Peace, Order and the Pursuit of Good Libraries
Alanna MacNevin
I'll admit it. I'm a library student tired of receiving those blank-like stares from people after they are told the nature of my studies. “Ohhh,” the look says, the 'h' trailing off and their brow furrowing as they try to discern what it is that I could be studying in 'library school'.
I'm tired of explaining the merits and valuable aspects of this program. Perhaps that is why I started rephrasing my answers to inquisitive strangers. With a range of terms to choose from my slightly scattered, cryptic brain could form a number of replies: knowledge management, librarianship, information studies, information science etc. It wasn't long before I started having fun with it, judging beforehand if the person was likely to be interested, selecting a response of random terms, and watching as that inevitable 'look' materialized on their faces.
There are the occasional encounters with appreciative people; people who understand the underlying and understated value of the diverse and versatile institution that is the library. These experiences are too few and far between. I don't believe my experience is unique; most of us, I'm sure, have spent more time defending or explaining our program than sharing in its praise.
However, I'm told that lawyers love librarians. And this makes sense. Lawyers are busy people (this is my assumption as they all seem to have BlackBerrys) and the nature of their profession makes it essential that they be able to access a lot of information with a certain amount of ease in little time. But certainly libraries and librarians do more than retrieve information.
Libraries have developed along side society as a necessity. People explore their environments and ultimately create or discover information that must be recorded and stored for later use or to avoid 're-inventing the wheel' (a term we have become common with). Libraries encourage progress, literacy, and community. They encourage adherence to important policies such as privacy, copyright, and access. In defending our profession I don't mean to inflate it, but it never seems to amaze me the understated value that many people attach to libraries.
Perhaps it is even possible that we forget the attractive aspects that have directed us to this time, this school, and this program. Those aspects get lost in a sea of meta-data, search logic, flow charts, and html coding.
I'll take this moment to comment on this issue's theme. The theme for this issue, 'the pursuit of peace, order, and good libraries', was chosen with the election epidemic in mind (it's a play off of Canada's motto of 'Peace, Order, and Good Government'). The theme is slightly ambiguous, yes. But the point that could be drawn from it is that good libraries don't just happen; there is a lot of thought, planning, and process that goes into all libraries; a lot of discussion and learning between library students.
We've often heard that the state of the library is an indication of the state of the community it serves; a good library is likely to be surrounded by a good community. All that thought, planning, and process has an important role to play regardless of the type or focus of the library. The Marginal is a medium through which, as library students, we can have discussions and learn from each others experiences before beginning our careers. This issue is filled with experiences and reflections of your fellow students; experiences that were important to them and which I am sure you will find engaging.
In closing I'd like to quote the CKUT music librarian, Andrea-Jane (check out more of what she has to say in the next issue), commenting on libraries “...it's a beautiful thing!”
enjoy.