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Name: Erin
Bio: Welcome! I am a Research and Instruction Librarian at a large university in Canada. I have a particular interest in virtual services in libraries and the image of librarians/libraries in popular media.
Posts by Erin:
OLA Super Conference 2010 – The Theme of Librarian Relevance
March 16th, 2010Well, I did present at the conference but I shall leave that to a separate post and discuss two sessions that I felt were very interesting and gave me some food for thought as the questions and concerns raised in each session dealt with the same issue: Librarian Relevance in a New Information Age.
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Before this workshop, I can’t say I fully understood the intricacies of the Google Book legal situation and how it applies to copyright issues and libraries. This workshop was a fantastic review of some of the concerns that lead to the legal matters by providing both sides of the discussion.
The most interesting part of the discussion, in my opinion, was the orphaned books question. Orphaned books are books that are under copyright but the owner of the copyright is unknown or difficult to find . The problem with the digitization of this material is that within the Google Books deal, all rights to orphaned books would be given to Google. Google would essentially have an exclusive license to this material. As librarians we see the obvious problem. Monopolies over content have caused a severe problem within libraries as publishers of content increase costs to the point of being completely unfeasible.
In the question and answer period, the larger question of where libraries will be situated in the world of Google was raised. Librarians are concerned that with the rise of Google Books the need for libraries will diminish. The outcry of “where do we fit in all of this” is a common one in libraries. New technologies, the introduction of new formats, the changing of the library from a place of protection of collections to openly accessible has always spurred this outcry. The fact is that we must make ourselves relevant in the face of new technologies and new sources of information access. The representative from Google, Jon Orwant, had to address these questions from somewhat angry librarians but I don’t believe it is his place to explain how we can be relevant in the future. Let me hold off on that thought for a moment and introduce the next workshop.
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While Amada’s question pertained to library space, the larger question of how students are using the resources in that space, including libraries, became a part of the discussion. We recognize that students use spaces and resources according to their needs. As we see the reference desk become less and less used with the rise of tools such as Google Books, Google Scholar and Wikipedia, we become concerned about the space itself. Will there be a need for a library? If there is a need for the library, as the presentation affirmed is not under question, what is the librarians place within it?
As a librarian who has heard this discussion in many forms, I must say I am becoming a little jaded about the approach to answering this question. It isn’t the place of the user or corporations creating content to dictate who we are and where we fit in our own profession. Of course these conversations are important ones. Learning about users needs helps us to understand how to best serve but it also does something else. By looking more closely at what it is we do and how we work within the ever expanding realm of information we can mold our own future. It is an exciting time to really discuss who we are, where do we see ourselves, and what the profession can look like for us in the future. We can answer these questions ourselves. Self reflection is the first place to understanding our own relevance!
Hello Dear Blog – I did not forget about you!
March 15th, 2010Ok, so it has been a while but to be fair I have had a lot happen since my last post. Accepting a tenure track position at UBC’s Koerner Library and moving across the country does take up a bit of time! That being said, I am back and posting will commence starting… well, now!
MySQL Meltdown!
August 24th, 2009Forgive the re-posting of old content. During the thunderstorms here in Toronto, MySQL database somehow was compromised and I lost some content. It’s reposted and I have learned a valuable lesson about backing-up files. *sigh*
