The Internationalization of the Academic Library

Emmett Lombard

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367653170
• eBook ISBN: 9781000476071
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The Internationalization of the Academic Library presents a theoretically informed, empirically grounded analysis of the process of academic library internationalization.

Drawing on interviews with library personnel from around the world, Lombard analyzes internationalization at the departmental level of an academic library. Demonstrating that college and library personnel have positive intentions when it comes to internationalization, the research presented nevertheless reveals little commitment to an intentional, holistic role in the libraries studied. Drawing on internationalization expertise and models of prominent scholars, the book argues that libraries need to be more deliberate in their internationalization efforts and collaborate with other college personnel and departments outside the library. Lombard asserts that internationalization can facilitate a better understanding of the potential for transformation of a library's mission, vision, and policy.

The Internationalization of the Academic Library cuts across the fields of library science and higher education administration, ensuring that the book will appeal to researchers and students working in these disciplines. Library professionals around the world will also find much to interest them within the book.

1 Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781003128878-1

This book describes academic library internationalization as it happens at colleges and universities around the world. Given that higher education institutions are considered international organizations due to the universal nature of knowledge they produce (Ahmad, 2012; Jati, 2010), it is important for their libraries to align resources and services within this international context. Colleges and universities “internationalize” themselves by creating climates favorable to worldviews beyond simply the local or national (Knight, 2004; Kumar & Suresh, 2000; Rodenberg, 2010). Indications that the higher education sector increasingly recognizes internationalization’s importance can be found in such evidence as ever-increasing international student enrollments (Delgado-Márquez, Escudero-Torres, & Hurtado-Torres, 2013; Peters, 2010; Zong & Batalova, 2018), and explicit statements that emphasize activities or notions associated with internationalization in institutional artifacts, e.g., mission statements and strategic plans (Bordonaro & Rauchmann, 2015; Kumar & Suresh, 2000; Rodenberg, 2010; Whitehurst, 2010). As one person interviewed for this book observed: the world is now a “global village”. The implication being that neither localized, nor even national resources or services are adequate by themselves for an individual’s information literacy purposes. To function in a global village requires global perspective, and a global perspective requires data, information, and knowledge from around the world. Therefore, if academic libraries are to best serve their purpose, then they themselves need to internationalize.

Knight (2004) described a higher education institution’s internationalization as, “…the process of integrating international dimension into the teaching/learning, research, and service functions of a university or college” (p. 3). Academic libraries traditionally serve their institutions by providing support to the functions Knight mentioned, especially teaching, learning, and research. Arguably, the two major manifestations of this support are found in a library’s resources (e.g., books, journals, study spaces) and services (e.g., consultations, instruction).

Some would argue that internationalizing resources and services requires that library personnel possess both the cultural knowledge necessary to operate in an internationalized setting and also the ability to accommodate different learning styles (Becker, 2006; Kumar & Suresh, 2000); an implication of such thinking could be that academic libraries must internationalize at their own departmental level before they can support the overall internationalization that occurs at an institutional level. An academic library must see itself as part of the overall institutional culture, and share common situations and actions to be capable of helping to build that culture (Clark, 1998). Fortunately, academic libraries traditionally already have international proclivity (Becker, 2006). However, as will be described throughout the book, this innate proclivity is not sufficient: libraries need to be deliberate and holistic in their efforts to internationalize.

There are different ways to approach internationalization in higher education (e.g., Knight). However, most seem to address basic questions of why, where, who, what, or how in this respect. As colleges attempt to answer these questions, the library should not only be part of the answers but must also answer these questions internally on their own terms. It is common knowledge in the news and different disciplines that internationalization is important, but unless answers to these questions are clear, including among library personnel themselves, there is little sense in an academic library internationalizing.

This book provides insights into these questions by describing academic library internationalization within its internal and external higher education context. Internal internationalization is exclusive to the library: examples include operational model, mission, and policies, along with actual resources and services. External internationalization is how it supports its college, and sometimes the surrounding community, in terms of their internationalizations: examples include curricular integration, enrollment initiatives, information literacy facilitation. One contention that this book subscribes to is that viewing internationalization on these internal and external terms is key to understanding it as a deliberate, holistic process rather than as singular, unintentional activities, something further discussed in Chapter 3.

While observing academic library internationalization as it occurred around the world at different libraries, this study shows that internationalization is not always a straightforward process or phenomenon. Literature related to the topic provides themes that help better understand the issues that often comprise or define it at a given school. Most of these sources do not explicitly use the phrase “academic library internationalization”, or even variants of it (e.g., “globalization”); this is likely due to the focus on singular aspects relevant to it (e.g., library instruction; reference; database sharing) and an emphasis on international students. There are many literary themes related to academic library internationalization; rather than focus on just one, this book considers the major ones within the broader framework of the why, where, who, and how questions.

Like many things international, not all academic library internationalization is equal. In terms of all the colleges and universities in operation around the world, few are capable of the ambitious internationalization that gets highlighted. Most colleges and universities that have neither billion-dollar endowments nor globally recognized brands would find it difficult to internationalize beyond their own campuses and surrounding communities. It is this majority that is of concern to this study. Since the aim is to describe academic library internationalization in common terms, to describe what goes on at the relatively few internationally recognized universities would serve little purpose; such focus, while perhaps inspirational, would paint an unrealistic picture of what occurs at most academic libraries. This idea is further discussed in Chapter 3.

It is not this book’s intention to persuade academic libraries to internationalize. However, literature on and related to the topic, along with primary research, indicated that it can help a library become more relevant within its college or university. This book is useful in that its descriptions and observations can help readers evaluate academic libraries in terms of those internal and external aspects of internationalization. Additionally, it could help them to better answer why, where, and what should be done for whom. Such understanding can enable others to make their own decisions about internationalization, including at their own libraries.

It was revealed that the ability to internally internationalize and externally support campus internationalization at the libraries in this study depended on how much of a role and support the institution gave them. Stakeholders were key: understanding and accommodating them are important to the library’s case; Chapter 4 focuses on such understanding, while Chapter 5 is about accommodation. The literature tended to focus on international students, but this book identifies all students, along with faculty, administrators and, in some cases, community members as potential stakeholders. Granted, international students were arguably the most important stakeholders to consider, given the goals of the colleges and universities in this study; however, to truly describe academic library internationalization requires consideration of all stakeholders.

The politically-charged atmosphere concerning internationalization as a general concept might induce implications or intentions different from this book’s purpose. Some groups view internationalization as a negative process that involves powerful governments or corporations exploiting people and resources; an example that comes to mind is the ANTIFA group with its anti-capitalist agenda. Another negative association is held by some patriotic individuals who see it as a threat to national identity and independence; one need only look at the political situations in North America (e.g., angst over NAFTA) and Europe (nationalist calls for secession from the EU) to see the fears and anger internationalization can trigger (Piketty & Goldhammer, 2020). This book is not suggesting anything parallel to the notions of dissolving national identities or exploiting compromised groups. Quite the opposite: the belief is that internationalization in a higher education context can help people; one way described in this book is through information literacy. Thus, this book’s academic library internationalization is simply one way to prepare people for the ever-increasing international reality that technology, economics, and the information explosion have created.

Many issues associated with academic libraries in general run parallel with its internationalization. Example: Chapter 5 discusses how challenges associated with interlibrary loan are also evident sans internationalization. However, it was discovered that internationalization can possibly mediate and/or moderate general library issues in both negative and positive ways. Thus, internationalization can offer rewards beyond what is typical for the library, but also troubles. One thing absolutely positive is that it offers an additional lens through which to consider academic librarianship.

One limitation to internationalization investigation is the lack of consistency among academic libraries. As Knight illustrated, the very nation in which a college or university operates can impact its internationalization and, by extension, its library. Thus, it is difficult to generalize on this topic because needs and approaches differ from institution to institution, even those within the same nation. As noted by Bordonaro and Rauchmann (2015), different libraries, and even personnel within the same libraries, can interpret internationalization differently, and research for this book most definitely validated that important insight, and describes it throughout the following chapters.

It is difficult to develop one encompassing approach to academic library internationalization that suits all academic libraries, just as it would be difficult to generalize about the institutions they serve (Ahwireng, 2016). Therefore, associa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Why internationalize?
• 3 Where does internationalization occur?
• 4 Who are the stakeholders?
• 5 How to accommodate stakeholders
• 6 Conclusion
• Appendix A: systematic literature review description
• Index