Obsolete Skills
February 20th, 2008 by Christopher HarrisDo you remember how to dial a phone or carefully place a needle on a record? While I may be a young whippersnapper, I grew up with rotary phones and the beautiful sounds of Joan Baez and the Weavers coming from my parents’ record player. If you are struggling to explain these incredibly foreign concepts to the youngsters of today who aren’t even sure what a VHS tape is, then maybe the new Obsolete Skills wiki can help clarify your explanation. The wiki, a continuation of some earlier projects but reinvigorated by a post from Robert Scobble, seeks to document some of the basic life skills upon which we no longer rely.
In honor of the complex skills that sustained library science before computers automated many of the tasks, I created a page for searching a card catalog. It needs your help, however, as I was never a librarian developing or maintaining a card catalog. I have great respect, however, for the amazing level of complexity represented in those massive physical databases. Can you flesh out my description?
Perhaps this is a good way for our profession to look back at skills that are becoming obsolete; not in a bad way, but rather just in a passage of time way. With acknowledgment for the incredible contributions throughout the history of library science that let us get to where we are now, this could be a respectful way to honor skills that are changing. To welcome the future while also giving thanks to the systems that led us to new developments.
So what are some other obsolete library skills (at least in the general sense, archival and research libraries are probably excluded here)?
- Using the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature?
- Filling out a card to check out a book?
- Waiting for the journal you need to come back from the bindery so you can get an article?
- Cataloging most books from scratch?
- ?
February 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Unfortunately, there are still plenty of libraries (esp. school libraries) in which searching the card catalog is by no means obsolete. (I liked the part about swordplay with the retaining rods. You neglected to mention that while engaged in swordplay, the drawer would often tip over, necessitating the alphabetizing of hundreds of &$#@ 3×5 cards.)
February 20th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I do like the idea of a “passage of time” wiki, but please remember that, like Anne Marie’s post points out, some of your “other skills” are also not yet obsolete so perhaps you need to figure out a better title. When I changed jobs this year, I was really surprised that my “new” school was still making kids fill out cards to check out books, as we are fully automated. I was ready to abolish the practice as I had not filled out a card since I was a student at this very school, but my aide convinced me to keep it — well, I can’t tell you how handy it is to have that card when a student comes back with an overdue notice and says “I never had that book” — many a time we have pulled the card and showed them their handwritten name – guess what? the book comes out of the locker and gets returned pretty fast. It also has worked well to “prove” to parents that their little darling, did indeed, have the book and needs to pay for it when it goes lost. The only thing I don’t like about it is the fact that others can see who has checked the book out (haven’t yet reconciled my need for privacy with those list of names) but it is fun to weed and see names of MY classmates from all those years ago on the cards of books I am weeding!
February 20th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Actually, one of the things I liked most about the examples on the Obsolete Skills wiki is that one of the lines in the template asks when the skill might still be useful. I am sorry, but libraries that aren’t automated are obsolete. Again, not in a negative judgment way, but simply as a statement. Non-automated libraries are making use of technologies that have been replaced in the majority of situations. I know there are a variety of reasons why some libraries have been unable to automate, but I don’t think that superiority of the old technology tops the list.
One of the benefits of recognizing that skills like signing out books with cards is perhaps an obsolete skill is that it provides additional weight to ending the practice. Sure, it may be a useful practice in some situations, but how much time is being devoted to the task of managing those cards? And what other tasks are not being completed in that same time? Some librarians still keep accession books and shelf lists as well, but again, is that the best use of our time?
In a way, maybe we need to think about this as weeding our professional practices. Obsolete skills, like obsolete books, may still look nice or give us the warm-fuzzies but if they are not presenting the most modern perspective they have to go. We would of course weed a “perfectly good” book from our collection (again, non-archival) that talked about our still being in the Cold War, so why are would we hold on to Cold War skills and professional practices?
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
How about those filmstrips?
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
[...] to Infomancy for talking about the Obsolete Skills Wiki, available at http://obsoleteskills.wikispot.org/ [...]
February 24th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Sad Tale #1
After being k-12 for many years, we opened a k-3 building in the early 80s. All the cards for k-3 books had to be removed from the catalog. The only way to do it was to arrange all the drawers on tables, alphabetize the first 25 shelf list cards by author, jump onto a rolling chair, pull all the author cards, re-alphabetize the same 25 cards by title, pull all the title cards, alphabetize the @#%# 25 cards by subject #1, pull all the $%@% subject cards. Alphabetize by subject #2. Then get the next 25 shelf list cards and – well – you get it….. 2 years later, grades 4-5 were added, and all the cards had to be merged again!
Sad tale #2
In the mid-90’s (yes – that late) our elementary librarian tried many tactics to get the principal to sign up for automation. One day she described the benefits to children and teachers if they could search the library catalog from their classroom computers. As you can imagine – The librarian was thrilled to see her Principal’s eyes light up with enthusiasm …. until she said (with absolute sincerity) “That is WONDERFUL.! Now we won’t have to spend money to put any computers in the library.”