[Web4lib] "They*re Everywhere You Go*: Hip and Cool Librarians

[Bill Drew]

If you look at some blogs you will see some librarians whining about
this piece of fluff journalism.  Some people are never happy!

-- 
Wilfred (Bill) Drew
Associate Librarian, Systems and Reference
Morrisville State College Library
E-mail: bill.drew at gmail.com
AOL Instant Messenger:BillDrew4
My Wiki: http://billdrew.pbwiki.com
Wireless Librarian: http://people.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/wireless/
Library: http://library.morrisville.edu/
SUNYConnect: http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu/
My Blog:http://babyboomerlibrarian.blogspot.com
Al Gore quoting an African proverb: "If you want to go quickly, go
alone. But if you want to go far, go together."


On 7/9/07, Gerry Mckiernan <gerrymck at iastate.edu> wrote:
> "They*re Everywhere You Go*: Hip and Cool Librarians
>
> ***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS***
>
> Colleagues/
>
> The New York Times had a GreatArticle this past Sunday that has been
> The Number One e-mailed NYT article for the past 24-36+ hours: *A
> Hipper Crowd of Shushers.*
>
> I blogged tantalizing [:-)] portions of the piece in my _Friends_ blog
> on Saturday
>
> [
> http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2007/07/theyre-everywhere-you-go-hip-and-cool.html
> ]
>
> <QUOTE>
>
> Librarians? Aren*t they supposed to be bespectacled women with a love
> of classic books and a perpetual annoyance with talkative patrons - the
> ultimate humorless shushers?
>
> Not any more. With so much of the job involving technology and with a
> focus now on finding and sharing information beyond just what is
> available in books, a new type of librarian is emerging - the kind that,
> according to the Web site Librarian Avengers, is *looking to put the
> *hep cat* in cataloguing.*
>
> [snip]
>
> *We*re not the typical librarians anymore,* said Rick Block, an
> adjunct professor at the Long Island University Palmer School and at the
> Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science, both graduate
> schools for librarians, in New York City.
>
> [snip]
>
> *I think we*re getting more progressive and hipper,* said Carrie
> Ansell, a 28-year-old law librarian in Washington.
>
> [snip]
>
> Still, these are high-tech times. Why are people getting into this
> profession when libraries seem as retro as the granny glasses so many of
> the members of the Desk Set wear?*Because it*s cool,* said Ms.
> Gentile, who works at the Brooklyn Museum.
>
> *People I, going in, would never have expected were from the library
> field,* she said. *Smart, well-read, interesting, funny people, who
> seemed to be happy with their jobs.*
>
> [snip]
>
> Since matriculating to Palmer, Ms. Falgoust has met plenty of other
> like-minded librarians at places such as Brooklyn Label, a restaurant,
> and at Punk Rope, an exercise class. *They*re everywhere you go,*
> she said.
>
> [snip]
>
> How did such a nerdy profession become cool - aside from the fact that
> a certain amount of nerdiness is now cool? Many young librarians and
> library professors said that the work is no longer just about books but
> also about organizing and connecting people with information, including
> music and movies.
>
> [snip]
>
> Jessamyn West, 38, an editor of *Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical
> Librarians Speak Out* ... [snip] agreed that many new librarians are
> attracted to what they call the *Library 2.0* phenomenon. *It*s
> become a techie profession,* she said.
>
> In a typical day, Ms. West might send instant and e-mail messages to
> patrons, many of who do their research online rather than in the
> library. She might also check Twitter, MySpace and other social
> networking sites, post to her various blogs and keep current through
> MetaFilter and RSS feeds. Some librarians also create Wikis or
> podcasts.
>
> [snip]
>
> </QUOTE>
>
> BTW: Just This Past Friday, I Told Two Patrons To *Stay Cool* As
> They Left Our New RefDesk (Because of The HotHot Weather That Was/Is
> Roasting/Toasting  Iowa as It Was/Is Much of The U. S.)
>
> Our Tech Support Person Who Was On Duty With Me  Found It Odd  * He*s
> in His 20*s and Thought The Phrase Was Something That A Librarian
> Wouldn*t Say. As We Left For The Day, I Reminded Him to *Stay
> Cool* and We Smiled.
>
> Little Did I / We Know: I*ve / We've Always Been "Cool"  [:-) [AND
> ... Hip] [:->
>
> BTW: Don*t Forget To CheckOut The Associated Image in The Blog Post
>
> [
> http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2007/07/theyre-everywhere-you-go-hip-and-cool.html
> ]
>
> Enjoy! And Happy Monday !!!
>
> /Gerry
>
> Gerry McKiernan
> Associate Professor
> Science and Technology Librarian
> Iowa State University Library
> Ames IA 50011
>
> !!! Social Networking is People !!!
> [ http://www.facebook.com/p/Gerry_McKiernan/16926735  ]
>
> Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows ...
> [ http://alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/ ]
>
>
>
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