Who letthelibrariansouttxla april2012webversion

1. This presentation was given at the Texas Library Association annual conference inHouston on April 18, 2012.The central theme is that not only is digital content freeing librarians for new roles, itis demanding that we take on new roles and operate in new ways. 1

2. Libraries and Chains: when information was scarce and expensive, it made sense tokeep it in the library. People had to come to the library for it, so it made sense for thelibrarian to stay in the library too. 2

3. Libraries and Chains – Printing Press. When information became a bit moreaccessible, thanks to Gutenberg, we started letting it out of the libraries. But peoplestill came to the library to get it and bring it back. So the librarian stayed put. 3

4. With mobile digital information, information is ubiquitous. It is literally in your face,all the time. (Google glasses.) 4

5. The Reference Desk. If information is everywhere, does it make sense for us to stayat the reference desk? No, and many librarians are experimenting with new ways ofworking. 5

6. There are different approaches to the new environment and different names forthem. I believe the most comprehensive and effective is the embedded librarian, soI’d like to explore what embedded librarianship is all about. 6

7. At Johnson & Wales University, Mia Lamm and Nicole Covone began collaboratingwith teaching faculty and offering embedded information literacy instruction inkitchens to students in Culinary Arts. 7

8. American University. At American University, Nobue Matsuoka-Motley became anembedded librarian in the Katzen Center for the Performing Arts. She is a performeras well as a librarian. 8

9. Ziba Design. At Ziba Design, Reece Dano’s involvement in a project to design a newtransit station led to roles above and beyond the traditional idea of a librarian’s work. 9

10. First, 2 things that embedded librarianship is not. One, it’s not just for academic orcorporate librarians. It applies to librarians in every setting. Two, it’s not just aboutphysical co-location. Embedded librarians can be virtually embedded too. 10

11. Here’s a definition: Embedded librarianship is a model of librarianship in which thelibrarian builds a relationship with members of a particular information usercommunity, focuses on understanding the activities of the community andcontributing to it, and becomes an integral member of it. 11

12. These Five Factors differentiate Embedded Librarianship from traditionallibrarianship and other models. 12

13. We’ve already discussed the profound impact of ubiquitous digital information. Itis dramatically reducing demand for traditional reference services at the same time itis freeing up librarians to get out of the library and become embedded – working fromanywhere. There are other factors driving this change as well. 13

14. We live in the knowledge society and the knowledge economy. Librarians arebadly needed for new roles – even if those who need us don’t always realize it! 14

15. The World is Flat, as Thomas Friedman pointed out. A good way to be important isto be flexible and provide highly valued, highly context-sensitive contributions – notstandard, commoditized services. 15

16. In his book The Difference, Professor Scott Page makes the case that cognitivelydiverse teams have superior performance. Librarians bring unique cognitive diversityto teams because we see the information and knowledge dimensions of tasks andproblems. 16

17. Daniel Pink and others assert that we need the creative, qualitative, story-oriented right brain as well as the rational, quantitative left brain skills to solve today’sproblems. Librarians bring story and cultural awareness as well as rationality to theirwork. 17

18. Here are a few testimonials to the power of embedded librarianship. These are alltaken from my research, funded by the Special Libraries Association. 18

19. This quotation comes from a biology professor I interviewed. She credits thepractice of embedding a librarian in first-year courses with giving studentsinformation literacy skills that they retain, enabling them to out-perform others insubsequent academic work. 19

20. This engineering director relies on the embedded librarian’s domain and contextknowledge as well as the librarian’s unique perspective on new and important issues. 20

21. The Business Development Director at this international law firm made a simpleand powerful statement summing up several examples of the embedded librarian’simpact. 21

22. Here are some basic ideas for managers or embedded librarians who want toinitiate or strengthen embedded librarianship programs. 22

23. The five ideas. 23

24. Here’s a summary of the ideas I’ve presented. 24

25. I can’t think of a better comment to end this presentation. It comes from anarticle by Nancy Davis Kho (Information Today, March 2011, p. 1) about plans toimplement embedded librarianship at the Johns Hopkins University School ofMedicine. 25

26. The choice to take the new opportunity of embedded librarianship belongs toeach of us. Thank you. 26

Who letthelibrariansouttxla april2012webversion

by DShumaker

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

Who letthelibrariansouttxla april2012webversion Document Transcript