Knotworking in Academic Libraries: Two Case Studies from the University of Helsinki

Abstract

Librarians in academic libraries are facing major changes in their work due to, e.g., the internet, digitization, and increasing use of new channels for information retrieval by their most important clients, namely researchers. This creates challenges for librarians: both to deepen their own expertise and to develop innovative service models for their clients.In this paper we present a development project entitled 'Knotworking in the Library' from the Helsinki University Library. The project made use of the Change Laboratory method, which is an intensive developmental effort which facilitates improvements in the activities of organizations and changes in the organizational culture. The process started in Viikki Campus Library in 2009-2010 and continued in the City Centre Campus Library in 2010-2011. The aim was to create new kinds of partnership between libraries and research groups in the form of knotworking. By knotworking we mean a boundary-crossing, collective problem-solving way of organizing work.The knotworking model presented in this paper generated practical tools to assist selected research groups in dealing with data management related-issues.

A Knotworking Guideline for Building Projects: Bridging the Gap between Participants

“…The method of Knotworking for building projects (Knotworking AEC from now on in this paper) is an approach accommodating both collaborations among participants and organisation of the themes to be implemented in the project [21], [22]. As a first, Knotworking AEC was adopted to the Finnish AEC sector in a development programme 2012-2015 by a collaborative team of researchers, building owners and executers as an approach for collaboration [21].…”

“…Previously in Finland, Knotworking has been applied in both healthcare [54] and new partnerships of libraries [22], why it is argued that Knotworking as a method is applicable in multiple industries such as IT, manufacturing and project management in general. Despite the fact that the Guideline indicates tasks that are focusing on the AEC sector such as Building objects, these tasks are changeable to fit the specific industry implementing the Guideline.…”

“What We Do Every Day Is Impossible”: Managing Change by Developing a Knotworking Culture in an Academic Library

“…Technical developments have also affected the needs of students, researchers and faculty members. Collections of large research data, such as video or EEG (electroencephalography, brain activity) recordings, and the requirement of funding organisations for research lifespan plans and research data management plans create challenges for data management (Engeström et al, 2012).…”

“…When using the library's digital materials, they are often unaware of their origin and instead claim, as one of our librarian interviewees related to us, that they "do not need the library because they find everything they need from Google Scholar". Understandably, librarians are concerned that their meaning to researchers is diminishing and that therefore they need to innovate new services and new ways of working with researchers (Brindley, 2008;Engeström et al, 2012).…”

“…We report on the empirical findings of the Knotworking in the Library development project (Knotworking project), which was conducted in the Helsinki University City Centre Campus Library in 2010-2011, and its follow-up interviews in 2014 (Engeström et al, 2012).…”