Comments on: Librarian 2.0- The new professional or the responsible one? http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/ An ongoing conversation among librarians with differing perspectives (public, academic, school, consortial, youth) but one shared goal: ensuring the health and relevance of libraries. [insert your own gardening metaphor here] Fri, 17 May 2013 18:44:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Daniel CannCasciato http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2111 Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:37:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2111 Regarding this part of the statement: ” We actually had to put in goals that state we need to be open to efficiency, … And yet, I can also see why we needed to specify these goals; there are quite a few among our profession that need to be reminded.”

I don’t by the premise. Sure, you’ll find folks in ANY profession who fall out-of-date. Also, though, you’ll find some who stay up-to-date but perhaps not in what is considered the cutting edge. Those are different issue. (My up-to-date might not fit your defintiion.) And if you look at librarianship, I don’t see this as a comprehensive problem in the least. Librarianship is a very forward looking profession.

]]> By: Anonymous http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2105 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:37:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2105 You – and the Manifesto – makes a huge jump in logic. Librarians need to be able to find the best information for their patrons, whether in books or online. But they don’t need to enthusiastically embrace every 2.0 trend (Flickr, Twitter, Second Life) that comes along. One can easily be up-to-date on 2.0, but not actually using 2.0 in everyday life. I think the 2.0 Manifesto doesn’t allow for that.

]]> By: Amy J. Kearns, MLIS http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2103 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:49:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2103 anonymous – are you talking about a sort-of “job security” fear?

I’m not sure I have seen/experienced what you are describing but I can believe it for sure.

]]> By: Anonymous http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2102 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:23:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2102 There seems to be a general feeling among other librarians (not me!) where I work (an inner city community college) that it is not only our responsibility to put patrons in touch with information, but also to teach them basic person to person interaction skills so that they might go out after graduation and be able to find jobs and/or live better lives. We also have a lot of books on manners >cringe< .

I think these librarians think that the more often students have to come personally ask us for help because our website is too confusing or the IM Reference is disabled or we have cryptic signage like “Databases”, the better off they will be in the long run because We Will Have Taught Them Valuable Lessons.

Maybe this is part of the resitence to new technology and to using new types of reference methods and the like? Has anyone else run into this type of argument?

]]> By: Janet http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2100 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:54:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2100 Librarian in Black has it exactly right. Shrinking staff budgets and increased workload are taking their toll. I have to convince some of my co-workers that it’s OK to use work time to learn new stuff and that it’s OK to fail when trying something new. Some staff would love to take on new projects or find new ways to do things, but they “don’t have time.” We in libraries need to find the courage to evaluate everything we do in terms of its opportunity cost. Then we can stop doing things that are less valuable than what we could be doing with the same time and energy.

]]> By: Librarian in Black http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2098 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:49:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2098 I am of the opinion that this unwillingness to change, to invest in keeping up with the profession, stems from job stress and overloaded-ness. When people don’t have time to the work they already have, some of them will resist like heck anything new you try to introduce…technology-related or others. Obviously every single person has his or her own psychology affecting attitude and willingness to adapt, but this is a general trend I’ve seen.

]]> By: Amy J. Kearns, MLIS http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2084 Sat, 14 Jul 2007 15:07:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2084 Love your post, Ty, and agree but have come to realize that we need a PRE-step here – I believe it is “CHANGE” itself, and not what we want them/us to change to that is the problem – all change is uncomfy and I think everyone needs to start at a previous step and deal with the issues of “change” in general, and THEN move onto the specific changes we are talking about.

I have become aware that a certain amount of gentle hand-holding is necessary here.

]]> By: Seth Stephens http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2071 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:31:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2071 It is very easy to dismiss disagreement as an unwillingness to change. As my wife said to me once ” Let me get this right, if I did everything you said I’d be fine”. Often unwillingness to change is a symptom of something much deeper. Perhaps some people appear reluctent to change because, their understanding of libraries and librarianship is at odds with “Librarian 2.0″
Seth Stephens
Director
Jefferson Township Public Library

]]> By: K.G. Schneider http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2069 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:44:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2069 Well, keep in mind doctors have to tell themselves, “First, do no harm.” Perhaps the tendency to do the wrong thing goes beyond LibraryLand. ;-)

]]> By: Rich http://librarygarden.net/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2068 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:38:00 +0000 http://librarygarden.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/librarian-20-the-new-professional-or-the-responsible-one/#comment-2068 Well put. I’m a new librarian and have often wondered why any librarian needs convincing to keep up with their profession.

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