Written by Spring 2026 Ask a Librarian Intern Joseph A. Torres-González

One of the most important aspects of libraries, in addition to serving as repositories of books, archives, multi-format resources, and even artifacts, is to provide users with instructional services and guidance during the research process. Academic libraries are a crucial part of the university, along with the communities they serve. During this past Spring 2026 semester, I had the opportunity to work with my mentor, Ben Chiewphasa, Social Sciences and Policy Librarian at the Lehman Social Sciences Library, on a project that allowed us to rethink, revamp, and reorganize the existing United Nations Resources Guide. One of the aspects that was very important as we began this process was to ask ourselves a set of questions: Who are the users of the resources we have at our Libraries? What are the communities we serve? How can we use what already exists in the digital sphere of our research guides and turn it into something that can increase discoverability amongst our users?

Having set these initial questions, the process to rethink the resource began with a concept I had in mind which I had previously encountered while working with Digital Pedagogy and Technology projects: rasquache/rasquachismo (Mejía & López Pulido, 2018). Rasquachismo is a term used to describe the artistic expressions that emerged from working class, marginalized and bicultural sensibilities. (In the case of this project, the opportunity to recreate a resource that can be used by researchers, students, and faculty, that includes educational culture that includes resources, pedagogical tools/lessons, and electronic artifacts that are accessible for everyone, inside and outside of the institution,) “Rasquachismo is a sensibility attuned to mixtures and confluence, preferring communion over purity… Rasquachismo draws its essence within the world of the tattered, shattered and broken: lo remendado (stitched together)” (Mejía & López Pulido, 2018: 3). In other words, rasquachismo is a mindset that is rooted in resourcefulness, which is precisely one of the major aims and objectives of the project: bringing together what already existed in the UN Resources Guide, while at the same time, reorganizing it into themes, adding digital open resources and collections, external collections, and examples of research that can be created while using the guide. As Bergstorm-Lynch (2019) highlights when describing the structures and functions of LibGuides: expanding the importance of the research process and how it connects around academic disciplines (208). In other words, I attempt to demonstrate that digital pedagogy is a collective model, even when an individual is the author of such materials being shared, the people who are in the different stages of this guide, including the users, are all part of broader collectives that exercise action, be that during the acts of creating this tool, to the final stage when students, faculty, researchers, and community members use it. Keeping in mind another element that is extremely important: digital tools and resources, such as the case of a resources guide, are meant to change, expand, evolve, and experience updates.

An aspect that was important for me during the revamp and reorganization process of the UN Resources Guide was to add value by inserting, as Arving & Blevens (2011) mention, descriptions of the discipline’s literature, and how can it be researched (6). Moving away from a bibliographic approach (Giullian & Zitser, 2015) towards a thematic and resource format layout, was a key opportunity to highlight the existing sources available in the UN Resources Guide. This allows the user to explore the guide and its resources according to their research interest. Adding descriptive content – such as a detailed process with examples on how to use the guide – was very important, since it allowed us to move towards a user-centered approach. A crucial part of this entire process was connecting the practical aspect – the reference services provided during this internship – with the project. This allowed me to experience first-hand how users navigate requesting items, initiate research consultations, or ask for resource suggestions for their academic searches.

As I was wrapping up the project with my mentor, during one of our brainstorming and project update meetings, I mentioned that one of the most exciting aspects of the work we did was to see how a resource can evolve into something that can continue serving the needs of the academic community. The results of this endeavor include: preserving and expanding the existing guide, adding new digital collections and Open-Access & Open-Source resources, adding archival collections from other institutions, incorporating multilingual resources, highlighting cross-reference resources, and presenting the guide as a liaison tool for other collections at Columbia University Libraries. This is rasquache. Looking back at the process, building something new, reframing existing work, is a way to pay homage to the work of people that came before me, while also proving that sometimes we don’t have to reinvent the wheel (Arvin & Blevens, 2011).

References:
Arvin, Shelley & Cheryl Blevens. 2011. “Reinventing the Wheel: Effectively Revamping LibGuide Structures at Cunningham Memorial Library” Indiana Libraries, 30(2): 6-10.

Bergstrom-Lynch, Yolanda. 2019. “LibGuides by Design: Using Instructional Design Principles and User-Centered Studies to Develop Best Practices” Public Services Quarterly, 15(3): 205-223.

Giullian, Jon C. & Ernest A. Zitser. 2015. “Beyond LibGuides: The Past, Present, and Future of Online Research Guides” Slavic & East European Information Resources, 16(4): 170-180.

Mejía, Joel Alejandro & Alberto López Pulido. 2018. “(Fundamental) Fregados Pero no Jodidos: A Case Study of Latinx Rasquachismo” 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Conference & Exposition. Paper ID #22678. [https://peer.asee.org/fundamental-fregados-pero-no-jodidos-a-case-study-of-latinx-rasquachismo]

About the author: Joseph A. Torres-González (he/him/his/él) is a PhD student in anthropology from the CUNY Graduate Center. He holds a master’s degree in anthropology and Latin American studies from the University at Albany, SUNY, and a master’s degree in anthropology from the CUNY Graduate Center. He is also a non-matriculated student in the University of Puerto Rico Library & Information Sciences Program. Joseph has been a Junior Fellow, and later appointed as Caribbean Studies Reference Librarian, at the Library of Congress. He participated in the School of Latin American Economic Development Studies at the United Nations Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC), in Santiago, Chile. He has received various fellowships for pedagogical collaboration, archival research, and for research and resource development in the digital humanities and social sciences. This past spring, he participated in the Ask a Librarian internship program at Columbia University, working with Ben Chiewphasa, Social Sciences and Policy Librarian, on the “Optimizing United Nations Research Guides with an Information Literacy Lens” project. Joseph currently teaches as an adjunct lecturer at the Department of Latin American & Latino Studies at Lehman College, CUNY, and plans to pursue a career in academic libraries and archives.