Communication overload: a phenomenological inquiry into academic reference librarianship

Purpose ‐ This study aims to provide insight on the meaning of communication overload as experienced by modern academic librarians. Communication is the essence of reference librarianship, and a practically endless array of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools (ICTs) are available to facilitate communication. Design/methodology/approach ‐ This study relied on a phenomenological methodology, which included nine in-depth interviews with academic librarians. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using RQDA, a qualitative analysis software package that facilitates coding, category building, and project management. Findings ‐ Seven themes about librarianship emerged from this research: attending to communication abundance, librarians of two types, instruction not reference, twenty-first century librarianship, user needs, trusted methods: filter not retrieve, and self-impact. The shared meaning of communication overload among these librarians is that it is a problem when it detracts from or hinders their ability to assist their users. Practical implications ‐ Further research should contribute to an understanding of communication as a problem when it interferes with serving the librarians' users, or to an understanding of interpersonal communication within the librarians' organizational structures and in their broader professional networks. Social implications ‐ Research in popular psychology has focused on the negative impacts on productivity and concentration of living in an always-plugged-in environment. This research confirms that librarians should have time to work away from digital distractions to maintain job satisfaction. Originality/value ‐ Important work by Radford and Dervin has focused on communication with users. This study focuses on the impact of ICTs on librarians' work and personal lives.