One Reply to “Librarianship is a Technical Profession…That is All About People”

  1. Hi David
    Once again I have been struck by your story of Justin setting up the 3D printer in a public area. As a librarian, putting oneself “out there” to learn publically is a fabulous thing & can be done in a physical & cognitive setting such as Justin’s or in a more cognitive setting such as a reference interaction. First, it takes courage – trying & failing & succeeding in front of others isn’t always easy for people to do, but it is even harder in this age where we are often being exhorted to manage a polished professional image to the world rather than embracing & celebrating a “state of becoming” in our professional practice. Second, those journeys of trying & failing & succeeding (learning) together with our clients create bonds of trust & respect – critical factors when we want people to say “I don’t know … Can you help me …?” Third, we give ourselves opportunities to learn more about how our clients see things & think about things, & we give our clients opportunities to see how we see things & think about things – critical factors when we seek to provide services & support that our community/ies actually need & want to use. Fourth, being able to publically reflect on & in action (as Schon so eloquently put it) lets us model thinking & problem solving processes that our clients can use in their own journeys of knowledge creation & sharing, & it lets us develop as librarians. Fifth, reflection-in-action & reflection-on-action will become critical skills in a transition phase that sees the “new librarianship” & “information professional” identities work *together* to create new & productive ways of being librarians & knowing about librarianship. THANK-YOU for another thought-provoking contribution to our professional discourse!! 🙂

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