Pathfinder Overview

The Pima County Public Library (PCPL) Joel D. Valdez Main Branch is the library this pathfinder has been created for. This branch was chosen as the host because it is the largest library in the PCPL system, attracting the greatest number of users. The PCPL system consists of 27 branches (as of Winter 2008), ranging throughout Tucson and the greater Tucson area. Materials are circulated throughout the system, and items can be returned at any branch. There is also a bookmobile service to those outside of Pima County, and it carries over 2,500 materials/books and loans approximately 17,000 items annually (PCPL Website 2008).

The subject of this pathfinder is veganism, and is intended for adult laypersons in the community looking for an introduction to the vegan lifestyle. Individuals who might find this pathfinder potentially useful range within the estimate of the 700,000 visitors per year that the branch receives. Any number of these patrons could be vegan or vegetarian, or simply be interested in the subject. According to Vegetarian Times, 3.2 percent of U.S. adults, or 7.3 million people, follow a vegetarian-based diet, and approximately 0.5 percent, or 1 million, of that number are vegans (2008).

"The vegetarian sector is one of the fastest-growing categories in food publishing, says Elizabeth Turner, Vegetarian Times’ editor in chief. It’s a dedicated group of consumers that is growing daily" (Vegetarian Times 2008).

With such quickly growing interest, there are many more materials on veganism available; this is a good thing, but for a new or aspiring vegan all of this information could be overwhelming, causing information overload. A significant benefit of creating a pathfinder is not only to guide patrons to relevant information through the library, but also to present a manageable resource list so that users do not need to navigate through a deluge of information to get to quality resources.

Within the framework of access value, being an intellectual change engendered through use of information, relevant outcomes would be to inform, educate, persuade, entertain, and inspire. As subsequent benefits, content value could consist of improved health, greater use of personal ethics to better the environment and life for non-human animals, and more overall happiness if the individual enjoys this lifestyle change.

Unfortunately, information-seeking behavior specific to veganism (or even vegetarianism) has not been studied enough to make any generalizations.

Intellectual Scope

Often, definitions of veganism and related materials are categorized under the umbrella of vegetarianism; however, contrary to this common parsing, the term vegan is not a neologism as Donald Watson coined the word in 1944. He described the creation of the word having the same beginning and ending as the word vegetarian as, "veganism starts with vegetarianism and carries it through to its logical conclusion" (Stepaniak 2000). In other words, veganism takes a stronger ethical approach than vegetarianism, with health benefits often being an added bonus or side issue. Vegetarians consume dairy because they argue the animals are not slaughtered for milk, but dairy cows are constantly kept impregnated, later to be slaughtered, with male offspring raised for veal in cruel conditions, which is why vegans do not consume dairy. Veganism is intended to be a lifestyle, rather than a temporary diet or fad, and is also considered a movement.

For an official definition:

A vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) is someone who, for various reasons, chooses to avoid using or consuming animal products. While vegetarians choose not to use flesh foods, vegans also avoid dairy and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals (Vegan Action n.d.).

Dr. Neal Barnard points out that through looking at health benefits, typically, vegetarians may live longer and have reduced risks for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other serious illnesses. These and other gains are attributed to vegan diets being lower in fat and cholesterol and higher in fiber and certain vitamins (As cited in GoVeg.Com n.d.).

Individuals choose this lifestyle for a number of reasons, especially including ethics (secular or religion-based) in regards to animal rights and welfare, or environmental concerns. 89 percent of vegans choose the lifestyle for ethical reasons (Vegan Research Panel 2001). Health benefits (prevention, maintenance, treatment) are another factor as well, but only 9 percent become vegan for these reasons (The Vegan Research Panel). These reasons create a necessity to better understand the scope of relevant issues, as well as the availability vegan food and cruelty-free products to carry out the lifestyle. It can often be difficult to ascertain which items are vegan or what companies are cruelty-free. This information has become easier to find over the years through more resources and cruelty-free symbols, but those new to veganism could still strongly benefit from guidance. New vegans also need support through having the ability in being able to support lifestyle decisions when encountering hostility and criticism. Through this understanding, clearly delineated subtopics of the intellectual scope of this subject for the beginner include ethics, health issues, interpersonal communication and relationships, diet and food, and consumer products, as well as information on history and background.

Often, when one is interested in veganism for health reasons alone, commitment to the lifestyle has less permanence than conviction through ethics. From this, it is important for the beginner to understand how concerns for non-human animals and the environment are strongly tied to veganism. This need would include items in the pathfinder that would inform, educate, persuade, and inspire. Most materials in the collection would need to follow this scope, while items focusing on the vegan diet (specifically cookery) would also have the access value of being able to entertain, because cooking can be considered a hobby.

Some sources provided focus on one aspect specifically, while others fuse various factors of the lifestyle together to provide a more holistic guide. Even certain cookbooks include points about ethical concerns or how certain recipes relate to the overall benefits provided through vegan health.

Themes and Issues

I was able to find a good number of resources, but of course not all items found were appropriate. Some were too general to have a significant enough composition of information about veganism (as topics were mixed), or too detailed to sufficiently comprise a pathfinder for introductory information. I also realized a great deal of useful resources were missing from the catalog, especially cataloged Internet websites; there are dictionaries, bibliographic guides, and directories listed online pertaining specifically to veganism that the library did not provide – for example, Animal Ingredients from A-Z. Important books were absent as well; one example is Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation, which is a defining piece of the movement.

The terms vegan and veganism are not as widely known as they should be, resulting in many vegan-specific items being cataloged as vegetarian, with similar subject headings. Other items were classified as 613 or 641 as food and drink or promotion of health, when they in fact covered other topics or might not have even discussed much about those topics at all (Living with Meat Eaters… is an example of this). I did want to use some items that were at other branches, such as a book relating theological reasoning to environmentalism and vegetarianism, as well as a couple others, but left them out because I did want most of the items to be specifically located at the Main Branch. Currency was not an issue because veganism is a very current subject, especially so with the popularity of the “Green Movement.” The only items chosen that could really be considered time-sensitive are ones that rely on such a quick-moving field as science, like health information. Luckily, however, the items with health information selected are all very current. An issue for the future with the pathfinder would be keeping it up-to-date, especially with more and more support for the lifestyle and information generated as time progresses.

References

Edgar, W. (2008). IRLS 524 lecture notes (all) [Word documents]. Retrieved from D2L course online website.

GoVeg.Com (n.d.). Eating for life. Retrieved November 16, 2008 from http://www.goveg.com/healthconcerns.asp

OCLC (n.d.). Dewey Decimal classification summaries: A brief introduction to the Dewey Decimal classification. Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/summaries/default.htm

Pima County Public Library. (2008). About Joel D. Valdez Main Library – History. Retrieved November 8, 2008 from http://www.library.pima.gov/locations/main/history.cfm

Stepaniak, J. (2000). Being vegan. Retrieved November 8, 2008 from http://www.vegsource.com/jo/vegan.htm

Vegan Action (2008). About Veganism. Retrieved November 8, 2008 from http://www.vegan.org/about_veganism/index.html

Vegan Research Panel (n.d.). Discovering 21st century vegans. Retrieved November 14, 2008 from http://www.imaner.net/panel/

Vegetarian Times. (2008). Vegetarianism in America. Retrieved November 8, 2008 from http://www.vegetariantimes.com/features/archive_of_editorial/667