Jun
20
With only five days remaining till TEDxLibrariansTO, we will be posting a series of questions every day to help spark conversation around our theme “Librarians as Thought Leaders”. We hope that you will take a few moments and leave a response, anonymously or with your name, in the comments below.
Question 1: Name one thing we could do right now in order to be perceived as thought leaders outside the profession.
Question 2: How do we recognize a thought leader?
Question 3: Are the loudest voices online actually representative of important thought currents?
Update 1: If you are on Twitter, Andy Woodworth has informed us he will be running a poll every day on our theme, so please keep an eye out for them!
Update 2: Check out John Dupuis’ responses to our questions on his blog.
Wonderful questions, and I’m looking forward to seeing the answers.
Re: Question 1 – I think that the one thing we could do right now to be perceived as thought leaders outside the profession is to get outside of the profession more. Participate in (and LEAD) projects which go outside of the traditional boundaries of libraries. Actively seek mentoring (or seek to mentor) people who don’t work in the library. Attend non-library conferences, *speak* at non-library conferences and write for journals which have nothing to do with the classic sphere of library work.
I’m not saying it will be easy – it’s much easier to gain entry when you are already known, but the opportunities for learning and leadership are worth it.
Question 1: Name one thing we could do right now in order to be perceived as thought leaders outside the profession.
Start leading the communities where they want to go instead of lagging behind and being slow to change. By this I mean we need to embrace technology and understand the ramifications any given technology might have on the community. Be willing to talk about the good and bad of new technology instead of simply grumbling every time a patron refers to Wikipedia or Googling something.
If we help patrons become familiar and comfortable with future technologies they will continue to utilize us for that service in the future. On the other hand if all we have to offer are dead trees then we’ll only be serving the past while losing the patrons of today and tomorrow.
Question 2: How do we recognize a thought leader?
A thought leader takes your brain places you would not have otherwise gone if left to its own devices. As thought leaders in the community a library can change the way people search for information, apply for work, meet with friends, interact with and learn about technology, preserve and access their heritage, or even leverage their natural resources to give their community an economic advantage.
Thought leaders give you reasons to pause for thought and issue a call to action.
Question 3: Are the loudest voices online actually representative of important thought currents?
You ignore the squeaky wheels of the internet at your own peril, not because they are right but because they help establish the perceptions of those who don’t already know better. The loud voices need to be engaged and, if possible, put to work on your behalf. Though they can mean trouble, they can also be very helpful.
a few thoughts on #1
First: embrace the L word. Stop fighting against perceived perceptions and start speaking proudly about the knowledge and skills Librarians bring to any situation. Continued aversion to the term will become a self fulfilling prophecy. And really, if we haven’t collectively come up with a better word by now isn’t it time to get over ourselves?
Second: pay attention and care about outcomes. Demonstrating leadership requires an ability to anticipate, and being brave enough to ask our users/patrons/colleagues/clients about the value they derive from our contributions.
For Question #1, I agree with Wendy and Donald. One other thing that would lay the foundation for us to be leaders outside of the profession is to have a better understanding of library science. So many librarians take the required 36 hours for their MLSes, then do little or no continuing education beyond the purely practical. Purely practical learning can improve operational effectiveness, but does nothing to help us see what might change, why it might change, and how we might adapt or shape that change–that’s where we need theory, and the subtler reasoning that studying theory can give us.
For Question #2, the answer is almost tautological: A thought leader is someone who leads you to think in productive ways. Some library examples: Stephen Abram, Rory Litwin, Jessamyn West, Roy Tennant, Karen Coyle, Lorcan Dempsey.
For Question #3, no. What people say online today will eventually be important in libraries, in 15 or 20 years.