An article from Down Under about librarians wanting to be “knowledge managers” and “information officers.” Sigh.
The image of the stuffy librarian is being revamped in a bid to attract younger people to the profession.
As part of the change, librarians want to drop their stereotyped name tag and be called knowledge managers and information officers.
This week, more than 500 information professionals from around the world are in Adelaide for the 10th Asia Pacific Special Health and Law Librarians Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
The theme of the conference is “celebrate the future” and it will focus on the challenges of archiving and the fast pace of technology.
To change the image of the information profession, a national virtual group has been set up.
librarian image
I much prefer revamping the stuffy librarian image by calling myself a Librarian loudly and proudly, while at the same time not being stuffy. I’m not one of the cool kids, but I’m also not a stereotypical librarian. No matter what we call ourselves, if we aren’t hip to what our patrons need, then they will still have negative images of us.
Re:librarian image
I agree. Although “knowledge manager” is not as awful as “information gatekeeper”, one of the kookier job titles I’ve held.
Re:librarian image …
However, “Goddess of Enlightenment” might not be so bad