Criteria for good reference librarian

[MALA.A]

Dear professionals,

 kindly suggest me the ways and means to upgrade our knowledge in the field of current affairs for becoming a good reference librarian.

[Siddhartha Shankar Ray]

Dear Ms. Mala A,

Thanks for your post and addressing an issue which is among few those which are rather not popular as I see! I am sorry for this comment but it sometimes hurt my consensus as a professional. Before proceeding further, let me confess that I am sending the post in the context of the Title of your post (Criteria for good Reference Librarian) and NOT by the actual post of yours (upgrade our knowledge in the field of current affairs....) as I personally DO NOT believe that a person who has an excellent knowledge of current affairs can become a successful Reference Librarian.

Had it been so, the best Quiz Masters would have been the best Reference Librarians!!

However, there is no denying that people who are well aware of contemporary issues are always stays ahead of their peers in daily social life. And our profession is no exception.

As I understand that there is no ready-made crash-method for becoming a Successful Librarian in general or a Reference Librarian in particular. One who is embodied with certain attributes make him/her successful in profession. For becoming a successful Reference Librarian one MUST have certain attributes.S/He must have a Nodding knowledge of issues pertaining to the field of his/her activities. Like, a Reference Librarian in a Medical institute MUST know the Medical Terminologies so that when people approaches him/her with usual technical jargon s/he must understand it well.

Next is the range of his/her knowledge. S/He  must have an idea of recent or state-of-the-art literature published in journals that way, s/he must be an avid reader. At the same time s/he should have a good memory. I am just narrating an example. Last night I was in a Doctor's Clinic for a Medical certificate regarding my son's illness. In Kolkata, recently the Dengue fever has broke out in a big way and we were discussing about the Dengue Virus and the discussion shifted to AIDS Virus and HIV. One lady exclaimed "HIV; what actually it is? how the fatal disease came into existence after all??" One gentleman replied that it broke out from African Green Monkeys etc. The lady who teaches in a College (presumably history or Pol. Science) was eager to learn more and then I intervened. I explained that actually the virus is a T Cell Virus and explained that there were two groups of Scientists in France (Luc Montaigner in Instut de Pastuer at Paris) and USA ( Robert Gallo at CDC, Atlanta, Georgia) One group identified it as LAV (Lymphadenopathy Associated Virus) and the other group called it HTLV III (Human T Cell Lymphotropic Virus type 3) and for a few years It was called LAV/HTLV III and then ICTV (intl Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses) renamed it as HIV  (these were published in one of the issue sof Epidemiological Review which is an annual issue published with American Journal of Epidemiology) and that if one goes through the BMJ (British Medical Journal) issues of 1983-4 one shall understand origin of the disease etc. (Incidentally I worked in a Medical Research Institute those days and one of the team members in surveillance studies in Red Light Areas as potential High Risk Group)

People were eventually impressed. Now just eliminate me as a person and concentrate on the issue. here in this case a Librarian should have a nodding knowledge about types of Viruses. S/he should also have knowledge of sources and research activities.  S/he must be able to repackage the information according to the nature and type of user and importantly, s/he is able to describe the issue to the target user community without inhibition and of course ,without challenging their egos . The user must not feel that the Librarian is preaching rather they should feel that the fellow is just describing an issue.

[Now coming to my personal profile, I started my career as a Medical librarian in a Teaching Hospital comprising a ONE-MAN-LIBRARY. I had to memorize the disease like "Pediatrics" means Child Disease ; "Nephrology" means Kidney Disease etc. I joined a Social Science Library in a rather mature age and I never had slightest knowledge of Social Science issues/terminologies like "Post Modernity"; "Colonialism" "Civil Society"etc. I often used to approach teachers, Research Scholars and even a few of my junior colleagues who had worked for several years in this library and little by little I had acquired at least some sort of nodding knowledge of the issues; I also consulted thesaurus to understand the definitions and the intrinsic ideas of the terms. And today I often guide students and researchers alike! ]

I am honestly confessing that I have no intention to brag but what I mentioned above is to explain with all humility how any ordinary person with professional qualification of Librarianship can act as a reference Librarian. One must be sincere and love his/her profession and have respect to the users needs and an avid reader and possess the ability to understand and explain things from others' point of views can become a good professional.

I must admit that I do not have a great knowledge of computers either (some of my junior colleagues are far more knowledgeable in IT related issues than me!!) However I understand the basic issues and requirements and most of the ways to solve them. But still I would have been happy had I been able to catch up with my young colleagues!!

[R K]

great ans sir

[maddisetty balaji]

thank u such a great information sir