[Web4lib] At Session on the Future of Libraries, a Sense of Urgency

[Christopher Kiess]

Hi Ross,

I think, in some sense, you are comparing apples to oranges here. In another
sense, you have pulled my argument out of context. My primary point (which I
make in a subsequent paragraph) is that adapting our skills to meet current
technologies will be a necessity for the survival of our profession.

Your argument is a bit off since you are confusing the entity with the
skill. The horse (as a means of transportation) was replaced. The skill of a
journalist has not been replaced and we still read newspapers. Their numbers
may be smaller, but their skills are still used and needed. Perhaps,
librarians will take the same route - which I think is a point I try to
communicate here. Our skills - finding and organizing information - may be
needed less in the future. This is why we may want to adapt them and push
them to a level where we are again indispensible - a primary focus of my
posting. We have seen some branches of our discipline move in this direction
(i.e. Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Informatics, etc.

chris

On Wed, Jul 2, 2008 at 10:34 AM, Ross Singer <rossfsinger at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 2, 2008 at 9:55 AM, Christopher Kiess <clkiess at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > What we are really talking about here is being replaced. Will it happen?
> I
> > don't know. Can we save ourselves? In some sense, your analogy concerning
> > the independent bookstore or the horse and the automobile are good. But,
> I
> > think they leave one primary element out of the equation – skill. It
> doesn't
> > take a particularly complex skill set to be a horse or own an independent
> > bookstore. It does take a good amount of skill and experience to be a
> > librarian. What you are talking about and arguing is the library as an
> > entity being replaced. Does it logically follow that the librarian will
> be
> > replaced?
>
> It also requires skill to be a reporter.  However, the reporter is
> still just as unemployed when the newspaper scales back or shuts down
> because nobody is reading it.
>
> See also:  travel agents.
>
> I'm not saying that libraries/librarians will meet this fate (I have
> no idea), I'm just pointing out the flaw in the logic.
>
> -Ross.
>
>
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-- 
C.L. Kiess, B.A., M.L.S.
Information & Knowledge Specialist
Columbus Regional Hospital
Library & Knowledge Services