Ted Gemberling: "Michael, if I understand what you're saying, it's that
libraries are not educational institutions at all. People shouldn't
expect to learn anything when they come to libraries."
Michael, Thomas, Irene,
You guys have given Ted some great responses. I agree with the points
you make (and education-wise, would like to add that librarians can be
especially helpful when one wanders away from their own discipline into
others - which good scholars, searching for connections, will often do).
At the same time, I think all of this may miss the real point, which in
my mind is this:
When users come into a library, or use it online, it is a good thing for
them to be able to do as much as possible, with interfaces that are
designed to be as intuitive and as helpful (i.e., by guiding folks) as
possible. And yet, they should not expect - even for advanced searching
- that they are going to know as much about the highly specialized tools
that skilled reference librarians (like Thomas Mann) have at their
disposal, any more than they would expect to be able to perform surgery
on someone.
Therefore, when Selden says:
"Whatever the considerable benefits of browse displays (I read, and took
to heart Thomas Mann's comments), the fact remains that, when I look at
our search log stats, users (as opposed to librarians) simply do NOT
browse (and it's not for lack of instruction).
I have to reply: "And, this means...?", going on to think about the "Far
Side" cartoon about the man performing gall bladder surgery on himself
at home with a book.
Therefore, I submit for example, that those who contend that...
1) pre-coordinated search strings and browse lists are not worth
continuing
2) any tool that can't be easily used by the just anybody is not worth
investing in (when one considers all that must be cut from library
budgets).
...do everything to degrade the profession and its contribution towards
scholarship (I am not saying that you guys are saying this). If
librarians want to be truly irrelevant and eliminate the profession,
this "self-immolating" (Martha Yee's phrase) road is the one to either
embrace or resign one's self too. In my mind, there is a real lack of
imagination, appreciation, and acknowledgment of the powers of the
structures librarians have built over the years.
And that's largely our fault.
Unfortunately, the whole profession doesn't seem to understand what we
are about, and so people will probably see less powerful evidence from
people like Mann in the future.
Mann, in my mind is a true librarian - a real practitioner. He has
proven this again by his encouraging evaluation of the merits of user
tagging in his latest paper. If you have not read him already, please
do!
Sadly, whatever happens in the near future, I don't think we'll be
entering a golden age of librarianship.
Regards,
Nathan Rinne
Media Cataloging Technician
ISD 279 - Educational Service Center (ESC)
11200 93rd Ave. North
Maple Grove, MN. 55369
Work phone: 763-391-7183
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Thomas Arendall-Salvetti
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 6:21 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] New subject keyword search
I was preparing a long-winded response to the following statement from
Ted Gemberling: "Michael, if I understand what you're saying, it's that
libraries are not educational institutions at all. People shouldn't
expect to learn anything when they come to libraries."
Michael beat me to it. Very well said.
The educational mission of the library is not to teach students how to
use a library.
The library's primary educational mission is to expose users to
excellent content.
The library's secondary educational mission is to teach students how to
think about research--information literacy.
A distant third would be teaching students the intricate mechanics of
the arcane information systems we have chosen to use.
Don't confuse the process of research with the purpose of research.
Any time we can make the process of research easier for the user, we
should. The less time they spend searching for information, the more
time they can spend interacting with that information. That's where the
most profound learning will take place.
Thomas Arendall-Salvetti
Reference/Instruction Librarian
Langsdale Library
University of Baltimore
1420 Maryland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-837-4275
tarendall-salvetti_at_ubalt.edu
Received on Thu Jul 26 2007 - 08:09:39 EDT