August 18, 2010 – Librarians are hoarders with conventional and intellectually provincial minds, and authors struggle to think outside the boxes that librarians keep foisting upon the academic disciplines within which they both operate.
At least that is what Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. shared in his article, “Public Intellectuals: The Rise of the Librarians and the Decline of the Author.” In the article in the Global Politician, Vaknin identifies the differences, both advantageous and contradictory, between the two sometimes allies, sometimes enemies. This interesting article credits, or blames, modern technology and new media along with its focus on data hoarding and taxonomy, for the rise and fall. Citing Wikipedia as a perfect example of broad knowledge about lots of things versus authoritative expertise, the author believes this is a mockery of the idea of progress.
Interesting article and well worth the read, but in all his personal beliefs about the demise of knowledge, the author doesn’t give credit to the value in accessing knowledge. This can only be done with solid foundations of a strong taxonomy and comprehensive indexing. After all, isn’t that what librarians have been trying to do for centuries?
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
