Librarians
Found these on LinkedIn:
"...in my view, the core skills of outstanding librarians are more along the lines of insatiable intellectual curiosity, extremely strong service orientation, fearlessness in dealing with change, willingness to try new things, adaptability, flexibility, creativity (especially in finding solutions to problems), and - especially in tight budget times - a sense of humor, patience, & diplomacy." -Stephanie Walker
"I chose to be a librarian at a young age and am happy with the decision. However, I must admit that just a few years before I came to that decision, I never thought much of the librarians at my college. I was always at the library but I always wondered what the librarians actually did because I never really saw them and never knew that I could ask them for help. I simply looked everything up online. Now I regret not having been privy to the wealth of knowledge that the librarians held, but at the same time I wish they would have advertised their services more around campus. Skip ahead to my Master's degree and I quickly learned what it is that librarians do and I thoroughly enjoy helping people find information. This is just my observation of course, but I think it's not what we do that some librarians are ashamed of; I think it's the stereotypes that are placed upon us by others outside of the profession. For many of them, what exactly is it that librarians do besides sit behind a desk? There have been MANY instances in which a student has asked me what education is needed in order to become a librarian and they are literally shocked when I tell them that one has to have a Master's degree to be a librarian (in most cases). Whereas once you enter the field, you realize that librarians cover an entire spectrum of duties - we are researchers, marketers, web designers, teachers, computer lab techs, you name it. I think that marketing ourselves and our services better, can help our general image. Perhaps a semantic change. Instead of "librarian" the official title given to me by the school is "Learning Resource Center Manager". I also like to use the term "information specialist" or something of that form. It may just be semantics, true, but I find that the new terms do not carry the same negative stereotypes and intrigue outsiders as they want to know what it means. When asked, I can explain to them more fully what it is I actually do, garnering more respect as I fascinate them with our expertise of database searching techniques, scholarly resources versus "Googling", email/chat/text reference, digital books, etc. In the end, I think that is what many libarians feel the profession is lacking from other professionals - a little bit of r-e-s-p-e-c-t. Only we hold the power to change that - to change the negative stereotypes through our every day actions and show people our true value." -Debbie Montenegro
"...in my view, the core skills of outstanding librarians are more along the lines of insatiable intellectual curiosity, extremely strong service orientation, fearlessness in dealing with change, willingness to try new things, adaptability, flexibility, creativity (especially in finding solutions to problems), and - especially in tight budget times - a sense of humor, patience, & diplomacy." -Stephanie Walker
"I chose to be a librarian at a young age and am happy with the decision. However, I must admit that just a few years before I came to that decision, I never thought much of the librarians at my college. I was always at the library but I always wondered what the librarians actually did because I never really saw them and never knew that I could ask them for help. I simply looked everything up online. Now I regret not having been privy to the wealth of knowledge that the librarians held, but at the same time I wish they would have advertised their services more around campus. Skip ahead to my Master's degree and I quickly learned what it is that librarians do and I thoroughly enjoy helping people find information. This is just my observation of course, but I think it's not what we do that some librarians are ashamed of; I think it's the stereotypes that are placed upon us by others outside of the profession. For many of them, what exactly is it that librarians do besides sit behind a desk? There have been MANY instances in which a student has asked me what education is needed in order to become a librarian and they are literally shocked when I tell them that one has to have a Master's degree to be a librarian (in most cases). Whereas once you enter the field, you realize that librarians cover an entire spectrum of duties - we are researchers, marketers, web designers, teachers, computer lab techs, you name it. I think that marketing ourselves and our services better, can help our general image. Perhaps a semantic change. Instead of "librarian" the official title given to me by the school is "Learning Resource Center Manager". I also like to use the term "information specialist" or something of that form. It may just be semantics, true, but I find that the new terms do not carry the same negative stereotypes and intrigue outsiders as they want to know what it means. When asked, I can explain to them more fully what it is I actually do, garnering more respect as I fascinate them with our expertise of database searching techniques, scholarly resources versus "Googling", email/chat/text reference, digital books, etc. In the end, I think that is what many libarians feel the profession is lacking from other professionals - a little bit of r-e-s-p-e-c-t. Only we hold the power to change that - to change the negative stereotypes through our every day actions and show people our true value." -Debbie Montenegro