Seth Godin is Onto Something
The author Seth Godin recently blogged about the future role of libraries. He see less emphasis on books and more on librarians. He hopes for a place where people are passionate about knowledge. A place where librarians are valued because they connect the community with information in ways that are fast and smart.
In short, you might say that in a time of social networking, libraries will need to boost their social skills to match their information networking skills. Here at The Harold B. Lee Library at BYU we are on track. We are spreading the word that the library has a team of librarians who are ready to help you with a surprising variety of tasks, and they are experts on a wide variety of subjects.
In case you missed them before here are introductory videos on 6 of our 30+ subject librarians. We hope this gets you started in your search for the librarian who can help you find just what you need in a world where the number of information sources is only going up. *
James D’Arc-Special Collections Curator of Arts/Film/Communications
Richard Hacken-European Studies & Linguistics Librarian
Betsy Hopkins-Life Sciences Librarian
Andy Spackman-Business & Economics Librarian
Rachel Wadham-Education Librarian
Albert Winkler-American & British History Librarian
There are many more specialist librarians in the library who are ready to help you with everything from major faculty reserch projects to writing your first paper as a freshmen. Mr. Godin’s idea of the future is waiting here for you.
*In the past on of the roles of a librarian was to be a gate keeper. Librarians not only provided information, they protected information, mainly in the form of books and scrolls, from patron abuse and environmental damage. Today librarians increasingly act, not as gate keepers, but as floodgate keepers. There are so many sources for information that the new ideal for librarians is to provide only the best information at the time it is needed.
Thanks to Camille Whitely for her work creating the librarian slide shows.