GD: What is your "philosophy of ibrarianship", if you have one?
BC: Well, the closest thing I have is something my friend Steve told me. He once heard an interview with a hockey goalie, and this goalie said to be a great goalie you need to get physically sickened by a missed puck. I think that philosophy extends nicely to the reference desk, if I can’t find an answer it really bothers me, so I work hard to find the best answer possible. As far as my web duties go, I am completely focused on our users, and on the students. I get things done as quickly as possible, and pay attention to detail.
GD: What do you think most characterizes librarians, and distinguishes us from other professions?
BC: Well, I hesitate to paint all librarians with a single brush. Librarians are as diverse a group as any, and I’d hate to say we are different from others. I see differences between reference librarians and catalogers, but over all we are just a bunch of people who fell into our careers for a variety of reasons, and stick around for whatever reason. We may have a drive to help people more than the average person, and no doubt some odd aversion to being paid well.
GD: Ok, so what is this blogging business. Everyone seems to have a blog now (to name just a few there's Librarian.net, LibraryStuff, LibraryGeek, LISNews.com, plus you've got a personal one at eblake.com) What is a blog, and why are they important?
BC: Yes, everyone and their brother (e.g camworld.com and mrbarrett.com)
My definition of a blog is a diary, a collection of sites and finds a people find in their travels on the web. Like a self published news site.
Some blogs, the really good ones, are collaborative (e.g. slashdot, LISNews and Metafilter.) The stories are better, and the comments become part of the stories, adding to it in ways that you can’t find anywhere in print.
A lot of things on the web are impervious to analogies, as librarians that’s hard for us to admit I think. I don’t think there is a print equivalent to sites like LISNews, slashdot and mefi.
There has been so much written about blogging lately, I’m not sure I can add anything new or original. I think blogs are important because they can shine light on news and events that are not covered enough in the popular press. Blogs have a different focus, each can have it’s own spin on things, and it’s not hidden. Fox News paints it’s self as “Fair and Balanced”, which is a great marketing ploy, but I would hope no one actually believes that. Not that I am picking on conservatives, Fox News just seems to be in denial. But whether it’s Fox or CNN they are after ratings, they exist to sell ads, not to report news. Blogs on the other hand, exist to share information, to point out what someone thinks is important.
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