The Power of the 21st Century Librarian

It can be argued that libraries have their origins in the swarm behavior of individuals and groups acquiring and sharing cultural artifacts (e.g, pictographs, books) as the fundamental repositories of knowledge within a community and the broader society.  Librarians have played a key role in the founding and differentiation of  America at its origins.  Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, for example, played key roles in deepening and broadening the tradition of knowledge sharing within the early United States. 

Thomas Jefferson saw public education and acquisition of knowledge as one of the key cornerstones of a free republic.  As a result, he founded the University of Virginia and the library of Congress with the sharing of his own extensive library.   Ben Franklin, in holding a similar ideal for knowledge sharing, formed the first social libraries in the late 1700s in Philadelphia, which could be described as perhaps the first public libraries in the United States.

Fast forward -- the United States, in the early 21^st century, is a global society with its knowledge-based transactions touching billions of lives a day.  Knowledge sharing is now more a phenomenon of the world wide web and social media than of static collections of books alone.  As a result, library science is fusing with knowledge science, the cognitive sciences, and the sciences of complexity, which now have less to do with human/book interactions than human/information system interactions.  As a result, librarians are not only influencing the interactions between individuals and the knowledge source, but also how the knowledge of populations shape collective intelligence and its impact on individual behaviors, and collective behavior. 

Like the biologist of the 21^st century, who must think not only of germs, plants, and animals but also about DNA and genes, the librarian of the 21^st century must also now consider memes and memeplexes -- the fundamental artifacts of science and culture and how they replicate and inform behavior, social process, and social structure.  In so doing, the 21^st century librarian, thinking back from the ultimate impact of their craft, has enormous power in shaping the trajectory of individuals and populations influenced by the knowledge management systems librarians architect and manage.  In a world of human populations rapidly exceeding the carrying capacity of their ecosystems globally leading to food insecurity, energy crisis, water crisis, social conflict, and war, the librarian’s effective shaping of knowledge management systems becomes mission critical.

Librarians in this context have enormous power in guiding the great transformation of social ecologies in the U.S. and around the world toward resilience and sustainability.  In this context, the work of librarians makes a strategic difference in humanity’s epic struggle between mass collapses of populations and humanity’s abilities to thrive under rapidly changing conditions.  It is no longer just the shaping of knowledge that the 21^st century librarian must attend to, but the kindling of wisdom to anticipate changing conditions, collectively transforming wise decisions into unity of effort across large populations -- to collaboratively shape and live within resilient and sustainable social ecologies compatible with healthy biomes; this is the power and the craft of librarians today facing the strategic challenges of their communities, the United States, and the future of our collective humanity globally.

Xxxxxxxxx

On October 20, Dr. Michael D. McDonald will engage a discourse on the  social media, intelligent social networks, information sharing environments, and Resilience Systems, as some of the fundamental tools of strategically oriented librarians embracing the full power and responsibilities of the professions.  You can join this discourse with Dr. McDonald on October 20, by …

Discussion Points:

            The Role of Knowledge in the Third Industrial Revolution

            Information Sharing Environments

            Social Media and Governance

            Web 2.0 Social Networks vs. Web 3.0 Intelligent Social Networks

            Knowledge Management Systems

            Knowledge Management in High Severity Crises

            Knowledge as Power

            Social Media, Riots, Civil Insurrections, Social Crises, and Revolutions

            Smart Swarms and Fifth Generation Command and Control Systems

            Environments in which to Test the Power of Library Science

            Strategic Challenges

            Points of Intervention

            Engaging Data Stewards in Health Capacity Zones

In addition, you can join the discourse here before, during, and after the October teleconference by reading and commenting within the Knowledge Science Collaboratory of the U.S. Resilience System

For more information, contact:

Timothy Siftar <***@***.***>