The Instant Librarian, or Covert Marketing for our Profession
I love Jessamyn’s post about “on the fly” reference work–where we’re in a situation that calls for some information advice and because we’re librarians, we happen to be able to assist. I do that kind of thing a lot. I think it’s a really cool way to market our profession and our talents, especially when we can do it in an off-hand, informal manner. I especially like it when I suggest someone use a particular resource and mention that her/his local library probably has it and s/he responds that s/he hadn’t thought to go to her/his library, but will now (and might next time, too). Or like tonight when a friend I was hanging out with suddenly perked up, looked at me, and said, “Hey, you’re a librarian! You might know this!” and proceeded to ask for my input on something I could indeed help him with because I am a librarian.
In fact, lately, I’ve had a running joke with a friend that he needs a personal librarian, then something happens, and I end up being his personal librarian, which makes the joke a bit funnier. (Will work for cookies. {Or neat technological gadgets.})
Hey rte, Jessamyn’s done that at Burning Man. I’m serious about it being a great networking opportunity for librarians. I know a bunch of people who are interested in going.
