You know you are a 21st-century librarian when…

Note: This week I am on a "writing holiday" from my day job. I'm using the time to work on a revision of my 1997 book The Indispensable Librarian. (Personally, I think it is still just fine, but others have asked if we still use Gopher as a search tool in our district.) While I wrote the draft for my last book I took advantage of Blue Skunk readers, using you as a sounding board for my book materials. Consider yourselves so used again. Thank you. – Doug

This list has been around for a few years, but I've updated it to serve as an "interest grabber" at the beginning of a chapter. Can you add to the list?

You know you are a 21^st-century librarian when…

• You have to remind kindergarteners to turn off their smart phones before the story starts.
• You know what an IP number is but not an ISBN number.
• You have a student who does a better job troubleshooting the circulation system than the district technician.
• Your students think both The Princess and the Frog and Meet the Robinsons were written by Walt Disney.
• You know more librarians in Texas than you do in your home state because of your Personal Learning Network.
• The best way to remind a student about an overdue book through Facebook.
• You don’t talk in the teachers lounge about a project because it is not tied directly to a state test.
• When answering a reference question, you head to an Internet terminal.
• You’ve started dressing like your avatar.
• Kids look at you funny when you call it the “the card catalog.”
• You have more polo shirts with computer logos than you do book logos - and 25% of your wardrobe comes from vendor booths at conferences.
• Your students want to read the most popular YA lit on their phones.
• Your students show you how to get around the district Internet filter so you can teach a lesson.
• Your aid spends more time troubleshooting the network than reshelving books.
• You never see anyone copy out of the print encyclopedia anymore.
• Your index finger has a callous from tapping the interactive white board.
• You didn’t get your last grad class assignment turned in on time because the network was down.
• You’ve Googled the new teachers in your building - and all the kids have Googled you.
• You don’t remember the last time you’ve had to alphabetize something.
• You have all your passwords and PIN numbers are on your PDA - and you can’t remember the password for your PDA!

Comments

[Kathy Marsh]

great list!

[Kim Caise]

Loved this post! Found it on Vicki Davis' blog. Although I am no longer working on a campus and was never a librarian, I worked closely with the librarians as an instructional technologist and can absolutely relate to the above statements!

Thanks for sharing this humorous post,
Kim

[Doug Johnson]

HI Kim,

Thanks for the comment. Maybe you need one of these for IT folks too!

Doug

[Janice Robertson]

You take a picture of your avatar to your hairdresser, and ask him to cut your hair to look like the avatar!