Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood involve spending summer mornings in the library, discovering new books and great VHS tapes along with Brenda, my neighborhood librarian. Brenda would recommend new titles and would help me explore the world of information that was on the shelves in front of me.
These days, that same information is on my screen, available at the click of a mouse button. And Brenda is nowhere to be seen.
The librarian is dead.
(For the record, I’m mainly referring to public libraries here, but these thoughts also apply to academic libraries to a certain extent. I’m not sure how it applies to private and corporate libraries, as I’m not too familiar with that area.)
It’s easy to call out the death of the librarian. Google makes searching for information simple, Wikipedia provides an excellent starting point — and I emphasize starting point, because too many people use it as an authoritative source rather than a place to begin inquiry — for research, and getting an answer to a question is as easy as writing 140 characters on Twitter.
If I can get good, extensive, and personalized information in a few seconds using the internet, what good is the librarian?
Aside from being the keeper of the physical institution of the library (more on that later this week), the librarian’s other roles of conducting reference interviews (to help navigate information) and sorting through collections (to help manage information) seem to be waning. Collaborative tools on the web are taking their place, with social recommendation engines and direct access to a large group of people doing most of the work that was formerly in the domain of the librarian.
So why, in my eyes, is the librarian still one of the most important players in society? The answer is simple: capacity.
Long live the librarian.
If the in-person reference interview is losing relevance because of the ubiquity of online resources, it is the librarian — a person uniquely trained in sifting through data deluge — that is best poised to be at the center of the online recommendation resources.
Librarians, after all, have a lot going for them:
- They are trained in critical analysis of good information.
- They have experience in filtering and searching information.
- They are employed (read: paid) to work with information.
- They have access to more information than simply what’s online.
- They know how to work with people and ideas at the same time.
If anyone is ready to embrace the online world and use social tools to help others access information, it’s librarians. A librarian, by tagging and annotating online, print, and other resources, can create a massive wealth of information that can then be sorted dynamically for many uses. The reference interview, which used to benefit one person, can now be reshifted to be a reference repository where data can easily be sorted, sifted, filtered, and used for anyone’s benefit.
Ascending the throne.
What libraries need to do now is make it easier for librarians to share their work on the wider web and not just hide them behind a library login. Instead of publishing bookmarks with “cool reading lists for this month” or putting big signs on their shelves indicating good reads, libraries should instead feature librarian online resource lists as their primary offering.
One day, when people are looking for help finding and filtering information, they will turn to a librarian — whether that librarian is using Twitter or Yahoo! Answers or the library website — because of the breadth of the resources at their disposal and the depth of their experience in processing those resources.
After all, everyone needs their own personal Brenda to help you navigate the content-rich and information-dense world. The only difference is that now she’s on your screen and available at the click of a mouse.
I remember occasionally being overwhelmed at the library but the librarians helping me find what i needed (an sometimes what I didnt even know i wanted!) … yes I can now search on my own, any even get reccomendations based on my current interests (a la last.fm) but who will point out new exciting stuff? who will help me with my technical issues? who will help guide me through my searches? who will give me insider tips? who will organize and regulate incoming new data/media? who will i feel embarassed to make eyecontact with when returning books late? the librarian, thats who.
Sure I can search on my own but a guide always helps.
Hey!
The Librarian is still alive! I regularly go to my local public library to access books, books on cd, as well as the latest and not so latest in DVD and VHS movies. And guess who I constantly speak with? Ms. Librarian! (Librarian almost always seem to be of the female variety - although I am not complaining!)
I could use the library’s online functions but I find the conversation with the lady behind the desk to be more stimulating and gratifying. While reserving material I can also obtain valuable information and insight. “Did you like Mr. & Mrs. Smith? What about the Planet Earth series?”
So, in my eyes, the Library and it’s gatekeeper - the Librarian, are alright in my book.
Pun intended.
Karim
P.S. Vasta - I’m using Firefox exclusively at work. Love the virtual spell check and smart search bar. Don’t love the lack of speed.
Oh yeah, love this article!
KK
Hmmm…perhaps I didn’t elucidate well enough in the post. As you both write in your comments, the librarian definitely has a role in the physical institution of the library. In fact, alluded it to the fact that I’d be talking about that in another post later this week.
What I was trying to say is that the information management and collection role of the librarian is being marginalized by the web. Librarians go to school not to learn how to recommend good books, but how to understand queries, filter information, and manage immense amounts of data. Some people think that this information and research role is now being assumed by online tools and niche experts.
My argument above was that librarians, with their increased access to resources both digital and in print, and with their expertise and experience, should be the ones responsible of creating and filtering that data on the web as well.
I guess most people still think of the librarian as the keeper of the library — having done some work with librarians in the past, I’ve discovered that their physical presence in the building is but a small part of their actual role. It’s that other stuff (outside the ‘library keeper’ role) I was trying to bring out in this post.
Oh, and Karim, glad you’re liking Firefox. Curious about what you mean by lack of speed though…new benchmarks show that Firefox 3 is considerably faster than IE (FF 2 crawled and was incredibly slow, but FF3 is a huge improvement).
I’m wondering if it might be some system settings on your end that might be slowing down your browsing experience on FF.
Here’s an article that speed tests all the current big browsers. Do note that they used FF 3 RC 3 instead of the official version for this test, so the new FF 3 (the official release version) may have very slightly faster speeds.
Great post, which I’ll be forwarding along to several friends in grad school for library science!
Thanks Lara! I’m quite fascinated by libraries and librarians and the whole domain of information management. Maybe I should go to grad school for it… =)
Librarians ARE killing our libraries!
The have become “gate keepers” rather than information advocates.
They no longer want the “physical presence” in libraries but rather deal with cyber/email reference inquiries.
They are not knowlegeable in book contents but seek book reviewers.
They are trained to be cataloguers, bibliographers not wholistic and cultural enablers.
Wow, that’s a lot of anger Mel. I shared this comment with some people at One Big Library yesterday, and there were some nods of agreement. I think there is a conscious feeling in the library community that changes need to be made. So let’s hope for the best!
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