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The Australian Library JournalLibrarianship in the 21st century - crisis or transformation?Candy Hillenbrand Manuscript received January 2005 This is a refereed article At the beginning of the 21st century, the profession of librarianship finds itself in a state of crisis. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the discourse amongst librarians themselves. Desperate to slough off the old limiting stereotypes of the stern bespectacled cardigan-clad shushing controller of books, librarians are clamouring to convince themselves, each other and the wider community that there is far more to the humble librarian than meets the casual eye. Numerous websites are devoted to extolling the glories and cementing the collective pride of the disaffected 'new' librarian of the 21st century - the 'New Breed Librarian', 'Anarchist Librarian', 'The Shifted Librarian', 'Progressive Librarian', 'Underground Librarian', 'Street Librarian', 'Belly Dancing Librarian', not to mention the 'Naked Librarian' and the 'Modified Librarian' boasting body piercings and tattoos. Perhaps Shelley Howells sums up this striving towards a redefined identity best in her article, 'The secret life of tattooed and bellydancing librarians': 'Librarians rock. That reputation they have involving buns, sensible shoes and shushing people is merely a cunning ruse, developed over centuries, to conceal their real lives as radicals, subversives and providers of extreme helpfulness' (Howells, 2003). This preoccupation with challenging traditional stereotypes and images, while at the same time seeking reassurance and justification for why and how librarians do what they do, is merely one of a number of symptoms of a deeper malaise or 'condition of discomfort'[1] underlying the library profession. Other symptoms can be found in the profession's difficulty in naming itself - there is much debate about whether to call oneself a librarian, information scientist, information manager or knowledge worker. Is the object, purpose or product of our work data, information or knowledge? Do we address the members of the communities we serve as clients, customers, patrons, users, consumers, stakeholders or the more ubiquitous 'borrowers'? The information settings, or libraries, from which our profession arises are today places in flux, change and uncertainty. Government policy initiatives such as the 2020 Vision report of the Cultural Ministers' Council urge public libraries to adopt a business or retail model and to strive to add value to customer services in an economy where information is the new commodity (Mercer, 1996). Moreover, rapid advances in information technology have delivered the information superhighway with its attendant phenomena of information overload. Not only is the library as place changing, but the nature of information itself is being transformed through the shift from linear text-based information environments to the networked hyperlinked non-linear environment of the Internet. Our politicians have begun to recognise the crucial role played by information in the 21st century. Information has now been acknowledged as the new currency of democracy and initiatives like the Federal Government's NOIE (National Office for the Information Economy)[2] and the Federal Opposition's 'Knowledge Nation'[3] have begun to solidify the rhetoric into policy. Little wonder, then, that librarians should find themselves in the midst of a professional identity crisis amidst cultural, social, economic and technological changes of such sweeping proportions. A paradigm shiftThis article will seek to identify the characteristics and qualities of this crisis in an attempt to draw some conclusions about future trends and directions for the profession. The argument put forward is that the symptoms of the crisis are outward signs of a deeper transformation which is taking place within the profession. This transformation is demonstrated by an evolutionary shift within the discipline from Library Studies to Information Science to Knowledge Management. What can be described as a paradigmatic change within the profession will be traced against the background of the transition from the modern to the postmodern era. For the purposes of this study, the distinguishing features of these two paradigms can be briefly delineated as:
The characteristics of this transformation will be examined with reference to each of the elements that combine to form the profession as a whole - which for the purposes of this paper will now be referred to as Library and Information Science (or LIS). These elements consist of:
The disciplineThe discipline can be broadly defined as the theoretical body of knowledge which is taught to students, exchanged amongst educators, studied by researchers, and communicated between professionals in the field. It can be surveyed via LIS university course curricula, conference proceedings, published literature, discourse on Internet Listservs, and so on. Underlying any disciplinary body of knowledge are core assumptions, overarching theories and various philosophical positions. These theoretical and philosophical positions (or ways of thinking and therefore knowing) are referred to as epistemologies. Epistemology is defined as the 'study or theory of knowledge'[4] and 'the study of our right to the beliefs we have'.[5] Obviously, a discipline which has the very phenomena of information and hence knowledge as its primary focus, needs to be clear about what constitutes its underlying theories of and beliefs about knowledge. At least two quite opposing epistemologies or theories of knowledge can be identified - positivism and postmodernism. PositivismThe term was coined by French sociologist Auguste Comte in the mid-nineteenth century to describe the evolution of human thought through theological and metaphysical stages to a superior scientific stage.[6] According to the positivist epistemology, 'all genuine human knowledge is contained within the boundaries of science, that is the systematic study of phenomena and the explication of the laws contained therein'.[7] This scientific theory of how-the-world-works is thus characterised by notions of order, certainty, rationalism, empiricism and predictability. It concerns itself with that which can be reduced into units, observed, measured, quantified and ultimately known. PostmodernismPostmodernism, on the other hand, not only criticises but rejects what it calls 'meta-narratives', a term coined by the French philosopher, Jean-Francois Lyotard, to describe universal all-encompassing theories such as positivism or Marxism (Lyotard, 1991). It could be argued that postmodernism, in its critique of positivism, itself risks becoming yet another universalising theory. On the contrary, postmodern philosophers argue that postmodern science is a 'search for paradoxes, instabilities and the unknown, rather than an attempt to construct yet another grand narrative that would apply over the entire scientific community' (Sim, 1998, p9). The term has been used to describe a quite complex philosophical and epistemological approach as well as a general cultural movement which is sceptical and critical of the values, principles and assumptions that have come to dominate Western society since the Age of Enlightenment. Antony Easthope, in his essay 'Postmodern and Critical and Cultural Theory' lists a cluster of effects which have been associated with postmodernism:
This epoch from which postmodernism has emerged is referred to as modernity. Indeed, implied within the word postmodernism is the suggestion that the postmodern has somehow grown out of the modern. Yet Lyotard does not see postmodernism strictly as that which follows modernism in a linear fashion but rather 'as a cyclical movement that returns before the emergence of ever new modernisms' (Jameson, in Lyotard, 1991).[8] A growing number of theoretical researchers are analysing the traditional epistemological foundations of Library and Information Science and proposing alternative epistemologies grounded in postmodernism, hermeneutics and discourse analysis. The movement towards user-centred and cognitive approaches to research in Information Retrieval can also be seen as parallel developments in the field. Applications of positivist and postmodern epistemologies to LISJohn Budd asserts that the field, alongside most of the disciplines in the social sciences, has long been dominated by the positivist mode of thinking (Budd, 1995). The application of the scientific method to library and information science can be observed in current attempts to empirically observe and predict information-seeking behaviour, to measure relevance using quantitative methodologies, and ultimately to isolate the person or user from the information system s/he is using. An underlying assumption of the positivist method, therefore, is that 'human phenomena can be reduced to physical phenomena' (Budd, 1995, p301). Gary Radford has added to the critique of the positivist epistemology with his description of the library in positivist terms as a 'metaphor for order and rationality. It represents, in institutional form, the ultimate realisation of a place where each item within it has a fixed place and stands in a priori relationship with every other item' (Radford, 1998, p2). Radford continues: The rationality of the library in many ways represents the description of nature idealised by the institutions of positivist science. As the library imposes a completely consistent system upon a collection of unique texts, so positivist science seeks the system by which unique observations derived from nature can be ordered and classified according to a set of general principles (Radford, 1998, p2). Radford believes that this association of the library with rationality and order underlies the common stereotype of the librarian as stern, forbidding and controlling. While the 'librarian's domain is that of the creation and maintenance of order....the library user represents a threat to that order'. According to Radford, this fundamental tension between the librarian who seeks order and the library user who threatens that order informs the negative stereotypes of librarians (Radford, 1998, pp2-3). The positivist epistemology therefore affects how library users and librarians alike experience the library. Postmodernism calls primarily for a change in mental attitude and not merely the substitution of new theories and methodologies for the old. In the context of LIS, the first step lies in becoming aware of the underlying positivist epistemological foundation of library science. Quoting Radford again: The next step is the consideration of this stance as particular rather than absolute, as produced rather than natural, in a movement toward recognising the formation of alternative epistemological foundations that do not structure existence, values, and practice in the same manner as the positivist framework' (Radford, 1998, p4). In other words, postmodern theorists attempt to resist the construction of a postmodern discipline of information. They contend that what is fundamentally called for is the application of the insight that we exist in Lyotard's 'condition of postmodernity' to our discourse and debates in LIS. Conceivably, recognition of the uncertainty and complexity of the postmodern world in which we inhabit will result in more innovative thinking in the field. The postmodern approach therefore does not provide answers - it asks questions. Information - the professional object of LISAt this point, an attempt to define the fundamental object of the LIS profession - information - is called for. Just as doctors practise medicine and lawyers practise the law, librarians dispense information and knowledge. As Capurro points out, there are 134 notions of information in the LIS field which makes attempts to narrow its meaning highly problematical (Capurro, 1999, p2). The word is derived from the Latin informare meaning to shape or form.[9] The Concise Macquarie Dictionary links information to the concept of knowledge by defining information as 'knowledge communicated or received concerning some fact or circumstance'. Common definitions within the LIS field appear to centre on notions of 'organised data' suggesting that information is something objective which exists outside the person (Terra and Angeloni, 2002, p2). Knowledge, on the other hand, is more complex, residing as it does within the human mind. Such traditional notions of information are challenged by postmodern theorists like Capurro who stress the interaction between society and information systems - the social nature of information. According to Capurro, the nature of information is changing at the end of the period of modernity. He outlines three 'abandonments' characterising this - the abandonment of the primacy of scientific thought; the abandonment of the objective-subjective split; and the abandonment of the Platonic idea of human knowledge as something separate from the knower. Arising from these propositions, in the postmodern era, knowledge is relative, contextual and dependent on the knower's frame of reference. Information is acknowledged as 'something basically human' and 'modern knowledge is something common, shared by a community'. Moreover, knowledge is no longer separate from the knower, and information has become a medium as a result of modern information technology (Capurro, 2000, pp2-3). Indeed, Capurro refers to a 'Copernican revolution' in information science akin to the paradigm shift from the Ptolemaic model of the earth as centre of the universe to the Copernican revelation of the earth revolving around the sun: Instead of considering knowledge something static and permanent in the center of a (library) system, we are now aware of the constitutive role played by the interpreter and user of such schemes (Capurro, 1985, p12). Education for LISThe stated purpose of the University of South Australia's educational training program for librarianship, the Graduate Diploma in Information Studies, reads as follows: This program .... covers principles and practices involved in the selection, acquisition, organisation and presentation of a range of materials and information technologies, to provide effective services for users. Emphasis is placed on the role of the professional information manager as intermediary in the process of communication in a complex society.[10] While the course synopsis emphasises the complexity of contemporary society and the role of communication processes in information work, the primary focus is on the organisation and management of information which, as we have seen, reflects a positivist epistemological approach to LIS. Positivist versus postmodern trends in LIS educationThe discourse of postmodernism has penetrated many academic disciplines including the social sciences, the 'hard' sciences, architecture, art, education, amongst numerous others. Yet postmodernism appears to have 'only marginally impinged on the information and library sciences'. In part, this state of affairs can be attributed to the technical focus of librarianship and 'the fixation of a predominantly vocational disciplinary field on practical problem solving rather than social and cultural theory' (Muddiman, 1999, p1). Muddiman and others argue that the 'problem' rests with LIS's uncritical acceptance of Enlightenment notions or 'narratives' of an ordered, rational and socially progressive 'information age' in which information is central to modern life, and librarians, as managers of that information, are positioned to assume the pre-eminent role of organisers and rulers of this information society (Muddiman, 1999, p1). The claim is that if knowledge is power, then surely librarians should rule the world! The reality is that in this postmodern era of burgeoning information technologies and the resulting pluralism, relativity and fragmentation of knowledge, the traditional information professions have failed to achieve such pre-eminence. Indeed, according to Muddiman: '[the] postmodern critique helps to explain the relative decline of librarianship and, to some degree information science, which are seen as associated historically with the 'modern' project' (Muddiman, 1999, p1). Others offer divergent reasons to explain the problems which beset LIS education. Myburgh, for example, believes the most dangerous threat to the profession is the 'librarian mindset' (Myburgh, 2003, p2), while Kruk asserts that the 'postmodernist model of librarianship' poses the greatest threat to libraries (Kruk, 2003, p229). Postmodern theorists in the LIS field are calling for new directions in the education of information professionals (Muddiman, 1999, Myburgh, 2003). They point to the flaws of the 'modern' project of LIS with its emphasis on an ordered enlightened information society that, by its very nature, excludes the cultures of large majorities of the world's population, constructing instead 'a privileged form of knowledge which, far from being universal, amounts to a partial yet dominant culture which is male, European, positivist and humanist' (Muddiman, 1999, p4). An interesting example of this 'culture of exclusion' can be seen in The Library of Congress Subject Headings system of classification whereby 'man' is used as the subject heading to represent 'human beings' and 'women' are found at the very bottom of the hierarchical list (Olsen, 1996):
In contrast to what is viewed as the prevailing rationalistic patriarchal paradigm, feminist theorists and others are calling for a new disciplinary paradigm based on co-operative, participatory, interdisciplinary and non-hierarchical methodologies (Halligan and Crew, quoted in Muddiman, 1999, p4). According to Myburgh, LIS education 'is no longer technical, but must include consideration of new cognitive, social and situational processes' (Myburgh, 2003, p1). Van House and Sutton argue that LIS is fast becoming an endangered species, They maintain that the 'information problem' which lies at the heart of the LIS domain has been largely misunderstood because 'the traditional focus of LIS has not been on information at all but rather on its containers'. Quoting Barlow who compared information to fine wine: 'We thought for many years that we were in the wine business. In fact, we were in the bottling business. And we don't know a damned thing about wine' (Van House and Sutton, 1996, p4). If this argument is accepted, it goes some way towards explaining why LIS now faces serious competitive challenges to its traditional jurisdiction from professionals in such fields as computer science, business studies and the communications discipline. LIS has found itself well behind the eight-ball in recognising the emergence of information and knowledge as strategic commodities in the 21st century. Information and knowledge as strategic commoditiesThe 21st century has been variously referred to as the Information Age, the Age of the Mind and the Knowledge Society. In a global economy dominated by capitalism and world debt, technological transformations fuelled by the unparalleled growth of the internet have served to transform knowledge into a form of capital. According to Lyotard, over the last few decades, knowledge has become the 'principle force of production'. He continues: Knowledge in the form of an informational commodity indispensable to productive power is already, and will continue to be, a major - perhaps the major - stake in the worldwide competition for power. It is conceivable that the nation-states will one day fight for control of information, just as they battled in the past for control over territory, and afterwards for control of access to and exploitation of raw materials and cheap labor. A new field is opened for industrial and commercial strategies on the one hand, and political and military strategies on the other (Lyotard, 1991, p5). In short, in the postmodern era, knowledge has become synonymous with power. It can be produced, distributed, bought and sold: The relationship of the suppliers and users of knowledge to the knowledge they supply and use is now tending, and will increasingly tend, to assume the form already taken by the relationship of commodity producers and consumers to the commodities they produce and consume - that is, the form of value. Knowledge is and will be produced in order to be sold, it is and will be consumed in order to be valorised in a new production: in both cases, the goal is exchange. Knowledge ceases to be an end in itself, it loses its 'use-value' (Lyotard, 1991, pp4-5). This fundamental shift in the nature of information and knowledge, the traditional domain or 'heraldic crest' (Herold, 2001, p5) of the LIS profession, lies perhaps at the heart of the crisis facing the entire field. Educators and professionals find themselves located in increasingly complex and ever-changing environments which must necessarily require changes to both the academic programs and the physical libraries within which students and professionals study and work. From the 'Information Age' to the 'Age of Knowledge'There are those who assert that the Age of Information is now on the wane and that western society is currently experiencing the transition to the Age of the Mind or the Knowledge society. This transition is led by technology and has given rise to the knowledge-based organisation (Riley, 1998, p145). With the advent of informational capitalism, the traditional focus of Library Studies or Information Science has been steadily shifting towards the management of information (or Information Management). As Muddiman notes, the foundation of traditional librarianship with its 'ethos of progress through the diffusion of public knowledge for the general good' is finding itself increasingly at odds with the trend towards Information Management whereby the commitment to a service profession is replaced instead by a commitment to an 'entrepreneurial market economy' (Muddiman, 1999, p7). More latterly, the discipline of Information Management is giving way to the postmodern concept of Knowledge Management - the goal of which is to 'exploit information entities in an organisation for the purpose of using that information to achieve greater value and to gain advantage over competitors' (Muddiman, 1999, p5). With Knowledge Management have emerged the key concepts of knowledge sharing, the learning organisation, the knowledge-based organisation and the knowledge audit. Consequently, some LIS educators are arguing that they need to close the gap between traditional studies and the evolving needs of the knowledge-based workplace. The new skills and competencies required include collaborative management, change management, entrepreneurial, strategic planning, information technology and corporate skills. A recent study has found that while LIS graduates may possess the necessary skills to take their place in the knowledge economy, the view of 'the librarian' is still impeding their entry into the Knowledge Management sector (Breen et al, 2002, p27). Librarianship - the professionThe future of librarianship thus hinges on what happens to the perpetually changing work of the profession in its three contexts: the context of larger social and cultural forces, the context of other competing occupations, and the context of competing organisations and commodities (Abbott, 1998, p3). Librarianship is defined in the Macquarie Dictionary as 'a profession concerned with organising collections of books and related materials in libraries and of making those resources available to readers and others'. This points to the traditional functions of the librarian in the selection, acquisition, organisation and provision or delivery of books, information and knowledge to a community of readers or users. This definition does not take into account the 'larger social and cultural forces' which have transformed the nature of information through technology, the mass media and the internet. It restricts librarians to books. Core valuesAll professions are characterised by a body of knowledge, a set of skills or competencies, and a set of shared or core values. The first two have been discussed earlier. The core values of a profession are set out by the professional associations through which practitioners become registered or accredited. In Australia, the professional organisation is the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). The central values of Australian librarianship can be reasonably extracted and summarised from ALIA's Core Values Statement:[11]
From a postmodern deconstructive perspective, if one looks carefully at some of these shared values on the one hand, and the practices of the librarian on the other, there appears to be a fundamental schism between the theory and the practice. Could it be that librarians are deluding themselves about their core values? For example, librarians uphold the value of freedom and equity of access for all as a pillar of their professional approach to clients, and a cornerstone of our democratic society. And yet, the criterion for membership of most public libraries is proof of an address, usually residential. If one has no address, that is, apparently is homeless, s/he cannot join the library, cannot borrow books nor enjoy many of the other benefits of library membership. The resources of the public library are clearly not available to all and sadly, it is the poor and disadvantaged who are excluded. While the profession professes values of inclusion and respect for diversity, the reality is actually a culture of exclusion. Similarly, the value of freedom from censorship is upheld as crucial to the ethics of librarianship, yet librarians exercise censorship (whether they are aware of it or not) every time they select materials for inclusion or not in library collections. Censorship may also be imposed on librarians by central authorities or networks (like South Australia's Public Libraries Automated Information Network or PLAIN) which select and distribute the books from which the public librarians make their selections. The values of neutrality, rationality and objectivity can also be deconstructed for librarians continually exercise value judgments in their role of 'evaluating' information sources and determining what are 'good' and 'bad' materials or websites for users. Iverson refers to this as the 'metanarrative of objectivity'. She argues that in upholding the myth of objectivity, librarians have served 'hierarchical and positivist orders in determining the 'knowledge' that will be made available to the public'. She argues further that the role of the librarian: should not be to act in collusion with the forces which perpetuate disadvantage, but to redefine their role to assist in the establishment of a truly equitable society' (Iverson, 1999, p3). The core value of service and more particularly, free services, is also being threatened by increasingly market-driven 'economic rationalist' values of the postmodern era. Pressures from funding institutions, local government authorities and managers to respond to economic constraints and meet performance measures established outside the profession serve to drive librarians to promote, advertise and sell the library to a wider customer base. The decline of librarianship?Amidst the exhortations from some quarters of the profession to sever the umbilical cord to librarianship, others are calling for a reaffirming of pride in it. Alan Bundy, for example, maintains that librarians need to 'rediscover' themselves (Bundy, 2001b, p3). With numerous government policies and initiatives focusing on the information economy and the knowledge nation, there is widespread agreement from both within and outside the profession that the information and knowledge professions will have a crucial role to play in the 21st century of the mind. Indeed, Bundy maintains that librarianship is 'the profession for the 21st century' (Bundy, 2001a, p1) and his sentiments are echoed throughout the literature. And yet, at a time when information is the new commodity, librarianship is in decline. This is evident in recent trends Australia-wide and abroad towards the closing down, reassignment and cutting back of library studies departments, courses and academic staff. Berring describes it thus: 'At the very moment when librarianship should be striding forward it is in full retreat. What has happened?' (Berring, 1993, p96) Numerous explanations exist for this state of affairs. Some maintain that librarians have been too slow to embrace the paradigm shift in information from analogue to digital. Certainly, the literature of the 1990s is replete with lamentations about the 'death of the library', and the fear that the technology of the Internet would not only replace the book but render the librarian increasingly redundant in an information environment where the user is now able to meet her/his own information needs without the assistance of an 'expert' intermediary. Others believe that librarians have gradually given up responsibility for their role as guardians of information to information technologists (Danner, 1998, p20). Certainly, within many public libraries, there is sharp competition between librarians and the local authority's IT staff for jurisdiction over matters relating to information technology. It is the IT staff who are largely responsible for establishing and maintaining library websites, for overseeing the local area networks, as well as dealing with problems large and small which arise with the library's public access and staff computers. Still others suggest that the 'problem' lies with the general public's sustained misperception about the profession of librarianship. Most library users cannot distinguish between a university-trained librarian and a non-trained library support worker. For many, everyone who works in a library is a librarian and there is incredulity that a librarian requires a university degree to practise - 'but why do you need a degree just to stamp/wand books?' is the oft-uttered refrain. Obviously, the public does not see what a librarian does behind the scenes, and in a public library where support staff and librarians alike attend to reference queries and help with computer problems, is it any wonder that the library user cannot distinguish between who is university qualified (read professional) and who is not? The image problemThe blurred boundaries surrounding the profession of librarianship and the changing nature of information are just some of the factors contributing to what has been described in the introduction to this paper as a professional identity crisis. Apart from the numerous websites devoted to challenging traditional stereotypes and attempting to reveal the 'funky' side of the otherwise boring librarian, other websites deal more directly with what is referred to within the profession as the 'image problem' (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Websites such as 'Image and the Librarian' reflect the deep insecurity and anxiety which lies at the heart of the library profession. Contributors bemoan their low status, the lack of recognition and respect from their clientele and the world at large, their apparent invisibility, the routine nature of their work, the low pay, and much more. They loudly proclaim: 'all we're asking for is respect'.[13] Questions are asked, motives are examined, and recommendations and resolutions put forth, for example, to improve service, to be more welcoming to patrons, to stop talking about the 'image problem', to not criticise the profession, to speak positively about being a librarian, and so forth. Jennifer Cram, in her article, 'Self love and joy and satisfaction in librarianship', counsels librarians to love themselves first, thenceforth the world will love and respect them in return. While this article (and others like it) is excruciating in its professional self-consciousness, it nonetheless points to what may lie beneath the 'image problem' - librarians have a negative self-image and this underscores their perception of their work, their perception of their workplaces and their perception of how their clients and the wider public value their professional contribution. It is time for us to take steps to ensure that we change the way we look at ourselves, that we start behaving as if we are the people we want to be, rather than the people we believe we are....We have to make sure that what we actually do is what we set out to do. WE have to be positive in our outlook, and proud of the fact that we are Librarians, and that pride must be evident in everything we do. The image that the world has of us, and which does have a bearing on our effectiveness, will only change if our self image changes first. (Cram, 1997). Unfortunately, while it may be therapeutic for librarians to share their professional insecurity and anxiety via the internet and various print publications, the unintended result is that the proliferation of this kind of discourse is merely adding to the 'image problem'. Deidre Dupré warns librarians to be reserved when sharing messages of either professional pride or insecurity: When a person is utterly convinced of the value of his profession he does not need to force others to believe in his professional pride with lots of loud proclamations. Instead his actions, like encouraging others to join the profession, remaining with and succeeding highly at his organisation, and exuding confidence that his profession is valued by his peers and society, show that he has no professional insecurity' (Dupré, 2001). The library - the place of LISHumans are the only creatures able to change their fate by making decisions based on their view of the future and their review of the past. Our libraries are the collected wisdom and foolishness of humanity, and every aspect of human behaviour. The most powerful use of a library for any individual is continuous life-long browsing, building up a background knowledge of the way humanity behaves. This knowledge contributes to personal wisdom (Cram, 1999, p3). Bundy notes that since the world's first libraries were housed in temples, 'the first librarians were probably priests' (Bundy, 2001c, p1). Could it therefore be that a sense of unconscious superiority has lain at the heart of the profession? It could be argued that librarians, even in the 21st century digital library, may still be in touch with their traditional roles as 'guardians of knowledge' and 'keepers of the temple'. Libraries and librarians have also played a key role in the 'civilising' mission of Western society. The meta-narratives of truth, objectivity and a unified body of knowledge permeate much of the literature. Miroslav Kruk, who has had several articles published in ALIA's flagship Australian Library Journal, in recent years, provides an excellent example, bearing in mind that ALIA is the voice of the profession (Kruk, 1998, 2001, 2003). An analysis of Kruk's discourse reveals the core assumptions behind the 'positivist' epistemology. He argues that libraries should contain materials that present a 'true picture' of the world; that 'knowledge is about how things really are'; and that librarians must 'rigorously apply themselves to give the public access to a true representation of the world' (Kruk, 2003). In criticising the emerging postmodern critiques of traditional librarianship, Kruk bemoans the postmodern emphasis on freedom, relativism and the social construction of knowledge. Instead, he calls for a return to the traditional values of truth, objectivity and reason and urges librarians 'to serve truth'. Curiously, he uses the example of Hitler as 'one historical personage who well exemplifies the problem of library users having boundless freedom' (Kruk, 2003, p232). Essentially, Kruk maintains that for libraries to survive as 'public institutions working for the common good they must be defended from postmodern attack' (Kruk, 2003, p238). A further source of concern for Kruk is the presence in public library collections of books on the New Age movement which he dismisses as 'books on superstitions'. Despite the fact that such books are immensely popular with the borrowing public, Kruk urges librarians to maintain their role as 'guardians of truth' and defenders of the moral good and to actively resist the pressure to try and please everyone. The library should not serve 'customers'; it should serve some idealised and unified notion of 'truth'. Indeed, according to Kruk, 'the modern model of the public library as a service to customers has a fatal flaw'. Libraries, he says, should instead be engaged in the 'fight against ignorance' and should 'promote enlightenment' (Kruk, 2001, p8). Kruk's articles beautifully illustrate the 'modernist' or 'positivist' epistemology which pervades the profession. It could be argued that the underlying tendency of LIS professionals to adhere to a modernist or Enlightenment view of knowledge, at a time when the postmodern networked era is well and truly upon us, is bound to create confusion, identity crises, self-questioning and a conflict in core values. In short, librarians and libraries are out of step with the changing world of the 21st century. As Ray points out, libraries by their very nature are 'modernist' institutions which embody the values of order, predictability, reliability and rationality: 'they are of necessity rule-bound, mechanistic, linear organisations' (Ray, 2001, p251). While libraries have embraced and integrated postmodern technologies like the Internet into their range of services, there is nonetheless a lingering sense of something almost anachronistic about the librarian in the 21st century library. Something doesn't quite fit. Ray believes that 'librarians as a whole have been slow to recognise the limitations of their traditional 'meta-narrative' in a postmodern information age because their construction of reality is bound by the function of 'bibliographic control'. She advises that: Our postmodern condition requires that we alter our current meta-narrative or construction of reality if we are to accommodate [the new postmodern] values without forfeiting our traditional core values (Ray, 2001, p251). This would appear to indicate the crux of the crisis besetting the LIS profession and points equally to the opportunity for transformation. Clearly, society is undergoing rapid and far-reaching social and technological changes and the profession must change and adapt in order to meet the changing needs of the communities it serves. The challenge, as articulated so insightfully by Ray, is how to change without losing our commitment to our core values, like that of service. Ray argues that we need to accept the realities of the postmodern condition - the realities of constant change, ambiguity and fragmentation - rather than try to fight against them as Kruk and others propose. In doing so, we remain in touch with the world we inhabit. By refusing or failing to do so, we risk remaining an anachronism. The future - building communitiesRay offers concrete suggestions to help postmodern librarians and libraries adjust to the turbulent changes of the postmodern condition. Postmodern libraries, she writes, need flexible and open boundaries and clear missions. They need to focus on relationships (internal and external) and communities. And finally, they need to focus on learning as the organising principle (Ray, 2001, p253). The qualities and competencies called for in the 21st century librarian, therefore, are flexibility, vision, the ability to think critically yet synthetically, to form partnerships, to collaborate, to continue learning and to teach others. We need to shift our professional focus from the traditional 'guardian of knowledge' to the more modern 'intermediary' to that of the postmodern 'enabler'. The librarian as enabler is one who: ...makes it possible for others to learn and use new sources and new ideas', connecting them with both the print and electronic resources as well as helping them learn the critical information literacy skills needed to evaluate information. The information professional also becomes a continuous learner to assume this role, learning how to perform and manage as a teacher and trainer on demand (Soy, 1996, pp4-5). At the beginning of the 21st century, new core values for the profession of librarianship are emerging (Cox, 2000; Bundy, 2003a, 2003b). There is a growing body of literature detailing the collapse of community and the loss of trust between people in Western countries. Recent literature points to the library's role as contributor to 'social capital' or social cohesion. The World Bank defines 'social capital' as: the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions. Increasing evidence shows that social cohesion is critical for societies to prosper economically and for development to be sustainable. Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society - it is the glue that holds them together.[14] Public libraries, in particular, are poised to play a crucial role in building communities and connecting people. In providing local communities with 'a safe place to go', libraries are in a unique position to facilitate the building of trust and relationships between members of the communities they serve. The trend for the future of the profession of librarianship, therefore, is towards a community development role whereby librarians can act as facilitators and partners in the development of social capital for their local communities. In doing so, libraries can collaborate with other community agencies committed to a similar vision. To quote Hugh Mackay, the library of the future can become the new 'village green' (Mackay, 2002). BibliographyAbbott, Andrew (1998). 'Professionalism and the future of librarianship', Library Trends, 46 (3) Winter 98. 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[Online, accessed 18 Sep 2003]. http://home.earthlink.net/~cyberresearcher/ImageHomepage.htm Mercer, Colin with Margaret Smith, (1996), 2020 Vision: Towards the Libraries of the Future - A Strategic Agenda and Policy Framework for Australia's State and Public Libraries, Libraries Working Group of the Cultural Ministers' Council, 1996. Muddiman, Dave (1999). 'Towards a Postmodern Context for Information and Library Education', Education for Information, 17 (1) 1999. [Online, accessed 19 Sep 2003]. Available: EBSCOhost. Myburgh, Sue (2003). 'Education directions for new information professionals', Australian Library Journal, 52 (3) August 2003. [Online, accessed 7 Sephttp://www.alia.org.au/.org.au/publishing/alj/52.3/full.text/myburgh.html Neill, S D (1992), Dilemmas in the Study of Information, Greenwood Press, New York, 1992. Olsen, Hope A (1996). 'Between Control and Chaos: An Ethical perspective on Authority Control', Authority Control in the 21st Century: An Invitational Conference, March-April 1996. [Online, accessed 24 Aug 2003]. URL: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/authconf/holson.htm#3 Radford, Gary (1992). 'Positivism, Foucault, and the Fantasia of the Library: Conceptions of Knowledge and the Modern Library Experience', Library Quarterly, 62 (4) pp408-424. Radford, Gary (1998). 'Flaubert, Foucault, and the Bibliotheque Fantastique: Toward a Postmodern Epistemology for Library Science', Library Trends, Spring 98, 46 (4) [Online, accessed 2 Dec 2003]. Available: EBSCOhost. Ray, Kathlin (2001). 'The Postmodern Library in an Age of Assessment', Crossing the Divide: Proceeding of the 10th National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, March 15-18, 2001, Denver, Colorado. [Online, accessed 18 Sep 2003]. http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/kray.pdf Riley, Bryan (1998). 'You are now entering the Age of the Mind: thoughts on the knowledge society', Australian Library Journal, 47 (2) May 1998, p145. Sim, Stuart (1998). 'Postmodernism and Philosophy', in Stuart Sim, Ed, The Icon Critical Dictionary of Postmodern Thought, Icon Books, Cambridge, 1998. Soy, Susan (1996). 'Enabling the Enablers: Positioning Library and Information Science Professionals for the Future', Disciplinary and Professional Development of Library and Information Science, Fall 1997. [Online, accessed 30 Nov 2003]. http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~ssoy/disciplinary/I391d4a.htm Terra, Jose Claudio and Angeloni, Terezinha (2002). 'Understanding the difference between Information Management and Knowledge Management' [Online, accessed 2 Dec 2003]. http://www.kmadvantage.com/docs/kmarticles/Understanding_the_Difference_between_IM_and_KM.pdf Tuominen, Kimmo (1997). 'User-centered discourse: An analysis of the subject positions of the user and the librarian', Library Quarterly, 67 (4) pp350-371. Van House, Nancy and Sutton, Stuart (1996). 'The Panda Syndrome: An Ecology of LIS Education', Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 37 (2). [Online, accessed 30 Nov 2003]. http://sims.berkeley.edu/!vanhouse/panda.html Biographical information Candy Hillenbrand is currently a Masters Student at the University of South Australia (Footnotes)
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