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Tag, You’re It: Enhancing Access to Graphic Novels Tag, You’re It: Enhancing Access to Graphic Novels
Wendy L. West
University at Albany, State University of New York
, wwest@albany.edu
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Wendy West
portal: Libraries and the Academy, Volume 13, Number 3, July 2013,
pp. 301-324 (Article)
3XEOLVKHGE\7KH-RKQV+RSNLQV8QLYHUVLW\3UHVV
DOI: 10.1353/pla.2013.0023
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Access provided by State University of New York at Albany (23 Dec 2014 08:44 GMT)
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Wendy West 301
portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 13, No. 3 (2013), pp. 301–324.
Copyright © 2013 by The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD 21218.
Tag, You’re It: Enhancing
Access to Graphic Novels
Wendy West
abstract: Current users of academic libraries are avid readers of graphic novels. These thought-
provoking materials are used for leisure reading, in instruction, and for research purposes. Libraries
need to take care in providing access to these resources. This study analyzed the cataloging
practices and social tagging of a specic list of graphic novel titles in the academic libraries of the
Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Results found that of the 668 graphic novel records 68
(10.17 percent) used the genre heading “graphic novel” and 99 (14.8 percent) were tagged. This
limited access could be improved by using social tagging and genre heading.
Introduction
E
ach year academic libraries acquire materials to build and enhance their collec-
tions. These resources support an institution’s curriculum; its faculty and student
research activities; and users’ leisure reading interests. For patrons to benet from
these materials, the sources need to be easily identiable for efcient access so that us-
ers can locate them. A great deal of staff time and effort goes into the best methods for
ensuring accessibility of library resources. For many years traditional cataloging practices
have made this endeavor possible, especially with commonly acquired materials, such
as books, journals, and videos. Over the last decade and a half, graphic novels have
emerged as a new medium for users to read and appreciate.
1
Graphic novels have become
quite popular in public as well as academic libraries. Yet accessing graphic novels is not
as straightforward a process as other resources for many reasons, including catalog-
ing. Some libraries are employing social tagging options to enrich access possibilities.
To determine cataloging and social tagging patterns of graphic novels this study was
initiated. This research explored graphic novels in academic library collections with a
specic focus on social tagging and cataloging practices.
Materials with unique publication formats, such as graphic novels, can be difcult
to access via online catalogs and other library applications due to cataloging and clas-
Ta g , Yo u’r e It302
sication challenges. Libraries continue to struggle with the best presentation of that
metadata for ease of access. Bibliographic records created by catalogers are the founda-
tion of the traditional catalog, and now discovery tools provide another opportunity
for access. In the pursuit of making data more accessible and provide functionality in a
world that thrives on social applications, it is important not only to create, but to enrich
the metadata placed in records. Simply put, library discovery tools and catalogs cannot
retrieve data that does not exist within bibliographic records. At present, many libraries
are attempting to implement innovative approaches to access library materials through
the use of social media applications. Academic libraries are in the unique position to
maximize access to library materials through social tagging. Since the newest genera-
tion of library users is accustomed to and uent with Web 2.0 technologies, they have
the capability to add and augment library records through a library’s next generation
catalog or discovery layer. Academic
libraries can further increase access by
encouraging user tagging in their local
communities. In addition, many libraries
have users who are experts in a range of
disciplines and engage in different areas
of scholarly inquiry and research. The tag-
ging activities performed by specialized
and knowledgeable individuals would be
an excellent addition to augment the access provided in bibliographic records.
In theory, the idea of social tags supplementing subject and genre headings is an
interesting concept. End users would be able to search for materials or resources us-
ing terms from both a structured, hierarchal system (for example, Library of Congress
Subject Headings), as well as by using natural language terms (for example, social tag-
ging terminology). Much of the prior research focusing on academic libraries’ social
tagging practices explored relationships with the use of LibraryThing as a social tagging
mechanism.
2
LibraryThing is a service that enables individuals and organizations to
catalog their resources and share that metadata. LibraryThing gets its metadata (social
tags) from a variety of commercial sources and library catalogs.
3
An afliated resource,
LibraryThing for Libraries (LTFL), provides the basic LibraryThing options as well as
rened features providing customization and value-added materials, such as reviews.
This current research study explored social tagging activities and cataloging practices
with a focus on graphic novels.
Literature Review
Graphic Novels
There is a wide array of denitions for graphic novels, and as noted by Amanda Stegall-
Armour, dening this term is a “slippery slope” for librarians when working with readers
who range from graphic novel novices to acionados.
4
Catherine Labio contends that the
phrase is misleading and detracts from the genre.
5
Eddie Campbell wrote that “confu-
sion reigns” dening the graphic novel, with four different ways to do so: as a format,
The tagging activities performed
by specialized and knowledgeable
individuals would be an excellent
addition to augment the access pro-
vided in bibliographic records.
Wendy West 303
as a comic book, as a comic book written in a prose style, or one written with a higher
ambition.
6
In the United States, the term graphic novel was popularized by Will Eisner
in 1978, when he placed the term on the cover of the paperback edition of A Contract
with God and Other Tenement Stories.
7
The Oxford English Dictionary denes a graphic
novel within the “graphic” entry as “a full-length (esp. science ction or fantasy) story
published as a book in a comic-strip format.”
8
Sid Jacobson dened graphic novels as
“ction intended for adults in comic format.”
9
In 2003, Francesca Goldsmith connected
the literature aspects of graphic novels and wrote:
Developed plotlines, complex characters, distinctive narrative stylistics, and rhetorical
devices such as irony and symbolism are requisites for books we recognize as “literary,”
whether we are talking about ction or about fact. Certainly, what’s considered “literature”
is much more than just a recapitulation of formula. Some of the same criteria can be applied
to what are called graphic novels, a form encompassing both fact and ction that relies
on pictures (sometimes accompanied by text) to drive a narrative.
10
Graphic novels tend to present provocative stories, both ction and non-ction, in
a visually striking format. “Graphic novels as a format,” asserts Ruth Boyer, “produce
some of the most thoughtful and beautiful stories in the history of humankind.”
11
Li-
braries, including public, school, and academic, are actively adding these materials to
collections since patrons are eager to use these print resources.
Graphic Novels in Academia
College students enjoy reading graphic novels and professors are integrating them into
their curricula.
12
Academic libraries are adding graphic novels into their collections
on account of this increasing attention. Graphic novels not only meet users’ reading
interests, but are useful in presenting historical and biographical topics. The advan-
tages of using graphic novels in the curriculum have been well documented.
13
Thomas
Juneau and Mira Sucharov discussed
the value of using graphic novels in
college courses, stating that graphic
novels reach students on both visual and
intellectual levels that traditional texts
lack.
14
Elizabeth Downey wrote about
the successful use of graphic novels to
improve student comprehension, aware-
ness of social issues, and ability to better
interpret themes.
15
Anne-Marie Davis
uses graphic novels to teach concepts
of war, violence, and genocide.
16
To further investigate the use of graphic novels in the
classroom, Davis conducted a survey of University of Washington professors. The faculty
reported that the use of graphic novels in their courses prompted engaged discussions
among the students, including those that had previously been reluctant to enter into class
conversations. Davis found that graphic novels were used in areas of study including
art, anthropology, European history, cultural studies, and Japanese literature. Steven
Hoover advocated for the use of graphic novels in academia “because graphic novels
The faculty reported that the use
of graphic novels in their courses
prompted engaged discussions
among the students, including those
that had previously been reluctant
to enter into class conversations.
