<$BlogRSDUrl$> Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
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Thursday, December 02, 2004  

Librarian As Information Advisor
http://snipurl.com/aw7q

With more people equating "research" with a quick, two-word search on Google, librarians need to do a better job at publicizing their expertise and differentiating what they offer from surfing the Web. Rita Vine, co-founder of WorkingFaster.com, says, "To most users the world is just a giant bunch of information behind a screen, all of it accessible by keyword. I think librarians bring to the table an understanding of the nature of publishing. We know that some information might be in books, some might be in journals, others might be found in white papers or government documents. We're about to take a more structured approach than the average person who doesn't understand exactly how information happens." Vines says the world of information has become so complex that librarians need to move away from teaching patrons research methodology and toward the role of information advisor. "It's as if you wanted advice from your stockbroker and your stockbroker said, 'I'm not going to give you advice, I'm going to show you how to do technical analysis and then you can do it yourself, and at the end of the day, once you've figured out how to do this, you're going to pick your own stocks and you're not going to need me.' You can see the lunacy of that. And I think information is getting that complicated. People need advice and recommendations and they need a way for us to simplify their lives. So public sector librarians are moving to become advice givers -- we are actually in the business of saving time."

posted by Marcus Zillman | 4:15 AM
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