All-New, All-Different…

March 17th, 2005 Stewart Posted in Uncategorized |

I decided that the old look was old, and changed the template to one of the cool pre-packaged ones Blogger offers. And the new photo doesn’t have a photoshopped weave plastered onto the front of my hair like the old one did, so that’s kind of nice.

Along with the new look though, I’ve decided to suck it up and start writing about matters other than just EndNote, Reference Manager and my conference schedule. Time for me to get a little involved, I think, and talk about some of the happenings in the library world that matter to me. I have over a decade’s worth of experience under my belt, but I’m still most definitely a Gen X librarian. I’m hearing a lot of talk these days about our “obligations” to the Boomers who came before us and their “legacy.” In the meantime, X-er librarians and researchers are building whole new tools like HubMed and CiteULike, using blogs to promote services and outreach, and generally changing the way business has been conducted in libraries for the last hundred years. Repeatedly, though, I hear X-ers complain that their opinions aren’t considered, opportunities for promotion are denied, and they are generally regarded less as “colleagues” and more as “resources.”

Most recently, ALA pres-elect Michael Gorman has ranted about Google and bloggers, cementing in my mind his complete “out-of-touchness” with both younger librarians and a new generation of information users. His are the feeble roars of the T-Rex as it spies the bright comets in the eastern sky. Because Gorman is so highly visible, though, he embarasses all of us that have embraced Google, blogging, and other non-traditional library technologies.

I have more to say… and I guess that’s kind of the point of this. I’m a thirty-six year old librarian with eleven years of experience. I got my feet wet with Mosaic. I wrote my library’s first Gopher and their first Web site. I’ve searched hundreds of databases for information, and that’s no exaggeration.

My voice matters. The Gen X librarian matters. The legacy is not the Boomers concern; it’s ours. And I have more to say…