In June of this year I conducted an interview via e-mail with John M. Weeks, the Museum Librarian at the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.  The Museum houses the university's Department of Anthropology, one of the finest in the country.  The University Museum Library supports the department by assisting patrons in the research, study, and teaching of anthropology and archaeology.  Their library collection is extensive, and includes over 100,000 books, pamphlets, and periodicals. Special strengths are in Egyptology, classical archaeology, and the ancient Near East. In addition to anthropological and archaeological resources, the library also selectively collects material in other disciplines such as folklore, linguistics, museum conservation, and ethnographic art.

John M. Weeks is a highly qualified academic and professional librarian.  He has an M.L.S. (1974) and a Ph.D. in Anthropology (1980), both from the State University of New York at Albany. He also has extensive field experience as an archaeologist.  Weeks states, “Between 1970 and 1980 I spent part of every year in Guatemala participating in or directing archaeological excavations. I received my doctorate in anthropology in 1980 and not wishing to teach anthropology, I entered the library profession. Early on I made a decision that I would remain in the library profession so long as I could combine anthropology and librarianship.”

Since entering the library profession in 1981, Weeks has worked in a several positions that contribute to his experience as a librarian in the social sciences.   He worked for four years as a Senior Indexer at the Tozzer Library, part of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.  Then for the next twelve years Weeks was the Social Sciences Bibliographer at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.  In 1997 he took his current job as Museum Librarian at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Senior Consulting Scholar for the University Museum.  Weeks has also continued he career as an archaeologist, directing archaeological and ethnographic projects in Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.  He has also worked periodically for the Agency for International Development as a library consultant.

According to Weeks, the University Museum Library serves a fairly specific user group, those pursuing scholarly research in anthropology and archaeology. This includes undergraduate and graduate students, as well as outside researchers.  Weeks noted, however, that undergraduates tend to use the main campus library (which is more central to the campus) out of convenience.  The Library collection is also geared to serve faculty members.  Weeks stated, “Penn has one of the most highly ranked departments of anthropology in the country, and faculty tend to be very demanding.  Also, the library is comprehensive and attracts numerous visiting scholars.”

Weeks isolated three major challenges related to his job as a social science librarian.  The first is trying to manage available resources, especially in regard to adequate staffing, in order to meet service expectations.  The second challenge is in trying to educate students about the availability, variety, and uses of anthropological resources.  Weeks remarked that there is “a general mindset among students that library skills learned in high school are adequate for undergraduate, and possibly graduate, level work.”  The third challenge for Weeks is related to the specific location of the University Museum Library, and the problems associated with trying to function as a "departmental" (i.e., remote) library within a larger library system.  He actively endeavors to remind students and faculty of the comprehensiveness and quality of their resources to combat what he describes as an “out of sight, out of mind” phenomenon.

The collection at the University Museum Library is very specific, mainly concerning topics related to anthropology.  Resources most in demand tend to be those represented  through the local OPAC “Franklin” (the Penn library catalog), and also sources listed in electronic indexes such as Anthropological Literature and Anthropological Index.  Weeks also identified two other sources as helpful to patrons: the published catalog of the Peabody Museum Library for retrospective work , and his own book, Introduction to Library Research in Anthropology.

Collection development for the library is a highly developed process.  (For a full listing of policies and the strengths of the collection, see the University of Pennsylvania Library.)  Weeks reports that most new monographs from domestic academic publishers are received through one of several approval plans, such as Yankee Book Peddlar, Harrasowitz, and Casalini.  This is in turn supplemented by individual selections from vendors' lists and patron requests.  In addition, Weeks also relies on reviews and recommendations from patrons.  In selecting material to purchase for the library, Weeks says “I use books received columns from Current Anthropology and the newsletter of the American Anthropological Association, publishers blurbs, and requests from faculty and graduate students.”

The library hosts and extensive listing of electronic resources for Anthropology, but finding reliable sources on the Internet is not always easy.  Weeks said, “We try to keep current on electronic resources but it is difficult since many/most are not advertised or promoted. We find then by chance. A list of our e-journals and databases is on Franklin (local catalog).”  Although the library does not provide what Weeks describes as “basic research” - i.e., research that students should be capable of doing on their own - it does however offer a certain amount of online research assistance for users and scholars seeking detailed and in-depth information.

With this in mind, I asked Weeks what resources he might suggest for a student doing research on the culture of Minoan or Bronze Age Crete, the subheading for this pathfinder.  “It would depend on the question,” he said.   “Possibly an encyclopedia if the question were general; a monograph or scholarly article if very specific. A good place to start would be a subject bibliography/research guide such as Bryan A. Feuer's, Mycenaean Civilization : A Research Guide  which has information on Minoan Crete.”

When asked how librarians can most be of use in providing adequate access to social science resources, Weeks made no bones about the fact that working in a specialized library such as his requires extensive training and knowledge on the part of the librarian.  “From my perspective,” said Weeks, “librarians working in specialized libraries… really need a firm background in their subject area. I can't imagine a user requesting information and the librarian/library worker not understanding the question. Librarians, in addition to knowing the literature of a discipline(s), should also keep current with new developments.”