Kyle Banerjee's Blog

I try to keep some contact with the real world, but every now and then something happens which makes me realize how insulated my environment is. Last night was one of those times.

Shirley and I went to an authentic Russian restaurant where we decided to do everything Russian style. At the next table, 4 business travelers watched flabbergasted as we washed down an excellent meal with 10 shots of vodka. This may sound like a lot, but it is very tame by Russian standards.

The travelers asked what we did for work, and when we mentioned that we were librarians, they were in shock. They made it clear that we looked like no librarians they’d ever seen, and it never occured to them that a librarian would know anything about vodka, let alone drink the stuff. They decided that they liked us and had a new opinion of the profession on that basis alone. They invited us to knock down a few shots after dinner. We accepted and had a great night with them.

I’m glad we helped our new friends see librarians in a more positive light, but I find it disconcerning that this change of heart was based on our sense of fun and an ability to put away more high octane hooch than they could. While I find it amusing that they assumed I was trying to improve the Dewey Decimal system when I mentioned that I worked with library systems, that is also a dead giveaway that they didn’t realize we actually provide a useful service.

As a profession, we celebrate the fact that we are viewed as meek, socially inept dorks by the rest of the world. We cultivate the image of the spinster with a bun in her hair. If we want to show how hip we are, we shave off a few pounds and a few years. Then we add a bit of makeup, an updated hairstyle, and a higher energy level. It’s the same idea with a little sex appeal.

Why do we play to such stereotypes? I suppose it makes people feel warm and fuzzy, but so does the image of the milkman who lost his job a long time ago. The internet has changed the way people interact with information, and we must make it clear we’ve adapted our services accordingly unless we want to relegate ourselves to irrelevance.

We can get you any book or article held by just about any library regardless of where you live whether or not it’s in digital form. We can get you electronic articles from well respected journals that would cost you a fortune to download (assuming you could find them at all). No other outfit, including Google and Amazon, can do this. I can’t help but think that if we want long term success and continued funding, we’re much better off encouraging people to focus on what we do rather than on anachronistic images.

For the past few days, I’ve been at the Innovative Users Group annual meeting. At the IUG meeting, roughly 1600 dweebs from around the world discuss library systems, particularly those produced by Innovative Interfaces Inc (III).

I’ve been a fixture at these meetings for a number of years, but many people acted surprised to see me at this one. I’m coordinating the migration of a resource sharing system used by 35 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington away from a III product to something else. They assumed my work would put me in an awkward position.

My project is not helping relations with the company. However, the situation was largely unavoidable. We have had a long and productive association with III, but their needs have evolved with time as have ours. After intense negotiations failed to result in a mutually acceptable contract, our board of directors unanimously decided that the strategic direction we were headed required a resource sharing system based on new architecture.

Right now, the library world is in a period of total upheaval. Just a few years ago, the whole idea of a library was to provide a controlled, centralized environment to centrally acquire, process, and preserve materials that people needed. More and more, the most important function libraries perform is helping people find and get electronic and physical materials that are owned and maintained by others. While libraries will continue to buy books and journals, these materials will play a shrinking role over time.

The reason we’re changing our resource sharing system right now is because of differences in opinion as to what library services will look like in view of a the new way people want to use libraries and information. No one knows what will work best in the end, so a little disagreement is healthy.

Our relationship with III is entering a new phase, but we continue to have many common interests. The member libraries in our consortium rely on III products for mission critical tasks. Even if we were unable to reach an agreement for a new contract, we are still interested in solving the same problems and can learn from each other.

Just as I still regard workmates from former workplaces as colleagues, I think the same about the many III staff I’ve worked with over the years. That is why I was glad I was able to attend the meeting and share ideas with others as I always have.