4A: Connecting Old Ideas with New Toolkits

The overlying centerpiece of discussion this past week’s class was the pitches we gave detailing the virtues and setbacks of various websites and databases that offered a dizzying amount of information. I, personally, had fun scouring through the Congress.gov website and searching for either famous pieces of legislation or important committees that senators and representatives served on. Watching the different pitches, and then performing the pitch with my group, I observed that so many of these different sites accomplished similar goals despite having differing audiences. While Infobits and Congress.gov might seem entirely different in their intentions, they both provide vital information for the audience they are targeting. The ability to interact with information on user-friendly interfaces provides an opportunity for audiences to easily locate the data they need. Above all, the insights from these pitches and the tools they showcased demonstrated that the core concepts of “personal assistance” that Samuel Green espoused are still highly relevant to reference and the growing number of digital patrons that utilize these information access tools today. 

Indeed, the “freedom of intercourse between librarian and reader” [1] is still a virtue that applies to these reference tools, as the ability to navigate and access information relies upon a librarian ethos to facilitate the exchange of ideas on a designed platform. Infobits and other sites under the Gale umbrella serve as examples of the potential for digital accessibility, with built-in functions that read aloud texts or allow users to “write on” or highlight texts. Allowing for “personal assistance,” no matter the constraints or abilities of the user, depends upon designing a system in place that not necessarily replaces all the capabilities of a reference librarian, but produces the core capabilities that are necessary when the circumstances (the physical absence of a professional) demand it. Thus, sites like Congress.gov reciprocate the grand ideals of early thinkers like Green and Melville Dewey in a more contemporary fashion, as users gain the ability to build upon a “core toolkit” (as Shevon would say) that allows them break away from librarian dependence [2]. Yet, I wished our conversation in class had steered its way in this direction, particularly on the subject of accessibility and its relevance to Green and Dewey’s pronouncements, especially Dewey’s idea that a library should be  “an aggressive, educating force in the community” and the librarian should “[occupy] a field of active usefulness second to none.” [3]  However, we focused more on acquisitions and their relevance in this current era of reference, which absolutely has its merits, but it did not center the readings in a more substantial way. I remain optimistic that although these ideas have not been discussed at length as of yet, their relevance will be proven time and time again we all delve into deeper questions on reference work and librarianship. 

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[1]  Green, S.S. (1876). “Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers.” American Library Journal 1: p. 79.

[2] Green, “Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers,” p. 80.

[3] Dewey, M. (1888). “Libraries as Related to the Educational Work of the State,” p. 3.