According to Greer, Grover, and Fowler in their book, Introduction to the Library and Information Professions, the information professions include "those professions which are engaged in the creation, organization, diffusion, and preservation of information and knowledge" (p. 12). Professionals in these fields might be librarians, archivists, records managers, information scientists, information entrepreneurs, information resources managers, or information systems specialists (Greer, Grover, & Fowler, 2007). There are many jobs which fall under these broad categories, but my purpose here is not a lengthy examination of the information professions.
Although the jobs of professionals in this field may vary dramatically-- a children's librarian's work is vastly different from that of a corporate records manager, for example--Greer, Grover, and Fowler (2007) assert that there are several characteristics that all information professionals share. These include the fact that all work with a specific population with specific information needs, that all manage an organization, staff, budget, etc. which serves as the link between information and the client, and that all are responsible for "the design and management of an information system encompassing a database" (p. 11).
4 comments:
It makes me think about the (brief)time that I worked at a popular chain bookstore. They could not have been LESS interested in organization and it drove me CRAZY. In their case, it was a simple case of lazy and of having managers that were very young and most likely very inexperienced. It just shocked me though, how could you go to all the effort of running a store and give up at THAT point. Nothing that you have matters if you cannot find it.
What you said about the what people organize and that they organize things different when they work in different departs, makes me think about the graphics section of the library that I work. Graphics are different in my opinion than other fiction books because most graphics are series and have author that have very different names to know or the illustrator for what ever reason is given the credit. For this section, I believe that the books should be organized be the series names because that is the way that teens are going to look and know them by.
This is different from what I would do in the adult section and the regular fiction section of the teen area.
I agree with you, Richelle, that collections should be organized in ways that make sense to the populations who will access them. Thanks for your comment.
Yes, information organization is completely related to the end user that requires the info. If it is not organized in a way that is useful and logical, it fails in its purpose (what is the purpose of info if not be be read, used, understood)?
You gave a good example in the difference between organizing a corporate library and a children's library. The difference between how a bookstore and a library organize their collections is another example. This is a big discussion... because even libraries are thinking about how to organize their books. I read about some libraries that use a typical bookstore layout of subjects rather than the Dewey Decimal System thinking that they are appealing to youth & others that are not familiar with DDC.
Really we need more research on these topics to figure out the best approach. And / or writings from librarians about their real experiences.
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