@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.

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

@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.

[…] 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/ […]