Why I don't use the library

Abstract

I am a user. I was your user. Now I am just a user - of information. You never see me, you never hear from me, yet I am there. Am I there because of you, or am I there in spite of you? I am a rated researcher. I am a prolific supervisor of postgraduate students. I am a contemporary academic. Yet you never see me in the library. It is because of you - but are you to be thanked, or to be blamed? This talk will take a light-hearted look at the way in which contemporary information users find, process and produce information. It will give the audience a perspective of the processes through which these users go, rather than to present a list of tools that they use. Finally the presentation will provide a useful framework to be used by post-graduate students in their initial engagement with the literature. From this the presentation will speculate on the role of the librarian or information specialist in a technology-rich environment.