Librarian

A librarian is a person who develops procedures for organizing information and provides services that assist and instruct people in the most efficient ways to identify and access any needed information or information resource (article, book, magazine, etc.). In the workplace, the librarian is usually a professional with a Master's degree in library science or information science who is trained and educated to analyze information needs and use a wide variety of information resources to meet those needs. Although librarians are traditionally associated with collections of books, they can deal with the organization and retrieval of information in many formats such as Internet resources, compact discs, photographs, videotapes, newspapers, magazines, and computer databases.

Technology in libraries

The increasing role of technology in libraries has a significant impact on the changing roles of librarians. New technologies are dramatically increasing the accessibility of information, and librarians are adapting to the evolving needs of users that emerge from the adoption of these new technologies.

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The most significant example of how technology has changed the role of librarians in the last 50 years has been the move from traditional card catalogs to online public access catalogs (OPAC). Librarians had to develop software and the MARC standards for cataloging records electronically. They had to purchase and run the computers necessary to use the software. They had to teach the public how to use the new technologies and move to more virtual working environments.

Related Topics:
OPAC - MARC standards

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The same could be said of other technology developments from electronic databases (including the Internet) to logistical functions such as barcodes (or in the near future RFID). In the future, it will not be uncommon for librarians to be providing virtual reference services, using digital rights management to distribute documents, work in digitalization initiatives for works in the public domain or working on the development of information architectures for improving access and search functionality - among other things. These examples are merely new ways that librarians are using technology to fulfill and expand upon their historical roles.

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For some, there is the belief that technology will eventually make librarians irrelevent. It is not uncommon to find mention of trivial applications of technology as "librarians". For example, in 2004 a group of researchers in Spain developed the UJI Online Robot. Many called this a robotic librarian. Considering that the robot was only capable of navigating the library, looking for the needed book and carefully taking it from the shelf, speculation on the potential threat to the job security of this kind of robot to librarians is premature.

Related Topics:
2004 - Spain - UJI Online Robot

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Practically, advances in technology move to eliminate more mundane tasks - such as getting books from a shelf - and free librarians for more difficult and valuable work. Those librarians that embrace technology and use it to their advantage only increase their job security - not decrease it.

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