Comments on: Librarians & Daytraders http://tametheweb.com/2008/08/19/librarians-daytraders/ Libraries, Technology and People by Michael Stephens Thu, 24 May 2012 02:45:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: CychoLibrarian http://tametheweb.com/2008/08/19/librarians-daytraders/comment-page-1/#comment-6158 CychoLibrarian Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:18:37 +0000 http://tametheweb.com/?p=3431#comment-6158 That's exactly it. We need to turn our attention away from the physical containers of information as we did in the past and focus on the users themselves. The role of libraries is going to be guides and intermediaries, not providers. The only way that we can do that is to be attentive to the users that are in front of us at any given moment and try to meet their needs right then, whatever they may be. That's what will yield a great experience and keep them coming back for more. But this part doesn't need to be handled by library professionals. para-professional or clerical staff can handle the day-to-day parts. The professional aspect of our jobs then becomes the value-added elements: creating customized feeds, meeting with users one-on-one for more in-depth requests, and trying to stay ahead of the trends so we can do the others. The professional aspect of our jobs may not be the front-line, reference desk part anymore. Maybe that's the difference between the daytrader at her computer and the broker on the trading floor, to stretch the metaphor? That’s exactly it. We need to turn our attention away from the physical containers of information as we did in the past and focus on the users themselves. The role of libraries is going to be guides and intermediaries, not providers. The only way that we can do that is to be attentive to the users that are in front of us at any given moment and try to meet their needs right then, whatever they may be. That’s what will yield a great experience and keep them coming back for more.

But this part doesn’t need to be handled by library professionals. para-professional or clerical staff can handle the day-to-day parts. The professional aspect of our jobs then becomes the value-added elements: creating customized feeds, meeting with users one-on-one for more in-depth requests, and trying to stay ahead of the trends so we can do the others. The professional aspect of our jobs may not be the front-line, reference desk part anymore. Maybe that’s the difference between the daytrader at her computer and the broker on the trading floor, to stretch the metaphor?

]]>