Librarians are Everywhere Knowledge is Crucial for

Success

Bryan HeidornDirector and Associate Professor

School of Information Resources and Library Science

The new information professional

Special Libraries, Museums, Archives, X libraries, embedded librarians, …

Janice Arenofsky, Toughing It Out In a Tight Job Market. American Libraries, Nov/Dec 2012.

Or not so so

The new information professional

Librarians and information professionals have always collected and organized information to support individuals' and institutions' ability to gain useful knowledge

In the information society in which we live, this mission is more important than ever

Librarians and information professionals are not just in libraries anymore, and those who are have adopted new roles and responsibilities

Peter Barron

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Outside the box: The librarian without the library

Knowledge managersIntelligence analystRecords managersResearch specialists/associates

Working in law firms, advertising agencies, information management consulting firms, news offices, religious

organizations--anywhere the ability to translate information into knowledge is essential for success.

Librarians are the U.S. Intelligence Community experts in acquiring, researching, exploiting, and managing information sources. The Open Source Center is seeking Librarian applicants with a passion for innovation, customer service, and library science expertise to join the CIA Library. Our Librarians play an essential role in the intelligence mission by acquiring, researching, and making accessible the most critical information resources that meet CIA and Intelligence Community information requirements. Librarians also have opportunities to serve as embedded, or forward deployed, information experts in CIA offices and select Intelligence Community agencies. The CIA Library maintains strong relationships with the Library of Congress, other Intelligence Community libraries, select academic institutions, and other public and private sector institutions and information resource providers.

Beyond Reference and Organization

Libraries and information professionals, especially those working in new settings, are increasingly involved in:Preparing research reportsGathering competitive intelligenceIdentify research in outside institutions, to avoid duplicationFact-checkingEvaluating information software and data sourcesSearching patents and trademarksTraining other staff to effectively use information

Beyond Reference and Organization (continued)

Even in traditional library settings, librarians and other professionals are taking on new roles and tackling challenges in new ways.

The many hats of the new public librarian

Celebrating diversity and community informaticsEmbracing technology: training and education for 21st century literacy, ebooks and digital contentFundraiser: grant writing, marketing, and outreachAdvocate for freedom of expression, balancing IP with rights of users and privacy

The Academic Librarian Today

Licensing and contract negotiationFacilitating scholarly communication and developing repositoriesCreating digital information productsDesigning courses with facultyEnriching online education

Data curation – Data Librarian

New Information Disciplines• Digital Curator: an expert knowledgeable of and with

responsibility for the content of a digital collection(s)• Digital Archivist: an expert competent to appraise, acquire,

authenticate, preserve, and provide access to records in digital form

• Data Scientists: the information and computer scientists, database and software engineers and programmers, disciplinary experts, expert annotators, and others, who are crucial to the successful management of a digital data collection

(Long Long-Lived Digital Data Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century, report of the National Science Board, September, 2005)

Library Skills

Where is the data now?

• Not in reference collections• Big science and independent science• Varies mandates for sharing• Unsustainable models

– Individual researchers– Boutique databases

• Most data is from small projects

Does NSF’s Data Follow the Power Law?

I do not know but if $1 = X bytes…..

Library Roles

• Life Cycle Phases– Plan

– Create

– Keep

– Dispose

Data Management FunctionAccessDocumentOrganizeProtect

How to Organize at a higher level?

• It is difficult to find what is already known

• Clonal specimens may be stored in different museums around the world

• DNA analysis may be conducted on one but not the other

• Micrographs may be in a database

• Taxonomic treatments or revisions may exist

Biological Science Collections (BiSciCol) Tracker

S1: KNM

S2: MNHN

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

Nairobi National Museum

S3: MBG

Living Collection: Missouri Botanical Garden

DeterminationDetermination

?

?

Gene SequenceGene Sequence

GENBANK

?

?

?

?ParasitismParasitism

Agave sisalana

?

Scyphophorus acupunctatus

Biodiversity Heritage Library

BiSciCol Tracker

Modern Archives and Special Collections

Digitization and digital collectionsElectronic records managementEmphasis on and celebration of diversityPromotion, outreach, and marketing

Digital culture and cultural heritage

The democratization of curation: Pinterest, Tumblr, Svpply, Reddit, etc.Mass collaboration and distributed authorship: Wikipedia

In an era where anyone and everyone is a digital curator or creator, librarians and information professionals are faced with the question of documenting new sorts of cultural products and practices and with educating digital citizens about responsible behavior.

SIRLS Masters Specializations

Four core coursesAcademic LibrariesPublic LibrariesSchool LibrariesLaw LibrariesSpecial LibrariesJournalism Dual DegreeKnowledge RiverDigital Information (DigIn + certificate)(Working on Museums)

SIRLS Mentor Network

SIRLS Alumni and Friends ReceptionFriday, 5:30 pmThe Grill at the Legacy Golf Resort6808 S. 32nd Street

Library Student Organization Happy HourSaturday, November 10th, 5:30pmPan Asia Restaurant 2485 East Baseline Road #157 Phoenix, AZ 85042

Dec 1: SIRLS Organizing in D2L SpaceJoin Virtually

Questions for the audience

What challenges does your organization face?What skills do information professionals and librarians need to develop? What are some of the big questions facing the profession today?