Encounters with the library: understanding experience using the life history method.

ABSTRACT

Drawing on the author's own research, this article explores the use of life histories as method and the ways in which this research can contribute to new understandings about the experiential relationships between libraries and users. The article is divided into four parts. Part one defines the essential elements of a life history research study. Part two describes how to design a life history research study. Part three examines ethical, methodological, and interpretive issues related to issues of organizational insiderness and internal validity and textual authority. The author concludes by outlining the potential benefits and pitfalls of using life histories and discusses how life history research, and qualitative research in general, can enrich and broaden our understanding of library science theory and practice.

 
   Katheryn's profile is unusual for someone with aspirations of 
   becoming a librarian. She recently graduated from the 
   University of Southern California, earning a bachelor's degree 
   in history with an emphasis in medieval society. The story of 
   her pre-professional and pre-educational socialization into 
   librarianship is somewhat unique because, as a woman in her 
   early twenties, she made the deliberate decision to become a 
   librarian many years before most of us would consider a career 
   in librarianship. Katheryn explains, "Well, I've been going 
   to libraries with my Morn since I was three, since she could 
   bring me in there and be sure that I wasn't going to scream, 
   and they were all good experiences." 
 
      Her mother was a volunteer in the local public library and 
   Katheryn describes how being brought into "the back room of 
   the library" where the photocopiers and other equipment 
   resided made her curious about what people did there. 
   However, as children, we are often exposed to the "back 
   rooms" of other vocations. For example, a child may see 
   cooks preparing meals at a restaurant, but that doesn't 
   necessarily mean that he or she will develop an urge to be a 
   chef. While I felt that it was important to understand 
   Katheryn's socialization from a process and place perspective, 
   I also wanted to understand what reflexive and affective 
   factors may have contributed to her interest in becoming 
   a librarian. 
 
      After listening to our first interview, I spoke with her 
   a second time with the intent of getting her to think more 
   about what drove her desire to become a librarian. In 
   short, what triggered that moment from being in a library 
   to wanting to become a librarian. 
 
      Author: In our first interview, you had stated that, in a 
   broad sense, your desire at this point is primarily in 
   public service. Has [being a student worker in the 
   library] reinforced that desire? 
 
      Katheryn: In some ways, yeah. The excitedness, the weird, 
   geeky excitedness of showing someone how to use [the 
   resources]--that's really cool. I like that. And I like 
   knowing where to point people to and having people who 
   don't know where to find it, then having people go [there]. 
   And I really like that. And I think that's the reason why I 
   want to do public service, and, in fact, probably why I want 
   to do more research and reference oriented librarianship than 
   otherwise because there's that aspect of people actively looking 
   for sources. And I can help them find them. 
 
      We both laughed out loud at that comment, but I knew exactly what 
   she was talking about. I had felt the same thing as I began my own 
   journey into this profession--this weird, geeky profession called 
   librarianship. 

INTRODUCTION

The above text is an excerpt from an ongoing, five-year life history research study that utilizes qualitative techniques of guided conversations, in-depth interviewing, and document analysis to understand the socialization experiences of seven young people who have made the deliberate decision to become librarians. Findings from this study will be used to develop new theories about occupational induction into librarianship that could inform better strategies of recruitment and retention. In capturing their life histories, the study attempts to not only document facts underlying how these individuals became socialized but to bring voice to the contextualized journeys of their own occupational induction experiences.

The decision to use life histories as a method to document processes of socialization into librarianship was based on three defining features of life history research described by Cole and Knowles (2001). First, life history research is intended to "advance understanding about the complex interactions between individuals' lives and the institutional and societal contexts in which they are lived" (p. 126). Similar to other service-oriented organizations governed by a commitment to educate their clientele, libraries possess a strong social connection to the people who utilize their resources and services. It is within this domain that the decision to pursue a career in librarianship often takes root. A life history approach provides a method for documenting these experiences over time, placing them in proper social and cultural contexts, and executing a research project that helps answer questions about why someone might chose to become a librarian.

Cole and Knowles also describe life history studies as contributing "more just and dignified explorations and renderings of the human condition, that, in turn, lead to the enhancement of qualities and conditions under which lives are lived" (p. 126). A second defining feature of life history research is that it gives voice to the experienced life, particularly for those whose voices may be unheard or deliberately ignored or suppressed. Two subjects in my study are from underrepresented groups. Their stories of socialization are particularly important framed against current concepts of diversity and multiculturalism in librarianship (Honma, 2005) and as they relate to ongoing initiatives to recruit and retain minority librarians (Darby, 2005; Harralson, 2001).

Life history research also tells people's stories in their own words and, in this way, conveys a representation of human experience that draws readers into the interpretative process. Readers are invited to make meaning and to form judgments based on an interpretation of the text as it is viewed through their own realities. This is the third intention of life history research, according to Cole and Knowles (2001). By documenting the stories of seven individuals as they progress toward professional inclusion, I am attempting to construct stories of socialization that are relevant and accessible to the reader.

Contemporary research about the possible connections between the informal socialization of individuals prior to considering a career in librarianship and the eventual decision to become a librarian is empirically underdeveloped and largely anecdotal. While there are many methods a researcher could use to investigate this issue, I chose a life history approach because it provides an effective means of documenting, in depth and over time, individual stories of professional induction. As with other qualitative methodologies, researchers using a life history method must develop their studies based on good design, reflexive modes of implementation and analysis, and sound ethical principles.

The next section of the article will describe the essential design elements of a life history study. This is followed by an exploration of two critical methodological and ethical issues that may arise while conducting a life history study: negotiating organizational insiderness and the challenges associated with concepts of validity and textual authority. The article concludes by outlining the potential benefits and pitfalls of life history research and placing qualitative life histories within the larger milieu of library science research and practice.

DESIGNING A LIFE HISTORY STUDY

A good life history study disrupts traditional assumptions about what is known or considered to be "the truth" and challenges the self-evident meaning of dominant culture language. This construct forces the reader to confront subjective perceptions of others (Goodson, 2001). However, the concept of the "life" in a life history study is somewhat misleading because an individual's entire biography is rarely the object of analysis (Kouritzin, 2000). Most life histories contextualize specific events or issues around the experienced lives of others. For example, Richie (2001) used life histories to investigate the challenges formerly incarcerated women faced when they returned to their communities. Grossman (1990) contributed to the literature on…