Data Obsessed

Richard Ackerman’s latest post on the future of the scientific research library has me thinking about what makes a library a library.

I think any librarian would agree that the most important part of the library isn’t the materials contained within but how they are used.  And most any special librarian - not just in the sciences - will agree that what the clients are looking for is more remote access to materials and resources.  That’s something we’re working on at MPOW right now; adding links to electronic versions of our in-house reports to our OPAC so they can be accessed from a client’s desktop.  So can the physical library simply be dispensed with?

It depends, I suppose, on your industry and your clientele.  I can only speak for my particularly limited experience, which is that my scientists want both.  They certainly want the instant desktop access of electronic copies, particularly when it comes to reusing data from other in-house work.  But they also want the copy in paper, and many of them can’t yet imagine keeping up with the industry by reading e-journals.

Additionally, many of them use the library serendipidously.  They poke their head in the door and ask me where petroleum technology materials are shelved.  I show them, and they browse through the shelves.  Sometimes they find something they wouldn’t have noticed when searching the OPAC.

The physical part, though not the most important, essential part of the library, is still important at MPOW.  It’s expected to be there.  My clients use it.   What the library is…is a meshing of an oft-used physical archive, an electronic archive, and the professional research and organization experts - the librarians, all two of us - that keep it all organized.

Filed under: Librarianship, Work, Knowledge Management

Leave a Reply