This presentation is for the Fall Program Meeting of the Virginia Chapter, Special Libraries Association, which was held Nov. 30, 2012. In it, I suggest that embedded librarianship is indeed a new and different (“breakout”) strategy that enables librarians to align with their organizations and increase their value dramatically.

1

Librarians spend a lot of time discussing who we are as a profession, and where the profession is going. Is all that discussion justified? What’s really going on here?

2

An image of Johannes Gutenberg. Gutenberg’s invention of the movable-type printing press in the 15th century led to an information revolution that (among many other effects) made modern libraries and librarianship both possible and necessary.

3

Marc Andreessen (left) and Sir Tim Berners-Lee (right). Their creation of http and html (Berners-Lee) and the graphical web browser (Andreessen) helped ignite the greatest information revolution since Gutenberg.

4

. Libraries are still working through the disruption to traditional operations caused by this new information revolution. As SLA CEO Janice Lachance puts it in her foreword to my book, The Embedded Librarian, “today we carry pocket-sized and paper-sized librarians around with us wherever we go.” Our profession has been disrupted. There’s good reason for us to question and discuss its future.

5

Michael Stephens (“Stuck in the Past.” LJ Apr 15, 2011, p. 54) puts it this way. Libraries used to be “the only game in town”, but now we have competition – lots and lots of it.

6

There’s lots of evidence of the disruption to traditional libraries. Here’s one example to illustrate. As shown in the chart, the total reference transactions reported by member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries declined by about 45% in the first decade of the 21st century. Imagine if Starbuck’s or McDonald’s reported a decline like that in their sales. It would be headline news!

7

Clearly new approaches are needed. We need to do something – but what?

8

9

SLA’s “Alignment Project” has been one important response. As Jill Strand and I wrote in the Oct./Nov. 2009 issue of Information Outlook, “it’s up to each of us to identify what our employer needs from us, determine how our unique skills and strengths mesh with the direction our organization is heading, and learn how to talk so our boss will listen.” (p. 41)

10

This chart from the Alignment Project presentation shows the disconnects between what librarians thought they should be doing and what employers valued.

The Alignment Project data are good indicators – but still each of us has to do our own alignment project. The needs in our organization might be different.

11

The way to do your own alignment project is to build relationships and talk to people. You can memorize the organization’s mission statement and read the strategic plan – but you’ll only get to true alignment through dialogue.

12

That’s where embedded librarianship comes in. Embedded librarianship starts with building relationships.

13

Here’s my definition of embedded librarianship.

14

Just to expand and restate it.

15

Some may ask, what’s really different about this? This section is for you!

16

These 5 characteristics distinguish embedded librarianship from traditional librarianship.

17

Actually, I’ll start with what it isn’t, and then talk about what it is.

18

Embedded librarianship isn’t cosmetic changes. It’s not getting an account in the learning management system, or moving the library instruction session from the library to the classroom. Embedded librarianship is fundamental strengthening of our relationships and mutual commitment to goals with the teams we are embedded in and the organization we work for. It may even mean working ourselves out of a job. Yet don’t be afraid of this. I have seen examples of embedded librarians working themselves out of a job – only to be handed new, more important responsibilities.

19

What will the future hold? It depends on what we do now. I suggest starting conversations and building relationships. Embedded librarianship needs to be a collaborative effort. And here are 2 principles that I like to keep in mind.

20

Our colleagues all around us are helping to create bits and pieces of the future. Let’s learn from each other.

21

… and let’s invent the future we want.

22

That’s our breakout strategy for our professional future.

23

24

25