Librarian Stereotype

[veronica]

Sincere thanks to everyone who responded to my query about the modern image
of librarians and helped to make my first posting such a positive
experience.  The range of comments and further information/links provided,
with a nice dash of humour, was a credit to your profession.  Please accept
my apologies for the delayed acknowledgement, but I was offline for the past
week with a head cold.

Just as a little addendum, I would like to share two further media
samplings:
(a) Harry Potter has only been in our home since July.  I recently noticed
this charming description in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets":
"Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an
underfed vulture."  (once again the hovering, territorial and intimidating
creature waiting to swoop onto unsuspecting readers, who is only approached
in fear and out of desperation; and, of course, she/he lives in a
traditional library consisting exclusively of books);
(b) Our Melbourne newspaper "The Age" described a woman who had received a
prison sentence as having been "...transformed from a mild-mannered
librarian to a gun-wielding hijacker" and yes, she wore glasses!
("Helicopter hijack woman jailed for love" July 21, 2001, page 6). As per
Daniel Messer's eloquent posting, the contrasting epitomisation of meek
dedication to mankind's knowledge and anything to do with books.

To carry the thread a bit further, it seems to me that many people seeking
reference assistance still expect/prefer a specific call number or book list
as a tangible, palpable
 product of the interview and satisfactory measure of the librarian's work,
much as there
tends to be a common expectation that medical physicians who are "doing
their
job" properly will dispense drug prescriptions.  Would anyone care to
comment
on any negative user attitudes and reactions when electronic resources are
provided instead of books?  Do (most) patrons still prefer to be directed to
the shelves?

Veronica Tastl