section iii draft

Section iii (Draft)

As part of our research into the information use and users of the LGBTCC, we want to find out more about how the center collects and disseminates its information, what kind of information it values, and which agencies it feels are important to partner with on campus, and in the larger community. We would also like to compare the literature we have encountered on LGBT information needs of college students, and whether this center is addressing those needs currently. We would also like to find out who the users of the center are, and whether they are served adequately by the center. We would like to explore the history of the center and how it has evolved over time, and to find out if joining the GLS has influenced center use, identity, and importance within the organization and in the campus community as a whole. We will also inquire about the populations they seek to serve, and whether they have target groups for their services. It is also important for us to address recent changes that have taken place in the organization of the agency, with special regard to any changes in user groups or methods of distribution. We also explored the changing needs of center users over time with the director. That is, is there a difference between the expressed needs of younger, undergraduate users of the center’s information and the needs of older users? How is the center focusing on these differing needs? Also, we asked how much contact and interaction the center has with the community outside of the university.

In order to begin this research we conducted a detailed analysis of the group’s extensive website, looking for the information needs the website attempts to answer through its extensive links, and provisions for answering the needs of the campus LGBT community. The first approach to our research was the observation of the LGBTQ center during their open house, held in the Wisconsin Memorial Union at the beginning of the 2007 spring semester. Attending the open house allowed us to note the resources available and observe the patrons who participate with and use the center, while not disclosing our identities with this research project to avoid the danger of tainting our first contact with the director of the center, as well as possibly affecting our information gathering procedures. Disclosing our identities would have had possible negative implications in the research process, such as disrupting our first contact methodologies and guidelines.

The note taking process at the LGBT center gave us the opportunity to create an inventory list of all the resources available, including the physical environment that the center creates. This process also allowed us to collect materials the center made available to the public, such as pamphlets, a reference manual that contains the other organizations the LGBT center coordinates with, and the activities staff members post in the reference manual and on bulletins.

Additionally, we conducted two interviews with student staff members, remaining anonymous within the observation process, to validate the notes and inventory list data collected. Additional data was obtained from the interviews, including administrative policies, outreach programs and a description of the types of users who visit the center. The interviews also established the type of environment and services the center offers. The interviewees were eager to answer questions, to give us a tour of the center, and to point out the available resources. Also, as the center promotes itself as a safe physical space for the university community to visit, study and use, we launched inquires as to how the center develops and maintains the environment of a safe physical space, and whether this environment influences the information needs and information seeking of its users.

The observation process allowed the researchers to begin inquiring if the users or target audience of the LGBT center have special needs when seeking information. Other inquires developed from the observation process included quantifying the benefits of LGBT center’s organization and distribution of information, and the sensitivity of confidentiality of the users’ identities. The observation process gave us a collection of information data to begin researching the multiple resources the LGBT center offers the users.

Our next step was to arrange an interview the director of the center. Our group interviewed the director of the LGBT center to find information, including their involvement/affiliation with other campus and community groups, whether or not they share resources with those groups, and their selection process for choosing a given group.

The direct observation and literature research that we conducted allowed us to formulate several lines of questioning for our interview with the director. The contacts that we made during our initial visit with the student outreach coordinators gave us a general understanding of their outreach programs and allowed us to ask the director about the specific information resources and trends. For our interview, we used a qualitative design and open ended questions to ascertain the history of the LGBT center and information about the primary users. Through these open ended questions we sought to define the informational relationships that occur between students, staff, community members and other users of the LGBT center. We also asked the director about the differences he perceives in the responses to the center’s collection since it has been integrated into the General Library System of the University. We sought an evaluation of the materials and resources available in the LGBT center based on the experience of the director. In the final stage of our process, we compared the research we conducted on the LGBT center at the University of Wisconsin with the literature we have collected concerning the general needs of LGBT students, and their perception of how campus resources like the LGBT center influence their college choices and experience. Our analysis of the content of this interview is defined through the context of our previous research and literature review.

Integrated rough draft E and J 3-9-07

As part of our research into the information use and users of the LGBTCC, we want to find out more about how the center collects and disseminates its information, what kind of information it values, and which agencies it feels are important to partner with on campus, and in the larger community.

We would also like to find out who the users of the center are, and whether they are served adequately by the center.

We would like to explore the history of the center and how it has evolved over time, and to find out if joining the GLS has influenced center use, identity, and importance within the organization and in the campus community as a whole.

We would also like to compare the literature we have encountered on LGBT information needs of college students, and whether this center is addressing those needs currently.

We will also inquire about the populations they seek to serve, and whether they have target groups for their services. It is also important for us to address the recent changes that have taken place in the organization of the agency, with special regard to any changes in user groups or methods of distribution.

We visited the center, unobtrusively, to observe the collection, the physical layout of the center, and the information on display in the public areas of the center. Several of our group attended the LGBTCC Open House, a semester kick-off meeting designed to provide information on the center and its activities to the general public and prospective users of the center’s resources.
The first approach to our research was the observation of the LGBTQ center during their open house, held in the Wisconsin Memorial Union at the beginning of the 2007 spring semester. Attending the open house allowed us to note the resources available and observe the patrons who participate with and use the center, while not disclosing our identities with this research project to avoid the danger of tainting our first contact with the director of the center, as well as possibly affecting our information gathering procedures. Disclosing our identities would have had possible negative implications in the research process, such as disrupting our first contact methodologies and guidelines.
The note taking process at the LGBT center gave us the opportunity to create an inventory list of all the resources available, including the physical environment that the center creates. This process also allowed us to collect materials the center made available to the public, such as pamphlets, a reference manual that contains the other organizations the LGBT center coordinates with, and the activities staff members post in the manual and on bulletins.
Additionally, we conducted two interviews with student staff members, remaining anonymous within the observation process, to validate the notes and inventory list data collected. Additional data was obtained from the interviews, including administrative policies, outreach programs and a description of the types of users who visit the center. The interviews also established the type of environment and services the center offers. The interviewees were eager to answer questions, to give us a tour of the center, and to point out the available resources.
Also, as the center promotes itself as a safe physical space for the university community to visit, study and use, we launched inquires as to how the center develops and maintains the environment of a safe physical space, and whether this environment influences the information needs and information seeking of its users.
The observation process allowed the researchers to begin inquiring if the users or target audience of the LGBT center have special needs when seeking information. Other inquires developed from the observation process included quantifying the benefits of LGBT center’s organization and distribution of information, and the sensitivity of confidentiality of the users’ identities. The observation process gave us a collection of information data to begin researching the multiple resources the LGBT center offers the users.
We also conducted a detailed analysis of the group’s extensive website, looking for the information needs the website attempts to answer through its extensive links and provisions for answering the needs of the campus LGBT community.
Next, our group interviewed the director of the LGBTCC to find information, including their involvement/affiliation with other campus and community groups, whether or not they share resources with those groups, and their selection process for choosing a given group.

We also explored the changing needs of center users over time with the director. That is, is there a difference between the expressed needs of younger, undergraduate users of the center’s information and the needs of older users? How is the center focusing on these differing needs? Also, we asked how much contact and interaction the center has with the community outside of the university.
We asked the director about the differences he perceives in the responses to the center’s collection since it has been integrated into the General Library System of the University.

Finally, we compared the research we conducted on the LGBTCC center at the University of Wisconsin with the literature we have collected concerning the general needs of LGBT students, and their perception of how campus resources like the LGBTCC influence their college choices and experience.

Transcript of Eric's interview

Hi,
I'll post this right now.... I want to go over it again before I email it to everyone, but I thought you'd like to look it over.

1.What is the history of the Campus Center? Eric has been contacting people from the past to compile an oral history and written history for the website
Established in 1992 as a student organization. Some students didn’t feel that they were
Student C funding up and down
From the beginning they felt that they needed to provide support services
Mentoring programs, educational programming
Composition of the staff has changed over time, at times employing a specific orientation, but the center has evolved into a task specific type 8 students, 2 full time people and one upcoming half time slis student to maintain the collection next year.
New position will be responsible to collection development.
They have a budget for collection development which includes the various costs of access (to oclc, etc)
There has always been a goal that this should be a university provided service and should come from general revenue program dollars
Was completely funded by ASM initially. Four years ago, the students pushed to make this a gpr funded services and in 2003, they got some funding.
Funding for the director comes from grant income, special dollars.
Rest of the money comes from student fees.
Eric is the first full time non student director and they now have eight student staff positions
Seven years at the same location



2. Do you have partnerships with other organizations? If yes, which > ones?10% society – mainly for social events
Agitated for a second position for leadership, advising
The idea all along was to integrate into programming and activities to
Wide variety of organizations some want help, some don’t
Q Law, Social Sciences group,
Student Allied group advising through center

New Group Gay Hockey Club advising through center
Perception of non athleticism and encouragement to “fit” into the student community that diversity is the norm.
LGBT are all different people and don’t necessarily identify with each other, so support and assistance help with understanding and integration.
Expand horizons and understanding.

3. Do you share resources?
Yes, all the time. They even do some co-programming with Outreach.


4. What is your resource selection process? Always in search of, plus lots of groups contribute
A lot of the pamphlets are not explicitly gay, are not inherently LGBT oriented but some of them are like the magazines
Diva and Ms are women’s magazines, but most of them are trans, HIV positive, etc. Some of these are quarterly. A lot of Pop mags tend to have pretty boys and pretty women or strong women (stereotyping) but we buy those as well



> 5. How do you organize your resources?Organized on how it fits into the cramped space available. Lots of the brochures are taken after hours outside in the hall. Available for those not willing to come into the center. Eric is thoughtful about what kind of brochures are out in the hall, and tend to be predominantly LGBT


> 6. Do you have target audiences for your services? Who are you > targeting with your information?

> 7. How has the center changed since incorporation of your collection > into the GLS?

> 8. Have user groups changed in any noticeable way since > incorporation? Have you made any specific changes?
Emphatically Yes. We started doing the cataloging in August. Policy questions; they are showing as soon as cataloging begins, they weren’t going to check out initially, but they didn’t have more than 5 books catalogued when a student came in to request a book, so they checked it out for him.
People started coming in right away. Straight students working on a research paper, LGBT students interested in coming in to see the collection.
What to do and how to do it was an effort of all the librarians across campus. The library people paid for our computer and the connection to the Memorial Server. Paid in staff time. Librarians came in according to their expertise and really helped in the organization, set-up and educational aspects of the new library in the campus center.
48% of the materials in the center are unique to the center.
There are a lot of titles that are “crappy gay/lesbian” fiction. But there is a slis student studying GLBT press, so there is a use for those books, too.

How do you decide which groups to be affiliated with? (if there are any)Relationship with community members has changed a bit, as they now can ILL with the general public. The red box comes in once a week. The whole UW system and SCLS participate with them now. Don’t need the boxes yet, still carry them under an arm to get them back and forth.

2. How do you deal with issues of confidentiality?Two philosophies on confidentiality. Private space
If absolute privacy is necessary, Eric goes down to meet with someone over coffee. He has only cleared the room once or twice for confidentiality purposes.
Mentoring Coordinator – usually meets in another place on campus away from the center. Sensitive to the coming out process.
Couches and TV used to be in a corner and not be seen, even though they are not in a prominent area for passers-by
More recent philosophy has been for a more open and welcoming environment. Moved the TV and couches out to the main area. New TV system is multi use and can be used for information meetings. The number has quadrupled and double from last year with the new layout.
It’s really comfortable and inviting even though messy.

3. How do you think the campus center affects the university, the students, and the city of Madison as a whole?
General Community involvement. Privlege and responsibility to determine who to serve. Technically, you can’t be in the union unless you are a member, student, alum, guest of the above or a person in uniform.
Street people have union memberships in some cases
Community members who make students uncomfortable are asked to leave. If they think someone is there for the wrong reason, they can ask them to leave. The safety and comfort of their members is paramount.
They really guard carefully against possible predators, but are sensitive that some support groups need community members to come in.
They had a non student that was coming in who made people uncomfortable recently, and they asked them to leave.
No teens, no underage community members. Freshmen, with ID, sure, they refer others to Outreach and Briar Patch when they feel they need services. They also get a certain number of weird and harassing calls that they need to defend against.
Information Sharing – common with Outreach, plus occasional co-programming. They buy newspaper ads, ads in the Onion, standard flyers. No posters on kiosks, they get pulled down. They ad to Lots of List servs: Qgrads, weekly update, 10% society list was primary list for everyone, campus and community combined. Lots of Facebook postings to All of your Friends.
Incoming freshmen – listserv available to the LGBT housing LIasions and they can communicate through them

SOAR – students can mark that they want more information on LGBT Campus Center Every Fall, Eric sends them an email welcoming them, and notifiying them of all the kickoffs etc he can find.
Gay Straight alliance is what most high school students recognize.
Anyone who expresses an interest gets contacted.


Anti Gay question -
Opposition research is always important
We are oftentimes under attack by outside organizations that don’t belong to the u who claim they are being discriminated against for religious grounds when the “homo” organizations are supported.
There are strange emails from time to time that are obviously targeted to some unknown agenda. We don’t know what they are fishing for….. sexual predators? One posting can come to ten or twelve different people in the professional consortium. They can trace some of these to religious organization that are suspect.
One of the things that happens is that Petox Parents and families of ex gays.
Equal representation clause in the Bill of Rights is heavily used by the LGBT community. Separate is not equal a clause in the bill of rights. Different but the same is not the same.
Petox is fishing for a lawsuit if they are not included on the Center’s site and sends lots of information to LGBT. They said , We’d love to have your stuff!
So they put them on the websites with a warning that they have asked to be put on the resource list.
Eric always offers to have a link to their website, too, but they never take him up on it.
Eric says that oppositional resources and links are not incorporated into the educational materials because every LGBT student is already aware of these organizations.
Who we are is always under attack.

Part iii very rough draft from Jill

Hi,
I just threw the ideas out there. Is this what we need?
I cut and pasted the second paragraph of part i into here, as it directly described the process we intended to do the research, plus I added some of the questions we expressed and listed the other methods we used to collect information.

This is the the "throw enough stuff at the wall, and some of it will stick" tradition..... :-)

As part of our research into the information use and users of the LGBTCC, we want to find out more about how the center collects and disseminates its information, what kind of information it values, and which agencies it feels are important to partner with on campus, and in the larger community.

We would also like to find out who the users of the center are, and whether they are served adequately by the center.

We would like to explore the history of the center and how it has evolved over time, and to find out if joining the GLS has influenced center use and identity and importance within the organization and in the campus community as a whole.

We would also like to compare the literature we have encountered on LGBT information needs of college students, and whether this center is addressing those needs currently.

We will also inquire about the populations they seek to serve, and whether they have target groups for their services. It is also important for us to address the recent changes that have taken place in the organization of the agency, with special regard to any changes in user groups or methods of distribution.

Our group intends to interview the director of the LGBTCC to find information, including their involvement/affiliation with other campus and community groups, whether or not they share resources with those groups, and their selection process for choosing a given group.

We will visit the center, unobtrusively, and observe the collection, the physical layout of the center, and the information on display in the public areas of the center.

Several of our group will attend the LGBTCC Open House, a semester kick-off meeting designed to provide information on the center and its activities to the general public and prospective users of the center’s resources.

We will also do a detailed analysis of the group’s extensive website, looking for the information needs the website attempts to answer through its extensive links and provisions for answering the needs of the campus LGBT community.

We would also like to explore the changing needs of center users over time, that is, is there a difference between the expressed needs of younger, undergraduate users of the center’s information and the needs of older users? How is the center focusing on these differing needs?

Another resource...

Ritchie, CJ. Collection development of gay/lesbian/bisexual-related adult non fiction in medium-sized Illinois public libraries.
Illinois Libraries (Spring 2001), 39-70.
This study by CJ Ritchie seeks to evaluate the role of public libraries in the glbt community. Ritchie seeks to qualify the
observation that many public libraries have sub-par collections when it comes to glbt topics and resources, and little or no collection policy for those resources. Although this study pertains to public libraries in Illinois, it provides a good understanding of the role of the regular or small town library in the glbt community. This article provides a great benchmark to compare with Madison’s LGBT Campus Center, and also offers insight into developing a collection policy centered around these issues. The quality of research and detail in this study are very high, making it a worthwhile read for that reason as well.

TRC narrative

Our Secondary Choice for study is the Tenant Resource Center, located on Williamson St. in Madison, the TRC is a resource for tenants, landlords, law enforcement officials and anyone with a housing resource question. As they state on their website:
“Tenant Resource Center (TRC) offers free counseling for tenants and landlords interested in learning more about their rental rights and responsibilities. Information on state and local rental laws and regulations and lease screening services are available at TRC. We can also refer clients to other agencies when appropriate to assist them with their needs.” [1]
Further, they describe their staff :
Tenant Resource Center (TRC) is a non-profit membership organization with a small staff that relies primarily on volunteers to provide housing counseling, mediation services and office assistance.[2]

As an information agency, they are a clearinghouse for all issues of tenancy from both the perspective of the landlord and the tenant. The TRC can assist with tenant/landlord relations and has links out to organizations within the community and the state of Wisconsin dealing with issues of tenancy and renting, as well as resources for low cost and transitional housing. They also sponsor a variety of workshops that help landlord and law enforcement officials to understand the laws of tenancy in Wisconsin. They also address other important housing issues that help alleviate housing crises for various vulnerable populations, like those in transitional or shelter housing situations, and for tenants facing eviction and/or utilities issues.

[1] Tenantresroucecenter.org, home page
[2] Tenantresourcecenter.org, home page

Resources draft 1/17

Hi, Here is the draft for the resources section:
I will check later to see how you think it looks. I typed it in Word, so I can simply send the file if you want. Editing on the blog is such a drag! I also hate the Times New Roman font, but that is neither here nor there.....
Got to go sledding in this newly "warm" weather! I'll check in later this afternoon! I'll also post a quick summary of stuff on the Tenant RC later, for our fallback.

As such, the center has a wide variety of resources to support its informational and outreach activities.
First, the center employs a staff of nine, including the director, Terry ___. They also employ and recruit the services of volunteers to help with their mission. The functions these volunteers help fulfill are mainly an adjunct to the programs and services that the center offers, and include Mentor, LGBT Peer Educator, Ally, and Support Group Leader. The volunteers help with the outreach activities like the Speakers’ Group, that educates members of the student community on LGBT issues.
There is office space designated within the center for the staff, and the center has generous open hours: Monday-Thursday: 9am-5pm, Friday: 10am-5:00pm, Saturday: closed, Sunday: 12:00 - 5:00pm. Equipment in the Center includes: a VCR, a DVD player, a TV, computers with Internet access, and the book contents of the newly catalogued library, popular magazines dealing with LGBTQ issues, like The Advocate, as well as considerable printed materials and pamphlets with information ranging from advocacy to advice on safe sexual practices to religious and spiritual information. Academic links include the LGBTCC Library (recently incorporated into MADCAT), and information on the LGBT Studies Certificate, opportunities for international study, the University Committee on GLBT Issues, and the UW Women’s Studies Program. There is also information available on the various national organizations for GLBTQ issues at the center.
Of Course, this being the Internet Age, the center supports a well-designed and attractive website, packed full of information and links to the campus and to the larger world of LGBTQ issues and advocacy. They also link out to the opposition, which is interesting and curious in a group that is so strongly supportive of their community. We will have to explore their willingness to address and expose potential users of their site and center to the negative aspects of the opposition community, offering links to anti-gay and reparative therapy and ex-gay organizations. Is this even-handedness and fairness, defense through greater awareness or some other motivation? Here is a list of some of the links that the LGBTCC provides on their website:
Student OrganizationsReligious/SpiritualTransgenderIntersexBisexualQueer People of ColorNational OrganizationsSafety and HealthSexual and Domestic ViolenceAlcohol and Drug AbuseCounseling ServicesWomen's IssuesMarriage and Legal IssuesHarassmentUniversity Housing/Off-Campus HousingLGBT Foundations Sources of Financial Aid and ScholarshipsAnti-Gay LinksReparative Therapy & Ex-Gay