A New Librarian

I was reading a very interesting article about the future of librarians. In this age of knowledge saturation, a new librarian has emerged, the "knowledge librarian." This new librarian will have to be a "content czar." While anyone can preform a search on their topic of choice, this knowledge librarian will bring organization to the vast amount of knowledge that is available. Through the organization of information, the knowledge librarian can also make new connections between pieces of information that will enhance the follow of knowledge across different areas. Information is the new "raw material" of this new knowledge-based economy. The growth of information and its quick and efficient retrieval proves what a necessity having well trained librarians on staff.

In the past, many companies did away with their librarian, but now, as the pool of information grows faster than the average person can manage it, more and more people are beginning to see what benefits a library can and will bring to their organization. Even though librarians and their services are becoming crucial to the growth of a business or industry, the librarian can not simply stay behind a desk and wait for the opportunity to come along. Those that will benefit from this new knowledge-based world are the ones that get out into the companies and communities and find their own opportunities. Librarians must be willing to engage others and find ways to connect the information dots.

I believe the librarian of the future will be positioned to be a key player in this information and knowledge driven economy because the librarian will have the unique ability to handle any type of information that comes their way.

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer

I was enjoying one of my favorite news broadcasts, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer tonight and I found one of their stories extremely interesting. They were reporting on how many in Iran are using various social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, to report what was happening in their country after the elections last week. Apparently, the internet in Iran has slowed to a crawl and many of these social networking sites have been blocked by the government. The News Hour had two guests on the program to talk about what is happening in Iran and both of them talked about the importance of these sites in organizing rallies for the opposition leader and for getting information about what was happening in the nation out to the world.

I really found all of this every interesting because most people, myself included, only see social networking sites as fun and a way to waste some time, but they really can be used for the greater good. I was shocked at how even the hard liners in Iran were using these sites to help promote their agenda. They even went so far as to dress up like the opposition to create videos that they then were posting on Facebook and Youtube.

These sites are really becoming the future for all of us and everyone should know at least something about them. I think that in the future, these sites will play a very large role in library outreach. I hope that I am able to keep up with the times so that I will be able to use what I know one day in a job.

Libraries... My Future

I am too indecisive about my future and what should occupy my time. What is my life's calling? I often wonder if any job will make me truly happy. I believe this is because I am normally happy with whatever I happen to be doing at the time. When I worked in a pharmacy during high school, I thought that I would be happy as a pharmacist, when I worked in a HR department during college, I thought that would be my life's work. I hold neither of these jobs, but now I am working towards becoming a librarian. I enjoy library school and I am having fun with my classes and I enjoy what is being taught to me, but I can't help but wonder, do I enjoy this because I really like it, or is it just because this happens to be what I am doing right now?

When I began my MLIS, I thought that I would like to become an archivist and bury myself in some climate control room for the rest of my life. As I have moved through the program, I am beginning to think that may not be the best path for my life. I always told people that I don't much care for having to work with others every day, but I am beginning to think that I might just be a people person, so the climate control room is out for me. I have recently taken a class on metadata and I am now finding that topic to be very interesting. But I wonder if thats only because I just finished a class about the subject. One area that I am beginning to find more and more appealing is library usage and user outreach. I think that I might really enjoy getting people excited about using the library and finding ways to get more people to utilize the resources that libraries offer. Perhaps this career path will make me happy.

Its both a blessing and a curse to be happy in every job. I might not ever find that "perfect" job that fits me like a glove, but its a nice thing to know that no matter what, chances are that I will be happy with whatever job comes my way.