MLD: Master's in Library Design, Not Science

摘要

How many LIS program graduates would identify as scientists, ready to conduct experiments and make new discoveries in information theory, practice, and behavior? Probably far fewer than those whose library job involves practicing design. I had the good fortune to attend a lecture by Joe Janes sponsored by the new Center for the Study of Libraries, information, & Society at Drexel University in Philadelphia, "Libraries: What Is the Way Forward" was an excellent, thought-provoking talk that asked important questions. One of them could have been "What business are libraries in?" What is it that librarians do, could do, or must do to improve the quality of life in their communities? Janes put it succinctly: whether it's providing computer access to those afflicted by the digital divide and education for children whose school library closed long ago, helping the unemployed find jobs, or enabling the illiterate to change their lives, librarians make things better.