Editorial

The scholarship of librarianship has long been disproportionately approached from the methodologies and perspectives of the social sciences. We’ve had peer reviewers tell us, without an inkling of self-doubt, that librarianship unambiguously is a social science. But any critically-minded librarian might start asking some pointed questions: Why is this the case? Whose interests does it serve? Who or what is being excluded from these conversations, and for what reasons?

Asking humanistic questions in librarianship is important, not because we are librarians, but because we are human. Yet the intent of this journal is not to revive a faded humanism; rather, we are interested in the contemporary, salient concerns of the discipline. The humanities are not peripheral to the tasks of librarianship, but, when approached with the right tools, very frequently touch upon the exposed nerve of what makes libraries tick today.

Looking at librarianship through this lens will allow us to ask underexplored questions. Humanities approaches offer a huge range of theoretical and methodological strategies to draw upon. Many of us have an educational background in these areas. We know how to do this work. We can constructively broaden and deepen the concerns of librarianship by reconsidering the boundaries of our scholarship.

What’s most amazing to us is that, to our knowledge, other library journals today are not doing this work systematically. At present, librarians writing with humanistic methods are limited to submitting their work to a drastically curtailed set of journals. Alternately, they can shoehorn their work into a social sciences framework to make it publishable as a peer reviewed library paper. This is not a good situation. That such a huge swath of methodological choices is being excluded from our supposedly “interdisciplinary” field is a sign of a systematic failing of our discipline. We can do better.

The incoming editors of this journal have expressed their reasons for participating in this project very clearly. Some have shared statements; we have included them in their entirety. While they speak to broadening the scope of the literature of librarianship -- “through the use of humanities methodologies, we can offer scholarship beyond the ‘usual suspects’ of information literacy, bibliographic instruction, metadata, and cataloging” -- they are also specifically interested in the very human concerns of librarianship: “In a data-driven society that elevates the values of practicality, efficiency, and measurable outcomes, perspectives from the humanities offer insight into the deeper values that underlie the profession.”

As a result, our project is very personal for many of us who want to (or have to) publish in librarianship: “a publication that is open and welcoming of not-strictly-LIS subject matter and approaches is very exciting to someone [...] who may have deep interests that lie at the boundaries of LIS.” Many of us have “witnessed the challenges faced by [colleagues] applying arts-based research methods to librarianship.” While “there is a lack of a reliable publishing venue” for this type of work, thankfully we can change this. We are now starting to do this work; Humanities Methods in Librarianship looks forward to taking on this ambitious and necessary project, with all of you as our collaborators.

by Mark Eaton and the Editorial Board

(Adapted from the Journal of Graduate Librarianship)

Articles, creative works, and book reviews published in Humanities Methods in Librarianship will be licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Other materials from the Humanities Methods in Librarianship website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Authors retain all copyrights to their works but grant Humanities Methods in Librarianship first publication rights to works accepted for publication.

(Adapted from the Journal of Graduate Librarianship)

Correction: Despite the best of efforts, errors occur, and their timely and effective remedy are considered the mark of responsible authors and editors. HML will issue a correction if the scholarly record is seriously affected by errors in a work (e.g., if accuracy/intended meaning, author reputation, or journal reputation is judged to be compromised). HML will not issue a correction for errors that do not affect the work in a material way or significantly alter the reader’s understanding of the work (e.g., misspellings, grammatical errors); the pre-publication review of article proofs is the final opportunity to correct such errors. When a correction is issued, it will link to the published article and also be added to the published article. All corrections will be as concise as possible.

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(Adapted from the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication)

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Editorial Board

Editor in chief: Mark Eaton, City University of New York

Managing editor: Caroline Jedlicka, City University of New York

Art editors: Taylor Pecktal, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Ruth Thomas, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Book review editors: Jason A. Reuscher, Pennsylvania State University; Collin Stephenson, UT Arlington

Creative writing editors: Junli Diao, City University of New York; Julie Turley, City University of New York

Cultural studies editors: Johnnie Blunt, University of Northern Iowa; Sam Popowich, University of Winnipeg; Kay Slater, Oak Park Public Library

History editors: Heather Ball, St. John's University; Michael Kirby, City University of New York; Jason A. Reuscher, Pennsylvania State University

Literature editors: Vanessa Arce Senati, City University of New York; Patrick Williams, Syracuse University

Philosophy editors: Kay Slater, Oak Park Public Library; Kate Villa, National Louis University

Politics editors: Michael Kirby, City University of New York; Sam Popwich, University of Winnipeg

Religion editors: Mark Eaton, City University of New York; Ruth Thomas, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Official advisors: Jill Cirasella, City University of New York; Jojo Karlin, City University of New York

Editors’ Statements

Vanessa Arce, City University of New York

Despite Library and Information Science (LIS) being an interdisciplinary field, a quick glance at any number of LIS research methods textbooks (including the one used in my Research Methods course in my MLS program) will show that research design methodologies associated with social science research are considered the norm. With the exception of historical research methods, other methodologies associated with disciplines within the Humanities are rarely mentioned in LIS research methods textbooks and courses.

I have made similar observations during my time as a tenure-track library faculty member with publication expectations. Most of the literature in the field I have encountered also draws from social science research methods and thus, despite having a background in the Humanities, my own research is more social science based. I also witnessed the challenges faced by a colleague applying arts-based research methods to librarianship, whose publications were often delayed because journals did not have reviewers in their pool qualified to evaluate articles using this type of methodology in librarianship.

For these reasons, I think it is important to provide a dedicated publication venue for librarian-scholars who want to pursue research using Humanities methodologies. Admittedly, I also have somewhat selfish reasons to participate in this project; I hope that the experience of serving as a co-editor for this journal will inspire me to integrate my literary studies background into my own research in the future.

Johnnie Blunt, University of Northern Iowa

According to a 2017 ALA demographics study, 86.7% of ALA members are White. 4.6% are Black/African American. If these numbers reflect the profession as a whole, librarianship is a predominately White endeavor that represents the cultural norms of a White middle-class population. As one of the few African American men in the profession and one of the small number of librarians with a PhD, I represent the crucial margin that can help evolve and sustain the profession and its scholarly and professional literature.

Librarianship is a different profession for those whose ancestors were routinely forbidden access to education and information. For me and for others like me, librarianship is not simply or largely about organizing knowledge. As a subsection of a larger dominant culture, librarianship is the site of social, cultural, and political tensions. Within this context, information is not equivalent to data; it is the process of humans and events being informed/shaped by various technical and sociopolitical mechanisms that are usually not discussed in the scholarly literature of librarianship.

I joined the editorial board because I believe that HML has the potential to go beyond studies that focus on the technical aspects of librarianships. Through the use of humanities methodologies, we can offer scholarship beyond the "usual suspects" of information literacy, bibliographic instruction, metadata, and cataloging. I want to contribute to social and political discussions of librarianship. Equally important, I want to help marginalized librarians find a place where their voices are heard and respected.

Taylor Pecktal, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

I wanted to be a part of HML because getting to contribute to and be a part of a new, open access journal in librarianship is so refreshing to me. I believe that scholarship can and should be accessible to wide audiences, and I’m excited about what this journal will contribute to the field.

Jason Reuscher, Pennsylvania State University

Nearly a quarter century into the new millennium, there is no lack of examples or connections between humanities methods and librarianship. If anything, there is a lack of a reliable publishing venue, and I am both happy and proud to say that this is no longer the case with the creation of Humanities Methods in Librarianship.

Collin Joseph Stevenson, University of Texas at Arlington

Many librarians fall into the profession because they love their library, and most of us first find that love on the bookshelf. As such, we become some of the most prolific readers and profound critics of the books we read, whether we're deep into biographies or turning over the latest speculative sci-fi to hit the shelf. Yet despite that, our profession affords us little opportunity to really platform our thoughts on the things we've read. Reviews of books about the job of librarianship itself or truncated recommendations for purchase guidance dominate our profession's space for reviews, and while I deeply value my experience in contributing this kind of writing, I always felt that I wasn't scratching that deep itch I have to really review a book. It is my hope that Humanities Methods in Librarianship can afford us the chance to get on our soapbox about the books that have resonated with us or the books that have let us down, to dig into what's happening in the changing genre landscape, or to flex our knowledge and insights as we break down what's happening behind the words on the page. Our relationship with books is not just professional; it is deeply personal and integral to our identity, and we should have the opportunity to write that way.

Kate Villa, National Louis University

The establishment of the new journal, Humanities Methods in Librarianship, critically addresses a gap in the currently existing venues for disseminating ideas in the field of librarianship. Considering how many humanists are drawn to libraries and librarianship, how many library professionals have backgrounds in the humanities, and how, generally speaking, libraries foster our ability to learn and create and provide opportunity for self-discovery and connection, all deeply human endeavors, this project is extremely valuable because it creates that space for researchers in the field of librarianship to share ideas rooted in the humanities.

Unlike a special issue of a general library journal collecting work on a topic related to the humanities, HML is fully dedicated to the domain of humanities scholarship. In a data-driven society that elevates the values of practicality, efficiency, and measurable outcomes, perspectives from the humanities offer insight into the deeper values that underlie the profession. The perspectives can be critical and draw attention to problematic assumptions that drive the progression of librarianship. For many librarians, research output is expected and rewarded for retainment and advancement. It can be alienating when the process of writing and publishing we are expected to do is formulaic and relies on a limited repertoire of methodologies characteristic of the social sciences. I think this journal offers a very important opportunity and venue for humanist scholars who are also librarians to contribute to a growing body of research in librarianship without becoming alienated from the methods and ideas of the humanities where their expertise and academic passion is derived from.

I am excited to participate in this project as a co-editor of the philosophy section because as a librarian with a background in the humanities, I feel alienated from the research skills and interests that I cultivated while completing a PhD in philosophy. Working as an academic librarian, there is often a tacit understanding that professional research not explicitly related to librarianship should be deprioritized. I believe that Humanities Methods in Librarianship is uniquely valuable in that it will provide space for an expanded understanding of what research in librarianship is and can be.

Patrick Williams, Syracuse University

For my Issue 0 idea contribution, I think I’m going to repeat something I mentioned in my application—I believe this journal represents a new kind of space for interesting and emergent work that doesn’t quite have a place elsewhere, and I’m eager to be involved in making that happen. Additionally, I can tell from working with LIS graduate students that they are looking to find the kinds of work HML seeks to publish that engages them and inspires them. I think they find those kinds of things here and there, but to have a publication that is open and welcoming of not-strictly-LIS subject matter and approaches is very exciting to someone entering the field who may have deep interests that lie at the boundaries of LIS and the subjects the journal is attuned to.

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