Lynne Brindley’s Keynote
ITI Bloggers December 2nd, 2003
New this year is lunchtime keynotes. Lynne Brindley, CEO of The British Library, is one of the few people whom I would give up a lunch date to hear. A skilled and polished presenter, Lynne discussed the projects currently engaging her attention at The British Library. Not surprisingly, digital preservation was high on her list. It was delightful to hear her say how important she considers training. She cited a study that she said "shocked" her. It noted that the major inhibitor to training was the cultural barrier of "leaders" who don’t support training. These people, in Lynne’s opinion, don’t deserve to be called leaders.
In terms of new roles for information professionals, Lynne suggested content interpreters and content navigators. Libraries and librarians represent some enduring values. Importantly, one of the things that we bring to the table is trust–people trust librarians. Still, according to Lynne, our traditional skills must be re-positioned to raise their value. "I’d rather we paid more and employed fewer," she said.
No one in the audience disagreed.
Marydee Ojala
Editor, ONLINE: The Leading Magazine for Information Professionals
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