It turns out that the popularity of Libraries has increased over the last decade according to the ALA. Their report subtitled _Predicted demise due to Internet fails to materialize_ was linked in our UQ Library newsletter today and reads as good news to libraries everywhere.

New data on U.S. libraries shows almost two billion served

"Far from hurting American libraries, the Internet has actually helped to spur more people to use their local libraries because it has increased our hunger for knowledge and information," said Loriene Roy, president-elect of the American Library Association. According the ALA report, virtually every library in the United States - 99 percent - provides free public computer access to the Internet, a four-fold increase in the percentage of libraries providing such free access over the last decade. By comparison, Roy pointed to another study released in March showing that only 69 percent of U.S. households have Internet access.

They are attributing much of this rise in popularity to free internet access. The article stresses the importance of access to information guidance from professionals (aka librarians). Does this mean that librarians are now just people who know how to type the right keywords into google?

Knowing how to find stuff online is an important skill which requires experience and instinct. Our library newsletter frequently reports "praise for a job well done", usually involving a story of someone who spent hours making no progress before receiving help from a competent librarian. A lot of this hinges on being approachable and looking like you know what you're doing without making people feel stupid (oh yeah: and actually knowing how to search for stuff).

As a non-librarian computer programmer, I think librarians need to go beyond spruking l33t searching skillz though. Librarians should also be stressing the reverse of searching: knowing how to put stuff on the internet in such a way that it will be found. I might be a bit biased since I'm helping write digital repository software but I think that knowing all about digital repositories is a very marketable skillset. Knowing all about metadata and it's uses is both rewarding and a great conversation topic at parties.

Developing really good metadata plays an important part in inventing new ways of assembling and using data. I've seen some very cool things in google earth recently and a lot of innovation coming out of LibraryThing. None of this could happen without people organising their metadata in a discoverable and standards complient way.

I suppose my view of things is very coloured by coming from an IT perspective so let me know if I'm wrong but I think that the job title _Librarian_ will become more and more associated with knowing all about metadata which translates to skills in _putting_ as well as _getting_.