Top 10 Things That Are Being Killed Off By Digitalization

One of the most interesting library-related lists I have seen recently is this list:

Top 10 Things That Are Being Killed Off By Digitalization, by Richard.

That’s all I have today - you might also want to look at the discussion in the comments beneath that post - some good thoughts there. What do you think is being killed off by digitalization?

Librarians, Library Assistants, and Library Staff Titles

From my reading this year in the world of libraries, there seems to be a bit of contention about who should hold the title of “librarian,” and who should be titled an assistant, technician, or the like. This blog post highlighted this for me, and made me want to share some thoughts on titles with you:

Librarians and library assistants, by Stephen Denney

Initially, I agreed with Mr. Denney - there are many folks out there working in libraries who do not have an MSLIS who do great work, and share skillsets with librarians. The library workers out there with these skills should not be disparaged by other MSLIS holding staff simply because they do not have the degree. Intelligent people work in libraries, and should be treated with respect - regardless of their title. (I also, incidentally, think this applies in life.)

However, I can see some points of the other side of this argument, and I think that is where my opinion lies - just over the “line” of this debate. I have an abstract concept of how I feel, but allow me to illustrate it first with an example from another field.

An MSLIS is a professional degree - much like a J.D. is for a lawyer, or an M.D. for a practicing physician. These degrees give the holders (of the degrees) the skills, knowledge, and expertise to perform tasks in their fields at a very high level, and to be considered experts in the field - so much so that people will pay handsomely for their services. Patients who need medical advice on a problem do not seek out a physician’s assistant, nor do people seek out paralegals when they need good legal advice. They might go to these people for general pointers, but not to solve problems - you seek out a “professional.”

And so, I think that the public at-large is partially responsible for the “title divide” in librarianship talked about in Mr. Denney’s blog post. When people have an information problem, they seek out a librarian - a person with a professional degree. And this is not to discount the skills of assistants, etc - but people desire that someone with the skills gained in the course of their professional degree help them with their problem. And, that is why I think that the title “librarian” should be restricted to MSLIS holders.

Decorating for the Holidays

Last night, Jen and I put up our Christmas decorations in preparation for the holidays. This really is our favorite time of year, as there is so much to love about it. The weather (especially this year) is wonderful, and we love the spirit of friendship and fellowship that (for us) really drives this season. We both love to hang decorations in our house, and each of us have our favorite decorations from when we were kids. Here’s some photos, and we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

The Information Diet

On this blog, I have referenced before that one of the developing and stated roles of librarians is to help people decipher and sift through the massive amount of information available to them so that they can find what they need. While catching up on my Google Reader this weekend, I read this interesting article, that tells us that on the average, Americans “consume” about 34 gigabytes of information each day. Of course, only part of that is traditionally the purview of librarians - but it does give you an idea of just how much information we use (and need, hopefully) on an average day. Here’s the article, I hope you enjoy it:

The American Diet: 34 Gigabytes a Day by Nick Bilton

The Kimbell Holiday Party

Jen’s job at the Kimbell has many perks - one of them being the annual holiday party. All of the staff is invited, and everyone has a great time. I think last night was the best one I have been to - mostly because of two things: the hard work Jen put in (she did an amazing job!!) and the folks we sat with. What a fun evening! Here are a couple of photos of the party in that beautiful space:

A Recent Video Recommendation

Readers,

Jen and I are currently working our way through the most recent film and book by Simon Schama: The American Future: A History. We really like the work of Schama - he is a great (peerless I would say) narrative historian; whose works include A History of Britain, and The Power of Art. His most recent series looks at American history through the lens of the election of Barack Obama. We are in the middle of the first episode and we are enjoying it - and you might, too, Here’s a preview:

What’s new around the Dean Files

Well, hello reader - it has been a while since last we met. Things have been quite busy here at the Dean Files, so let me fill you in on all the goings-on.

First, my fall semester at Syracuse is all wrapped up, which is great. I feel as if I have learned a great deal, and some of it I have already put into practice. I’ll write more about using my new reference skills in another post, but I have enjoyed putting the abstract concepts discussed in class into practice in the “real world.” Over the month of December, I will do my best to share with you some of the things I found interesting that I picked up over the semester.

Second, Jen and I have been hard at work creating a links page for The Dean Files, and that page is now live - you can go to it through the link at the top of the page. The links page features some of the links we really enjoy from a variety of areas - so check it out. We also have updated the Library link up top to reflect out current collection.

Third, the holiday season is upon us. A busy time for everyone, but a great one - I will be sharing more personal news and updates on here during the month of December, and I hope you like it.

See you again tomorrow!

Jason