reports of (our) death have been greatly exaggerated
While reviewing the reading for this week ("Limits to Information," Chapter 1 from The Social Life of Information), I kept thinking of all the people who have told me they think librarians are headed the way of the dinosaur. I'm not sure if it's just me, but since I started library school, people just keep coming out of the woodwork. A woman at my salon tells me librarians won't even be needed in a few years, "because of computers." A guy at a party says all books are going to be online soon, and asks me why I would train for a job that will be obsolete in a few years.
The reading has armed me with some interesting arguments for the next time I'm faced with these ideas. Basically, Brown and Duguid argue that saying that the rise of information technology will lead to the demise of librarians (or universities, or business organizations . . . ) is to ignore all sorts of social aspects of our lives that influence our behavior just as much as information technology. They posit that the reality is much more rich and complex than the guy at a party and the woman at the salon would have it--and I tend to agree.
3 comments:
I'm totally spamming your blog.
Mary Fran, I first saw you quoted on Kim's blog and commented there but I wanted to repeat myself for my experience is the opposite of yours...I am meeting people who know other people going back to library school and more than just a few of our young high school shelvers LOVE the library and want to become librarians...the nature of the profession is changing (again, see the front page of July 8th's NYT Sunday Styles). Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated indeed - we are "in!"
Mary Fran-- you are not alone!! I repeatedly get told that I am wasting my time on a degree that I will never use. I guess we have to re-educate the masses regarding our role...not just as book distributors but as information professionals.
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