Couldn’t agree more, thanks Caitlin. Working smarter rather than longer or harder must be the option for reference librarians today, particularly in public libraries where the variety of patron needs are expanding. Some librarians apparently refuse to deal with technology questions, for exmple, but I think this is short sighted and in the Twitter chat last night it was clear there was an expectation that some level of responsiveness on this issue was considered necessary. I can’t see this trend going backwards, so librarians, who can’t be expected to know everything after all, need to have some expertise in technology issues available elsewhere in the library or online to help. Libraries are so much more than places to find books now and funding that’s appropriate to the kinds of services they are now expected to deliver will be crucial to their success in future.
