Graphic Novels

O'English, L., Matthews, J.G. & Lindsay, E.B. (2006) Graphi novels in academic libraries: From Maus to manga and beyond. The journal of academic librarianship, 32(2), p173-182.

I have been a fan of graphic novels for several years now, so I was interested to read about graphic novels in an academic context. This article begins by describing some ways that professors are incorporating graphic novels into their classes. English professors are using them to discuss topics like plot, theme and structure and media studies uses them to demonstrate how text and visual can work together to convey an action or idea. I was excited to read about these academic uses, and I will likely suggest that my boyfriend, a budding English professor and comic fan, use graphic stories or novels in his classes.

Graphic novels are also becoming more of a force in society. Authors are using the medium to express ideas about histroy, to record personal memoirs and to comment on the cultural climate, in addition to the traditional themes of superheros and their struggles.

If GNs are being used in classrooms, then of course they should to be included in library collections, but they also have a place in libraries as pleasure reading materials. Pleasure reading is valuable because it sharpens reading and comprehension skills for other reading, and some say that pleasure reading is better absorbed than other reading because the mind is engaged in the subject. It is also suggested that in reading linked text and pictures, more and different parts of the brain are utilized. This is the idea behind some indroductory texts that use words and pictures to explain academic topics like philosophy or staticstics.

A major challenge to includign GNs in academic collections is how to classify them within the Dewy or Library of Congress Classification systems. Traditionally, comics and GNs have be classified as cartoons in Dewy and as illustrated literature in LC, but this classification may not acutrately describe the themes and topics covered in different graphic novels. There are also several problems involving authorship. One of these is some GNs have different writers and illustrators, and because both illustrations and text are vital to the format, it is difficult to decided how to classify these titles. In addition, some authors are beginning to distinguish themselves as major contributors and therefore, may merit their own unique call numbers so that their works can be grouped with material written about the author or the works. Finally there is the problem of seriality. Many graphic novels are released serially in comic form before they are published as a single volume, and some like Frank Miller's Sin City are composed of separate stories with different titles under one series name. Each of these instances cause a problem for cataloguers. How should the seriality of a single volume be expressed? and How should a part of an ongoing series be expressed in the catalog record?

Other challenges to GNs inclusion in library collections are issues of how to select items for the collection and theft. Selecting items for the collection is made easier now that commonly used review resources are now beginning to cover GN. Additionally, academic libraries are not bound to consider age appropriate content, as school and public libraries are, and thus, are free to select from GNs geared towards an adult audience. Theft is a major concern, considering how popular GNs have become, but these concerns can be addressed by binding the titles to make them less attractive to potential theives, and it has the additional benefit of making the books more durable.

Once there are GNs in the collection, students, faculty and staff need to be notified of their presence. This is where an awareness campaign can be useful. This could be as simple as featuring GNs in a display or as complex as hosting a contest for student drawn GNs about campus life.

Graphic novels are becoming more influential in society, as they do, it is important for academic libraries to incorporate them into their academic and pleasure reading collections.

On the whole a very interesting article. I like that it adressed many aspects of academic librarianship from curriculum and collection development to cataloging and marketing. My university's library has some of the major titles, but perhaps it would be wise to broaden our collection to include all themes and topics covered in GN. Perhaps the most valuable would be introductory texts to academic subjects.