Changes and Role Ambiguity

I realise that it has been an issue for awhile, but as it has raised it's head again, I felt I needed to sit down on the edge of your bed and have a talk with you.
There appears to be some changes happening, and I just don't want you to be unprepared for the future.

So, obviously I'm talking about the changing role of Librarians and Libraries and the uncertainty that comes a long with that.
I am going to quote the abstract of a research article here:
"Survey of 547 public library reference librarians compared to a similar study of teachers indicates that: 35% of librarians experienced burnout; burnout was high where role ambiguity and role conflict were present; role variable use in predicting burnout was statistically significant"

Sound familiar? ' you feeling like being a librarian in the digital age is wearing you down?
Now, like a good librarian should, I am going to give you the bibliographic information of the article...
Birch, Nancy. Perceived Role Conflict, Role Ambiguity, and Reference Librarian Burnout in Public Libraries. Library and Information Science Research, v8 n1 p53-65 Jan-Mar 1986

I'm sorry... what was the year published? 1986? You read it right.

What about this one by Liz Burke:
The future role of librarians in the virtual library environment. - Published in the Australian Library Journal over 11 years ago.

It's worth a read, by the way.

Librarians have always done the same thing, and will continue to do it into the future: Connect people with information. What librarians need is good learning networks and strong leadership. They need to have the discussions about what they are doing and how they do it best, and why.

New Librarians' Symposium 6

In February I went to NLS6 to talk about Social Media. Not just to say that "all the cool kids are doing it and so should we", but to show how to do it so that it has maximum effect. It is not enough to just have an account. The tool is not effective without super social media mastery.
So, how do you get support to invest time (and therefore money) in creating and maintaining relationships and networks via social media? Creating "the willing" is the first step.

More importantly: 
In a world where anyone can post anything online, libraries cannot participate in social media without letting go of the idea that they can control everything that is said about them. Often, libraries are part of larger institutions and bound by their rules. 

 How do we push the boundaries? 
How do we let go of the idea of the library as a "dispenser of knowledge" and join the dialogue?

View presentation here
Audio of the presentation is available here

Librarian in Limbo

Where are we when we are not working?

Librarians are people who often identify strongly with their profession. What do you identify with that is not your profession? Please leave comments below.

Doom and Gloom

The unthinkable has happened. My employment contract has not been renewed, and I have failed to get one of three permanent positions offered.

So, what do I do now? I have come up with a handy list. :)

1. Make sure that all my work projects are either completed or tidied up and carefully handed over to someone competent. I want people to remember me for how well I did things, not for all the jobs I left unfinished in the ether.
2. Keep a copy of all those bouquets I receive from happy colleagues and clients. I may need these later for answering a selection criterion with evidence.
3. Thank all the beautiful, brilliant and wonderful people I have worked with and spend some time letting them know how much I appreciate them.
4. Contact the all most experienced people I know for advice and other useful "know-how".
5. Look for any position for which I satisfy all the essential selection criteria and apply for it.
6. Repeat steps 4. & 5. until a satisfactory state of employment is reached
7. Don't stuff it up, Teg!

There are a lot of people in a similar situation right now. Good luck to all of you in finding something that challenges you and enriches your life, where you are valued and your unique skill set is appreciated.

Hugs.

ALIAQLD "Innovate, Evolve, Create"

Super Social Media Mastery (Mistress-y?) for Librarians

Freaks and Geeks :P

A personal post, which is mildly library related...

As well as being a mum of four and working part-time, I am also the Secretary of the Ipswich ASD Parents/Carers Support Group. ASD meaning Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

One of my children is diagnosed as Austistic, and my baby is diagnosed as having an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. It is not sad, or a shame. They are awesome, and smart, and interesting.

Now, having worked for a little while in libraries, I have noticed a massive over representation of people on the Autistic Spectrum, particularly those with Asperger's Syndrome. Everyone seems to have a child, or two, or three, on the spectrum, or are Aspies themselves.

Have libraries always been full of "freaks and geeks"? Is it only academic libraries where this is the case? Or is it something to do with the increasing importance of IT? I am very curious to see what you all think.

PS. I do consider myself a "freak" and a "geek", and therefore intend no slight by those terms.

P.P.S. I am not someone who believes that ASDs are some sort of modern disease. Although there do seem to be some environmental factors for some people with ASDs, my family history suggests that it occurs largely due to genetic factors.

Ebooks... awkward.

My position on ebooks in the library is… awkward (kind of like I am squatting on one foot - with my elbow in my ear –under a desk).

The excited, early-adopting techie in me loves the idea, while the open-access, liberal-thinking idealist hates the limitations and prices that the current models place on libraries and users. 

The recent tension between librarians, the American Library Association, and Publishers has made me feel like librarians may need to rally together to describe what we think is a fair and reasonable price.

I agree with ANNOYED LIBRARIAN that 3 times the price of a print book for an ebook allowing access to three simultaneous users seems a fair and reasonable price for a library to pay for an item. Would the library then have access to this item indefinitely, though? That would seem fair.

Current models for ebook packages allow the vendor or publisher to cancel the availability of any individual item in the collection purchased, without notifying the purchasing library. This is like a bookseller coming back three years after selling you a book and stealing it from your collection. The catalogue record remains, but when a library patron goes to look for it, it’s missing.

I am particularly frustrated with ebooks that cannot be read by text to speech software. Digital items should increase accessibility, not decrease it!

What is with vendors/publishers charging more than twice the print price for a single concurrent user?!