Changing the Role of the Librarian

– from a Cataloguer to an Educator

Abstract

Libraries in the modern world are becoming places for collecting and exchanging information based on advanced information and communication technologies and tools. Accordingly, the role of the traditional librarian has changed significantly, from a cataloger of analog documents, through a librarian who deals with metadata, to lecturer and educator. This paper presents the way librarians transfer the knowledge to their colleagues and thus transform from librarians-catalogers into educators. The role of librarian educator is given through the example of accredited professional development programs for librarians, organized and held by librarians-catalogers from the University Library "Svetozar Marković" in Belgrade. The paper also analyzes anonymous surveys of participants in accredited seminars, which indicate that the success of one seminar depends primarily on two factors: up-to-date topic and interactivity.

keywords: librarian-cataloger, educator, accredited seminars, academic librarians, University Library "Svetozar Marković", professional development.