The opportunity to blog, the very fact that I am being more intentional about my professional reading and processing the information so that I can eventually reflect in this format, is going to be very valuable to my growth as a librarian. While I will not be so vain as to entertain the idea that someone may actually be interested in my thoughts, I do assert that it will improve my ability to provide service; people do care about that.
Now, onto the actual reflection. While reading "Reinventing the OPAC" I bumped into an ACRL article, "Changing Roles of Academic and Research Libraries," that says it better than I could:Library staffs in general must become more agile, more highly attuned to, and more aggressive in proclaiming just how different the world of knowledge has already become.
I find it very exciting to be in this profession right now because there is so much change. It is exciting, and stretching, to realize that I have to stay current because current is constantly changing. The intentionality this brings to my work can at times be intimidating, but it is opportunities like 23 Things on a Stick that provide a chance to mindfully further my understanding of the opportunities available to help me provide better service to the students, faculty, and staff I serve.
If I acknowledge that the world of information is changing I am also acknowledging the fact that the students with whom I work may very well approach the research process in a way foreign to me. That said, I should expose myself to the tools they are using all the while thinking about ways they may be integrated into the searching process. It doesn't sound feasible to me at first blush, but could an image in Flickr jump start an answer to a reference query? I'll never know unless I try the product and stay open to the possibilities!
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