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kwhit14
kwhit14
awareness
Mar 20 2009, 12:41 PM EDT | Post edited: Mar 20 2009, 12:41 PM EDT
Reflecting on Wednesday's discussion I keep coming back to the idea of awareness vs. performing research for patrons. With new developments in technology and increased access (at users' homes and in the library) the role of librarians has shifted from doing the searching (and possibly retrieving the resources) to raising awareness of resources and services. Patrons can search the databases or internet themselves. We are in the position to raise awareness of new services, resources, and especially in the case of the internet resources we can raise awareness of indicators of quality information. While we are moving into this new role there will still be some patrons relying on us to perform services as in the past model so we will need to fill both roles to some extent.
As an example, in a recent class my topic was Google Scholar. I did not need to teach the faculty how to use it (they already knew), but instead my goal was to raise awareness such as about linking to KUMC resources under library links.
Essentially I see it as we are empowering users to tackle their own information needs. We can serve as a resource and support to assist with difficult searches but while assisting can continue on in the role of empowering them to build skills for future information needs… and that is exciting. Do you find this valuable?    
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