Two views on librarians

"O wid some poo'er the giftie gie us tae see oorsels as ithers see us." Robert Burns

Two popular education technology pundits have recently commented on the value of librarians:

Miguel Guhlin in  "Librarians are Obsolete" in his Around the Corner Blog

David Warlick in "Laptops Are Not the Answer" in this 2 Cents Worth blog.

(and librarian Chris Harris has poseted a pretty funny rejoinder.)

Have a good weekend and leave a comment on these guys blogs! 

Comments

[Tim]

I'm doing a workshop on blogs and wikis for high school and middle school librarians in our district and I'm planning on tossing in a few references to post like the ones you listed. Just to watch the reaction. :-)

Seriously though, I certainly don't believe we no longer need librarians but I hope I can help them understand how all these new tools are changing not only their roles but that of all teachers.

Think I can make that happen in 2-1/2 hours?

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Tim,

I've been trying to help the profession understand how technology changes things for about 20 years now with admittedly limited success. If you find something that works in 2 1/2 hours, I'd appreciate you letting me know.

In defense of librarians, I would have to say that on a percentage basis, librarians are far more technology knowledgable and proficient that classroom teachers. Of course, in our district we have made them tech integration specialists as well. But overall, I'd put this group up against any group of educators.

All the very best,

Doug