Special Project

 

The special project was performed within ILS 680, Evaluation and Research. I performed research during ILS 503, Foundations of Librarianship, on paranormal activity within libraries. My research surprisingly turned up only a single instance of an event that was interpreted as being paranormal within a Connecticut library. I became interested in examining the lack of reports of paranormal activity within my home state. I decided to send out a survey to Connecticut public and academic libraries in order to collect information on events that were interpreted as paranormal both within and without libraries. The survey also addressed how library staff members communicate about events which they interpreted were paranormal.

 

What is paranormal activity?  Any activity that is considered to be paranormal is usually attributed to a spirit or ghost. These spirits can be benevolent or malevolent. They can manifest themselves in dark shadow shapes, orbs of light, sounds, feelings, cold spots, touches, vortexes, ectoplasmic mists, and actual apparitions. Some spirits are attached to an object, and some to a building or area. They are more likely to appear at night, although this may be because the bright light of the day makes it harder to see spectral activity. People are also paying more attention at night, as it is quieter and there are less people around.

 

My research was greatly inspired and guided by the work of George M. Eberhart. I have found his body of work to be the only one from a serious academic which addresses the manifestation of paranormal activity within libraries. My research into paranormal activity in general was dominated by the works of Holzer, Gardner, and Cabot.

           

The survey was sent to 600 email addresses of librarians or library para-professionals with academic and public libraries in Connecticut. The addresses were obtained off of the respective library’s web site. The web sites were chosen from the web site: www.libweb.com.

 

I learned quite a few important lessons while working on this project. I learned how to search for information that was going to be used to support a larger project. Prior to my final semester, I had always searched for information that was going to be used on the direct topic of the paper. For this project I had to perform individual searches on many different topics that were just going to be used to support the survey.

 

I also learned all about social scientific research. I had never been exposed to this type of writing or research before. It was a large adjustment to move from writing what is the equivalent of opinion pieces to writing a non-biased presentation of research.

 

I learned about how to structure a survey without creating bias. I never realized how important the structure of questions, the mode of the delivery, and the selection of the sample population was to creating information that is as humanly clear of bias as is possible. In a similar fashion, I also learned how to physically distribute, track, and analyze surveys and the inclusive data.

 

Finally, and I must say- most interestingly, I learned all about events that librarians interpreted as paranormal across the state of Connecticut. Of the respondents to the survey, 6% experienced events outside of the library which they interpreted as paranormal. 3% experienced events within a library which they interpreted as being a manifestation of paranormal activity. If they told anyone about the event, it was usually a co-worker, friend, or family member. The report of the activity usually came about from the normal course of familiar conversation.

 

The Survey

 

Dear Library Staff Member,

 

My name is Shawn Fields and I am working on my Master of Library Science degree at Southern Connecticut State University. I am performing this survey for my Evaluation and Research class in my final semester. Would you please take a moment to type in your responses and email them to me ([email protected])? Please pass this along to any interested parties within your library. Thank you for your participation.

 

 

1. Have you ever personally experienced an event in the library you currently work in, or one in which you were employed in the past, that you interpreted as being a manifestation of paranormal activity (dark shadow shapes, orbs of light, sounds, feelings, cold spots, touches, vortexes, ectoplasmic mists, and actual apparitions)?

 

2. Have you ever experienced an event that you interpreted as being a manifestation of paranormal activity outside of the library?

 

3. If you have experienced an event or events that you attributed to paranormal activity within a library:

 

1. What month and year did the event(s) occur?

 

2. What time of day was it?
3. What town and library did the event(s) occur in (this is an optional question)?

 

4. What type of manifestation(s) was it (dark shadow shapes, orbs of light, sounds, feelings, cold spots, touches, vortexes, ectoplasmic mists, or actual apparitions)?

 

5. Did anyone else witness the event(s) with you?

 

6. Did you tell anyone?

 

7. Why did you decide to tell or not tell someone?

 

8. Who did you tell?

 

4. Has anyone that you have worked with in a library told you that they experienced a paranormal event?

 

5. Why did they tell you about the event?

 

6. Your gender (male/female):

 

7. Your age:

 

8. Your religion (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Other):

 

9. Number of years that you have worked in a library:

 

10. Your work title:

 

11. Type of library that you work at (academic/public):

 

The results of this survey will be kept strictly confidential. Individual specific data will not be conveyed in my findings, only generalized information, such as: type of library or mean age.

 

Thanks again for your participation!

 

 

References

All about ghosts. (2002). Retrieved February 20, 2005, from http://dawghouse.topcities.com/photos.html

 

Cabot, L. & Cowan T. (1990). Power of the witch. New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks.

 

Crystal, E. (2004). Grids. Retrieved February 20, 2005, from http://www.crystalinks.com/grids.html

 

Dowling, T. (2004). LibWeb. Retrieved February 25, 2005, from OhioLINK http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/

 

Eberhart, G.M. (2000). In G.M. Eberhart (Comp.), The whole library handbook 3. Chicago: American Library Association.

 

Evansville Courier. (n.d.). Ghostcam. Retrieved February 22, 2005, from http://www.libraryghost.com/

 

Gardner, L. (2003). Bloodline of the Holy Grail. New York: Barnes & Noble.

 

Ghostly Places. (2001). Connecticut haunt directory. Retrieved February 20, 2005, from http://www.e-clipse.com/gp/connecticut.htm

 

Haunted Places. (2004). Retrieved February 20, 2005, from the Shadowlands http://theshadowlands.net/places/connecticut.htm

 

Holzer, H. (1997). Ghosts of New England. New York: Wings Books.

 

Kilgour, F.G. (2000). Development of the municipal library. In G.M. Eberhart (Comp.), The Whole Library Handbook 3. Chicago: American Library Association.

 

Kintner, K.B. (2002). *Library life: A column of eclectic rantings*. Retrieved February 22, 2005, from http://associates.ucr.edu/ckint302.htm

 

Mahesh, G. (2002). Barriers to marketing of information products and services in libraries. Bulletin of Information Technology, 22(3), 35-38.

 

McCurdy, V.M. (2000). Head 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out: Four Blessed Bossies in Our Way. American Libraries, 31(11), 36-38.

 

Miller, K. (2000). When you reach out, everybody wins. Computers in Libraries, 20(8), 6.

 

National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). Digest of education statistics, 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2005 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d03/ch_7.asp

 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2003). Public libraries in the United States: Fiscal year 2001. Retrieved February 17, 2005 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003399.pdf

 

Pasichnyk, R.M. (2004). The need for a new model of the earth: the living and dynamic earth. Retrieved February 20, 2005, from http://www.livingcosmos.com/earth.htm

 

Researchers and Investigators of the Paranormal. (2004). Connecticut. Retrieved February 20, 2005, from http://riptx.dns2go.com/connecticut.htm

 

Sarkisian, A.H., & Johnson, A.R. (2003). Forum IV: funding and marketing the e-ssential library: a partner-building forum. Library Administration & Management, 17(2), 84-86.

 

Warren, E. & Warren, L. (2004). New England Society for Psychic Research. Retrieved February 20, 2005, from http://www.warrens.net/

 

Weldon, S. (2005). Collaboration and marketing ensure public and medical library viability. Library Trends, 53(3), 411-421.

 

Willard Libray. (n.d.). Is Willard Library haunted? Retrieved February 22, 2005, from http://www.willard.lib.in.us/legends/haunted.html

 

Zimmer, C. (2003). Marketing your library, marketing yourself. Arkansas Libraries, 60(3), 16-17.