A discussion Tuesday November 15th, 2011, about what it means to be an "Emerging Technologies Librarian" has inspired me. Rochelle Mazar offered up an interesting metaphor for librarians that I want to take and run with.
She said librarians are liquid. We are flexible and fill in gaps where there are spaces. I like this. I understood it as being alert to needs, and moving to meet those needs.
But a roundtable discussion hosted by the Progressive Librarians Guild - London Ontario Chapter on Wednesday November 16th, 2011, about empowering youth through librarianship, helped me visual this metaphor further. Another attendee at the roundtable challenged the metaphor as seeming too passive -- librarianship needs to break the boundaries, not be held back by them.
This got me thinking more about liquid, in particular water. Water doesn't just fill in spaces. It permeates. It erodes. It soaks in. Water moves limestone to create stalagmites and stalactites. It is an environment bursting with life. To me, liquid is not merely a passive agent.
Think of a dam bursting. It can't be held back forever.
Think of the ocean. It can be still, it can be turbulent, it can be incredibly destructive.
Liquid is powerful. It has incredible abilities to affect its environment in a myriad of ways.
It can also be bottled up.
I think this is a great metaphor for librarianship.
She said librarians are liquid. We are flexible and fill in gaps where there are spaces. I like this. I understood it as being alert to needs, and moving to meet those needs.
But a roundtable discussion hosted by the Progressive Librarians Guild - London Ontario Chapter on Wednesday November 16th, 2011, about empowering youth through librarianship, helped me visual this metaphor further. Another attendee at the roundtable challenged the metaphor as seeming too passive -- librarianship needs to break the boundaries, not be held back by them.
This got me thinking more about liquid, in particular water. Water doesn't just fill in spaces. It permeates. It erodes. It soaks in. Water moves limestone to create stalagmites and stalactites. It is an environment bursting with life. To me, liquid is not merely a passive agent.
Think of a dam bursting. It can't be held back forever.
Think of the ocean. It can be still, it can be turbulent, it can be incredibly destructive.
Liquid is powerful. It has incredible abilities to affect its environment in a myriad of ways.
It can also be bottled up.
I think this is a great metaphor for librarianship.
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