TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– Archivists and Librarians are subjected to social stereotypes by those outside and within the field of library and information science. Many of these role descriptions come from within the LIS professions themselves; the differences between information responsibilities of Archivists and Librarians are not clearly defined. The purpose of this paper is to dispel myths of distinguishable differences in information role responsibilities of Archivists and Librarians.Design/methodology/approach– A simple survey was developed and completed by Archivists and Librarians who volunteered to express, in their own words, up to three descriptions of what their information responsibilities are. Responses were recorded in the respondents' own words, and so, the responses were necessarily compared, reduced, and categorized into nine recognizable categories of synonymous and qualifying terms for comparison.Findings– Results of the survey demonstrate that both Archivists and Librarians list access most often as their information responsibility. Similarly, preserve and process are listed as second and third, in reverse order; and collect and evaluate are listed fourth and fifth, in reverse order. Results indicate the major differences as Archivists naming collect more often, and Librarians listing teach more often.Originality/value– Archivists and Librarians usually both receive their education and training in schools of library and information science. Other than collection types and patrons served, which vary significantly among libraries and archives themselves, this exploratory study indicates no major differences in personally expressed information responsibilities of those within the fields of practice, and debunks the misconceptions that Archivists and Librarians have distinct, observable differences in their approaches to information.
VL  - 60
IS  - 3
SN  - 0024-2535
DO  - 10.1108/00242531111117281
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531111117281
AU  - Kearns Jodi
AU  - Rinehart Rhonda
PY  - 2011
Y1  - 2011/01/01
TI  - Personal ontological information responsibility
T2  - Library Review
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 230
EP  - 245
Y2  - 2024/04/20
ER  -