Three Lists of Must Reads

100 Best Blogs for Librarians of the Future
The folks at Bachelor’s Degree Online (whoever they are) have compiled of list of blogs to follow. Divided into Technology and Education, School and Academic Librarians, Library Issues and Advocacy, Research and Reference, Innovation and Information, Reading and Literature, and Professional categories, they include most of the ones I follow and some I have to look at. A good place to start if you’re looking to keep up with the ever-changing library world. (Find more at http://globeofblogs.com by searching on “library.”)

URL: http://www.bachelorsdegreeonline.com/blog/2009/100-best-blogs-for-librarians-of-the-future/

25 Predictions for the University of the Future
On Associate Degree (which seems to be a site similar to Bachelor’s Degree Online), site administrator Emily Thomas goes out on a limb to predict “how the university of the future will operate.” The ones focusing on libraries:
“Libraries will continue to become more tech-focused”
“Learning resources will shift online”
“There will be an increase in the variety of educational resources and materials”
and many interesting predictions for other facets of higher education.

Definitely worth a read.

URL: http://associatedegree.org/2009/07/29/25-predictions-for-the-university-of-the-future/

Best Practices for Government Libraries 2009. Change: Managing it, Surviving it and Thriving on it.
LexisNexis’s Marie Kaddel has compiled over 60 articles by librarians, association leaders, and LexisNexis consultants. Included are federal standards, actual library case studies, LexisNexis presentations, press releases, and think pieces. And all this is available for free! Download it and learn. (PS. Not just for government librarians….)

URL: http://www.lexisnexis.com/tsg/gov/Best_Practices_2009.pdf

What I've Read Lately...and So Should You

Here are a few articles that I think you should be reading. Most are from a great issue of Information Outlook (Special Libraries Association’s magazine) on the future of the profession.

Oder, Norman, MLS: Hire Ground? Library Journal 134(10):44-46, 1 June 2009. Discusses how economics and new technology may lead to fewer degreed librarians being hired and used by libraries. “Consultant Joan Frye Williams tells libraries not to put their most skilled people at the desk requiring the most interaction with the public. ‘We need to separate intake, which does not require a master’s, from execution, which does,’ she says.” But can non-professionals do an adequate reference interview?

Frey, Thomas, Rethinking the Post-Recession Specialty Library, Information Outlook 13(4):15-19, June 2009.
“…libraries will begin to experiment with a version of the digital library I’ve termed ‘the electronic outpost.’ Electronic outposts will evolve over time around the core services most relevant to a particular user group. Here are some examples of new library functions: search command centers, podcast studios, vidcast studios, virtual world stations, gamer stations, mini-theaters, cyber cafes.” Only one of these—the first—is a typical library function of today.

Huffman, Karen, Deborah Hunt, Nerida Hart, and Daniel Lee, Adding Value, Going Global, and Serving Smaller Clients, Information Outlook 134(10):27-31, June 2009.
Four SLA members were asked “to share their views on (a) the most significant developments that will affect the industry and profession and (b) how SLA can best help them and their colleagues prepare for the future.” Hart (Land and Water Australia).“I believe libraries, as we now know them, will not exist; the need for information professionals, however, will grow. They will be co-located with their clients and work side by side with them on projects to obtain better outcomes for their parent organization.” (This is how she works—her organization has no library.) “We need to educate information professionals not to expect to be located in a physical library but to think outside what has been done in the past.”

Abram, Stephen, Blogging as a Special Librarian, Information Outlook 134(10):47-48, June 2009.
Advice for newbies to blogging. “We should all be communicating regularly with our users, colleagues, patrons, markets and just plain folks. Invest part of yourself and your personality in your blog. If you’re real and authentic, people will be attracted to your advice.”

Schacter, Debbie, Adjusting to Changes in User and Client Expectations, Information Outlook 134(10):55-57, June 2009.
“Will the world be without information professionals in the future? I doubt it. Will the nature of the work or our interactions with our customers be different? Undoubtedly.”

Latham, John, Reaching Those Who Search (and Fail) on Their Own, Information Outlook 134(10):59, June 2009.
“Even if you provide excellent service, it will only be apparent to those within your organization who have benefited from it. You have to get the word out to those within your organization who have not used your services—and especially to senior management.” An Outsell survey shows that the search failure of most information workers is nearly 40 percent.

Note: Is it my imagination or are there a lot more articles in Information Outlook from people outside the library world?—regular columns excepted. While it’s good to hear from others, why aren’t there more articles by SLA members? Aren’t we submitting them?

ON FAILURE

There’s an interesting article in the latest (November/December 2008, pp. 20-22) issue of Computers in Libraries. In Failure Is Always an Option, Daniel Chudnow [Library of Congress, Washington, DC] encourages us to look at how we fail and “to be willing to share what you’ve learned when things go wrong” (20).

This is one of the problems with the library literature—we only write about “how I did things good in my library,” our successes. We can learn much more from “how I screwed up in my library,” our failures, but you hardly ever read an article about that.

You should read this article, take it to heart, and write about your failures and what you learned from them.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING RECENTLY

Here are just a few of the articles I’ve found recently that you might want to look at.

Using Our Own Services, by Wayne Bivens-Tatum [Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA], Academic Librarian, 9 October 2007, http://blogs.princeton.edu/librarian/
2007/10/using_our_own_services.html
Excerpt: “Librarians would probably be better librarians if the occasionally used the library as a non-librarian. It’s very easy to become library-centric and to think the library is the most important institution on campus.”

The Future of Reference in Special Libraries is What Information Pros Can Make It, by Stephen Abram [SirsiDynix, Toronto, Ontario, Canada], Information Outlook 11(10):35-36, October 2007. Abram lists 8 possible scenarios for the future: from “Status Quo: A Recipe for Fossilization” to “Extreme Reference: Emergency Librarian.” A must-read for all librarians.

Practicing the Fine Art of Paying Attention, by John Latham [Special Libraries Association, Arlington, Virginia, USA], Information Outlook 11(10):44, October 2007.
Excerpt: “In this age of multitasking we often forget that giving someone your undivided attention is a good habit to acquire. It may be stating the obvious, but listening is still cool.”

Librarians: Too Traditional? by Francine Fialkoff [Editor-in-Chief], Library Journal 132(6):8, 1 October 2007.
Excerpt: “We still need to convince many younger librarians to stay in the field for the long haul. We have about a decade or so before we’ll start seeing the effects if we don’t. As the pace of technological and social change accelerates, we need those innovators and risk-takers in our libraries. So, if you’re one of those who holds the reins of tradition too tightly, loosen up.”

Great Work, Genuine Problems, by John N. Berry III [Editor at Large], Library Journal 132(6):26-29, 1 October 2007. This is the first of a three-part report on job satisfaction of librarians. Mostly, we like our jobs, but they could be a lot better if a few things were improved (pay, status, flexibility, managers, for a start). This is also a must-read. (If you aren’t a subscriber, check with your local public library—they probably get it and will loan it to you long enough to photocopy this article.)

Web 2.0 Alphabet: Part I, by Shirley Duglin Kennedy [MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, USA and St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA] , Information Today24(9):17, 19. This is a neat way to learn about Web 2.0 tools.