Just Kidding, Really!

How many times have you heard someone preface a racial, ethnic, or profession based joke with the phrase “Some of my best friends are_______________.” I am as guilty of this weaseling equivocation as anyone here in the True Archives world, especially when it comes to my colleagues in the library world. For the most part I have been reluctant to use the word “librarian” when I denounce the reasons for the rapid decline of books and reading, choosing instead to beat up on my straw man the Information Scientist and his sidekick, the Biblioposer. However, librarians keep walking into my trap, either by rejecting the name of “librarian” for their profession or expanding their definition of it to include such inanities as gardening and "read-to-a-dog" days. As silly as these sideshows seem, it is librarian’s embrace of the internet to the exclusion of all else that really marks them as willing participants in the mad race to total digital dependency. In my past twenty years at this institution I have seen the reference section of books dwindle down to a few pathetic shelves, and rarely do I see my colleagues consult them when fielding the infrequent reference inquiry at the desk. A quick “Google” or other database scan and the questioner is sent on his way, no wiser for the elucidation that came so effortlessly.