Job Opening: Librarian
The popular conception of a Librarian is as rooted in the public’s consciousness as any other tried and true profession. Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher, Police Officer. Librarian. But, what happens when an entire well-regarded line of work undergoes a fundamental transformation? It’s hard to say, and the devil is in the details, but I get the impression that for anyone who works with electronic media today the devil is the details.
As journalists, librarians, researchers, and others take on added roles as information disseminators the lines continue to blur between previously separated professions.
Librarians traditionally have held two responsibilities: maintaining libraries (duh!) and helping patrons conduct research. Journalists, on the other hand, have been responsible for informing the public of noteworthy events (sometimes). Researchers have always researched. Given a preponderance of free, easily accessible electronic information, though, professionals in different fields are starting to find themselves pulling switch duty. A few cases in point:
- Google is digitizing library books and calling it “web content.”
- Journalists for the New York Times routinely add interactive web applications to their articles.
- Librarians are creating totally unique information resources instead of just finding them.
Put succinctly, the United States is no longer an industrial nation but a knowledge based one.
Ok. So, with job responsibilities bluring together – and new media in a state of flux – it’s hard to tell the extent to which this is happening. The future is always clouded, and it’s impossible to say what this means for future Librarians, but it’s still possible to define a set of job requirements that can be expected to remain in place foreseeable future.
What would this “new model librarian” look like?
