Answer Maven

I’ve been thinking a bit about he role of librarians in educating information users.  As you all know, we operate in an interactive global information environment.  Information is everywhere and not every one who finds it realizes the ease of adding information to the world wide web and the nature of that information.

The things I learned from Ms. Garner and Ms. Roy in elementary school library skills classes have stood me well.  Now I can’t remember exactly where and when I needed to use the “right” sources but I knew that the library would always guide me to the “right” sources.

Earlier this week I participated in a focus group about the Kentucky Virtual Library and one of my fellow participants spent some time discussing the ideas around how K-12 students learn how to use online sources.  The curriculum is there for some source verification but is it enough.

From the other end of the spectrum, librarians that support information workers in the corporate world are still educating users about finding and relying on information from verifiable reliable sources.  I remember a particular instance where all the librarians I was working with got on the same soapbox at the same time when we realized that some shoddy research and shoddy sources were being used on a major project.  We immediately took up the mantle of educating that researcher on the difference between good information and information that bored and angry Joe the construction worker can upload and tout as correct.

Educating end-users will always be a part of the knowledge workplace.  I just think that the right curriculum repeated throughout the formal education process just gives the work-place educator a stronger foundation to build upon. 

Savvy users and information professionals will always struggle against the idea that what you find easily is the best and only source out there.  Basic skills are the only weapons that can be used to disarm this reliance on keyword searching and retrieval of optimized for search engine content. 

Constance Ard September 24, 2009

Being a librarian I tend towards collecting and disseminating information that I think will be useful or of interest to my clients.  I did this when I worked at the law firm and it’s one of the activities that I don’t get to indulge in as much as I used to.  So bear with me gentle reader as I “share” information about some of my past blog topics and snippets of things I think you might find interesting.  Pretend its your very own, undefined special delivery news alert.

Social networking meets law students:  Networking tools aimed at the law school demographic are described here.

FastCase is now available to members of the Oregon Bar.  See the news story here.

It looks like the PACER petition got its required signatures and has been submitted to the powers that be.  Read more about it here.

Zakta.com that interesting new search engine that I mentioned last week has a further analysis from social media guru Jason Falls.

Constance Ard September 23, 2009

In my last post I discussed the need to protect librarians due to the continued growth of complex information.  Today, I want to talk about my views about librarians as professionals.

Librarians are part of a noble profession in some views.  Collecting, organizing and making accessible our cultural, literary and historical records is indeed critical.  Providing access to data necessary for operating in today’s knowledge age is also hugely important.

These facts alone do not place librarians in an infallible place upon a golden pedestal.  It is our responsibility to learn, advocate, and earn our status as important providers of information.

Those of us who do not continue to learn and evolve in our service do not necessarily deserve a protected place in the business of information.  Those of us who do continuously learn and improve our services can’t rest on those accomplishments alone.

No one knows what we do better than ourselves.  I often tell my colleagues that too often expend energy advocating ourselves to fellow librarians.  It is my firm belief that what we must do is tell our lawyers, administrators, doctors, faculty members and CEO’s how important we are and follow it up with specifics on why we are important.

We must also explain how we contribute to an organization’s mission and bottom-line.  People have a difficult time understanding just what librarians do.  They know librarians are good guys but only a few know specifically why.    Without specifics, how can we expect a CEO to know that understanding when and how to use a commercial database is appropriate?   We know that when the marketing director calls us at 9 a.m. to prepare a marketing report for a lunchtime briefing fast and good is better than thorough and free is the only option.

Librarians must be specific and direct.  It is never appropriate to say “No problem” when this type of project is completed and delivered.  It is absolutely appropriate for you to say in response to the Thank You:  “You are quite welcome, with our XYZ resource we are able to meet these tight deadlines.”

Also, assertiveness is not a bad trait.  C-level executives are assertive and admired for the trait.   Recently I was given a great compliment:  “You’re nice, but you still are decisive and when you have an important point to make during a meeting you do so.”

If librarians want to be protected, they must begin by protecting themselves.  So if you are not being assertive when the occasion calls for it and you are not advocating for the resources you need to successfully do your job and you are not clearly communicating why you and the entire library staff must be a partner in the knowledge culture for successful business;  then who will?

Constance Ard August 22, 2009

I’m proud to share this post by Stephen Arnold who states very eloquently some of the wonders of Ulla de Stricker who recently won the AIIP Sue Rugge Memorial Award.

During the past several years Ulla has been a mentor and advisor to me.  I hope to continue to learn from her and look forward to the opportunity to work with her in the years to come.

Ulla truly embodies the spirit of the Sue Rugge Award because she does reach out to new independent information professionals with encouragement and inspiration.  I count myself lucky to be one of those IIP’s that Ulla nourishes.

Constance Ard April 7, 2009