that I knew. I was very different from what a lot of the patrons knew and were used to as well. I really was this alien sort of dropped into their midst and it was an incredibly positive and welcoming and friendly experience.”

-Librarian 5

Finally, Librarian 6 provides a different perspective on disorientation beyond their initial temporary job status. Moving from a temporary to a permanent position, Librarian 6 found themselves navigating a transition that involved not only job security but also a change in role. Initially, they assisted another librarian who had the same duties, but over time, they found themselves occupying the sole position responsible for those tasks. This transition from working alongside a colleague to managing the duties independently created a sense of disorientation as Librarian 6 adjusted to new expectations and took on greater responsibility. Their initial disorientation was defining themselves as a subordinated quasi-librarian in an area of the library that already had a colleague assigned to instructional technology and design tasks in the library. This shift in their role required the librarian to redefine their self-identity as a part of their professional growth, as they moved to become the primary individual responsible for the work.