Do you see tools like Ask Metafilter and Yahoo! Answers as a threat to our role?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: As I learn more and more about the evolution of the library as an information center, coinciding with the evolution of the Internet and its various information tools, I have always heard the same panicky question "Is [insert Information Tool Name here] taking away our job as a librarian?! Is my job safe anymore?!" When people turned to TV for entertainment instead of reading books, librarians felt threatened that no one would visit the library anymore. I believe this question was also asked when the Internet started gaining popularity and more people turned to the Internet to get their questions asked. When Google became the all-knowing entity for all things information, librarians again found themselves insecure about their position in the community. I think after 10, 15, 20, 50 years, the library is safe for now. Even with the rise in eBook readers, the library is still relevant in society and nothing like an online answer/question community is going to take away the important role that library's play in our cities, towns, and states.
The library or librarian shouldn't feel any more threatened by these types of online tools anymore than they should feel threatened that I ask my dad a simple question about how to find old vintages of wine from a certain winery, or that I ask my husband what he would suggest for a new graphics card for my computer, or my mom when I need cooking advice, or my best friend what she thinks if these shoes go with this outfit. Humans are a curious bunch and they'll ask questions non-stop if you let them. We will turn to anyone for answers, including the library, and especially the library when we're looking for knowledge that we know the library would have on-hand. Yes, it is extremely convenient to sit at home and throw out a question online and get an answer right away. The library does have its reputation for providing accurate and correct information when asked and it is extremely easy to get inaccurate information online.
So, no, I don't think that our role has information-provider is threatened by the popularity of sites like Yahoo! Answers. I honestly feel that, as librarians, we really need a boost to our self-esteem and start seeing that we are incredibly useful and necessary and relevant in our communities, no matter what kind of new information portal is found online. It's easy to start feeling like everyone's online now and our hold on being the one information hub is slipping, but not everyone is online and there are plenty of communities who are desperate to have a library of their own and not just a random person online who is willing to answer their question about whether or not the same signal strength is required to send/receive text messages as is required to send/receive phone calls on their cell phone.
Great post! It's certainly been my experience in my reference desk internship that people want to know a broad spectrum of things, and like to ask a trusted source - i.e. a librarian or reference desk worker - to look it up for them. I've also noticed that a lot of people have internet literacy problems, and find it easier to ask an information professional than attempt to look it up themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree that just because some new technology is abound doesn’t mean the end of libraries or librarians. If anything, I believe that it shows how resilient librarians can be in the face of new challenges. Instead of shirking away, librarians have embraced technology and are using it to their advantages to revamp library services. This course is a testament to that, I mean here we are learning how to utilize the very things that supposedly threaten our existence. Besides with the information inundation brought forth by the Web, librarians are needed now more than ever to manage the ever-growing mounds of information.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned librarian insecurity surrounding the advent of Google and Leah indicated that many people “find it easier to ask an information professional than attempt to look it up themselves.” I found this to be true as well (also interning at the reference desk) and actually used Google quite often to answer ready-reference questions. Sometimes patrons were surprised by this so I would explain that in these cases, Google can be a good tool to use.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your take on turning to other people for answers. Time and again, surveys/studies have shown that people that we know are the first source that we go to when looking for answers. It’s always been this way, pre-Internet or otherwise and probably will continue to be so.
“It's easy to start feeling like everyone's online now and our hold on being the one information hub is slipping, but not everyone is online.” How true. But even if everyone was online, libraries and librarians are now too. Many libraries now offer all kinds of virtual services, including 24/7 digital reference (with real people!), text reference, mobile web sites, etc. Libraries can definitely compete in the online world but librarians need to increase patron awareness of their online presence to the same level as that of tools like Yahoo!Answers.