Negarle o retirarle, teniendo sufi ciente información, el suministro de alimentos

We go into more detail on Transdisciplinarity (TD) at this point because we have been interested in what our own theory of practice is and have found TD to be a useful model for conceptualising it. There are a number of interpretations of TD and we have selected ideas from the current discourse that resonate with our own practice. TD is process “…borrowing models and theories from outside the

discipline and using them collaboratively in order to create something that

transcends the originating disciplines” (Dold, 2014, p.179). It creates a space of knowledge “beyond the disciplines” (Nicolescu, 2010, p.20) and can be applied equally well to both complex social problems and workplace issues which defy traditional organisational structures (Gibbs, 2014). For it to work in this way means being able to translate knowledge from one area to another, to be able to participate in both academic and non-academic fields, problem focussed,

evolutionary in method and collaborative (Maguire, 2012).

Academic staff tend to be located in teams with like-minded subject experts. Indeed the pressures of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) reinforce the construction of silos which conform to the subject areas a university will be assessed on. Yet many of society’s contemporary problems require our research teams to work across subjects and school boundaries, working with researchers whose knowledge and frames of reference may be very different from their own. For example, imagine a project to look at the impact of art therapy on convicted criminals: In the Middlesex context this could mean a Psychologist from the School of Science and Technology, a Criminologist from the School of Law, an Economist from the Business School, a Health Expert from the School of Health and Education and of course an Art Practitioner from the School of Art and Design.

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This is potentially five people from five of our six Schools of study. How might a librarian facilitate this?

As we have seen already, librarians are familiar with the transliteracy or metaliteracy properties of IL:

“The essential idea here is that transliteracy is concerned with mapping meaning across different media and not with developing particular literacies about various media. It is not about learning text literacy and visual literacy and digital literacy in isolation from one another but about the interaction among all these literacies.” (Ipri, 2010, p.532)

Building on this foundation, Dold thinks the librarian can go further as “the key player….who structures the information exchanges so that the research and results of either language group will be comprehensible to all” (2014, p.180). Indeed she sees librarians as also not being bound by the norms of particular subjects and therefore uniquely able to work across the disciplines. Librarians are “situated at the intersection of subject-specific perspectives and the patron” and uniquely placed to “analyse a research question and enrich the researcher’s understanding of the complexity and interconnectedness of the contributing data sources” (Dold, 2014, p.183). Dold sees our skills as vital in making connections, not least because “transdisciplinary research is an essential tool for approaching the big questions that face society” (2014, p.18).

This echoes Stephens (2014) view that librarians are human hyperlinks,

something librarians and libraries have always focussed on: A physical library is a place for bringing together knowledge in one place, organised as a single easily navigable entity. Indeed, in the age of virtual resources, the need for the librarian as guide and navigator through the vast and confusing hyperspace environment is even more essential and, while librarians do not claim to be academics, they can work alongside them bringing a range of complementary skills and knowledge to the table (Asher, 2003; Coonan, 2014). Librarians can articulate the connections and vision to make TD work.

Gibbs (2014) uses the example of a medical doctor using his or her judgement to diagnose, from the symptoms presented, the illness and then an appropriate solution. In the same way, the librarian engaging in a reference interview will use

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their expertise to tease out a customer’s information need from the problem

presented and then use their knowledge of the information environment to propose solutions from across any appropriate source irrespective of the discipline. Indeed a classic staple of our work is the customer who comes asking for a specific

resource (usually a book) because the limits of their knowledge of information means they simply cannot conceptualise the vast landscape of information solutions open to them. Expert librarians are able to see beyond the obvious problem and look into the layers below, seeing and making hidden connections. Clearly this process has its limits. Gibbs’s (2014) hypothetical doctor is not able to go beyond medicine into the underlying societal issues which might be causing the illness, such as social housing. Librarians too are limited by the system they work in, although we have examples of when a discussion at the enquiry desk to assist a student has led to referral on to another pastoral support service. However, we might also see this another way: If the Librarian has ensured the researcher is using the best available information resources, indeed if they have opened their eyes to ideas from other disciplines they had not previously seen or been aware of, then the quality of the research that is produced through this TD encounter may well then go on to have a much more significant impact on society at large, than research constrained within the boundaries of a subject silo or conventional thinking. Just as Lloyd saw the need for information literate employees to ensure meta-competency, Gibbs sees the need for universities and professions having to change to develop professionals with a “capacity for transdisciplinarity” (2014, p.11). We think librarians are uniquely placed to enable this by fostering a much greater understanding of IL and thus enabling employees to develop these problem solving skills.

We see this working at all levels in a University. Even at undergraduate level the use of Summon means students will be finding valid materials in resources outside the collections normally associated with their subject. Our teaching will then

enable them to reflect on the value and quality of what they have found, so they know to apply it in an appropriate and meaningful way. Librarians support researchers in finding things they would not normally think to use, because they engage with all disciplines every day. Gibbs sees TD as “based on a readiness to see the layered reality within a problem, perhaps concealed when viewing it

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through a single disciplinary lens” and providing solutions by “harnessing prudent judgements” to facilitate “imaginative and creative reconceptualization of problems” (2014, p.13). Indeed one might argue that, just as our approach to teaching is the constructive alignment of students’ prior knowledge with new information, so our work with researchers is the constructive alignment of potentially disparate academic patrons with new knowledge and new critical thought. Are librarians therefore uniquely placed to act as transdisciplinary scaffolders, engaging with their clients as “catalysts, instigating and building bridges between disciplines, researchers and communities” (Wickson, Carew and Russell, 2006, p.1052)? We believe that they are.

For librarians to be able to make this claim of TD and deliver on it, requires reflection on librarian identity and what professional skills and attributes are needed to be ready for the present and the future as our information landscape expands exponentially. What are the priorities that need to be understood at the interface where we can play a role? Transdisciplinarity helps us conceptualise our role as promoting mutual understanding through knowing the needs of different domains and translating between them so that the different ‘domains’ can benefit from knowledge and practice exchange. Domains which need this exchange include academia and libraries, students and information, students and academic staff, research and teaching and different belief and practice systems within our own profession. Librarians could benefit from conceptualising their professional work using this lens. These questions are explored in the following sections. We will then return to transdisciplinarity in the wider context of enhanced professional practice for the librarian of the future.

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14 Where are we and where are we going?

The changing environment in which we function, our own experience as academic librarians during the last four decades and the myths surrounding our profession have been explored at length in this context statement.

It is apparent that librarians in all sectors need to adapt and evolve in order to future-proof our professional role and survive as major players in the information landscape. The future of academic librarians has been much debated by the profession and an overview of this discussion is outlined below, followed by a summary of our vision for the future.