The Future of the Future: Rise of the Knowledge Librarian

AIIM > Infonomics Magazine > KM World (02/02/09) Murray, Art and Wheaton, Ken

"Both the private and public sectors have been steadily downsizing and closing their physical libraries. All those serials and monographs, outdated by the time they arrived from the printers, are simply not that competitive anymore."

Extract: Delivering knowledge vs. information
"Corporate librarians used to devote years acquiring and cataloging physical document collections. All those serials and monographs, outdated by the time they arrived from the printers, are simply not that competitive anymore. Knowledge is not static. It must be continually refreshed through venues such as open discussion and brainstorming. That calls for a new kind of library."

"...Unfortunately, there have been casualties. Librarians are being jettisoned along with the bookcases. We need to reverse that trend and start bringing them back … but only the ones who are willing to change. A traditional corporate librarian must make three major shifts in roles begin the transition to a knowledge librarian."

• Role shift #1: A knowledge librarian should be the "content czar" of the enterprise.
• Role shift #2: A knowledge librarian understands the strategic information needs of the enterprise.
• Role shift #3: A knowledge librarian is a lead agent of change.

“The librarian of the future is uniquely positioned to be at the center of the creation and alignment of intellectual assets across the enterprise. That leads to improved innovation and business performance on a sustained basis. Maybe the time will soon come when we will see librarians as CKOs.” continue reading