Hiring Librarians

[Cedar Falls Public Library Acct #1]

I think part of the problem that Scott may have encountered
in the past was the fact that many (certainly not all!)
veteran librarians were very much steeped in the traditional 
concept of what constituted The Profession.  While this
was and is still not a bad thing in and of itself, I think
this strong sense of personal mission was felt to be 
threatened in the dynamic environment of technological change
which such veterans saw coming at them.  There was and still is a 
considerable amount of technophobia in the world 
and I seem to remember quite a number
of people with this affliction assuming that gaining technical 
skills = self-degradation.  I think it might've had
to do with the feeling that technical skills were
only really useful to corporate, "mercenary" types
or it may really have been plain fear of change, but 
fear it was.

I understand how Scott may 
have run into a few cold shoulders in the past but I bet
if he tried again, he might find there have been a number of
attitude as well as personnel changes.  I'm quite certain 
that with the growth in one sector (commercial information
services, MIS, etc) and the relative shrinkage in another
(library jobs), library and info science schools are
_very_ interested in talking to people like Scott.  Who
wants to sell a degree to people when, nowadays with financial
aid shrinking, one might not be able to recoup the
investment?  (even if it _is_ small as someone pointed out,
somebody still has to pay it back)

I believe, btw, that most web4libbers are probably far from being
technophobic which is probably also borne out by the fact
that there has been much more said on the list about
how odd Scott's observations were than about how they
might have been common.  :)   

Thanks.

--Barb
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Barbara Dunn				524 Main St.
Technical Services Librarian		Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Cedar Falls Public Library		(319)273-8643

"All the men on my staff can type."  -- Bella Abzug
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On Tue, 27 Aug 1996, Rebecca Rector wrote:

> I have to agree with Linda - most of the librarians I know are working on
> web pages for their corporate or academic institutions or personl use. They
> embrace new technology and are not afraid to try new things. We all have to
> use a combination of technologies and media to find information for our
> customers or patrons. That is today's challenge!
> 
> I am also curious as to where Scott has been trying to recruit librarians
> and finding such a cold response to "new technology".> Most library schools
> are very involved with teaching new technology; and many of the job ads I
> see (I edit a special libraries job newsletter that has just gone
> electronic) are very electronic oriented, with internet, web and html skills
> wanted along with networking computers and all sorts of different media.
> 
> 
> Rebecca Rector
> Librarian,
> CT Male Associates, Engineers
> Latham, NY
> 
>      Not all librarians are tied to books and shelves, but these still have 
> >     a very essential and vital place in making information available to 
> >     people.  I'm a corporate librarian who also runs my small company's 
> >     intranet.  Others on my staff handle the collection and maintenance of 
> >     books and journals, but I use these resources the same as I use 
> >     databases and web resources -- to meet the needs of my users.  I'd 
> >     like to think I'm not "tied" to any media, print or Web based.  
> >     
> >     The *first* person I'd like to see organizing content on the Web is
> someone 
> >     who can listen to and identify user needs, learn from and build on
> existing 
> >     frameworks for organizing information,  not be afraid to try innovative 
> >     approaches, and ultimately measure their success by how they improve the 
> >     ability of users to get the information they need.  Pretty much the same 
> >     person I'd like to see running a library.  I think there are a lot of 
> >     librarians and information specialists out there who are doing all of
> this 
> >     in their organizations now.   
> >     
> >     Scott:  I don't know where you've been looking for librarians, or why you 
> >     are getting the response you detailed in your message.  I hope you'll
> learn 
> >     from the replies you get that my profession is not turning a cold
> shoulder 
> >     to what many of us see as a tremendous opportunity to use our skills in a 
> >     new setting with the potential to vastly improve people's access to 
> >     information.
> >     
> >     Linda Bickham
> >     Manager, Library Services
> >     SyStemix
> >     lbickham at stem.com
> >     
> >     ______________________________ Reply Separator 
> >     _________________________________
> >     Subject: Hiring Librarians
> >     Author:  guthery at austin.sar.slb.com at INTERNET
> >     Date:    8/24/96 3:22 PM
> >     
> >     
> >     I've been on the otherside of trying to hire librarians.  We've realized 
> >     that
> >     we need library science people to do technology watch and to organize our
> >     Intranet.
> >     
> >     1) I've been greeted with a very, very cold shoulder by many library
> >        science departments when I've come calling 
> >     
> >     2) many library science people don't see that "net books" are just
> >        like real books and need the same care and attention ... even more so
> >        and maybe with fresh approaches
> >     
> >     3) many library science people want to "bunkerize" classical libraries
> >        rather than mix them in with the web
> >     
> >     4) many library science people shy away from jobs with a high
> >        communication component
> >     
> >     5) there are few courses in "off the shelf" library science curriculums
> >        which deal with serving from and organizing web-based information
> >     
> >     It shouldn't surprise people that the going rate for even the best buggy 
> >     whip
> >maker isn't what it used to be.
> >
> >Cheers, Scott
> >
> >
> 
>