Article Note: Suggesting librarians develop an information scientist identity

To be honest, this short piece is a lot of text to say very little. The author claims that new information demands and the Hard Time we live in, including the pandemic and the constant threat of misinformation and disinformation, necessitate that librarians shift their self-image and identity to that of information scientist. Librarians do have a niche, or I would say an advantage, in the ability and skill to provide the best possible information to our patrons. The author makes the suggestion for the new title basically because, according to what the author found in the literature, titles like "information scientist" and "information specialist" sound like they have more status, cachet if you will, than just the word "librarian." 

The rest of the article basically becomes yet another article about librarian insecurity about their title, what librarians do, and how they do it. The author sees the "librarian" stereotype as a handicap, a liability. To be honest reminds of the Library 2.0 days when librarians all rushed to become 2.0 specialists in order to remain relevant, show they were useful, show they had skills, etc. We've moved on, the profession has survived, and the 2.0 movement is mostly a page in history by now. Adding a fancier title is not going to suddenly make faculty members, in the case of academia at least, actually pay attention to librarians if they were not doing it before. 

However, because again librarians are oh so insecure, while the author advocates librarians embracing the new title the author also cautions that "we do not want to alienate ourselves from them [the scientists] by claiming to have a role or job title which is not ours to claim." So which is it? Do we claim the title? Which by the way, given our strong skill sets I'd say it is one we can easily claim. Or do we not because heaven forbid we step on some toes? 

And while I am at it, I did not particularly appreciate the bit of condescension about librarians with humanities degrees and backgrounds suggesting we need to learn about science and how it works. Odds are good many of us in humanities have a fairly good understanding of science, how it works, and how policy makers mess it up more often than not. We are not science illiterate, so please keep your assumptions to yourself. 

Overall, as I said at the beginning, a lot of text that says very little. 

Citation for the article: 

Donna Ellen Frederick, "Why Librarians Need to Develop Their Information Scientist Identity in the Age of COVID." Library Hi Tech News, 2021.