LISNews: Librarian Blog Since 1999

Is the term “librarian” antiquated? The term derives from the Latin word librarius meaning “of books.” That hardly seems sufficient any more, does it? Why, with the advent of the Internet, the Kindle, and Google, books aren’t all we do any more. Should we be called Information Specialists? Or perhaps Information Professionals? Or how about…Informarians!

I’m only half joking about this. Really, more and more librarians are working outside of conventional libraries…away from books. Now, I LOVE books, so I’m not advocating anything against them. I’m just asking a simple question…does our title clearly define what our job is? As an avatarian (my term for an avatar librarian in Second Life, feel free to use it), I question this. I, myself, am proud to wear the title of librarian, but I thought I’d ask your opinions…Any thoughts?

Bunny Burnstein