Note: This is the second in a series of columns about the experiences of those new to the academic law librarianship profession--ed.
In my previous column, I briefly alluded to my selected topic for this issue: THE NAME DILEMMA. Maybe this is not such a big deal for many librarians, but I have actually lost sleep (okay, only a little) thinking about this.
To understand why this is a dilemma for me, some background would probably be helpful. In my previous work life, I was a technical writer in the software industry for several years. This was in the 1990s, when a lot of young, smart, enterprising people were creating their own tech companies. At these places, people came to work in jeans and flip-flops, guzzling gallons of Mountain Dew and Red Bull during their 16-hour workdays, which were only interrupted by happy hour on the patio at the local sports bar. At least that’s what was happening in San Diego, where I was living at the time. I don’t know what was going on with similar companies situated in, say, mid-winter Boston. However, I am sure it was also fairly informal.
During that time, I called every single person I worked with (including my boss, his boss, and the CEO) by his or her first name.
Eventually I decided it was time for a career change. Technical writing is a nice job, and I enjoyed it, but I was starting to notice that people in that line of work either write manuals or supervise people who write manuals. I didn’t want to be a supervisor, but I also didn’t want to write manuals for the rest of my life.
So, I decided to go to law school. About a year into that I decided that I didn’t want to practice law, and that what I really enjoyed was working in the law library, which I started doing at the end of my first year as a law student at Pepperdine. One thing led to another, and I am now in my third year as a law librarian and happy to go to work every day.
One of my responsibilities is to serve as the librarian liaison for a group of faculty members. This has to be one of the best parts of the job, because I get to research in multiple areas of academic interest that are fascinatingly diverse. However, in establishing a liaison relationship with these people, an unexpected issue has developed, which has its root in three main areas:
So here’s a question that I have struggled to answer: How should a law librarian address a law professor or dean? Should first names be used, or should they be called “Professor Gretzky” or “Dean Lemieux”? (As a hockey fan, I jumped at the chance to use those fictitious names, by the way…)
Normal social cues can be marginally helpful in figuring this out, of course. A few of professors have expressly let me know that I should address them by their first names, and I will be forever be grateful to Kris, Tony, Shelley, Nancy, and Steve for extending this courtesy to me.
Other professors with whom I frequently work have left me voice mail messages that seem to indicate pretty clearly that they consider us to be on a first-name basis (“Hi, Jennifer, this is Roger…can you call me when you get in please?”). I’ve had a similar experience with certain professors with whom I’ve had frequent email exchanges.
However, as far as the others are concerned, I have absolutely no clue. This leaves me no choice but to use their titles and last names.
One might wonder what the big deal is about all of this. I have wondered this myself. Although many of the “first-name professors” have told me that they consider me to be a colleague, I am clearly not a colleague to them on the same level as the other members of the law faculty. At first I thought this might be because I am new to the profession. However, other librarians I have talked to have also expressed the same sentiment, which leads me to believe that this might be a common problem.
I think that this issue might be somewhat reflective of a tendency I have noticed in our profession of academic law librarianship: a perceived or actual lack of respect for our status as professionals. I am not really sure where this comes from, since so many academic law librarians have both a law degree and at least one other graduate degree—in other words, law librarians have similar educational credentials to many law professors.
Unfortunately, I really don’t have any solutions to propose to this dilemma. Personally, I try to focus on maintaining a professional appearance and demeanor, and on doing the best possible research that I can for the professors I support, delivering thorough and well-organized information to them in a timely manner.
In addition, I take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to interact with the faculty in situations where it would appear that we are on similar ground. For example, every year I pay $50 to rent a cap and gown and march with the faculty in the law school’s commencement ceremony. I do not do this because I love to listen to Pomp and Circumstance. Instead, I do this for two reasons: (1) because our law school’s commencement, in which the students I’ve helped over the years celebrate such a major milestone, is so special to me, and (2) because I feel that it is important for me to be seen in academic regalia, including the J.D. hood that I worked hard to earn, among the faculty. In addition, I go to the swearing-in ceremonies for our students who pass the bar exam, making a point to sit with the professors. Although I enjoy attending all of these events, my motives are also based on image to some degree, and my desire to be viewed as a professional member of the law school community.
As for the name thing, in the end maybe it’s not that big a deal. I have been a librarian for a relatively short amount of time. As my relationships with the professors here evolve, the method by which I address them will likely continue to self-adjust. In addition, I have to admit that I prefer formality and structure in the workplace, both of which are definitely present in a law school. I must say that I always thought it was odd that the CEO in my old company encouraged everyone to call him Eric, and am glad that my days in that environment are behind me. Feel free to contact me at jennifer.allison@pepperdine.edu if you have any thoughts on this topic.