Monday, June 25, 2007

Changes

You may not be aware of this but the librarian profession is in a constant state of change. This excerpt of a good story on technology in libraries sums it up well: "“The librarian as information priest is as dead as Elvis,” Needham said. The whole “gestalt” of the academic library has been set up like a church, he said, with various parts of a reading room acting like “the stations of the cross,” all leading up to the “altar of the reference desk,” where “you make supplication and if you are found worthy, you will be helped.”"

I find this to very much be the case at the Morrison library. People don't come to the desk right off anymore. They tend to come to us when they get stuck. It is necessary to not only direct people to online resources and web sites but you have to know how to walk them through these resources and sites.

5 comments:

Grace said...

I am currently packed with enthusiastic appreciation for eveything, and I always love metaphors, and that's so cool!

Clare said...

Oh dear god I get so angry when people tell me I'm too smart to become a librarian (my guidance counselor, Meg's mom, etc.) and that it would be wasting my potential. Librarians do a lot more than people think. They are awesome and smart. It isn't just shelving books. Besides, if I'm happy, why the hell does it matter?!

Argh. Sorry about that, I needed to get it out of my system. Thanks for the article.

gg said...

Clare, I think that maybe you are influenced too much by Melanie and me because we are so cool and fun to be around. Sadly, not all librarians and as hip and "with it" as we are.

Go talk to those knuckleheads down at the South County branch and you'll see what I mean.

Clare said...

Oh, I know not all librarians are amazing. You and Melanie are stellar examples of the profession, but not all can meet your high standards. I'm just saying people underestimate librarians.

Melanie said...

"because we are so cool and fun to be around."
Ha!
That statement kind of reminds me of the link to other essays from Clare's post about advice for teens, which was great. The title of the other article is "why nerds are unpopular."
There may be the answer to why people don't have much repekt for liberrians. Being happy with yourself is the most important thing.