The Independent on Sunday Blog

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

2007-11-29T19:48:00Z

‘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, 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.

Meet three library & information professionals at an early stage in their careers

2007-11-29T19:21:00Z

Karen Poole (Assistant Librarian, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain)

Poole provides a ‘non-clinical’ enquiry service to pharmacists, trainees and Society staff, as well as offering training on how to find pharmaceutical information. As a qualified professional she uses her skills to support pharmacists in practice and with their continuing professional development.

Formerly a careers assistant in a university careers service, she realised that she enjoyed helping students locate information. She worked as a graduate trainee for a year before gaining her MSc in Information Science in 2003.

Career high Being awarded the Travelling Librarian Award 2007, visiting health and pharmacy libraries and information centres in Washington DC, Boston and Memphis.

Career low None really; the closest is a temporary job in Sydney which involved a lot of data entry – but it did help fund six months travelling around Australia.

What next? Staying in health information, concentrating on enquiry work and training.

Dave Puplett (Project and Communications Officer, London School of Economics)

Puplett is working on a project to develop solutions to the problem of identifying different versions of files kept in digital repositories. In the process he’s met a lot of people in higher education information, which has helped him with his application to CILIP for professional Chartership.

He’s particularly proud of some of the events he’s organized with CPD25, the continuing professional development programme operated by the M25 Consortium of academic libraries in London.

Career high Being offered his current post at the LSE, helping drive to drive forward open access to research.

Career low Being told by a student that he had ‘no idea what it was like to do a degree’, despite having an MA.

What next? Dozens of possible routes, once his present contract ends.

Melissa Wyatt (Library and Information Manager, Royal Town Planning Institute)

Wyatt has spent the last three to four years developing the Institute’s information service, looking after its publications, its enquiry service and its collections of books and journals. She has a wealth of knowledge on spatial planning, housing and environmental protection.

She always wanted to work in museums or libraries because she was curious about the history of architecture, art & design and music.

Career high Becoming a Chartered Library & Information Professional after developing the RTPI’s library services.

Career low Having to fund her own way through university by working part time.

What next? Ideally, becoming an information manager in a museum or an arts librarian, working with the community and encouraging young adults to embrace cultural and artistic pursuits.

Find out more about CILIP

2007-11-27T12:17:00Z

CILIP is the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. We're the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers.

We form a community of around 36,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 21,000 are CILIP members and around 15,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises.

Watch a video of John Woolley, Managing Director of CILIP Enterprises, explaining a bit more about us.

View Video
Format: wmv
Duration: 3.36

Chief Exec of British Library - challenges and opportunities web 2.0 brings

2007-11-22T12:39:00Z

The main article includes quotes from Lynne Brindley (Chief Executive of the British Library)

Watch video highlights from her speech at the CILIP Umbrella conference 2007. She shares her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities web 2.0 creates for information professionals.

Watch on Youtube

Watch on the CILIP website