Why Being A Librarian Is Like Being An Opium Addict

People always wonder why librarians enjoy their jobs. We sit around all day and wait to find answers to questions we know nothing about. It Turns Out we’re just addicted. It is something we seem hard-wired to do, says Dr. Biederman. When you find new information, you get an opioid hit, and we are junkies for those. You might call us ‘infovores.’ ” We are programmed for scarcity and can’t dial back when something is abundant.
In other words, coming across what Dr. Biederman calls new and richly interpretable information triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good, which in turn causes us to seek out even more of it. The reverse is true as well: We want to avoid not getting those hits because, for one, we are so averse to boredom.

March 14, 2008 by Blake Uncategorized 6

Soa says:

March 14, 2008 at 8:24 pm

Librarian exemplify a high
Librarian exemplify a high demanded position. Especially with a large institution such as a local university or public entity. From sources I have heard they make a decent salary with some figures close to the range of six.

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Anonymous says:

March 14, 2008 at 9:52 pm

That’s a pretty fast and loose analogy
Granted, I’m likely to be in the small minority of librarians who have seen the ravages of opiate abuse up close and personal, but your comparison is way off.
I assure you, you don’t have a clue about the horrors of being addicted to heroin.

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Abbie says:

March 15, 2008 at 2:48 am

Why Being A Librarian Is Like Being An Opium Addict
I must confess that I know nothing about opium addiction, but I do think that, at least for some of us, finding quality information is addictive. Certainly that is true of blogging too.

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Chuck says:

March 15, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Chuck’s wild years
When I was younger I smoked opium twice. No kidding. It’s fun. Like Nyquil and painkillers and a glass of scotch.

It is NOT, however, anything like library work.

And they are both easy to stop doing.

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opaqueentity says:

March 17, 2008 at 3:45 pm

Love the term Infovore 🙂
Love the term Infovore 🙂

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Clannar says:

May 19, 2008 at 2:59 pm

If being a librarian is a
If being a librarian is a little like being an opium addict, how do the drug addiction treatment facilities for librarian look like? I think this kind of addiction is one of the few that don’t need rehab.

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