I have recently been thinking more about the role of information professionals in organizations. The above image is a metaphor that I wish to explore further in this post. Increasingly, the future of the profession is to be the spark that connects people to each other and to the information they need, whether it is somebody else in the organization, published information or something else.
Rather than seeing our role primarily as managers of systems or technolgies (though we certainly do that and do it well), I think the notion of connection is more powerful. In the context of an organization, this could mean everything from consulting to knowledge management. Everybody uses information and knowledge and this can be our way into the conversation.
I am still thinking through my ideas on this, but I think this is an idea worth developing further. At its best, the profession provides context, affect and meaning to information so that it becomes valuable for others. For example, IT systems are sometimes designed with non-user needs at their core, such as cost or ease of administration. Information professionals can translate the social and work needs of staff into IT services. The idea in that example is that we have a foot in both the operations side of an organization and the support side of an organization.
This suggestion also challenges some of the traditional values and personality traits commonly found in librarians and those in related professions. In a course reading last academic year, I read a joke about archivists that went like this: “How do you know you’ve met an extroverted archivist? They stare at your shoes, rather than their own, when they talk to you.” This is not a winning strategy, to say the least. Yes, we need technical skills, knowledge of professional standards and so forth, but the value of those skills are hobbled if we don’t get out and make connections.
For myself, I think it is also important to maintain an attitude of curiosity about the world and other people. As you will know, this comes easily to me. However, it does require some attention to do it well. Stephen Abram recently put it well in his blogpost with the great title Learning from Everywhere:
I think that if you serve a specific market that it’s a good idea to temporarily immerse yourself in it. I visit a lot of libraries, all the time. I observe. I borrow books, ask for ILL’s, try to get an out-of-town library card, ask for directions, information about programs, etc. I learn a lot.
So in the case of my participation in an international clinical trial, I do the same thing. I ask questions. What research sources so they use? How do their computer systems work? What do patient records look like and what are the privacy issues and protections? Where so they publish? Have they heard of open access? What do they use the library for? How do they relate to other parts of the community and hospital? What are their quality practices? I watch. And so on. There’s a lot for a librarian to learn.
So, here’s an idea for anyone serving a market that does experiments or conducts trials. Can you get yourself on the team? Can you be a participant? My personal advice based on my experience is that you can’t get a better education that actually immersing yourself in your user’s ecology.
Then you’ll have personal stories to share and connect with users.
That entry was part of the inspiration for this post. I was also partly inspired by some of the discussion that followed the Housing Memory confernce keynote address last weekend.
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