Comments on: Librarians, What People Think We Do

By: Information Literacy instruction on a small scale.. | ManchesterNLPN

Information Literacy instruction on a small scale.. | ManchesterNLPN — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:09:32 +0000

[...] This story starts in April when a friend and I went to Liverpool for lunch with another friend who lives there. (We went to Lucha Libre, nom). On the way back my friend, let’s call her Emma because that’s her name, told me she was going to uni in September to study Psychology. She said she was worried about doing research at the library because she wasn’t familiar with academic libraries and how to navigate them. So in the car, I started explaining about journals, databases, ebooks, reading lists etc. It became clear that this wasn’t the best way to explain the ins and outs of academic libraries so I said I would do an induction for her (yes, I am a massive library-geek). I mentioned that there would be a specific subject librarian who would know the best Psychology resources and she was surprised! And this is a person with two friends who are doing the MA in Library and Info Management. That, to me, shows that we need to really advocate what we do and explain to people what being a librarian involves. Image from http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2012/02/22/librarians-what-people-think-we-do/ [...]

By: Hugo Vargas

Hugo Vargas — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:49:24 +0000

Excelente. Recuerdo hace algunos años en una entrevista de trabajo a una persona que no sabía que realizaba un bibliotecario en una biblioteca, así que tuve que comunicar varios de los mitos que hacemos y varios de lo que no hacemos. Por supuesto, me dieron la plaza.

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:59:05 +0000

@Amanda: you're welcome! @Emilie: thank you for the link - that is something I didn't consider. @sharon: I was thinking the same thing, actually - exactly like a reference interview. Also not unlike the blind men describing an elephant story.

By: sharon

sharon — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:15:28 +0000

Thank you, I was just trying to describe the tree swing sequence to someone the other day. This was imparted to me at my first job, so I know it was around even longer than that. It applies to so many professions, not just engineering. As one of my friends said, this is why we have reference interviews.

By: Emilie Hanson

Emilie Hanson — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:05:19 +0000

You might find Sarah Park's recent blog post on these sort of Memes interesting... definitely not humorous, but worth thinking about.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:27:18 +0000

Yay! I was looking for a librarian one for the past couple of days. Thanks for posting!

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:46:12 +0000

@Jessamyn: I think it’s the shifting of perception and reality that I like in these. It’s probably true in any service industry, but in libraries especially, since we’re funding by tax dollars, it’s always important to convey what we really do to justify that money – as well as our role in the community.

By: Jessamyn

Jessamyn — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:28:02 +0000

Agreed. I just scroll through the ones on Know Your Meme when I need an internet palate cleanser.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/what-people-think-i-do-what-i-really-do/photos?sort=score