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In her new book, author Marilyn Johnson argues that, even in the Google age, human beings, namely librarians, are still the best resource for accurate answers. In fact, Johnson says librarians are more important now then ever before. Plus, they're fascinating! They compete in dance competitions and blog about the quirky and downright disgusting behavior of patrons.
I just wanted to share two real life examples of how the internet has not replaced librarians.
As a young boy growing up in New York City, I used to love watching a movie on WOR's "Million Dollar Movie". I could not remember the name of the movie and only remembered a few sketchy detail. I asked a number of film buffs and pundits as well as using search engines to no avail. Finally I went onto the Library of Congress site to the "Ask a Librarian" section and wrote the few details I could remember. Within 24 hours I had a librarian reply with a link to the Wikipedia entry about the movie (The Sword and he Dragon) and a link to a place I could purchase it. I was amazed!
Later on I needed to know the historical stock price of a company that had been purchased several years ago by another company so that I could calculate capital gains. There are internet sites that have this information for a fee. I called my local public library and the librarian had it for me in under five minutes.
Librarians are awesome.
The was an earlier piece about interviews with persons that are not totally explained. How is it different when the persons spends the interview promoting her book
I was disappointed that there is not a link to the video discussed in the Librarian interview. Kinda cheezy to whoop something up and not make it available. Teasers!
Johnson's assertion that librarians are better than the Internet at getting answers is really an old argument. It was made humorously and presciently in the classic Tracy-Hepburn movie "Desk Set." Hepburn is the head of a TV network's research department. Tracy is a computer consultant brought in to automate the research department (and other departments). This was 1957. And what happens is very similar to what Johnson describes now. (If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil it by telling more.)
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