The Independent on Sunday blog
29 November 2007

Why do we need professional librarians and information managers when there’s so much available online? Tim Buckley Owen discovers the real value librarians deliver

‘Imagine what Buffy the Vampire Slayer would have been like without Rupert Giles.  Whenever Buffy faced a new threat, she turned to her librarian for help.’

 

Knowledge team librarian Michael Stead isn’t claiming that the nation would be overrun by the undead if we didn’t have information professionals.  But he does say that the world would be all the poorer without them.

 

Stead, who works for Bolton public libraries, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP).  But in fact, fewer than a third of CILIP’s 21,000 or so members work in public libraries.

 

They can be found in education, government, the health service, law firms and business. To get to where they are, they’ll have been through university and usually hold professional qualifications as well.

 

Ian Snowley

Ian Snowley, CILIP President

‘CILIP’s qualifications framework assures employers and individuals that they can trust a Registered Practitioner to have the qualifications, knowledge and skills to deliver an effective service,’ says CILIP’s President Ian Snowley.  ‘Unless you really understand how information behaves and how the internet and databases actually store and index information, you can’t hope to be efficient in searching for it.’

 

‘If the profession didn't exist then someone would probably invent it,’ adds Edwina Wontner, Business Awareness Manager at the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. ‘People have a basic need to codify and understand their surroundings.’

 

Information professionals are working hard to ensure that people can rely on the information they find online.  Tony Ross is a research assistant working for the Centre for Digital Library Research at the University of Strathclyde, helping academics and researchers create high quality information resources for the web.

 

He’s concerned about the amount of ‘intellectually questionable and ethically dubious material’ to be found online. ‘The Web is not a library, it is a chaotic dumping ground of information,’ he says.

 

‘Anyone can gain access to information 24/7,’ adds Marlene Blackstock, whose job is to improve the information literacy skills of NHS primary care and mental health staff.  ‘But is it the right information? If not, it may have devastating effects.’

 

‘How could we trade effectively as a nation if we did not know details of who to trade to, why, when and where?’ challenges Jill Fenton, head of the independent firm Fenton Research.  

 

‘If information in market reports, patents and trademark journals cannot be traced and interpreted, a great deal of precious time and money can be wasted in pursuing an “invention”, only to find that either there is no market for it or someone else has a patent on some crucial aspect of the design,’ says Chris Banks, the Librarian of Aberdeen University.

 

‘The idea that everything is now freely available online is a fallacy,’ concludes Joanna Ball, Sub-Librarian at Trinity College Cambridge, whose post was established as long ago as 1772.  ‘Much of the huge quantity of information available today via the web is not authoritative or comprehensive.’

 

The British Library is taking a major lead in ensuring that libraries remain in the forefront of web developments.  Its most visible current example is the work it is doing with schools on its learning website, which is mapping Britain in dialect.

 

 

Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library

 

‘We no longer have a monopoly on information/knowledge management, if we ever did, today everyone is a researcher,’ says Lynne Brindley, the British Library’s Chief Executive.  But, she continues, ‘Web 2.0 offers enormous opportunities for the enhancement and continuing relevance of many of our existing service offerings, as well as new roles.’ Watch a video of Lynne Brindley talking the challenges and opportunities Web 2.0 creates for the profession. 

 

Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust

 

Britain currently faces big educational challenges. There are concerns not only about basic literacy, but about information literacy too.  ‘Information requires validation, management and interpretation,’ says Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, which runs major initiatives such as the 2008 National Year of Reading.

 

Douglas is clear about what the world would be like without library and information professionals.  ‘There would be less creativity, connections and collaboration,’ he says.  ‘Links and learning between people and ideas would be missed.’

 

How important are library and information professionals to you? Have your say and write a comment.
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Comments

# Ruth Holmes said:

Professional Librarians who engage with CILIP and keep themselves abreast of developments in the everchanging world  are very important . They  ensure that information is valid and effective and disseminated correctly.

03 December 07 at 20:00
# Mary Tucker said:

As a professional within librarianship I have a burning passion to be a gateway for people to access knowledge and information; without these access points to guide people in a constructive way.....confusion will reigh, but we do have to move with the times and be prepared to use contemporary approaches.

04 December 07 at 12:15
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About marktaylor

I'm Mark Taylor and I've worked at CILIP since March 2006. I work on two high-profile awards - the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards and the CILIP / LiS Libraries Change Lives Award. I'm interested in e-marketing - using social networking sites for professional purposes, blogs, and enriching web content using video and audio. When not working at CILIP I can often be spotted riding my fold-up bike through north London.