What do you think librarians do? What do you think would be really cool if librarians start doing it?
I think the main role of the librarian is to guide students and teach them how to take advantage of the library resources around them. Librarians know a lot about the library, and they can help any student that needs help. They can teach students how to use the internet to do research, and how to find good sources. They can also teach students about where to find certain books on certain topics, and how to get the best out of the books they are using. They can also help students and show them how to write a well structured essay, and how to do proper citations. If you need help with a research project or a book report, then the librarian is the person you would talk to.
One thing that I think would be really cool if all librarians started doing it is chatting with people who need help. I really like that the UCD library offers chat, and that you are able to chat with the librarian if you need help from home. However, not all libraries are like this. I think it would be really good if all librarians from all libraries had chat. From the UCD library, I see that chat offers a closer relationship between a librarian and an individual. The advantages of chat are that people may be more comfortable with chatting with a librarian online, and it is a great resource for people to have at home.
What do you think the library of the future might look like?
I think the library of the future will consist of very close relations between individuals and librarians. I think that in the future there will be more technological innovation, and people will be more accustomed to using technology. I think that in the future, libraries will have advanced and librarians will have live video chat sessions with people who need assistance. I think that this would be the ultimate way of librarians being able to assist people who may not necessarily be at the library.
Here at the Health Sciences Library, we've been using some form of live chat for the past 7-8 years. In fact, I think we were one of the first health sciences libraries to offer a chat service. The reason we offer to help people via chat, email, telephone, or of course, in person, is because everyone has different preferences for communication. You are clearly comfortable with the chat medium, while others may want to communicate in other ways. Some people don't like to use these "electronic" formats and would actually like to talk face-to-face with a librarian. In other words, we do our best to accommodate people's communication preferences.
ReplyDeleteBut it's hard, since the pace of technological change is so fast. We have a Face Book page and I believe a Twitter account too. We have discussed the possibility of using text-messaging since everyone uses cell phones these days. It is difficult to keep up!
I do like your comment about the future of libraries involving a close relationship between patrons and librarians. People are the key to libraries and technology are only tools to help us stay in touch.
Keep up the good work Hanna.
Lilian
Research librarian
UCD-AMC