Wait...the future is already upon us. Turns out we just need the funding to make it the present.
My graduate class on technology integration was discussing the future of libraries just the other day. I know, I know; what a serendipitous blog post this is! Anyway, we talked about how the librarian of the future (and the present) needs to be more of an "information technology specialist" than a classic "librarian." What does this mean?
Simply put, it means that millions of adolescent boys will need to start having information technology specialist fantasies.
It also means that future librarians will still need to be expert managers of information, as they are now, but they will need to do it in a different medium. In this case, in the 1s and 0s of code, as opposed to the whole range of numbers and letters employed by the Dewey Decimal system.
I feel like current librarians are probably facing the same issues that current teachers are: the push towards technology, the questions of relevancy, and the sinking feeling of the path you decided to follow suddenly changing directions.
Like teachers, I'm sure librarians will grow and change with the changing times. Some will be left behind, some will be overwhelmed, and some will be forced into retirement.
But what comes out the other side will be the librarians we need to keep information organized, to keep reading relevant, and to keep the whole exchange of ideas and literature flowing freely.
No comments:
Post a Comment