The Corporate Librarian

And really, how often do we get to use lines from classic David Cronenberg movies in library blogs? Not often enough, I say.

I’ll be at the Association of Independent Information Professionals Annual Conference (April 30th-May 4th), so if people want to say hi feel free. My Internet access will be limited, unless I can pick up an Asus Eee PC at a Best Buy there or something. At least my phone will let me check email.

Pittsburgh natives, I’ll be near the 6th Street Bridge, apparently.

I’m really pretty happy with my Associate membership to AIIP - I’ve attended webinars which passed on useful tips, gotten discounts from vendors and learned about valuable resources like ResearchTrail. I’m hoping to get some networking done and get some useful advice towards starting up a business

A rather sensational article by the New York Times has caused quite the to-do in the tech blogosphere. Doc Searls wonders if tech blogging hasn’t become more about flogging, and wonders how to get past that. Setting aside the issue of taking a part for the whole, I’ve got a few thoughts on that.

First, I think some of the issues Doc discusses are part of a larger shift in culture that’s been going on for hundreds of years - the rise of the pundit, of cultural celebrities and of people famous for being famous. I don’t think online interaction is somehow a special case disconnected from the rest of human interaction. I think expecting otherwise leads to situations like Kathy Sierra’s. Specifically, I think it’s dangerous, setting up an argument in which bloggers are judged by their presumed intentions (”I’m trying to inform people, that person’s just seeking traffic”). I freely admit to some bias here, as someone who selfishly wouldn’t mind some recognition who puts stuff out there that’s hopefully of interest and of use to people.

Second, Doc and others ignore the positive aspects: the new voices that have come into conversations, the people who have been able to better their circumstances.

Third, he misses the conversations already online that aren’t blogging - chat, instant messaging, podcasts, videos. Blogging is just the more visible portion of the iceberg.

I follow some of the “top” library bloggers. I also talk to people you may never have heard of in Meebo. I send email messages. I trade IMs. I hang out in Second Life.

So what does this have to do with the library world, and with corporate libraries in particular?

1. We’re trained to evaluate sources - maybe we should work on evaluating tools as well?
2. We constantly seek information outside our organizations.
3. It’s never been easier to learn new skills, in part because of blogs and other forms of online communication. Whether it’s the organizers pulling together the Five Weeks to a Social Library course, or the plethora of Library Camps out there, these would be much more difficult without online communications.

Walt Crawford noted in one of his posts: “I’m inclined to believe that blogging in general may have peaked in 2007, and that liblogs might have peaked then, but that’s just a belief.” I’m not sure on that myself - certainly there’s still lively discussion on, say, a proposed online conference tool. But say that liblogs have peaked - does that mean the useful conversations themselves have ended? Or have they moved to other venues? Perhaps we are beyond blogging after all.

(Note: This isn’t intended as an attack on Doc Searls or anyone else - several posts just reminded me of some things I’d been brooding on for a while)