I was recently asked to “describe a recent reference question and the source(s) I used to answer it”. Since the question came up early in the interview, and I was still a little bit nervous and trying to get my interview groove on I retold the first thing that had come to mind. The day before the interview a woman had come to the desk asking for a list of books in an Elizabeth Peters series that was not the popular Amelia Peabody series (The Vicky Bliss series), and she wanted them in the order of publication. Simple enough question. However, as I started to recount the story I realized that I was going to have to admit to that thing librarians are not supposed to admit, especially in a job interview. “To answer this question I used Wikipedia”. Now that isn’t all I said. I qualified it by stating that it may seem like an odd choice and that as I gave the information to the patron I let her know the positives and negatives of Wikipedia, but a little voice inside my head was saying “You should NOT have said that.”
But then I started thinking about it, and here is the thing: For that particular question Wikipedia was genuinely the best source. I couldn’t count on our catalog or OPAC because it would only give her the items that we have available in our system. We might have all of them, but we might not. I guess I could have used Novelist, but I just tried to search using that and was not able to easily access a list of Elizabeth Peter’s work divided by series. Another source might have been the author’s website, which I also just checked. Hidden away in barrage of Amelia Peabody information was a broken down list of other works including the Vicky Bliss series, but it did not include publication dates or information on the upcoming august installment of the series.
Now I am going to quote from the Wikipedia entry:
The Vicky Bliss novels follow the adventures of an American professor of art history who keeps getting involved in international crime and her love interest, a charming art thief known as Sir John Smythe. Another Peters novel, The Camelot Caper (1969), while not technically a Vicky Bliss story, features Smythe. The novels can be enjoyed in any order, but the stories are highly sequential in nature and are probably better appreciated if read in order of publication.
This information was followed by a list of the Vicky Bliss novels with year of publication including the latest installment set to be released in August. It was exactly what the patron was looking for and as I printed it off for her, she told me so.
So why should I feel bad about admitting that I used Wikipedia? My goal is to give the patron what they are looking for. The Wikipedia entry had exactly what the patron was looking for, including a reference to a book that features a character from the novels, but is not in the series. This is a piece of information that wasn’t in any of the other resources I checked. I wonder, exactly how taboo is Wikipedia in the library world ? I know plenty of librarians who use it, and I think that there are many benefits to such a wide ranging resources. But how long will it be before I can freely admit that I am skilled in determining the best resource to answer reference questions and sometimes the best resource is Wikipedia?
I love the concept of the library as a 3rd place, and even more than that I love the idea of the library as a center for lifelong learning and culture. As I research, I’ve found several progressive European libraries that make me incredibly jealous.
Delft Public Library-The Netherlands
Since I’ve never been here, I’m relying on the description provided by Jenny Levine. I love, love, love the video gaming kiosks. The signs using images from popular culture are pretty great as well.
The Idea Stores-London, United Kingdom
The Idea Store has three things:
1. Library – a wide range of stock including best-selling books, CDs and DVDs
2. Learning – day, evening and weekend courses for a range of interests and abilities
3. Information – access to extensive reference and information sources including online resources and a local studies and archives collection.
In my mind these three things make up what a library should offer the community.
I’m a big fan of giving myself big goals. Maybe someday I’ll be able to work in one of these amazing libraries. Guess I should start learning dutch.
The Shifted Librarian by Jenny Levine.
What is a shifted Librarian you ask? Jenny answers on her blog:
a “shifted librarian” is someone who is working to make libraries more portable. We’re experimenting with new methods, even if we find out they don’t work as well as we thought they would. Sometimes, we’re waiting for our colleagues, our bosses, and even the kids to catch up, but we’re still out there trying. And please don’t think I don’t love books and print, because I do. No amount of technology will ever replace them, and libraries will always be a haven for books. It’s the extras that I’m concentrating on, especially as we try to serve our remote patrons.”
LibraryBytes by Helene Blowers(Of learning 2.0 fame)
Librarian in black by Sarah Houghton-Jan.
This blog focuses on tech related library issues
As I was updating some files recently, I stumbled upon a statement I had to write for one of the jobs I applied for last year. In addition to submitting the standard cover letter, resume and references, I was asked to submit a “philosophy of information literacy” statement. As I reread my statement today I was surprised to realize that were I writing it today it would be different.
This is the statement I submitted:
We, as librarians, need to know and understand the Competency Standards set forth by the Association of College & Research Libraries in January of 2000. This document sets forth the standards by which students can be called information literate. It is our job to make sure that students are exhibiting the performance outcomes and exhibiting characteristics of information literacy.
In order to do the job, we need to be aware of the new information seeking behavior of students. Joan Lippincott notes that current students are part of the Net Generation. She writes, “The most common [disconnect between students and the academic library] is students dependence on Google or similar search engines for discovery of information resurces rather than consultation of library Web pages, catalogs, and databases as the main source of access.” This reliance on web-based inforamtion provides a specific challenge to us, and illustares the necessity for Information Literacy classes.
We need to impress upon students that the usefulness of sources offered by the library is far greater than those found by a quick Google search. In order to be able to do this we need to be familiar with what resources are offered by the library, and with the resources that are shared amongst libraries. In the state of Ohio, the OHIOLink system connects most universities statewide, and allows for inforamtion sharing on a grand scale. Once we are familiar with available resources, such as OHIOLink, we are better prepared to teach students how to use them. At the same time it is important to be familiar with online resources in order to be able to provide guidance in the use of such sources. We need to be able to recommend authoritative web information for students to use.
Lastly, the librarian needs to be aware that the way students are using the library is changing along with the ways they seek inforamtion. Students come to the library not only to check out books, but to find a place to hook up their laptop or to use computers with multimedia capabilities in the computer lab. By understanding how students use the library, the librarian is better able to develop an Information Literacy plan that will ensure that students are able to meet the performance outcomes set forth by the ACRL competency standards.
If I were writing it today, I would focus a little bit less on the challenges of working with the “Net Generation” and focus more on the opportunities. Rather than quote the Lippincott article, I would quote a more recent article by John Seely Brown that discusses the concept of social learning and applies it to the new generation of students. I might also bring up some of the creative ways librarians are connecting with students to teach information literacy. One of the most innovative of these involves applying fantasy football to the ACRL Information Literacy Standards.
One of my favorite 2.0 applications is del.icio.us. The most basic thing to love about del.icio.us is how it offers librarians a way to gather useful, authoritative, and free websites together making them easy to share with patrons and staff.
In my current job our library website only lists the databases that we pay for and that section of the website isn’t updated very often. Sites I use and recommend frequently, such as MedlinePlus or the BBC Language pages, may remain unseen by patrons looking only at the system website. Once patrons know that our del.icio.us account is online, they have the ability to check back frequently for updates and to look at a collection of free websites hand picked by librarians. Another benefit: even if they were to access our del.icio.us account from home, they wouldn’t need a library card to get in.
The true genius of social bookmarking is the opportunity for collaboration. My tags and bookmarks are shared with others and they in turn share with me. I have found many great websites and articles by scrolling through my del.icio.us network, which contains some library and librarian del.icio.us pages. For more guided searching I can start with a keyword in the main search box and branch off from there. What might have taken one user days and weeks to research and find is now available to many people with a few keystrokes. Everybody benefits because today I might be the person accessing information with a few keystrokes, but tommorrow I could be the person spending days compiling information so that somebody else can have the easy access the next day.
One of the things I find most exciting about the library environment today is the idea of Radical Trust (RT). I love the idea of using technology to empower our patrons to be a part of their own library experience. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, I’m going to turn to Collin Douma, who writes about RT as a business concept and defines it as: A notion that influence, rather than control, is more effective at guiding culture, commerce and communities. He also lists the 6 Principles of Radical TrustYou must radically trust that consumers:
are best equipped to determine their own needs, and left to their own devices are best equipped to get those needs met.
would rather be communicated with than spoken to.
require freedom of expression, but often require guidelines to create expressions within.
will self-regulate communities to the level guidelines suggest and that the collective group they comprise will accept.
will disconnect with a brand that silences them and will align with brands that give them a voice.
(This one is the hardest) consumers are people and people are inherently good.
If you substitute the word ‘patron’ for ‘consumer’ it is easy to see how this concept applies to libraries. John Blyberg wrote directly about libraries and radical trust in This blog entry.
Think about “cookies” as something new – a new service, or something not “traditional” – gaming, for instance.By thinking out of the box, we can continue to grow with our community and expand the definition of “library”.
