Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2008

Publication Title

AALL Spectrum

Keywords

Gen X, Gen Y, technology, information technology, libraries, legal research, legal education

Abstract

In the NextGen Librarian's Survival Guide by Rachel Singer Gordon, the author cites several reasons this time is different than times before in librarianship. Those that are most relevant to law librarianship include:

• Flattening workplace hierarchies and participative management increase the input of newer librarians in workplace decision making

• New technologies require changing skills that affect attitudes toward the integration of those technologies into our daily work

• Outside pressures, such as the prevalence of the Internet, impose a need for librarians to continually prove our relevance and improve relations with younger patrons

• The much talked about graying of the profession makes retention of younger staff more significant

• Generational expectations about topics, such as the work-life balance and time spent with a single employer, have changed

Whether there is actually something different about this generational change is often written about and, of course, if it's written, then it must be true, right? But could it be that this phenomenon is just as uncertain and difficult to prove as the existence of Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, or the graying of law librarianship? Is it age, the date of one's birth, increased life choices, or the expectations and perceptions of others that predict our work attitudes, managerial potential, and career success or failure? As two newer law librarians-a Gen Xer and a Millennial-stand facing our careers, preconceived notions about our generations staring us head on, we have to wonder: How can we work from the stereotype?

Volume

12

Issue

7

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