From Doughnuts to Batman Comics:

1
From Doughnuts to Batman Comics

• Popular Culture Research and Non-Traditional
  Resources

Amy Fry Evan Rusch, 7 April 2004, PCA/ACA
National Conference
2
Introduction

• Academic libraries traditionally have not
  collected resources related to popular culture.
• Yet popular culture is clearly being taught and
  researched.
• Access to popular culture resources is still
  difficult.
• Why?

3
Challenge of Popular Culture Resources

• Often cheaply made, mass produced, and not made
  to last.
• Resources may be of unfamiliar formats or subject
  matter.
• Far too many popular culture resources than any
  one library could collect.
• It is difficult to predict which items
  researchers will need in the future.

4
Role of the Librarian

• It is our mission to serve the needs of students
  and researchers.
• We know that popular culture is being studied.
• Libraries can no longer ask if we should
  accommodate the study of popular culture, but
  instead ask how we can provide access to popular
  culture resources.

5
Outline

• Look at current research in popular culture
  through dissertations.
• Discuss types of resources being used and fields
  where research is being conducted.
• Describe the challenges of providing access to
  these types of resources.
• Explain how ILL librarians are in a unique
  position to provide leadership to improve access
  to these resources.
• Present solutions for improving access to popular
  culture resources.

6
Popular Culture Resources Definition

• We have looked at definitions from Russel Nye,
  Jack Clarke, and Ray Browne.
• The terms popular culture resources or popular
  materials equate with non-traditional library
  materials items that have not been typically
  collected by academic libraries or are not
  scholarly in nature and are not typically
  preserved for further academic study.

7
Why dissertations?

• Currency
• Primary research means use of primary resources
• Research often uses special collections and
  archives
• Dissertations show specific examples of the types
  of resources researchers are using

8
Which dissertations did we study?

• Those written in the last year and a half.
• Written in English
• We avoided titles where research would have used
  primary resources exclusively abroad (excluding
  Canada)

9
Dissertations contd.

• We reviewed 15 dissertations either studying
  popular culture or utilizing resources related to
  popular culture.
• Used UMI Proquest Digital Dissertations and
  Dissertation Abstracts to locate titles.
• Looked at bibliographies and works cited pages to
  identify resources not typically held by academic
  libraries.

10
Which fields are studying popular culture?

• All dissertations are in the humanities or social
  sciences.
• 3 American Studies, 2 History, 2 English, 2
  Comparative Literature.
• 1 each of Speech Communications, Communications,
  Journalism, Psychology, Womens Studies, and
  Education.

11
Types of Resources Used

• 8 cited movies both popular and obscure, 1 cited
  screenplays.
• 5 cited television shows, 7 looked at television
  commercials, music videos, or other video
  recordings not full-length films or network
  television.
• 2 cited popular music CDs or records and another
  cited radio recordings.
• 3 cited popular magazines not typically held by
  academic libraries (e.g. teen magazines or
  computer game magazines)

12
Types of Resources, contd

• 2 cited non-fiction books that might not be held
  by academic libraries, such as rock biographies.
• 4 used popular or genre fiction
• 2 used comic books or graphic novels
• 2 cited magazine advertisements
• 3 cited posters, postcards, paintings, or
  postcards.
• Other resources included video games, promotional
  company materials, and song lyrics.

13
Specific Examples

• 105 Hard Rock CDs
• Yiddish language radio broadcasts
• Television programs including Bonanza, Today
  Show, Saturday Night Live, The Green Hornet,
  Hawaii Five-O, Magnum P.I., and Seinfeld
• Girls and Youth magazines including Sassy,
  Seventeen, Teen, and YM
• The training packet to virtual reality software

14
Interlibrary Loan Process

• The ILL office
• Verifies holdings
• Chooses lenders
• Places requests
• Receives material
• Loans 8-10 days
• Copies 3-5 days electronically
• Charges invoice, IFM, or IFLA

15
Popular Materials/Resources

• Are often held in special collections or
  independent archives
• Are exempt from traditional circulation
  procedures because of format or status
• Present challenges for bibliographic verification
• Should ILL just forget them?

16
No!

• Central to the research and teaching of some
  academic disciplines
• Students required to use primary resources but
  cannot travel
• Demonstrating use of special collections
  essential to their survival

17
Why should ILL be involved?

• ILL crosses public services and technical
  services
• Resource sharing infrastructure already in place
• ILL departments can gather information about
  patron research needs and material usage

18
Challenges for Access

• Collecting
• Cataloging
• Resource sharing

19
Challenges in Collecting

• How to collect (when so much is produced)
• Highly ephemeral nature of popular materials
• Where/how to find popular materials
• Cross disciplinary in subject matter
• Budgets for material acquisitions are already
  strained

20
Challenges in Cataloging

• Adequate bibliographic description
• Visibility alongside traditional collections
• Knowing where to look for materials

21
Challenges in Resource Sharing Audiovisual
Formats

• Why wont libraries lend A/V?
• Original acquisition motive
• Nature of material and perceived susceptibility
  to damage
• Cost of replacement
• Surveys Albitz Bolger MLA-L ILL-L

22
Audiovisual Formats, contd.

• The ALA Guidelines for the Interlibrary Loan of
  Audiovisual Formats says
• Format alone is not a sufficient reason not to
  lend
• Specific reasons for refusal to loan should be
  given
• Take requests on a case-by-case basis

23
Challenges in Resource Sharing Special
Collections Materials

• Can we relax restrictions on sharing
  non-circulating materials?
• Wisconsins Area Research Center (ARC) Network
  (archival material)
• The Consortium of Popular Culture Collections in
  the Midwest
• Both strong networks, geographically close

24
Special Collections Materials, contd.

• ACRL Rare Book and Manuscript Sections
  Guidelines for the Loan of Rare and Unique
  Materials
• Potential borrowers must be able to demonstrate
  security and safe handling
• Potential borrowers must agree to comply with use
  restrictions
• Give specific reasons for refusal to loan

25
Special Collections Materials, contd.

• Can ILL facilitate requests for special
  collections materials?
• ILL should not make decision to lend
• ILL should not handle material
• ILL does have the equipment and networks to
  respond in a timely manner
• ILL can process invoices and payments
• ILL can supply electronic copies and ship
• Do whatever works best for the collection, the
  library, and the researcher. (Gallagher, 1994)

26
Special Collections Materials, contd.

• Potential concerns
• Quality of reproduction supplied to the user
• Workflow and expenses
• Need to regulate potential commercial use

27
What can we do?

• Collecting
• Need flexible policies regarding non-print
  materials
• Need to communicate openly across disciplines
• Buy and not borrow can ILL be involved?
• Cataloging
• Digitize, link through catalog
• Resource Sharing
• Take on a case-by-case basis
• Increase our willingness to lend
• Find new ways to accomplish resource sharing