Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for professional work including collaboration and presentations.
“Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.”
-Paul J. Meyer
EXPLICATION
Communication is not a skill unique to librarianship. Indeed, it is an essential life skill for all humans. Communication may be between two people or large numbers of people. It may take place face-to-face, via telephone, or through secondary means such as texts, emails, memos, letters, presentations, etc., and may occur orally, through body language, or through the written word. Communication is a two-way process that requires a sender and a receiver, speaking and listening. In the context of librarianship, communication is essential to a productive work environment and fulfilling the task of connecting people with information.
Communication refers to interaction between people for the purpose of imparting or exchanging information and involves a sender (or speaker) and a receiver (or listener). For communication to be effective, it is important that senders of information—whether it be oral or written—be as clear and concise as possible. Effective communicators think about what they want to say and how best to phrase it. They consider their audience—to whom the message is intended—when choosing their words, using terms that receivers understands. In a library setting, this may entail considering the technical and/or searching skills of people when showing them how to use a database or when providing training sessions. Using technical jargon that is not known to or understood by the receiver inhibits comprehension of the sender’s message.
Evans and Ward (2007) assert “the way in which you say something influences meaning” (p. 261). In other words, “actions speak louder than words” is an important consideration. When communication occurs face-to-face, tone of voice as well as nonverbal signals such as body language and eye contact play a part in conveying meaning. Maintaining eye contact and smiling conveys interest, while lack of eye contact conveys disinterest. Crossed arms convey defensiveness and lack of willingness to listen to others. Standing too close to someone i.e., invading his or her personal space, may also be a deterrent to effective communication, particularly when combined with words delivered in an aggressive tone. Librarians convey approachability by making eye contact, smiling, standing, and/or approaching patrons when they suspect a patron is in need of assistance.
While body language may not come into play for written communication, it is still possible to convey emotion or mood through word choice and written structure. For example, an email that is overly curt, that does not include a salutation and/or closing, or one in which the sender rambles on repeating the same point multiple times goes a long way in conveying anger, frustration, or dissatisfaction to the receiver. The benefit of written communication comes from the ability to think not only before one writes but also before one sends. That gives the sender at least two chances to consider what and how a message is being conveyed.
The role of the receiver is equally important in effective communication. Listening takes as much finesse as speaking if communication is to be effective. Listening requires not only taking in the information conveyed by the sender but also “verify[ing] the intended meaning and how the message has been understood” (Evans and Ward, 2007, pp. 256-257). Generally, listeners tend to filter messages in one of three ways:
- Leveling: parts of the message are missed causing changes in meaning,
- Sharpening: parts of the message receive more attention than others, also with the potential of changing meaning, and
- Assimilation: all of the message is retained and information is added based on the listener’s knowledge.
Barriers to effective listening include assumptions by the listener that he or she knows what the speaker is/will say, and disinterest in the topic or speaker. This is why reference librarians are taught to put aside pre-conceived assumptions about patrons and any personal biases about particular topics when working with patrons to fulfill their information needs
In a library setting, effective communication is essential to ensuring patrons are connected with the information they seek. The elements that make for effective communication are hallmarks of the reference interview: listening, confirming, providing feedback, word choice, body language, etc. Disregarding any of these elements increases the chance that the librarian will fail to fulfill the information need of the patron. Furthermore, ensuring that new programs and services are successful means communicating what they are and when they will start to the public, and doing so in a way that makes the public see the new services or programs as beneficial to them and worth the time and effort to use. Communicating this type of information to the community may be accomplished through presentations, by newsletters, flyers, emails, tweets, social media posts, or signage.
Effective communication among staff is essential to ensuring a smoothly run library, particularly in larger libraries with multi-tiered authority structures and/or multiple departments. Evans and Ward (2007) note, “the organizational structure of the service can influence the way in which staff interpret messages” (p. 263). Interpretation of messages may be affected by the objectives of different departments, authority structure, and work relationships (Evans and Ward, 2007). Policies regarding communication should be firmly established and adhered to and should clearly state who should communicate with whom, what information should be communicated, and how information should be communicated (i.e., verbally, email, memo, etc.). Furthermore, staff meetings help overcome communication barriers by allowing everyone to hear what others are doing. Formal communication, in the form of staff meetings, memoranda, etc. can go a long way towards dispelling any information (e.g., rumors) garnered through informal communication (i.e., office gossip) that may be harmful to the overall operation of the library.
Librarians must be able to communicate effectively when collaborating with colleagues for group projects and presentations. Teamwork requires trust: trust that everyone will have a chance to voice his or her ideas and opinions, trust that others will listen, trust that honest yet respectful feedback will be provided, trust that everyone will do his or her best in order that the project or presentation is a success. Trust can be established through agreement on a common goal and establishing expectations for communication, behavior, and participation for the duration of the collaboration. Procedural strategies for successful collaborations should include regular attendance of meetings by all team members, having someone take notes recording group activities, progress, key points made during the meeting, and important dates and deadlines, as well as access to these notes for all team members through email, shared document access (e.g., Google Docs, Calendars), etc. Any issues that may affect the progress or outcome of the collaboration should be communicated to team members immediately.
Presentation skills are another important part of effective communication. At one time or another in their careers most librarians will have to participate in some form of presentation, whether it be talking to parents at the end of a storytime session about a new children’s program, presenting ideas for new programs that require increased funding to government councils or advisory boards, or presenting papers or project results at professional conferences. Clear goals for the presentation should be established and adhered to lest the presentation lose focus. Goals should be presented at the beginning of the presentation to inform the audience of the presentations intent and again at the end of the presentation to recap and leave the audience with a solid understanding of the presentations point or purpose. Just as with other forms of communication, thought of what will be said and how to say it is critical, as is body language. Eye contact with the audience should be maintained—speakers should not be reading a script verbatim but, rather, should have practiced enough and be familiar enough with the content to use nothing more than notecards to remember important points. Visuals add to presentations, particularly when they are interesting and pertinent to the topic. However, visuals should not require the audience to read while the presenter is speaking—this distracts the reader from what is being said, with the potential of audience members missing key points. Furthermore, to keep the audience engaged in the presentation it is useful to include interactive segments in a presentation, such as asking the audience questions (even if the questions only require raising a hand) or having the audience engage in a brief, pertinent activity. This is true of virtual presentations as well; for example, when presenting an online learning session, whether synchronous or asynchronous, include activities that allow the audience to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts being presented. Always conclude by soliciting questions from the audience.
COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT
As stated previously, communication is an essential life skill, and I have had my share of experiences learning how to communicate effectively with other people, both personally and professionally. I began my working career before the days of email and text messaging, when the inter-office memo was the preferred method of written communication among staff and telephone calls or letters were the only way for professionals to communicate with clients and colleagues (other than face-to-face, of course). I had to learn how each company I worked for liked their written communication to be composed, structured, and worded. When I was an office manager supervising support staff, I had to learn to master the fine art of oral communication as I was the mediator between professional and support staff for scheduling work. Because many of the professionals had the attitude that their work was the most important and should take priority, I had to learn how to be diplomatic, how to choose my words on the spot as several managers all pressured me at once for their reports to be completed. Similarly, I had to learn how to speak with the support staff in a way that did not make them feel angry and/or pressured. Over the course of my office career, I have worked as both support staff and as management and have learned the importance of communicating with others in a way that motivates and encourages teamwork. And I have especially learned the value of praise and giving credit where it is due. The simplest and most effective communication for keeping staff happy, motivated, and productive is saying “thank you.”
Throughout my college career, I have worked as a tutor, which at times necessitated assisting students with the research process. For the past five years, I have worked with professors and students at a local community college, tailoring research instruction sessions to specific curriculums. I generally spend one class period per semester presenting to a class, talking with them about the various components that make up the research process and demonstrating how to use various subscription databases. Working with students has taught me that it is important to consider audience when presenting information. I have found that visuals and activities are necessary not only to ensure that concepts are understood but also to keep students engaged. I have to be careful about how much technical jargon I use when showing these beginners how to use databases. I have learned that I must be hyperaware of what terminology I use and to be sure to provide explanations or definitions for any terms that are likely to be new to students. For example, common jargon for librarians to use during one-shot orientation sessions include the terms “query,” “natural language,” and “stop words.” These words relate to important concepts that will be missed by students unless they are first explained. Not only do I explain these terms to students during the class but I also provide them with a handout explaining these terms so they can revisit them at the point of need. In a teaching situation, it is important for librarians to remember that, while they are indeed providing information to students during the actual presentation, the amount of information combined with new terminology may cause cognitive overload. Providing students with information via lecture, demonstration, and in written form allows for multiple ways of communicating information.
In my work as a graduate assistant to the SJSU iSchool web technologist, I have learned how to effectively communicate via email. This is a virtual job—I have never met my boss or any of the people I have done work for face-to-face. However, through observing how others communicated with me through email, I learned what the norms of communication are, both generally and with regards to specific people. For example, I know that I can be less formal when communicating with my boss (i.e., excluding salutation or conclusion, with email messages resembling a conversation), but when emailing with one of the deans, my emails are always more formal and always include a salutation and conclusion as well as more formal verbiage. The same is true of my internship, which is also virtual; I have learned through observation what the norms for email communication are. I believe that my experience as office staff, my experience as a graduate assistant, and what I have learned about communication in my MLIS classes will help me be an effective communicator and presenter when I become a librarian.
While none of my MLIS classes have been strictly based on the topic of communication, many have directly or indirectly dealt with the subject. In INFO-200, Information Communities, I first began learning about how to communicate information via a presentation. In INFO-204, Information Professions, we covered the topic of communication extensively, particularly since the primary focus of assignments for that class was a group project that culminated in a strategic plan for a particular type of library. During the course of this project, we learned how to communicate within the group, communicate to supervising staff about the progress of the group, and communicate to stakeholders within the community. INFO-250, Design and Implementation of Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals, and INFO-254, Information Literacy and Learning, covered the topic of communication, particularly as it pertained to written presentations such as instruction unit proposals (INFO-250) and instruction sessions (INFO-254). INFO-266, Collection Management, also covered communication as it pertains to presentations, with a culminating group project centered around a presentation intended to encourage philanthropic funding of specific projects by a wealthy patron.
EXPERIENCE
1. INFO-204, Discussion Post: The Benefit of Staff Meetings
I am an advocate of regular staff meetings as a form of communication. Staff meetings allow all members of an organization to feel included and part of a team. Staff meetings provide a means of communication between departments or staff members that may otherwise be neglected or overlooked. Staff meetings allowing participation of all members of an organization serve the function of making staff members in lower levels of the office hierarchy feel that they are as important as those above them and that their contributions are equally valued. And as with any type of group or team meeting, normative behaviors for attendance, speaking, and listening should be observed so that everyone feels welcome to express ideas, provide feedback, or ask questions. The first item of evidence offered is a discussion post from INFO-204 in which I elaborate on why I am an advocate for regular staff meetings and how past work experience has brought me to this position.
2. INFO-210: Reference Interview Exercise and Reflection
The reference interview is a critical component of reference services. It requires inquiry and listening, knowing what questions to ask and how to ask them. In other words, good communication skills are critical to the successful outcome of reference transactions. An assignment for INFO-210 required creating two unique scenarios and demonstrating appropriate reference interview techniques to fulfill the information needs. The first scenario was built around an ethical question asked at a public library reference desk. The second scenario was built around a general reference question posed at the reference desk of a small, rural middle school. The reference interview composed for each scenario demonstrates my understanding of the communication skills required for reference transactions. The dialog created for each scenario demonstrates effective communication through word choice, non-verbal signals, and consideration of the patron.
3. Email Communication
Email is a common form of communication in today’s world. They can be formal or informal in structure and content, and often take the place of text or telephone conversations between colleagues working remotely from one another. While body language is absent, it is still relatively easy to discern the demeanor or attitude of someone based on the structure and word choice of the email. The next item of evidence is a series of emails between me and a student advisor for whom I was assigned the task of transforming a word document into a fillable PDF document. This item demonstrates how effective communication between collaborators results in successful completion of projects.
4. INFO-220: Presentation of Maps
At one time or another in their career, most librarians will present information of some type to someone else, i.e., complete a presentation. Presentations may be formal or informal. They may include visuals such as physical items or artifacts, or PowerPoint slides. No matter what the form or content, all presentations have a goal. For INFO-220, GIS, the culminating project required me to design a presentation that would inform patrons about maps: different types of maps, how and why they were produced, etc. The goal was to get people thinking about how maps might be used and get them interested in—and using—the library’s map collection. I chose to tell the story of my cross-country train trip by using a variety of maps. By telling a story, the presentation had a common thread from start to finish and kept viewers interested. The visuals are pertinent, appropriate, and interesting and text is kept to a minimum, allowing the audience to listen to my words while viewing the pictures, rather than missing important details while reading text-heavy slides. This presentation could be used in a public library, a school library, or an academic library, but would best serve an audience of public library patrons or middle- and high school-aged children. NOTE: This presentation has been embedded into the Evidence page. Because of the size of the original file, the ten “References” slides at the end of the presentation have had to be omitted in order to upload the document. To view the document in fullscreen mode, click on the 
symbol at the bottom of the image screen. To view the “script” for each slide, click on the and choose “Open Speaker Notes.”
CONCLUSION
Communication is often referred to as an art and indeed, this is an apt metaphor. In any situation, when communication is applied with finesse and deftness, the outcome is more likely to be a positive one; when it is not, the outcome may not be as positive or successful. The difference between a smoothly run library and one where chaos reigns may rest largely on how communication takes place and how people interact and address one another. The difference between patrons locating information that best meet their information needs and locating information that does little or nothing to fulfill their information needs may rest largely on the communication skills of librarians. The success or failure of library programs and services may rest largely on how and when information is provided to patrons. The success or failure of collaborations between coworkers, colleagues, departments, or organizations may rest largely on the communication that takes place between participants. Advances in technology have increased the number of ways in which communication can take place. It is incumbent upon librarians to master these methods as means of communicating with the community, with stakeholders, and with co-workers and colleagues.
The discussion and evidence provided demonstrates my understanding and mastery of communication skills necessary for librarians to fulfill their duties to the library and to patrons, my ability to work as part of a team, and my understanding of the components necessary for successful presentations.
References
Evans, G. E., & Ward, P. L. (2007). Management basics for information professionals (2nd ed.). New York City, NY: Neal-Schuman.
Kristin Lehigh 