Terence Huwe has an interesting article in the recent edition of Online. Here’s the citation:
Huwe, T. K. (2006). From librarian to digital communicator. Online, 30(5), 21-26.
He charts the path through which the U. Berkeley’s Institute and Industrial Relations Library has inserted itself into the information flow starting back when e-mail was such a transformative technology. He envisions librarians as specialists in digital communications and I think that can be true. Apparently, they’ve actively adopted all types of communication technologies at IIR as they appeared.
He recommends “extend[ing] the services, community, and values of the library to the users you are trying to reach–including your own leadership. With the vast multiplicity of technological platforms, you can keep trying new approaches until you find one that works.” For them that meant taking over the schools listserv management, web management, and even the publishing of some marketing materials.
Terrence says that an “academic library that sees itself as a passive repository is a library at risk.” I agree with that. He also makes the point that moving the library into the center of the academic nexus of digital communication can take years of building trust.
To start, he’s recommending the following steps:
- Start with an information audit. He doesn’t go into detail, but I see this as a holistic audit of the information environment including user needs and wants. Not just an IT audit.
- Understand the leadership. (Key. There’s nothing harder than pushing a service that’s not seen as worthwhile by the leadership. Understanding where they’re coming from makes the task easier.)
- Make mistakes (i.e. perpetual beta). But make sure you’re ready for damage control.
So is this library work? I vote yes, since academic librarians have always been responsible for managing academic discourse. With new and evolving channels for that discourse, staying on top of it all is core to the librarian’s value system.
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