July 9th, 2009
Information Underload
Just to be clear, this is not an attack on libraries or librarians or the quality of reference service available at most public libraries. This is more of a “what if reference librarians acted like the corporate news media?” You know, ignoring people’s information needs in favor of gossip, celebrity fixations, and mindless speculation. Hey, wow, Michael Jackson belonged to a close-knit but dysfunctional family, had money problems, and strange habits. Unlike the rest of us non-celebrities who so have their shit together. Say what?
July 9th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Wow. Libraries really are shining beacons of knowledge and enlightenment in a dimly-lit crapsack world.
Of course, anything looks better when you compare it to a heaping pile of fail. (I really do appreciate my library, though. I’m just appreciating it more, now.)
July 9th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Oh Kevin, I love this.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Love “In Contempt”! This comic has been a nice source of irony for alot of my political discussions. I love pointing people here. As a librarian currently seeking a master’s in library and information science, I can only assure you that librarians don’t operate this way and are not trained to. That’s not to say that there will never be some idiot somewhere who would do this. But in general, librarians don’t deflect a person seeking information with newsmedia garbage. In fact, there’s an entire section in reference training on how to properly interview a patron to determine exactly what he wants before helping him search. Just a smidge unrealistic. =o)
July 13th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Thanks, Ashley! Good luck with your MLS! I am glad I have mine. I think this cartoon arises from all of my idealistic notions of reference service and how absurdly, how poorly our news sources serve public information needs. Glad you like it.