job description

[Geoff S Brown]

On Thu, 18 Jan 1996, Janet Kaul wrote:

> OK, folks, I need your help.
> 
> I am a children's librarian for a public library as a secondary
> job. As part of my primary job, I've been organizing and acting as
> webmaster on the internal web for a software company.
> 
> Now, we are trying to define what a "Web Librarian" is. All systems
> questions aside (such as setting up servers, troubleshooting computer
> difficulties), what are the duties of a web librarian? Can you give
> me real-life examples of anyone doing such a job now?
> 
> I realize the answer can be many things, but I'd like to see them all.
> 
> Some of the ones I have come up with are:
> 
> Gatekeeper for information (is the style correct? Is the information
> understandable/useful?)
> Weeder (are links good? Is information outdated?)
> Organizer (how is the info accessed? Is navigation intuitive?)
> Designer (Are pages attractive and easy to read?)
> Trainer (Help people learn how to put info on the web)
> 
> Sorry if this topic has been covered already, I'm relatively new
> to the list. If it has been, feel free to post to me personally.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> -Janet Kaul
> 
Janet,

I'll give my "two cents worth" on this topic (I'm new to the list as well 
so I'm not certain whether or not the question has been dealt with 
already!). I think a much overlooked role of a "web librarian" is to 
provide one-on-one reference services. I have been developing a web page 
for the Dalhousie University Libraries and a feature that I feel very 
strongly about is a mail option where people can directly submit 
a reference question to our reference staff.  This in my opinion is no 
different than a reference question over the phone (a type of question 
that we frequently are faced with).  It deserves just as much attention 
and is just as valid!

Geoff Brown
Dalhousie University Map Collection
Halifax, N.S., Canada
e-mail: gsbrown at is.dal.ca