Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Background and motivation
Chapter 1. Introduction
Over the past few decades, collaboration has increasingly become a crucial concept for the reformation and improvement of teaching and learning at all levels of educational systems, including primary schools, middle schools, and higher education institutions. Due to various challenges and changes, such as the rapid development of information technology, cost reduction, manpower constraints, rigid evaluation, and increased competition, numerous faculty and administrative staff members in higher education have come to recognize the problems and stresses involved in the transformation of teaching methods and the tasks of enhancing student learning outcomes and improving institutional performances. As a result, collaboration has become one of the beneficial approaches for employees in numerous universities to cope with these challenges and issues.
The researcher has been teaching for almost 20 years and appointed to the position of Library Director for more than 10 years at a university in Taiwan. Because of the dual roles, faculty member and librarian, the researcher frequently not only considers the relationships between faculty member and librarian, but also thinks about the possibilities for collaborations between them for enhancing the effectiveness of teaching, learning, and working, and in a university.
1.1 Background and motivation
In fact, academic librarians have been working together with faculty members for a long time to implement library instruction, conduct cooperative teaching classes, prepare teaching materials, design library assignments, compose research project proposals, prepare research presentations, organize workshops, design websites for specific courses, join school committee works, and develop library collections (Jeffries, 2000).
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Librarians are particularly suitable to collaborate with other members on campus because they practice listening to many questions and handle various needs from faculty and students daily (Raspa & Ward, 2000). Cook (2000) agreed that librarians have made a connection with members of the academic community to deal with the development of digital technology and information literacy education. Caspers and Lenn (2000) asserted that librarians‘ collaborative role in teaching and learning has been promoted, along with the emergence of distance learning and for solving problems of cost reduction.
Wijayasundara (2008) assumed that the rapid development in ICTs (information and communication technologies) has built a platform for librarians and faculty members to work collaboratively. In addition, it has been reported that faculty members were gradually relying on librarians‘ assistance for instructing students to gather and utilize information in the electronic information age (Jeffries, 2000; Jenkins, 2005).
The researcher, as a librarian in a university, has a lot of experience working with faculty members. It is evident that librarians and faculty members working together did promote the use of our libraries‘ resources and improve the achievement of information literacy education. Therefore, it is necessary for both faculty members and librarians to emerge from their isolation to collaboratively solve complex problems and cope with various changes for enhancing the effectiveness of teaching, learning, and working in a university.
However, several experts and scholars have proposed negative views about collaborations between faculty members and librarians. Hardesty (1991, 1995) assumed that librarians hardly ever appreciated the values of faculty members and do not understand the complexities of faculty culture; thus, it was not easy for librarians to work with faculty members. Segal (1999) indicated that ―status of identity‖ was a critical factor to influence
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the collaboration between faculty members and librarians. It was addressed the struggle of librarians for academic recognition. Jenkins (2005) mentioned that librarians frequently find it difficult to gain respect from faculty members because most of them do not possess Ph.D. degrees, subject specialization, or research skills. In fact, they provide different organizational functions to the institutions. Librarians are labeled as ―staff‖ and faculty as
―faculty.‖ In addition, organizational power is usually unequal on most campuses, i.e., faculty members generally possess more power than librarians in terms of decision-making bodies (Christiansen, Stombler, & Thaxton, 2004).
In light of this, it is not easy for librarians to successfully collaborate with faculty members because a crucial gap exists between faculty members and librarians, which may be caused by their different cultures and unfamiliarity with each other.
Although librarians and faculty members frequently do not find it easily to collaborate with each other, they still work together in numerous universities. Therefore, the researcher attempts to understand why they need to work together. What kinds of collaborative projects or activities do they prefer to implement? What difficulties do they encounter when collaborating with each other? How do they maintain their collaborative relationships over a long period of time?
Since there are various kinds of distinctions between faculty members and librarians, librarians should have a better understanding of the values and cultures of faculty for establishing collaborative relationships (Biggs, 1981; Hardesty, 1991). In addition, librarians must learn to understand faculty characteristics and concerns in order to work with them effectively (Jenkins, 2005). Wijayasundara (2008) emphasized that librarians need to consider faculty attitudes towards collaborative practices. Furthermore, Phelps and Campbell (2011) suggested that researchers should focus on collaborative
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relationship-building between librarians and faculty members for future studies.
Based on the aforementioned concepts, understanding each other‘s differences, especially regarding culture, is essential for building good relationships between librarians and faculty members. In addition, establishing collaborative relationships is the first step for achieving successful faculty-librarian collaborations. However, whether or not good relationships can successfully sustain the collaborations between faculty members and librarians over the long-term seems to require further investigation.
1.2 Statement of the problem
During the past 20 years, numerous experts and scholars in librarianship worldwide have advocated the importance of forming collaborative relationships and initiating collaborative projects between librarians and faculty members (Hardesty, 1995; Farber, 1999; Raspa & Ward, 2000; Rockman, 2001; Doskatsch, 2003; Jenkins, 2005; Kraat, 2005;
Wijayasundara, 2008; Cha & Hsieh, 2009; Yu, 2009). The researcher agrees with these scholars‘ viewpoints, but does not believe that forming a good collaborative relationship or initiating a collaborative project can successfully sustain the faculty-librarian collaboration over a long period of time. The researcher considers that ―culture‖ is probably the critical issue determining the success of a long-term collaboration between faculty members and librarians.
―Culture‖ is a complex concept and has been defined in many ways. When we apply it to groups and organizations, one of the definitions by Schein (1992) is ―culture as a set of basic assumptions defines for us what to pay attention to, what things mean, how to react emotionally to what is going on, and what actions take in various kinds of situations (p. 22).‖
Accordingly, culture can be a kind of socialization process that influences and reflects the
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values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of the members in a group or an organization. No matter how culture is defined, however, it is linked with the success of educational organizations, and plays a significant role in modeling organizational members‘ behaviors (Mees, 2008).
In truth, culture is related to the success of an organization, but it often takes years to change and must be moved in small increments in new directions that benefit the organization (Rosen, 2007). This implies that it is not possible for culture to be created in a short time in a group or an organization.
Collaboration is a behavioral result of having a collaborative culture that embraces particular values, principles, and behaviors, for not only promoting collaboration but also supporting expectations from it (Sanchez, 2012). Southern (2005) defined collaborative culture to mean shared values, beliefs, and behaviors, which facilitate a group of members working together toward a common goal, process, or product. In organizational studies, the culture of collaboration is related to changing business models and organizational DNA (Rosen, 2007). This implies the importance of collaborative culture in an organization.
Weiss (1999) proposed that a school organization with a collaborative culture can enhance their teachers‘ commitment to teaching, continue their teachers‘ professional development, and keep their employees‘ morale high. It is clear that ―collaborative culture‖ is the key for establishing a fruitful long-term collaboration between faculty members and librarians.
Based on the aforementioned definitions and concepts, the importance and the influence of collaborative culture in a group and an organization are clear. In addition, collaborative culture can be treated as a sort of or a part of organizational culture that influences the performance of organizations. As a result, the culture of collaboration can be considered as the basis for faculty members and librarians to collaborate with each other
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and the key for a long-term collaboration between them in a university setting.
Through referring to previous studies on the topic of collaboration between faculty members and librarians, we found that numerous studies focused on the discussion of building collaborative relationships and initiating collaborative projects between faculty members and librarians. However, few studies have mentioned the importance of collaborative culture in collaborations between faculty members and librarians. In fact, the results of several studies have only briefly reminded us of the impact of organizational subcultures (e.g., faculty culture) on collaborations between faculty members and librarians (Hardesty, 1995; Wade, 1999; Jenkins, 2005).
Creating a collaborative culture for a successful collaboration in an organization can be influenced by various factors, such as personal factors (e.g., ethnic background, attitude towards collaboration, relationship to a team, individual knowledge and skills), and organizational factors (e.g., organizational culture, organizational structure, organizational size, organizational type, and leadership). Schein (1992) offers a significant message to leaders, ―If we understand the dynamics of culture, we will be less likely to be puzzled, irritated, and anxious when we encounter the unfamiliar and seemingly irrational behavior of people in organizations. Therefore, a deeper understanding of cultural issues in groups and organizations is necessary (p. 5).‖ Schein‘s statement suggested the critical necessity of understanding culture, and the significance of building a collaborative culture in groups and organizations.
Based on the aforementioned concepts, this study attempts to explore the collaborations between faculty members and librarians from the perspective of culture, and aims to discover the elements that can be utilized to construct the contents of faculty-librarian collaborative culture.
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Since collaborative culture is related to the culture of an organization, the researcher considers that it can also influence the members of a society and can be influenced by the culture of a nation. Through referring to previous studies, the researcher found that most studies were conducted in the Western world, such as North America and Australia.
However, few studies were conducted by librarians and scholars in Taiwan or other parts of Asia. One of the possible reasons for this is that some articles are published in a local language rather than English. Another likely reason is that this topic has not yet been perceived as important by librarians and scholars in regions of Asia.
Therefore, the researcher also attempts to extend the geographical range of the investigation to cover Taiwan and several other countries and regions in Southeast Asia, i.e., Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand. This can not only provide a chance to elucidate the current development of the faculty-librarian collaboration in other parts of Southeast Asia, but also compare the differences in the current development of the faculty-librarian collaboration among these different countries and regions in Southeast Asia.
1.3 Research purposes
According to the concepts mentioned above, five main research purposes are listed as follows:
1. To discover the elements that can be utilized to construct the concept of faculty-librarian collaborative culture.
2. To explore the values of faculty-librarian collaborative culture in the universities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan.
3. To understand the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration in the universities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan, such as the reasons for developing faculty-librarian collaboration, the methods for developing
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faculty-librarian collaborative relationships, the models for implementing faculty-librarian collaboration, and the success factors and difficulties faced in maintaining faculty-librarian collaboration.
4. To investigate the relationships among the background characteristics of faculty members and librarians, the levels of faculty-librarian collaborative culture, and the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration among the universities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan.
5. To compare the distinctions in the levels of faculty-librarian collaborative culture and the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration in the universities among different national cultural backgrounds, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan in Southeast Asia.
1.4 Research questions
Based on the research purposes as mentioned above, this study proposes five main research questions and eight sub-questions as follows:
1. What are the elements involved in building the construct of faculty-librarian collaborative culture?
2. What are the levels of collaborative culture valued by faculty members and librarians in the universities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan?
3. What is the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration in the universities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan?
3.1 Why do faculty members and librarians work together?
3.2 How do faculty members and librarians build collaborative relationships?
3.3 What are the types of collaborative models typically adopted by faculty members and librarians to work together?
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3.4 What are the success factors for faculty members and librarians to work together in collaborative projects?
3.5 What are the difficulties faced by faculty members and librarians to work together in collaborative projects?
4. What are the relationships among the background characteristics of faculty members and librarians, the values of faculty-librarian collaborative culture, and the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration in the universities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan?
4.1 Do the background characteristics of faculty members and librarians influence the value levels of faculty-librarian collaborative culture?
4.2 Do the background characteristics of faculty members and librarians influence the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration?
4.3 Do faculty members and librarians with different value levels of faculty-librarian collaborative culture have an impact on their experiences/perceptions regarding the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration?
5. What are the distinctions in the values of faculty-librarian collaborative culture and the current development of faculty-librarian collaboration in universities among different national cultural backgrounds, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan in Southeast Asia?
1.5 Definition of terms
1.5.1 Collaboration
Collaboration is defined as a dynamic, interactive, and interdependent process in which two or more group members work together, share resources, and sometimes a vision
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to achieve their common goals (Arroyo, 2003, p. 8). For this study, collaboration is defined as a dynamic, interactive, and interdependent process of action in which two or more group members work together, and share visions, resources, and tasks to achieve their common goals.
1.5.2 Culture
Culture is defined as the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from those of another (Hofstede, 2001). For a group of people, the collective programing of the mind as a set of basic assumptions defines what to pay attention to, what things mean, how to react emotionally to what is going on, and what actions to take in various situations (Schein, 1992, p. 22). For this study, culture is defined as a set of basic assumptions that represent the collective norm, values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors within a group or an organization.
1.5.3 Collaborative culture
Collaborative culture means shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that facilitate working together toward a common goal, process, or product (Southern, 2005, p. 40). For this study, collaborative culture is defined as a set of shared norms, values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that facilitate a group of members working together toward a common goal, process, or product.
1.5.4 Collaborative relationship
Collaborative relationships include: (1) a commitment to mutual relationships and goals; (2) a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility; (3) mutual authority and accountability for success; and (4) sharing of resources and rewards (Mattessich, Murray-Close, & Monsey, 2001, p. 4). For this study, collaborative relationship is defined
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as a mutual relationship in which two or more group members work together, and commit to shared responsibilities, resources, and rewards for their common goal.
1.5.5 Faculty-librarian collaboration
For this study, faculty-librarian collaboration is defined as a dynamic, interactive, and interdependent process of action in which faculty members and librarians work together, and share a vision, resources, and tasks to achieve their common goals.
1.5.6 Faculty-librarian collaborative relationship
For this study, faculty-librarian collaborative relationship is defined as a mutual relationship between faculty members and librarians in which they work together, commit to shared responsibilities, resources, and rewards for their common goals.
1.5.7 Faculty-librarian collaborative culture
For this study, faculty–librarian collaborative culture is defined as a set of shared norms, values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors between faculty members and librarians that facilitate them to work together to perform collaborative projects, such as implementing an information literacy program, designing a library assignment, developing the library collection, preparing teaching materials, conducting a cooperative teaching class, composing a research project proposal, organizing a workshop, etc.
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Chapter 2. Literature Review
This study reviews scholarly literature to connect the concepts and issues that have been proposed in Chapter 1. The literature review focuses on five areas. First, some important questions are examined in the first section, for instance, the elements of faculty-librarian collaboration, reasons for developing faculty-librarian collaboration, methods for developing faculty-librarian collaborative relationship, models for implementing faculty-librarian collaboration, success factors for and difficulties in conducting faculty-librarian collaboration. Second, the concepts of collaborative culture are deeply explored and defined. Third, several collaborative culture theories are derived from the theories of organizational culture and described, such as Sirvastave and Banaji‘s collaborative culture theory, Schill organizational collaborative culture theory, Rosen‘s proposition for the culture of collaboration, and Cruenert‘s school collaborative culture theory. Fourth, the relationship between national culture and collaborative culture is observed. Finally, a number of studies regarding the faculty-librarian collaboration in the countries and regions of Southeast Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan are also reviewed in this study.
2.1 Faculty-librarian Collaboration
2.1.1 What is collaboration?
The term ―collaboration‖ is frequently used synonymously with words, such as cooperation, coordination, coalition, network, alliance, partnership, and bridge (Huxham, 1996). Unlike other words, however, collaboration refers to a more pervasive, long-term relationship in which participants recognize common goals and objectives, share more tasks, and participate in extensive planning and implementation (Raspa & Ward, 2000). Rosen
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(2007) believed that collaboration creates greater value than do the traditional structures of communication and teamwork.
Wagner (1998) defined, ―collaboration is a process of action in which everyone works to understand the problem, engage in discussion to reach agreement on the goal, and shares responsibility for implementing change, assessing progress, and achieving results (p. 517).‖
In organizational studies, collaboration means various relationships between individuals and social groups striving for a common goal. Collaboration can also be considered as a management instrument that is beneficial within the framework of partnership-based collaboration (Kozuch, 2009). Collins (2013) summarized several scholars‘ definitions and stated that collaboration means working together efficiently and effectively towards higher organizational performance such as improved products, processes, and services. Cook (2000) proposed that collaboration comprises three basic components: (1) collaboration‘s purpose is to achieve common goals; (2) collaboration is supported by a well-designed structure; and (3) collaboration is mutually beneficial. Essentially, collaboration is a way of working together for the purpose of contributing to the common good (Southern, 2005).
Collaboration may be divided into formal and informal varieties. On an informal, more personal level, people may undertake a collaborative activity with a friend or colleague who has a similar interest. On a formal, organizational level, a collaborative activity may be created by or between departments, colleges, or institutions (Raspa & Ward, 2000).
2.1.2 Elements of faculty-librarian collaboration
Regarding faculty-librarian collaboration, in the case of either formal or informal collaboration, five fundamental qualities are required for collaboration to occur, which are known as the ―Five Ps of Collaboration.‖ They are: (1) passion; (2) persistence; (3)