Why we won't be here in 20 years

[STEVE HOOLEY]

                At Henderson Library, our computers are in the basement with
the bound periodicals while the bulk of our collection, offices, etc are on
the second or main floor. The reference librarians maintain a help desk
there, taking one or two hour shifts and helping solve difficult problems
for students. Soon they intend to be online with a live on-camera view of
the desk for browsers. The other help desks have been notified to inform the
students that for research problems, they need a LIBRARIAN; in short, an
expert on LOOKING THINGS UP! They are busy non-stop as the word is out that
a thirty-second chat with a librarian can save you an hour's research.
Thanks to our head librarian's foresight in going computerized, we at least
will be around in 20 years (even if we're only an office and website by then!).

At 09:09 AM 3/7/97 -0800, you wrote:
>We really do have an image problem don't we.  I know from experience that a
>lot of people really have no clue who the librarians are in the library.
>One of my friends informed me once that her brother worked as a librarian
>in the summers between semesters of college.  He shelved books part time,
>so he was a librarian. Mm hmm. Then there are the encounters with a
>reference librarian who may be stressed out or just plain bad at dealing
>with the public. All it takes is a really bad experience to turn you off.
>Our popular, media image is something along the lines of being bookish,
>prim, behind the times, fuddy-duddies, etc.  So how do we combat this?  How
>to get our voices heard?
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>In our library we work to reach out to our community of users and build
>relationships with students, professors & researchers.  Another librarian
>and myself teach classes in searching the Web where we also talk about what
>the library is doing with the Web.  We want to help build that connection
>between the library and the Net in the minds of our users.   We want to
>highlight the skills of our personnel and how we can help people make sense
>of the Web.  Sometimes I think those of us who are really Net savvy think
>that it's pretty easy to search the Web, but I know many casual users who
>are stymied and frustrated by search engines. We want them to know that
>librarians can help them. At Marquette, I think we have built some good
>connections with grad students & professors, but I'm not so sure about
>undergrads. I do know that our entire staff works hard to make our library
>a place where users know they will find people eager to help them. We're
>undertaking a major survey of users now to determine if we're fulfilling
>our obligation to them.  It will interesting to see if our perceptions bear
>any resemblance to reality.
>
>So, what about the profession as a whole?  I hear a lot of ranting on the
>lists by librarians, but what are each of us doing to toot our horns? If we
>do want to be around in 10 years or 20 years, what are each of us doing NOW
>to ensure that the skills and talents we have to offer will be valued?  I
>think it's incumbent upon each of us at our institutions to make our
>communities aware of the what the library has to offer.  We don't need a
>nationwide ad campaign. It begins in our libraries. It begins by changing
>some of our attitudes and perceptions and refocusing our energies on
>discovering what our users think about us and asking them what they want
>from us and finding ways to serve their needs.
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>**************************************
>Sheryl Dwinell
>Cataloger/Database Management Librarian
>Memorial Library, Marquette University
>P.O. Box 3141
>Milwaukee, WI 53201-3141
>dwinells at vms.csd.mu.edu
>414-288-3542
>**************************************
>
>
*+============================*
|   Stephen S. Hooley         |
|  Romulan Tech Assistant     |
|    Henderson Library        |
|"It's Only a Job Description"|
| Georgia Southern University |
+=============================+
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