Why and whither librarianship?

Hello list:

    What a thread "No politics (was Sarah Palin)" has been 
(albeit brief)!  It has been interesting for a number of 
reasons, not just educational or as entertainment.  It is 
rare for librarians (catalogers in particular?) to break 
the mold of avoiding politics, and refreshing to 
experience.

    I for one feel no threat from individuals who may seem 
somewhat obstreperous in their comments, and it is true 
that practically everything we do is "political" in some 
way.  Many comments that were particularly humorous or 
thought-provoking, or perhaps even constructive, were 
expecially welcome.

>> On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:06:56 -0600
>> Scott Piepenburg <spiepenburg@...> wrote:

>> Its tough being a conservative in a liberal profession...

   I found Scott's comment especially stimulating.  We 
might well argue until doomsday about the definitions of 
"liberal" and "conservative" (how can we still be, and 
efficiently, using the same jaded terms over decades and 
centuries of debate anyway?), but that is a discussion 
that librarians should be facilitating by developing 
bodies of facts and encouraging the "public" to examine 
them.

    The questions that Scott raises, however, are much 
more directly interesting to those of us in the profession 
he cites.  In what way(s) is librarianship (or perhaps 
cataloging specifically) a "liberal" profession?  How 
might that carry a negative connotation?  How might one 
make it a more "conservative" profession, if desired?  Is 
it (just as one possible suggestion) all a matter of who 
runs libraries for what purpose?  Is that perhaps a 
reflection of preferred at-large social structures?   I 
apologize for using the same ambiguous "political" 
terminology I just decried, but perhaps we could discuss 
the issue in other terms than political ones (or could 
we?), or at least ones with more concise meaning.  Your 
constructive observations would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks, Scott!

Cheers!

John G. Marr
Cataloger
CDS, UNMGL
Univ. of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
jmarr@...
jmarr@...

         **"I really like to know the reasons for what I 
do!"**    (Martha Watson)

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