Librarian of Babel

Library that lets you take out people who are left on the shelf

2005-08-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/25/wdutch25.xml

By David Rennie in Brussels
(Filed: 25/08/2005)

A public library in Holland has been swamped with queries after unveiling plans to "lend out" living people, including homosexuals, drug addicts, asylum seekers, gipsies and the physically handicapped.

The volunteers will be borrowed by users of the library, in Almelo, who can take them to a cafeteria, and ask them any questions they like for up to an hour, in a scheme designed to break down barriers and combat prejudice.

The library's director, Jan Krol, said yesterday he had been deluged with requests from prospective borrowers after his project was reported in the Dutch media.

Almelo, a prosperous town of 72,000 people in the Twente region of east Holland, is not known as a hotbed of Amsterdam-style liberalism.

The people-lending scheme was conceived as a local project, designed to encourage the solid burghers of Almelo to make contact with members of ethnic minorities and other marginalised members of society but caught the imagination of the Dutch press.

"It has caused a lot of interest, a lot of people have already called with questions like: do I need a library card?" said Mr Krol.

Borrowers of people will not need a card, he said, though one will remain necessary for more prosaic items, such as books. There will be no fines for returning people late, he added.

"Most meetings will last 45 minutes, we imagine. You can ask anything you like, but racist or strong language is not allowed. To avoid unpleasantness, all meetings must take place in the library café."

Mr Krol, who said he was inspired by a similar scheme in Sweden, has already filled many of his volunteer slots, and hopes to launch the project next month.

He said: "I've got several gay men, a couple of lesbian women, a couple of Islamic volunteers, I've got a physically handicapped woman, and a woman who has been living on social security benefits for many years in real poverty. "

Mr Krol said he was especially keen to find members of Holland's small Roma gipsy community after a recent attack on two gipsy families in the city of Enschede.

Under the scheme, photographs and short biographies of the volunteers will appear in the library, and on its website. Library users who wish to take a person out can apply for an appointment. Mr Krol said he had not cleared the scheme with his municipal bosses.

"Oh, I never ask the council before I do anything," he said. "And there are no costs at all, only two cups of coffee."

drennie@telegraph.co.uk

Remarks of Sen. Richard Durbin

2005-08-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Source: Congressional Record, July 29, 2005, S9561.
Remarks of Sen. Richard Durbin (IL) during debate on the USA PATRIOT
AND TERRORISM PREVENTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005.

"Let me say a word as I close. One of the most unlikely groups became so
important in this debate--the American Library Association. I cannot recall
a time in recent memory when this organization showed such leadership. Time
and again, they came forward to tell us that they wanted to protect the
privacy of their patrons at libraries across America who might come in and
take out a magazine or book, and they certainly didn't want to do that with
the knowledge that the Government could sweep up all of the library records
and sift through them to see if anybody had checked out a suspicious book.
They sent us petitions gathered from libraries across the Nation, and I
think they really did good work on behalf of our Constitution and our rights
and liberties guaranteed under the Bill of Rights. I wish to dedicate any
success we have with this revision of the PATRIOT Act to the American
Library Association and all those who stood with them in asking that we make
meaningful changes to the act without eliminating the important provisions
that continue to make America safe."

Google Isn't Everything

2005-08-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

Digital Tools
Google Isn't Everything
Stephen Manes, 08.15.05, 12:00 AM ET

"In the mood for beach reading, an audiobook, homework help or stock research? Your public library offers them free via the Net right now."

"In the age of Google, when we wonder about stuff we want instant answers. I happened to wonder about the first recorded use of the term "personal computer," so I Googled around and ended up at Wikipedia, the hit-or-miss user-developed encyclopedia, whose "personal computer" entry declared authoritatively that "The earliest known use of the term was in New Scientist magazine in 1964, in a series of articles called ‘The World in 1984.'"

"I still don't know the answer to my question, but I do know--no thanks to Google--that Wikipedia got it wrong. That's because I found an earlier citation with the help of an even older purveyor of information: my public library. And I didn't have to move an inch to do it."

Rest of the Forbes.com Magazine Article...

The Job Hunt -- Advice for New Librarians

2005-07-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

I found this blog post that contained advice for new librarians on finding a job and thought I would share.

Data are not information

2005-07-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

"Data are not information. Information is data endowed with relevance and purpose. Knowledge is information endowed with application. Wisdom is knowledge endowed with age and experience."

from Ken Davenport, Northeast Iowa Regional Library System, in a letter printed in the May 1, 2002, Library Journal (v. 127, no. 8, p. 10).

Library materials given to search engines

2005-06-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press/SAN FRANCISCO

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8AOV0G00.htm?campaign_id=apn_tech_down

A leading library supplier is allowing the Internet's top search engines to index its previously restricted reference material, hoping to open a new online avenue that transports more traffic to local libraries.

About 5,000 public, academic and military libraries nationwide are participating in the pilot program announced Thursday by Thomson Gale, a Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company that provides electronic versions of articles, encyclopedic references and 18th-century books.

Many of those materials have been available for years through the individual Web sites operated by libraries that subscribe to Thomson Gale's data.

While the information has proven useful to library patrons aware of the online resources, it hasn't been helping the masses who flock to search engines as their first stop for research and education, said Thomson Gale President Gordon Macomber.

"There are millions of Americans who are entitled to have access to this high-quality information, but have no earthly idea how to get to it," Macomber said. "We think this (project) will help liberate the information."

To make its library services more accessible, Thomson Gale is permitting the Internet's most popular search engines, including industry leaders Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., to include the material in their search indexes for the first time.

The search engines began scanning the Thomson Gale data Thursday, but it could be awhile before the material starts to emerge in search results.

Both Google and Yahoo have been eager to include more library resources in their search indexes.

Mountain View-based Google last year launched an ambitious project to scan millions of books into its index, raising copyright objections from some publishers. Meanwhile, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has been working with the Library of Congress to scan previously inaccessible documents.

Not everyone will be able to view the Thomson Gale material when it turns up in a search result. Reading the full text requires membership in one of the participating libraries. That requirement threatens to frustrate search engine users whose local libraries either don't subscribe to Thomson Gale data or aren't participating in the pilot project. Thomson Gale plans to keep increasing the number of libraries as the test progresses.

Search engine indexes contain billions of Web pages, meaning the library results will be mixed in with a jumble of commercial sites. For those that want to confine their searches to library material, Thomson Gale is running a specialty site, www.accessmylibrary.com, to process requests.

Thomson Gale's cooperation with search engines could be a boon to libraries, said Clara Bohrer, president of the Public Library Association.

"It's a real positive step," Bohrer said. "Most libraries just haven't been able to get the word out about all the wonderful resources that they have online. Hopefully, people will start finding more information through these searches and say, 'Gee, maybe I better go check out my local library's Web site and to see what else I can find there.' "

Libraries that don't subscribe to Thomson Gale's services -- either because they can't afford it or don't think their members would use the material -- might feel shortchanged, Bohrer said.

Thomson Gale is owned by Thomson Corp., a Toronto-based company that earned $1 billion last year on revenue of $8.1 billion.

NYPL Starts Lending Digital Formats

2005-06-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

New York Public Library starts lending digital formats

The NYPL is going digital:

The New York Public Library announced Monday that it is making 700 books — from classics to current best sellers — available to members in digital audio form for downloading onto PCs, CD players and portable listening devices.
"We are delighted to announce the availability of downloadable audio books as part of our circulating collection," said Susan Kent, director and chief executive of the branch libraries. "Library users today are much more technologically sophisticated than ever; our aim is to continue to provide our users with free access to materials in whichever format they prefer."

The service started Monday. Users can listen to digital audio books through a computer, burn them to CDs or transfer them to many portable devices, library officials said.

Digital audio books are available for free to members through the library's Web site. Users can borrow up to 10 digital books at a time, and after 21 days the materials will be automatically checked in and made available to others.

Google Scholar Review

2005-06-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Peter Jasco has just published a review of Google Scholar:

http://tinyurl.com/dolwa

Dear Abby on librarians

2005-06-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Abby has had some interesting letters discussing library etiquette:

"A Librarian's Plea for Library Etiquette"
Letters from librarians reacting to the April 28 letter

Googlezon

2005-06-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is a well done mock documentary set in 2014 on what happens
when Google and Amazon merge. It is worth a look.

http://www.robinsloan.com/epic/

Google Scholar customized

2005-05-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

"More than 100 colleges and universities have made arrangements with Google
that will give people using the Google Scholar search engine on their
campuses more direct access to library materials there."

http://chronicle.com/free/2005/05/2005051101t.htm

Article on providing computer assistance

2005-05-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

I ran across this article on helping students with their computer problems
and I thought it provided good advice in a humorous manner. It might be
helpful for librarians who help students with computer problems to review
this article.

Libraries: How They Stack Up

2005-05-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

OCLC has put together a nice brochure titles Libraries: How They Stack Up.
It talks about the impact of libraries.

http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/community/librariesstackup.pdf

LJ article: The entry level gap

2005-05-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

The Entry Level Gap
By Rachel Holt & Adrienne L. Strock -- 5/1/2005

Breaking in to the profession is harder than ever―if you're fresh out of
library school

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA527965

In Defense of Stupid Users

2005-05-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Library Journal
In Defense of Stupid Users By Todd Miller -- 3/15/2005

At the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in January, I attended yet another industry program—this one under the aegis of NISO on metasearching—where attendees in a packed room discussed various aspects of searching lots of databases at the same time.

I should have clocked the time it took before someone voiced the obligatory disparaging comment about the ignorant user searching "Britney Spears." Similar comments came on the heels of the haughty laughter ridiculing the typical unenlightened user's inability to craft beautiful search strings replete with wildcards, Boolean operators, and appropriate filter selections. It doesn't seem to matter the intended meeting topic; we just can't wait to dump on the user.

It then occurred to me that maybe it was not the user who was unenlightened.

Enter Google

What if carmakers sat around their boardrooms guffawing at the stupidity of their customers? Maybe this is precisely what American carmakers did in the 1960s and 1970s, laughing at the absurdity of the typical American car owner, who cheerfully towed the smoking station wagon to the service station on virtually every trip to grandma's.

The weekends dad would spend under the car, replacing plugs and hoses, preparing the car for another week. Until, after 50,000 miles, he'd give up and replace it entirely.

Then the Japanese came. They built cars that would last a quarter-million miles and always arrive at grandma's intact. Dad started driving a Lay-Z-Boy on the weekends. Suddenly, carmakers weren't laughing anymore.

Sort of like Google entering the library world.

We want our J Lo

Google doesn't proceed from the assumption that its customers are stupid. It proceeds from the assumption that customers want something, and it's Google's job to figure out what it is and how best to serve it up to them. Even if, God forbid, what they want is trivia on Britney Spears

One way this mindset is manifest in Google is in its emphasis on the back end instead of the front end of searching. In the library world, we spend a remarkable amount of time and energy larding up our search interfaces with umpteen filters, Boolean pull-downs, radio buttons, and so on.

After we've built the ultimate stretch Cadillac of search engines, we proceed to "educate" the user about constructing searches in native command languages. And we're incredulous when Johnny turns to Google instead of to the awesome nuclear engine we've constructed. Obviously, something must be wrong with Johnny if he doesn't fully appreciate and engage our console of the arsenal of knowledge.

No mechanics, just drivers

Google gives its users a pitiful solo search box. How can it compete? The answer from the old guard is that it's dumbed down. The reality is that Google gives its customers what they want: simple searching, powerful results.

I have no interest in auto mechanics. When my car breaks down (which doesn't happen because it's a Honda), I take it to a mechanic. I am content to confine my knowledge of the automotive process to pointing the car and stepping on the gas. My primary interest is arriving at my destination safely, with minimal hassle. Does that make me a stupid user? Could be, but I'm still not going to strap on a tool belt no matter how much I'm taunted by macho mechanics.

Get under the hood

Instead of jacking up the dashboard with extra knobs and switches, Google has invested under the hood and enriched its results with thesauri and links to related material. In addition to producing a surprising amount of relevant core content, Google provides news, maps, definitions, books, and more.

The net result is high content, low hassle, and happy users. This is not lowest common denominator; it is listening to the market and giving it precisely what it wants.

I feel the need to preempt a knee-jerk reaction regarding one engine fitting all sizes. I do believe there is a need and a place for the nuclear engine. The option should be available for users to search with laser precision.

Let's face it, though. This is only necessary for five percent or less of all searchers. This does not mean that the number of savvy users is limited to five percent. All users are savvy.

The job of information professionals is not to make all users into information professionals. Our job is either to give them the right tools for the job or do the job for them.

Todd Miller is President, WebFeat.

A Student's Plea for Librarian Etiquette

2005-05-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

The following letter was found on the internet...

Dear Abby:

I have been thinking about writing this letter for a long time. I'm a
sophomore in college.. I take five classes and work part-time at a gas
station. Maybe I'm not as studious as I should be, and I probably
should know how to do research for my papers, but when I go to the
library, you'd be surprised by some of the things that I see - so I
have written:

A Student's Plea for Librarian Etiquette

Please treat me with respect. I may not be as educated as you, but I'm
trying. Maybe I don't know when Nixon was President, or
that "carcinoma" in another word for cancer, or what a "peer reviewed"
journal is, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid.

Please give me priority. I'm sure you have lots to do (so do I) but
could you keep an eye out for me when I come to the desk for help.
Libraries are intimidating to me and it takes some courage to ask for
help.

Help me ask the question. Sometimes I'm not exactly sure what I want
or need. Because you are more experienced and knowledgeable, I'm
hoping you can counsel me. Please don't start grilling me about what
I want, or where I've looked, or what class it's for. Talk WITH me
about why I am here; then talk TO me about what approaches to take.

Please don't show me everything you know about cataloging, or indexing
or databases. I'll probably forget it anyway because, unlike you, I
don't need to know this everyday. I don't want to be a librarian; I
just want to get on with my paper.

Give me some assurance that you are doing the best you can. You know a
lot, but you can't know everything. If you aren't sure that the
answer, advice or referral you are giving me is right, could you let
me know? I don't mind hearing that.

Please don't restrict everything I can do in the library. I use a
Yahoo account because I can store my papers there and keep a calendar
and check my email. My campus email doesn't do all those things. If
you lock down access, I can't do my work.

Please don't create a double-standard. I know I should be using the
library for academic reasons, but sometimes I just want to read the
newspaper, or play a game, or talk to my friends, or shop online.
These are the same things I see the library staff doing sometimes. The
only difference is that they're getting paid for it.

And, by the way, a simple "I'm glad you came by. Let me know if there
is anything we can do to help," makes my day.

Google Digitization Survey Results

2005-04-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

The results of the Google Digitization Project survey can be found at this site.

The survey questions were taken from what some folks in the LIS community were saying. While some of the questions seemed hyperbolic, the thoughts behind them were “out there” in the media/listservs and we used the forced-choice Likert response scale purposefully.

Our conclusion is most people are confused about the emerging digital world of information science. Only time will tell us what contribution Google will have on this world and there is no sense in “hand-wringing,” as one respondent put it.

Thank you again!

Shawn Nelson

European project will be an alternative to Google's online library

2005-04-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

European Libraries Fight Google-ization
The European project will be an alternative to Google's online library

In a stand against a deal struck by five of the world's top libraries and
Google to digitize millions of books, 19 European libraries have agreed to
back a similar European project to safeguard literature.

Nineteen European national libraries have joined forces against a planned
communications revolution by Internet search giant Google to create a
global virtual library, organizers said Wednesday. The 19 libraries are
backing instead a multi-million euro counter-offensive by European nations
to put European literature online.

"The leaders of the undersigned national libraries wish to support the
initiative of Europe's leaders aimed at a large and organized digitization
of the works belonging to our continent's heritage," a statement said.
"Such a move needs a tight coordination of national ambitions at EU level
to decide on the selection of works," it added.

The statement was signed by national libraries in Austria, Belgium, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia,
Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

The British National Library
The British National Library has given its implicit support to the move,
without signing the motion, while Cyprus and Malta have agreed verbally to
the text. Portugal is also set to approve it.

US libraries' deal with Google

The move, organized by France's national library, comes after Michigan
University and four other top libraries -- Harvard, Stanford, New York
Public Library and the Bodleian in Oxford -- announced in December a deal
with Google to digitize millions of their books and make them freely
available online.

Michigan and Stanford are planning to digitize their entire library
collections -- totaling some 15 million books -- while the Bodleian is
offering around one million books published before 1900.

The Harvard and New York Public Library contributions are smaller, but the
entire project is still expected to take up to 10 years, with cost
estimates ranging from $150 million to $200 million (116 million euros -
154 million euros).

French fears of online cultural imperialism

Google's plans have rattled the cultural establishment in Paris, raising
fears that French language and ideas could be just sidelined on the
worldwide web, already dominated by English.

French President Jacques Chirac has asked Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu
de Vabres and France's National Library president Jean-Noel Jeanneney to
study how collections in libraries in France and Europe could be put more
widely and more rapidly on the Internet. President Chirac is due to address
the question during his opening address to a meeting of EU culture
ministers in Paris on Monday and Tuesday.

Future perception of the world at risk, say French

Jeanneney has acknowledged that such a project, comprising some 4.5 billion
pages of text, would help researchers and give poor nations access to
global learning.

But he added: "The real issue is elsewhere. And it is immense. It is
confirmation of the risk of a crushing American domination in the
definition of how future generations conceive the world."

Some call it Victor Hugo vs. Harry Potter; it's almost certainly David vs.
Goliath. The strong man is the Internet search engine Google. The underdog:
a top French librarian who doesn't want Anglo-American domination. (April
9, 2005)

Google Print article in MIT magazine

2005-04-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

"Does Google's plan to digitize millions of print books spell the death
of libraries-or their rebirth?"

Roush, Wade. The Infinite Library. Technology Review. May 2005.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/05/issue/feature_library.asp

Wimax - Next Disruptive Technology

2005-04-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

"The Next Disruptive Technology"

By Monica Rivituso
SmartMoney.com (c) 2005 All Rights Reserved

IN TECHNOLOGY, THERE'S ALWAYS something bigger and better around the
corner. And when it comes to wireless, that something is WiMax.

WiMax isn't a new music player or gaming gadget - it has the potential
to be much more transformative than any lone gizmo.

So, what is it? WiMax is the catchy name for a new wireless standard.
Similar to how 802.11 was marketed as WiFi [Ed: wireless networking],
WiMax is the consumer-friendly branding of 802.16, or high-speed
wireless broadband [Ed: broadband is commonly thought of as highspeed
internet], capable of spanning greater distances than WiFi. Whereas WiFi
typically provides wireless broadband service up to 150 feet in
so-called hot spots, WiMax is capable of covering a radius of three to
10 kilometers (about two to six miles).

Consider the possibilities here. While it's still not deployed on any
kind of mass scale, WiMax could serve as another last-mile broadband
technology - and a pretty significant one at that, according to
analysts. Some say it will be hugely important to developing nations,
where widespread broadband access isn't as prevalent as it is in the
U.S. Others say it could be deployed much more cheaply than traditional
wire-line technologies even in the U.S., since trenches wouldn't have to
be dug and pricey wires wouldn't have to be snaked around. WiMax doesn't
even require a direct sight line with a base station to work, making it
particularly attractive, for example, in rural areas with lots of trees.

Sure, there's a lot of speculation at this point and plenty of hype
regarding WiMax, but it's hard to dismiss something that could be so
affordable. Eric Mantion, senior analyst at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based
market research firm In-Stat, calls WiMax "the rebel broadband," because
you can deploy it to 85 million or so homes for about $2 billion.
Compare that to SBC Communications' (SBC) plans to spend $4 billion to
connect 18 million homes with high-capacity fiber cable for bundled
high-speed Internet, voice and television services.

The economics alone could make WiMax seriously disruptive to data and
voice services, potentially opening up the field to companies that
aren't the usual go-to guys when it comes to this kind of stuff (read:
cable or DSL providers). Let's say it was incorporated into set-top
boxes - providing high-speed wireless broadband, voice-over-IP [Ed:
voice-over-IP = VOIP = telephone service over the internet] and a
satellite television receiver. That's data, voice and video wrapped up
in one high-speed, cost-efficient package, posing not only a challenge
to cable outfits, but to phone companies as well. "That makes it
horribly attractive from an economic standpoint compared to any other
technology current or planned," says Mantion. And given the number of
Internet radio stations out there, WiMax could even pose a threat to
satellite radio upstarts XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) and Sirius Satellite
Radio (SIRI)..."

"New Librarians" survey

2005-04-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

The results of a survey done on new librarians in the academic world can be
found at http://www.trinity.edu/mmillet/professional/NewLibProject.htm.

The April 2005 issue of D-Lib Magazine is now available

2005-04-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

The April 2005 issue of D-Lib Magazine (http://www.dlib.org/) is now
available.

This issue contains four articles, the 'In Brief' column, excerpts from
recent press releases, and news of upcoming conferences and other items
of interest in 'Clips and Pointers'. The Featured Collection for April
is 'IMAGES: Seeing the Invisible' courtesy of William Lewis and James L.
Burch, Southwest Research Institute.

The articles include:

Social Bookmarking Tools (I): A General Overview
Tony Hammond, Timo Hannay, Ben Lund and Joanna Scott, Nature Publishing
Group

Social Bookmarking Tools (II): A Case Study - Connotea
Ben Lund, Tony Hammond and Timo Hannay, Nature Publishing Group; and
Martin Flack, NeoReality, Inc.

Initial Experiences in Developing a Chronologically Organized Digital
Library for Continuing Education in Biodefense
Donna M. D'Alessandro, MD and Michael P. D'Alessandro, MD, University of
Iowa Carver College of Medicine

Survey of the Providers of Electronic Publications Holding Contracts
with Spanish University Libraries
Blanca Rodriguez Bravo and Maria Luisa Alvite Diez, University of Leon

Bonnie Wilson
Editor
D-Lib Magazine

Interesting Screencast

2005-04-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

You might find this “screencast” to be of interest. It talks about using scripts to show if a book is available at a library by enhancing a web page with a script. It uses Amazon.com as an example but I was thinking that maybe this could be adapted to show if a book in your collection was for example available at another library if it was not available locally. It is a very cool concept.

Visual Search Engines

2005-04-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting article in the 3/1/2005 issue of Library Journal that talks about a new wave in the world of search engines.

Grokker (one of the best of these new tools) is partnering with libraries (most notably Stanford) to develop a visual search engine. Grokker is also talking to EBSCO to allow "visual" searching of its databases. The author hints in the article that Google might add a visual search engine as an optional interface.

I downloaded the 30-day trial of Grokker (it costs $49 per copy after that) and found it to be quite interesting. It is particularly good if you do not know exactly what you are looking for -- it is a browsing tool. I was able to find some information I was looking for that I could not find with a Google search.

Do Libraries Still Matter?

2005-04-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

"In the era of the Internet, will we still go to libraries to borrow books and do research? The answer seems to be a resounding yes, because libraries are more than just a place to keep volumes on dusty shelves."

The full text of the article is available here.

What IS a librarian

2005-04-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

More than a decade ago, Sarah Pritchard, then director of libraries at Smith College and now university librarian at UC Santa Barbara, shared the following message with the LIBADMIN list. It remains my favorite summary of what it means to be a professional librarian.

Damon Hickey, The College of Wooster

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1993 14:15:22 -0400
From: "Sarah M. Pritchard"
Subject: What IS a librarian?
Sender: Library Administration and Management
To: Multiple recipients of list LIBADMIN
Reply-to: "Sarah M. Pritchard"

While generally I have been in agreement with the comments of those in favor of keeping the term "librarian," I have some additional thoughts in response to Damon Hickey's challenge to discuss what it is -- if anything -- that different segments of the "library" profession have in common.

Part of the very problem in library science and library schools is that other academic and professional disciplines do not believe that there is a solid theoretical or methodological underpinning to our profession, thus wonder why we need a graduate degree instead of some technical/vocational approach. We have not done a very good job in our schools of combatting this, and it leads to school closings, trivialization of library research, and endless whiny defensiveness cloaked as lofty "status" arguments.

In fact there are many broad conceptual issues and frameworks that we should all have in common, whether we are children's, public, small college, medical, research university or corporate librarians. Until we understand and promulgate these we will continue to have internal fragmentation and external disregard.

Here are just a few of the things I have in mind:

librarianship as the study of recorded communication (regardless of format);

how to understand the different purposes of communication (education, leisure, creativity, information, public debate, etc.) nature of communication formats as an issue in itself;

how to choose among formats, user behaviors and differences among user groups -- here's where you can study individual groups such as children or engineers, but what must be stressed is that we study users and the ways they get and use informational, educational, and creative communication;

how to analyze and communicate with diverse communities of users intellectual freedom -- including issues of access, privacy, public policy (and you better believe this applies even in the corporate world) economics of the publishing, vendor and related industries and how these affect access, organization, format, delivery, etc.

systems analysis for processing information -- that is, don't just say "we need automation;" know how to analyze operations and task flow to operate a library or information service of any general kind. This is a combination of management and technology skills.

structures of information and communication in different fields and specialties -- not the picky details of each field, but the "meta" structural approach -- what are the different kinds of ways that information and creative communication evolve in various social and professional contexts, and how do we navigate among them library and information services as part of broader social institutions of education and communication

That's a start. We are in a field that blends the disciplines of communication studies, the sociology of knowledge, education, public policy and management.
It seems to me that those cut across the mundane tasks of our daily work in a variety of settings. If all we want to do is order books or search databases, then it's quite true that we don't need a master's level program. We must have specialties, of course -- but we absolutely must generalize from those to take the broader view of the profession, and library school is the time and place to begin (you can always learn new reference tools on the job, but how often do you debate philosophy and social policy?).

Professionalism in Librarianship

2005-04-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Bill Drew wrote this great e-mail on the subject of professionalism in librarianship:

A recent spate of negative comments on this list and statements by our incoming ALA president have gotten me thinking about what professionalism in librarianship in the 21st Century means to me. Here are some thoughts on this:

1. Willingness to help in a positive manner.
2. Participation in national, state, and local library organizations.
3. Publication in scholarly and popular journals in libraryland and beyond.
4. Participation in public discussion in ways that advance the profession.
5. Participation in continuing education (conferences, course work, independent reading/study).
6. Willingness to try new technologies and modes of communications.
7. Above all else, getting information to our patrons in a timely manner when and where they need it in the format they can use.

Wilfred (Bill) Drew
Associate Librarian, Systems and Reference Morrisville State College Library
E-mail: mailto:drewwe@morrisville.edu
AOL Instant Messenger:BillDrew4
BillDrew.Net: http://billdrew.net/
Wireless Librarian: http://people.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/wireless/
Library: http://library.morrisville.edu/
SUNYConnect: http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu/
My Blog: http://babyboomerlibrarian.blogspot.com/
"To teach is to learn twice." - Joseph Joubert

Welcome to my blog!

2005-03-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea

2005-03-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

This is an great article I ran across in the NY Times on Information Literacy:
Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea

Peep Library Research

2005-03-30T18:34:00.000-08:00

A study of small fluffy creatures and library usage:
Peep Research - Staley Library, Millikin University, Decatur, IL

Michael Gorman

2005-03-30T09:37:00.000-08:00

Michael Gorman's Revenge of the Blog People! article caused a bit of a stir among librarian bloggers. It seems that he is angry with bloggers in general because a few took issue with what he wrote in a LA Times piece complaining about the Google Print initiative. It is interesting that the president-elect of the American Library Association (ALA) is stirring up so much controversy.

Mr. Gorman defines a blog as an "electronic diary by means of which the unpublishable, untrammeled by editors or the rules of grammar, can communicate their thoughts via the web". I wonder if he views web sites to be in the same category. Just as there are a wide spectrum of different kinds of web pages, there is a large variety of blogs. To brand all blogs as being the work of the unpublishable is wrong.

In the LA Times piece suggests that there is little value to digitizing large amounts of works because people will never take the time to read an entire book at a computer. There is some validity to this argument. But I believe in the next ten to twenty years there will be very large breakthroughs in the field of computer displays. Eventually it will be possible to read things on a computer as conveniently as reading them on paper. Starting the process of digitizing books is an experiment that will pay off eventually. E-Books have their drawbacks now but they will only improve with time. The experiments of today pave the way for the future.

Starting a New Blog

2005-03-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

When I was in library school in 2004 I created a blog over on eBloggy and journaled my thoughts there. A few months back their server died and I lost all my posts. I have a crude backup of all my entries but I am not sure that I want to re-post them -- many of those posts have been incorporated into my web site anyway. I decided that Blogger looked like a good way to go with a new blog.

The title of this blog is taken from a short story by Jorge Luis Borges that I read in my Organization of Information class titled The Library of Babel. I invite you to read the Wikipedia article on the story -- it contains a link to the actual story as well.

I plan to journal about library related items in this blog. I have also started a personal blog where I will write about other things such as my search for a job as a librarian and my interests such as games I play.

Librarian of Babel

Library that lets you take out people who are left on the shelf

Remarks of Sen. Richard Durbin

Google Isn't Everything

The Job Hunt -- Advice for New Librarians

Data are not information

Library materials given to search engines

The Associated Press/SAN FRANCISCO

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Business Writer

NYPL Starts Lending Digital Formats

New York Public Library starts lending digital formats

Google Scholar Review

Dear Abby on librarians

Googlezon

Google Scholar customized

Article on providing computer assistance

Libraries: How They Stack Up

LJ article: The entry level gap

In Defense of Stupid Users

A Student's Plea for Librarian Etiquette

Google Digitization Survey Results

European project will be an alternative to Google's online library

Google Print article in MIT magazine

Wimax - Next Disruptive Technology

"New Librarians" survey

The April 2005 issue of D-Lib Magazine is now available

Interesting Screencast

Visual Search Engines

Do Libraries Still Matter?

What IS a librarian

Professionalism in Librarianship

Welcome to my blog!

Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea

Peep Library Research

Michael Gorman

Starting a New Blog

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer