>>"...librarians today need--more than ever--imagination."
>>
>>I agree 100% with this, but I still believe that we as librarians - *all*
>>librarians - need some basic understanding of scripting, html, xml,
>>relational databases, etc. We need a basic understanding of multiple data
>>formats, how networks work and common network protocols.
>>
>>Again, we *all* would benefit greatly from this. Without such basic
>>understanding, how can we begin to imagine the possibilities for using
>>technology to further our mission?
--------------------------------------
>I agree, so long as the emphasis is on "understanding" and not doing. Leave
>the doing to the experts who can create databases and tweak formats many
>times better and far more efficiently than someone who just fools with
>something.
>
>But a good understanding, along with hearing ideas from others, helps spur
>the imagination.
--------------------------------------
Indeed, any deeper level of understanding of these technologies *will* benefit the profession.
Lost in much of this recent discussion is - as you pointed out earlier - an emphasis on the librarian's real core strength - and no, it is not simply "telling people about books" a la Amazon or Google. It is organizing, preserving and making knowledge (not necessarily simple information) accessible. There is amazing potential in new technologies to better organize and present what is currently a chaos of knowledge and information available in myriad formats - from books, periodicals, free and purchased online resources, media, microforms, learning objects, datasets, and on and on. As librarians well know, many of these sources of information are dubious or are of questionable provenance. We - not Amazon or Google - are called-upon by our patrons to help navigate this stuff.
So, yes, not all librarians need to be coders - but without a doubt we need librarian technologists in house wherever possible and we need a much more sophisticated, profession-wide understanding of technology. This allows us to exercise our imagination - to see the amazing possibilities - and to more efficiently choose and use technology (and to work with consultants and vendors, of course) to further our core mission.
Unfortunately, given some of the interesting postings here about the situation with the library curriculum it seems that coming to such a better understanding as a profession will be a long process...
--------------------------------------
Kevin M. Kidd, MA, MLIS
Library Applications & Systems Manager
Boston College Libraries
Phone: 617-552-1359
Fax: 617-552-1089
e-Mail: kevin.kidd_at_bc.edu
Blog: http://datadrivenlibrary.blogspot.com/
Received on Tue Sep 30 2008 - 07:56:35 EDT