Friday, August 26, 2011

Borrow a librarian

Up till now you a library was judged by the extent of its book collection. Floors of bookshelves demanded respect. But soon when most resources are digital and available on the net the library will need to redefine itself and that process is already under way in many places. When all information is just a click away and students can have their entire course resources on a thin tablet or even smartphone. What then is the library's key resource? In a word - librarians.

Koerner Library Interior 12 by UBC Library, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic License  by  UBC Library (people in photo are not connected to the story)

I came across a short but thought provoking news item from Canada, Public library will lend out people as ‘living books’. A library in Surrey, BC, offers the opportunity to borrow a librarian. You can check out a librarian to get help with finding information for a project for example. Not for days of course but for an hour or so. An extension of this would be to discuss how to gather business intelligence for your company, how to study online etc. The key resource is expertise in how to find and exploit the resources of the web.

Numerous such “living books” have reportedly already volunteered and will be available for chats over coffee in the library’s new cafe. “What we’re aiming to do is bring the library to life for people,” explains deputy chief librarian Melanie Houlden. “There are huge repositories of experience and knowledge in their own brains.”

The opportunity for all libraries is clear. Content is everywhere but human beings can give context and support. The library of the future depends on the expertise of the staff and not on the mileage of bookshelves. Even the smallest library in terms of space can provide invaluable support to its users.

5 comments:

  1. Detta gör vi redan, Alastair, men vi kallar det Boka sökhjälp http://lnu.se/ub/sok-och-skrivhjalp/boka-sokhjalp

    Kanske är "låna en bibliotekarie" vitsigare!

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  2. Exactly Ann-Louise! But it's important to see that this expert help is a vital part of tomorrow's library - context not content.
    Maybe all staff should have bar codes ;-)

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  3. I am researching about librarian. Great post, thanks for sharing, it is very good for me. David Mark

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  4. The opportunity for all libraries is clear. Content is everywhere but human beings can give context and support. Please keep updated

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  5. tks so much for creating it. There are huge repositories of experience and knowledge in their own brain

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