Can I Google a reference librarian? (MToaS34)

I've been thinking a lot about this issue lately, and not just because of MToaS prompting. Is the function of reference librarians, or at least staff who sit at the reference desk, still relevant? My immediate answer is, "Of course!" But then I have to add, "Just maybe not in the same way we/they used to be."

I've been trying to keep track of the questions that I get asked that could be called "reference." Of course there is the annual inundation of third-graders looking for books on Beethoven. I don't know why the teacher doesn't say, "pick a famous person," or "pick a famous composer." Nope. The whole class does the same subject and my two juvenile biographies and the one circulating "B" encyclopedia get checked out right away, and every

one else needs to put something on hold. This happens every year.

And there are have been patrons who've asked for books about grieving, building bird houses, making good bread, buying a used car. 

But none of these questions take more than a moment to answer. They don't cause me to flex my "reference muscles." (One question, at the SCPL reference desk did, and that was about US troop levels abroad) The questions that make me feel like I'm really stretching are all on technology. Specifically, Web 2.0 technology.

 What is Twitter?

Is Twitter the same as instant messaging?

Is is safe to be "friends" (on a social networking site) with someone you don't know?

How do I get this picture of me from my cell phone onto Yahoo personals?

How do I know which web sites are secure?

I know I'm not the only one who gets questions like these. Yes, lots of our patrons can ~ and do! ~ bypass us and turn to the Internet for answers to their questions. But there are many left on the sidelines, watching this social and technological sea-change occur and feeling more and more stranded. Before we start bemoaning our presumed obsolescence we should take a moment to contemplate how these neighbors and patrons are feeling. And then get busy learning and teaching.

I was talking the other day with some other staff people about the difficulty of getting more people involved with 23 Things, or More Things. I know it takes time. I know life gets in the way of this online studying. I understand that for some people, the blogging aspect is hugely intimidating. In spite of all this, I think we need to keep urging our fellow library staff ~ at all levels ~ to learn about and grow more comfortable with web technologies. 

In an age when many of our patrons can google their questions, and will turn to wikipedia for answers, we need to stay cognizant of the disparity in our communities between the web-proficient and the patrons who picture only a rodent when you say the word "mouse." Our jobs are no less relevant today than they were before Google. They've just changed a bit here and there, and we need to keep up. 

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Pic credits: "Twitter Logo Map 09",  www.flickr.com/photos/82298325@N00/3346248321. and "Questions Answered" at www.flickr.com/photos/45082883@N00/223839049