Dilemmas of difference in an age of convergence Kim Shahabudin (University of Reading) Emma Coonan (University of East Anglia) Dilemmas of difference in an age of convergence

What do we mean by convergence? Bringing professional and support services together, either physically or structurally Mini- convergence Maxi- convergence Localized convergence Benefits for students and staff… but there can also be challenges

We wear different hats…

Write three words on your hat that typify your professional culture Look around you - see what other people have on their hats Try to guess their professional roles What’s on your hat?

Professional attributes - LDers

Professional attributes - librarians

Survey participants 29 librarians 16 learning developers 3 others

“... enormous benefits of shared stories, shared issues and shared solutions …” Positive crossovers and gains “... a boundless and generous desire to share thoughts, resources and classes …” R1 R40

Tensions and challenges “relying on others who don’t realise they have important role to play collaboratively, or don’t care.” “turf wars – ‘that’s OUR area!’ … occasional underrating of other colleagues’ contributions or expertise” “... different drivers and strategic objectives …. Sometimes it seems as if we are at odds, when we really are working toward the same goals” R13 R23 R10

The spectrum of co-working Informed awareness Formal alignment Co- teaching Mutual referral Resource co-design Professional output

Models of co-teaching ‘Victorian mindmapped man’ by LukePDQ flickr.com CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 flickr.com ‘Construction signs’ by jphilipg flickr.com CC BY 2.0 flickr.com

Institutional capital Disen- franchised Neutral/ mixed Influential Reactive Proactive “The political asymmetry of various academic departments and university services.” (R9) R40 R24 R31 R23 R28 R48 R14 R9 R25 R13 R4 R42 R20 R19 R43 R35

Affect “I wonder if that will be a lonely place?” (R22)

Small group discussions: With different professional cultures in mind… Should converged services be divided into e.g. writing centres/infolit with clearly defined boundaries, or should there be overlap in practice? Convergence could mean just 'working in the same building' or something more like 'integrated services which retain professional specialisms'? Does it matter? ‘Espoused theories’ vs ‘theories-in-use’ – do we practise what we preach when it comes to inter-professional working? Where does the responsibility for enabling effective co-working lie? With the individual, or with the manager?

To summarise… Great potential benefits in converging professional services But important to recognise principles that shape differences in professional cultures Mutual respect for each others’ expertise and experience is key And finally…

…think before you criticise someone else’s hat