1. On the Road to Find Out:
Why You Need a Degree For That
IST 511
Sarah Helson

2. Librarians are often thought of in
stereotypes, and therefore people
also assume that they are all the
same.

3. They assume that as a librarian,
you are going to walk around dusty
stacks shushing people while
wearing glasses, a prim cardigan
and a bun.

4. Such as this…

5. Many people will also ask you why
you need a degree to be a
librarian.

6. Their questions and assumptions
may surprise you.

7. How hard is
it to do an I only read on my Kindle, I don’t use libraries
internet Do they teach you how to shush people?
search? How hard can
Libraries are dying.
Is there a class in how to make a shelving be?
perfect bun?
You need a degree
Digital book to manage the
Anyone can
collections count and use decline of libraries?
don’t need a the Dewey
librarian. Decimal I can Google it.
System.
If you don’t need a master’s to publish books, why do you need one
to store/sort/care for them?
Is it really that hard to alphabetize books?
Books are all digital now.

8. Librarians do so much more than
those things. And we are breaking
the stereotype every day.

9. Librarians are constantly evolving
in order to help their communities.
For instance, many now use
Twitter to help connect them to
their patrons.

10. Far from becoming obsolete,
librarians are capable of adapting
easily. A portion of this comes
from the new librarianship that is
taught in graduate school.

11. Librarians are taught that their
mission is to “improve society
through knowledge creation in
their communities.”

12. This does not mean that we, as
librarians, will stay behind a desk
and simply answer the questions
about the location of the
bathroom.

13. We will go out into the community
and ask how we can help.

14. This might be by answering a
question on how to find a book or
other resources, or it could be by
helping a member find the tools to
start their own business.

15. Much of a librarian’s work can also
be behind the scenes and they
might never shelve a book.

16. A book needs to be cataloged
before it reaches the shelves, and
the world of MARC records and
metadata can be confusing for the
average community member (or
the first year graduate student).

17. Plus, who said that a librarian has
to be confined to the walls of a
library?

18. Virtual reference practically allows
you to keep a librarian in your
pocket. Or your laptop.

19. But this reference librarian can
now wander the aisles of the
grocery store while answering your
questions or while watching their
favorite TV show.

20. As long as there is access to
information, librarians will be there
to help you find it.

21. Regardless of the status of ebooks
in the library.

22. In the end…

23. We are facilators in the community

24. We are researchers

25. We are teachers

26. We are learners

27. We are information seekers

28. In the words of Cat Stevens,
librarians are people who are
“on the road to find out”

29. Credits
Written and Produced by Sarah Helson as a
portion of IST 511 at Syracuse University
Song: “On the Road to Find Out” by Cat Stevens
Quote from The Atlas of New Librarianship by R.
David Lankes, page 14.