Google and the librarian

Another session at PLA was entitled: What Does it take to be good at Reference in the Age of Google? presented by Joseph Janes a professor at the Information School at the University of Washington in Seattle. Here's the gist of this workshop:

You know Google, basically, it's a 'really big ad agency with a search engine attached to it!' In lots of ways Google has changed our lives. It's certainly entered into our vocabulary! If you have a specific thing to find out, it will. It fills in a momentary gap in our knowledge and sometimes in our collections. It even means that you don't have to do the dumb stuff anymore It's fee. It's quick. It's easy and it's good enough. But not perfect. We can do it better! Here are some things that Google CAN'T do. Believe it or not Google is filled with limitations and I'm sure you've noticed them.
It can't select, i.e. tell you which of something is the best.
It can't evaluate, decide, understand, give depth, help in an active way, be a part of a community of learners, give you accuracy, or even find materials either virtually or physically!

All this to tell you that we as librarians are in timesaver positions. We can do it faster. Sure Google is fast, but we have all these other things that we offer that make us even faster!
So here are some suggestions , not to compete with Google, but to prove that the library is still very relevant today!
People come to us with reference questions today because they have failed. Like the gal who was in the library yesterday to ask us to help her find a book about phenome toxcicity in cats and dogs. Please, please please. Just try and get google to help do that!

Increasingly, though, We must be where our patrons are, both virtually ad physically. We must offer a presence on the internet as well as in person.. This means we need to build tools that help people find what they're looking for. Think Pathfinders, vodcasting, something like research minutes on youtube, blogs, or some type of community partnerships. Above all use your secret weapons: print. And doing what you you got into this job to do!
One of the best thoughts from this session, though was this: We need to have an extended notion of the library. A library is not just 4 walls and a roof with books inside and hours posted on the door. The library is anywhere, anytime, and any way in which people interact with information that is organized, provided by and supported by the library. The library is/should be a bigger place than just the building! It is an actual physical location and it can be everywhere. Wow!