So, what exactly do you do all day?

The library and informational science profession is in flux. It has been for years, pretty much ever since the invention of the internet. This has been a tremendous focus during several of our recent class discussions. What is the future of our profession, what will are roles be in society, where does the librarian start and the informational specialist begin, how do they co-exist and is there really a difference, is one really just the modern evolution of the other. Many of my classmates show concern and confusion for their future profession. There are many of us that feel more like “librarians” and less like “information specialist” and many of us who just can’t quite grasp what exactly an information specialist is really meant to do.

In essence, I believe they are both the same thing, or at least the goals are the same. We are here to provide free access to knowledge and to help our community find and filter (as in disgarding what is not needed) information. The more I have become aware of this the more I realize that our customers are also confused about our roles. Back in the good old days we were here to find them a book, to provide a nice quiet atmostphere to do research, to read stories to kids, to offer them programing, etc. In my experiences working in the reference section of the library this past year, I have found that people either have no idea how much we can offer them or have no idea what exactly we are supposed to offer them. For example, some people expect us to be able to instruct them on how to rebuild their hard drive over the phone. One lady today came in and wanted me to change her flight itinerary to Paris for her. She literally believed that I was supposed to be able to access American Airline accounts and change her flight for another date.
Another lady called in to ask about a fax number she had. She knew it belonged to a Kansas City realestate agency. She wanted me to search through the Kansas City yellow pages under realestate agency section and locate a phone number similar to her fax number, thinking that this would mean that the fax number then belonged to that agency. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything similar ma’m”. “You’re looking for the same prefix, right?” “Yes, ma’m. I don’t find anything similar to it.” “Do you even know what a prefix is, dear.” (biting lip, clenching fist) “Yes, ma’m.” “Ok, well, I’m just checking because I know they don’t really train librarians these days.”

So, whose fault is this? Ours. If I didn’t work in a library, I probably wouldn’t know exactly what a librarian was capable of either. Part of our role is to educate people. We can’t just wait for the rest of the world to catch up with our profession. How are we supposed to best serve our community if they don’t know what we have to offer them.