This document discusses the importance of librarians developing research interests and becoming scholars. It provides examples of librarians at Western Kentucky University who have obtained faculty status and pursued scholarship, publishing books and articles. Some benefits mentioned of librarian scholarship include becoming more familiar with patron needs, improving search skills, and gaining credibility. The presentation encourages librarians to identify potential research topics and references they wish existed to develop their ideas.

1. The Librarian as Scholar: Developing Your Research Interests
Presented by Brian E. Coutts with Rosemary Meszaros

2. Brian E. Coutts
Head of Public Services
Western Kentucky University
2017 Isadore Mudge Award winner

4. Scholar as Librarian
Richard Garnett, Keeper of the Printed Books

5. Library Profession Established
Melvil Dewey founds
School of Library Economy, 1887

6. Isadore Mudge and the Creation of Reference Service
in Academic Libraries
Isadore Mudge
April 1897 Ca 1932
Courtesy of Columbia University Archives
Historical Photograph Collection

7. Butler Library Reference Room

8. March, 1911 edition of the Library Journal

9. 1941 Reference Collection at Columbia
• Language dictionaries in 44
languages
• General encyclopedias in English and
foreign languages
• 2,000 volumes of indexes to
periodicals
• Large collection of annuals,
directories, bibliographies
• Dozens of quotation books and guides
to dissertations

10. “God Almighty Hates a Quitter”
The “enemy sources approach”

11. “Turning the Kaleidoscope”

12. “Incessantly and doggedly
verifying titles to produce the
most reliable and definitive
information.”

13. Applying the Mudge
Philosophy to Today’s
Library

14. Librarians, Faculty Status and Scholarship
The WKU Example
• From 1966 – Faculty?
• Shift to scholar driven faculty
in the 1970’s
• Evelyn Thurman
• Departments established
1981 –
• Advanced credentials
required

15. Librarians, Faculty Status and Scholarship
The WKU Example
• Tenure and promotion mirrors other
faculty
• Private offices/spaces and student
assistants
• Mentoring of new library faculty
• QTAG (Quick Turn Around Grants)

16. Library Faculty Scholarship
2012 - 2017
Left to Right
• Kinder, Sean. Una Merkel: The Actress with Sassy Wit and
Southern Charm. Albany, GA: BearManor Media, 2016.
• Yuan, Haiwang, trans. Different Carmela. Nanchang, China:
21st century Publishing House, 2016.
• Pennavaria, Katherine. Genealogy: A Practical Guide for
Librarians. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
• Smith, Charles H, and Patterson, Kelsey, eds. Dear Sir: Sixty-
Nine Years of Alfred Russel Wallace Letters to the Editor.
Queensway, UK: Siri Scientific Press, 2014.
• Yuan, Haiwang, Kunga, Awang, and Li, Bo. Tibetan Folktales.
Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2014.
Forthcoming:
Gottfried, John and
Pennavaria, Katherine.
Providing Reference
Services: A Practical
Guide for Librarians:
Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers, 2017.

17. Benefits of Librarians as Scholars
• Charles Smith in an article for Kentucky Libraries
identifies five reasons
1. To become more familiar with operational needs
of their patrons.
2. Become, through practice, more adept at search
techniques.
3. Encounter new tools and databases useful to
aiding their patrons.
4. To add to the services provided by, and draw
additional attention to their library and university.
5. Find that those they serve develop higher levels
of confidence in them.

18. What’s in a name?
William Burdett-Coutts
Baroness Burdett-Coutts
Developing Your Research Ideas

19. Chicleros & Prime Ministers
Chiclero Former Belize Prime Minister
George Price
Developing Your Research Ideas

20. Reference books/sources you wish you had!
Developing Your Research Ideas

21. Online Encyclopedias: State & Local
Developing Your Research Ideas

22. Thank you!
QUESTIONS?
Brian Coutts
Head of Public Services
Western Kentucky University
Brian.Coutts@WKU.edu
Rosemary Meszaros
Government Information and Law Coordinator
Western Kentucky University
rosemary.meszaros@wku.edu