LA TIMES article

[Gary Price]

Greetings from Washington D.C. 

I just came across a "mixed review" of the online searching//library 
profession that ran in the LA Times on December 15th.  The
headline of the article is,
"Search Pros May Need to Search for a New Line of Work"

The url is:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/CUTTING/t000113453.html


Personally, I see this as an exciting time to be in our profession. 
Users are being constantly bombarded with www hype and I spend a lot of 
time debunking the myths that the hype causes. These include:

1) Type your question into the search engine and out pops the answer
 
2) It's all free

3) It's all available on the WWW

Nonetheless, the hype has caused many to be "interested" in information
and many are realizing how having the right info at correct time can make
yourlife, job, company, etc. more enjoyable and productive.

Our profession as a whole and each of our individual skills our currently
in the spotlight. For the user who thinks the Net/WWW is as simple as
typing your query and getting the answer, we have plenty to teach them. 
Also, look at how some users have trouble utilizng the the
reosources of the traditional library even after the tremendous systems,
tools, and resources that go into managing a developing a collection. If
people have difficulty with traditional library types of systems finding
something on the WWW (in a timely and efficient manner) collection of
unorganized materials (for the most part) is all but impossible. 

The above idea coupled with the rapidly growing amount of info available
and the time most have to locate it, access it, and understand it leads me
to believe that plenty of opportunities for a strong future exist. If
having information is as important as we currenlty read surely those who
know how and where to find it will have a role. 


Gary D. Price, MLIS
George Washington University 
Virginia Campus
Washington, D.C. and Ashburn, VA
gprice at gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
703-729-8235
703-729-8237 (fax)