We all want to find what we want, when we want it and when we need it. We also want the information to be exactly what we were looking for, relevant and correct. We all have high expectations. This is also true for users of libraries, and librarians play a valuable role helping users sift through countless websites and vast amounts of data in order to find that one perfect piece of information.

Many people get their information from various Internet and news sites and broadcast television or radio. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are also now included as sources of news. The most widely used search engine these days is Google, which can appear deceptively easy, excepting that a search can (and typically does) retrieve thousands of hits. It can be difficult and overwhelming to sift through such results to identify a valuable source or an answer that is needed to a question.

Finding reliable information for everyday issues, such as how to roast a turkey, for example, is different from locating a specific fact on a question such as “What is the current population of Istanbul, Turkey?” Research performed by Project Information Literacy in 2012 regarding information competencies of recent college graduates in the workplace, found that students newly hired by employers were indeed adept at finding an answer quickly, but lacked the skills needed to find the answers that were best for  solving problems in the workplace.

Andrew Revkin, who runs the New York Times’ “Dot Earth” section, criticizes the journalistic tendency toward “single study syndrome”, the habit of seizing on the latest scientific finding and representing it as the truth, greatly oversimplifying the way science is communicated by implying it is an isolated event rather than a scholarly conversation that needs to be presented in context.

By helping people better understand their options, (for example: knowing that Amazon.com is not the best place to go for honest book reviews), librarians help boost the visibility of more valuable, reliable, authoritative, and relevant information sources. This also helps libraries improve the odds of survival.

Regardless of the plethora of search tools available to the public today, librarians still have a vital role to play in pointing people toward experts when it is called for.

Librarians in the Ukraine have been promoting the ideals of a “modern library” and helping to change perspectives about their role in the community.  A recent national survey revealed that citizens there, more and more, think of the library as a place to use computers and receive technical training.

In many communities across America, libraries are positioned to play an integral role as a centerpiece or keystone institution or facility. They can help revitalize neighborhoods and downtowns and they can serve as important partners for the vitality and sustainability of a community, neighborhood or area. However advanced search tools become, there will always be a need for people who are trained to guide you and help you get the most out of them.

Written by: Barbara Maxwell and Tina Teree Baker
Image by: lisafx at Depositphotos.com