{"id":28,"date":"2011-08-06T16:58:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-07T00:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/blantonlibr559msummer2010\/?p=28"},"modified":"2011-08-06T16:58:30","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T00:58:30","slug":"creation-the-librarian-as-muse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/blantonlibr559msummer2010\/2011\/08\/06\/creation-the-librarian-as-muse\/","title":{"rendered":"Creation: the Librarian as Muse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Internet users have shifted from being passive consumers of content to creating it, but even creators have information needs, and the librarian can have a role as a facilitator of the creative process. The users of social media want to learn how to use new tools, they want to find ideas to inspire creative work, they want to find the raw materials to make mashups and other creations, and they may want to find new ways to share their finished work and possibly even profit financially from it. Currently, they probably won\u2019t think of the librarian as the first person to turn to for help; if libraries develop services and practices with these people in mind, however, that may change.<\/p>\n

A librarian, for example, doesn\u2019t need to become a graphic designer, but should be able to help a patron locate a source for a type font or search an archive of stock images. A librarian on duty in the information commons may even be asked for help installing a font on patron\u2019s laptop. (Perhaps this will be one day be seen as routine a part of our job as refilling the inkwells in the reading room might have been in an earlier era).<\/p>\n

Here are some of the ways librarians can facilitate creation:<\/p>\n