Why we won't be here in 20 years

[Anna Garoufalis]

Hello,

Well, it IS true that "...weather for any city in the world,
maps, movie reviews, recipes, political commentary, 
employment opportunities, video clips, music, photos..."
and more, or  "other" type of information that one can find in 
a library can be found on the Internet, but as "miraculous" 
as the Internet may seem, to some, it's virtue is also its
vice.

When I give introductory Web sessions, I start by explaining
that the Web is as a wonderful system... which it's easy to use 
and which can be a lot of fun... However, navigating through
the Web in search of specific information can sometimes be
very frustrating because of the sheer volume of information
that is available. Then, I mention that I will later introduce them to 
some tools that can help make the task of searching for something 
less frustrating and that it's important to know that there are
valuable nuggets of info on the Web, but also a lot of garbage.  

Librarians are, therefore,  needed to manage the ever growing 
information on the Internet- to filter out the garbage. Even if
 "someone would wave a magic wand and get all the books 
in the library digitised..." a librarian would still be needed to 
guide those users (who don't know where to start looking for
info , or how to start looking for it) to quality information. I
believe that people who often use the Web should be able 
to distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly, but not
everyone can do so. 

I wonder if those who ask whether librarians will still be around
in 20 years are implying that by then, everyone will be connected 
to the Internet and that everyone will be able to search for information 
in an efficient and effective way? 

I believe that when people question a library's existance, it is 
because they are not aware of librarians' roles.  This is where 
the problem lies- not so much in the public's perception 
of the Internet, but in it's lack of understanding of libraries and 
librarians.

It's unfortunate that still today, for many, the word "librarian" 
conjures up nothing more than the image of someone
who fetches a book from the stacks for a user, who "stamps
books", or who is "too busy doing other things"!! It is
therefore, not too hard to understand why people question our
existance (whether it's within the context of the Internet or not).

Because people talk about the Internet, they promote it. It's a new
concept for many and, therefore, a very exciting one. Libraries
or librarians, on the other hand, are part of an older concept. 
Since some people have never quite grasped the meaning of 
what libraries or librarians can really provide,  why should they
start now? They focus on the Internet because everyone is 
talking about it and understandably, they want to learn more 
about it.

Who talks about librarians?

I sometimes find it very frustrating that, when someone asks me
"What do you do for a living", I have to think of how to introduce 
"what I do".  Do I say that I'm a "librarian", an "information 
specialist",  or...?  I figure that whatever title I use won't make
much of a difference to them, anyway, since their preconcieved 
idea of what a librarian does (or does not do) and  their lack 
of understanding in what an information specialist/ manager is,
doesn't allow them to come up with a "true" understanding
of "what I do".  But often, I feel that it is my duty to explain
what librarianship is so that I can create awareness.
 
It IS up to us, as information providers, to better promote 
ourselves and to explain the difference between the Internet 
and what we do. We can perhaps begin to convey the idea 
that libraries are like the Internet- global network of networks
that provide and exchange resources, that librarians are 
somewhat like search engines- tools instrumental in finding 
information, and that the information found on the Internet is
to libraries what the Web is to the Internet- just one facet of 
a greater entity. 

If we can inform the public of "what we do", we'll be in a better 
position to say to them "Yes, we will be here in 20 years... 




****************************************
                                         
Anna Garoufalis                         
Information Services Librarian          
Health Sciences Library                 
McGill University                       
3655 Drummond St.                       
Montreal, Que., Canada H3G 1Y6
          
Email: agarou at healthlib.lan.mcgill.ca  
Phone: (514) 398-4475 ext.094166                     
Fax: (514) 398-3890                     
URL: http://www.health.library.mcgill.ca