Talk:Librarian

Top picture

The top picture does not reflect a librarian. It's not even a person and would be better in the section about librarians in popular culture (which I also think needs an update). I think the article would be better served by showing librarians doing actual librarianship. I'm looking into more pictures. There's quite a few nice ones of librarians "in action" on commons. I hope others weigh in, otherwise, I'll be bold and pick something out. :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 18:31, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

I agree! This photo shows two librarians from San Francisco Public Library "in action" but honestly I'd be happy with anything you pick out. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Librarians_at_Bay_Area_WikSalon_-_2.jpg Merrilee (talk) 19:04, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

@Merrilee: I do like that picture. I think we could use it in the article (which I think needs a lot of work!). But for the top picture, I really want to see an "action shot" of people in a library doing library stuff, and bonus for diversity! I haven't found the pic I'm "in love with" yet. :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 02:13, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

I also just noticed that there's no section about librarians and Wikipedia! This article needs major work!!! Megalibrarygirl (talk) 02:15, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

No thanks. ElKevbo (talk) 06:18, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

Except that librarians have helped improve Wikipedia through #1lib#1ref. It's not navel gazing if it's noteworthy. :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 22:57, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

Objections to recent additions

LibraryTea recently added two paragraphs to this article and I have objections to them.

The first paragraph was added in a new "COVID-19" section:

Librarians and other library workers in the United states who weren't stationed inside the library due to library closures were deployed as work from home COVID-19 contact tracers to aid in contacting individuals believed to have contracted Covid-19, encouraging them to self-quarantine, while also educating them about safety during the pandemic.

I object to this material because it implies that many or all "librarians and other library workers" were employed as contact tracers. The supporting reference doesn't support that claim; it only describes a couple of libraries.

The second paragraph was added in the "Popular culture" section:

In popular culture, it has become a trend to say, "Librarian, the original search engine." It was has gained quite a lot of traction in social media and among librarians but some simply loathe the slogan or comparison.

The cited source is a blog post entirely insufficient to support the broad claims made in the paragraph. We need much stronger sourcing to support claims made in an encyclopedia article. ElKevbo (talk) 02:29, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

According to the CDC Librarians were one of the choices for use as contact tracers. I found other articles that mention Librarians as contact tracers in Denver and Massachusetts but as you can imagine, mentioning librarians becoming contact tracers is probably not at the top of the list for most news articles. The work of librarians has been largely changed as they have been temporarily displaced from their usual jobs and asked to have chosen to volunteer in other areas where their skills could be used. I do agree wording could be edited but I don't think it should be entirely thrown out. I figured the temporary change in work for librarians during the pandemic should be mentioned here that is why I added it.

As for the second edit, it is a phrase often seen in popular librarian gifs. I agree it can be reworded. I have seen it on shirts, bags, and even mugs used by librarians. It was just a fun addition and I figured it fit under pop culture. The Library of Congress even sells a shirt, mug, and journal in their online shop with the quote.

Again I apologize, this is my first time editing and I am only doing this for a class. I'm being graded for editing articles and am still learning to use the interface. It was not my intention to step on anyone's toes. I sincerely thought they were being removed because I was editing them wrong.

--LibraryTea (talk) 03:26, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

No apologies necessary! This is an active project with tens of thousands of users so it has a rather complex and weird culture and set of norms that aren't always consistent or visible. ElKevbo (talk) 14:34, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Public Librarians are being asked to help with contact tracing and PPE provision in many jurisdictions. Libraries are being reduced in staffing due to closures and this has been a feature of the current scope of work since the pandemic. Thank you for reviewing and explaining your point of view. I have taught 3 classes since the pandemic began and at least 35% of enrolled students who work in libraries have been reassigned. The Public Library Association survey, Public Libraries Respond to COVID-19: Survey of Response & Activities. There is a frequently updated list of resources about librarian response to the pandemic at the American Library Association website that provides analysis of librarians' roles during these times.

Kmccook (talk) 13:12, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Those - and the additional sources provided above by LibraryTea - look like excellent sources that could be incorporated into a much more refined section that is more strongly supported by reliable sources. My primary concern with the previous material was that it made large claims or implications that did not appear to be supported by the handful of sources that were cited.

(I'm not a librarian but I do wonder if it would also be appropriate to mention the growth of controlled digital lending during the pandemic. The most visible instance is the controversial - at least to the publishers who have sued - work at the Internet Archive but my sense is that this has become much more widespread. However, that may be a better fit for a different article...) ElKevbo (talk) 14:34, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Thank you and you are right, the digital lending is a real challenge and the current librarian journals are sorting it out. I will try and synthesize in the future. Librarianship is crazy these days.Kmccook (talk) 03:00, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

I added the COVID-19 section again edited and with the additional sources. I'm still working on it but I didn't want to lose my progress. As to my reasoning for adding digital lending, it was more to highlight how librarians work has moved from physical librarianship to digital work for those of us who were still working inside the library. I added sources to show how one librarian has done this via digital programming. Digital lending is kind of just a part of the entire librarian gig these days. Thank you for your input and guidance. I hope my new edit is more up to par. --LibraryTea (talk) 20:56, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

References

Better, non-military photo of a librarian?

The main article's photo illustrating a librarian shows a librarian at a military base, "helping an airman". Librarians are not a topic one usually associates with the military, and while the military obviously have librarians, maybe this is not the best or most "general" photo to use? I vote we provide a better photo, of a librarian in a civilian context (I don't have such a photo or I would make the edit myself) The andf (talk) 23:50, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for the observation. The photo generally shows a librarian helping a patron and that patron happens to be on a military base. I think the photo helps to usefully illustrate that librarians are everywhere, not just at the stereotypical public library. Merrilee (talk) 04:15, 23 February 2023 (UTC)