Lectura Académica Estratégica

Inglés - Nivel Medio

REPRESENTATIONS and PERCEPTIONS of

LIBRARIANS

ANTICIPATE
1. Choose the appropriate reading strategies to complete the chart. (5%)

TITLE Old Maids, Policeman, and Social Rejects: Mass Media

Representations and Public Perceptions of Librarians
AUTHOR Maura Seale

SOURCE Arts and Humanities Librarian

Zumberge Library, Grand Valley State University, Allendale,
Michigan, USA
DATE OF PUBLICATION 2008

FIELD Bibliotecología

2. ABSTRACT. Look at the numbers of the sentences in red. Read the abstract and
use the numbers to complete the following chart. (5%)

Abstract
[1] This paper investigates the relationships between mass media representations of librarians
and users’ perceptions and consequent use of librarians and libraries by asking three
questions: [2] 1. How are librarians depicted by the mass media? [3] 2. How does the public
perceive librarians and how might these views relate to mass media representations? [4] 3.
What are the potential effects of these representations and perceptions? [5] Representations
of librarians by the mass media generally fall into one of five somewhat discrete categories.
[6] Public perceptions of librarians are somewhat different; although librarians are often
described in positive terms, there is nearly no awareness as to the knowledge, duties, skills,
and education of librarians and, as a consequence, public perceptions draw more heavily on
stereotypical representations of librarians’ personalities. [7] Ultimately, librarians and libraries
tend not to be effectively utilized, as users remain unaware of librarians’ abilities and
responsibilities.

Is there a sentence/s that …? Your

answer
1;
Describes the background/ situation/ introduces the topic IN
GENERAL?
1; 2; 3;
Presents THIS research or the purpose of THIS paper? 4
1; 2; 3;
Describes the methods/the materials/subjects/procedures of this 4
study?
5; 6; 7
Presents findings and results?
Explains discussions or conclusions? States implications / 6; 7
recommendations?
 Lectura Académica Estratégica
Inglés - Nivel Medio


What is the text about? What’s the purpose of the paper? What linguistic elements
helped you to identify it?

3. The following phrases are the subtitles, which were deleted, of the different section of
the article. Place them in the correct order and write the paragraph LETTER in the box.
(5%)
What strategy are you going to put into practice to complete this task? Why?

SUBTITLE PARAGRAPH
LETTER
Possible Effects of Media Representations and Public Perceptions J

Public Perceptions of Librarians H

The Policeman Librarian C

The Inept Librarian F

The Old Maid Librarian B

Mass Media Representations of Librarians A

The Connection between Media Representations and Public Perceptions I

The Librarian as Parody D

The Hero/ine Librarian G

4. Explain the text semantic organization. Remember that is our specific

hypothesis and we are going to read the text to confirm, modify or discard it.

5. Now read the text in detail.

VERIFY
1. Were the authors able to answer the questions posed in the introductory section? If so,
what did they find? Explain fully
 Lectura Académica Estratégica
Inglés - Nivel Medio
2. How are librarians represented, according to the author? Complete the chart
using NOUN PHRASES. (10%)

Librarians
MASS MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS

The old maid librarían. Tendencias que surgen de la literatura:

The policeman librarian. Bibliotecario
como guardián del racionalismo y
conocimiento. Poder de humillar
públicamente.
The librarian as parody. Imagen
irónica de los bibliotecarios como
solteronas o policías.
The inept librarian. El bibliotecario
introvertido. Malestar en el mundo
social.
The hero/ine librarian. Representación
más positiva. Miembros de la
comunidad serviciales.
Fundamentalmente útiles e
importantes.
Percepción del bibliotecario y su trabajo
como útil, ordenado, amigable, tranquilo.
El bibliotecario orientado al servicio,
orientado hacia las personas, tímido,
pasivo, rígido.
A pesar de estas percepciones el público
no los ve como profesionales. Sus
capacidades se ven oscurecidas por la
tecnología y sus tareas no son visibles.
Hay una falta de compresión de la
naturaleza profesional de los
bibliotecarios.
Falta percibida de profesionalismo a
causa del desconocimiento del público
en general de las habilidades del
bibliotecario.
. El público no está familiarizado con la
educación, el conocimiento, las
habilidades
y los deberes de los bibliotecarios;
entonces podría decirse que la
percepción pública dominante de los
bibliotecarios es invisible o inexistente.

3. What are the potential effects of these representations? (Write them as concepts
– Use NOUN PHRASES) (5%)

- Percepción influida por los medios. No puede reducirse a

representaciones mediáticas.
- Representación mediática del carácter individual del bibliotecario. Falta de
representación de sus obligaciones y ocupaciones.
- Las imágenes que no se representan de los bibliotecarios. Falta de
representación de las ocupaciones reales. Reduce al bibliotecario a unas
pocas características. Características exageradas, simplificadas y
entendidas como naturales.
- Las representaciones masivas permiten conocer el término “bibliotecario”,
sin tener conocimiento real.
- Creación de estereotipos como símbolo de poder.
 Lectura Académica Estratégica
Inglés - Nivel Medio
4. ANALYSE the connector “ALTHOUGH” (in line 283). (5%)
Your answer:

“ALTHOUGH” (line 283) Semantic relationship: CONCESIVO

Idea 1: Representations of librarians by the mass media generally fall into

one of five somewhat discrete categories: the old maid librarian, the
policeman librarian, the librarian as parody, the inept librarian, and the
hero/ine librarian.

Idea 2: Librarians are often described in positive terms, there is nearly no

awareness as to the knowledge, duties, skills, and education of librarians.

4. What does “these” in question 2 in line 275 refer to? (5%)

Your answer:
“How does the public perceive librarians and how might these views relate
to mass media representations?”

Refiere a las percepciones del público sobre los bibliotecarios y como

esas percepciones se relacionan con las representaciones masivas.

INTERNALIZE

1. Write the MAIN IDEA of the text in a well-written sentence (between 6 and 8
lines). (40%)

Your answer:

Las representaciones masivas de los bibliotecarios y sus funciones,

suelen caer en cinco categorías que luego impactan en las percepciones
del público en general, ya sea positivamente o, como muestran los
estudios, de una manera más peyorativa que corresponde a la poca
representación real de estos agentes sociales en los medios masivos
analizados.

2. OUTLINE the text. (20%)

 Make sure the hierarchy among concepts (main, sub-ideas and supporting
material) is clear enough.
 Use noun phrases.
 Lectura Académica Estratégica
Inglés - Nivel Medio
 All nodes should be interrelated.

SAVE THIS FILE AS PDF TO HAND IT IN.