Malcolm Gladwell on Research

Wired does a series of videos on YouTube where they invite an expert in a field to answer Twitter questions about that topic. Recently, Malcolm Gladwell was on answering questions about research. I find these interviews fascinating, partially for the questions they choose and I always learn a little something.

Gladwell discussed everything from confirmation bias to the taste of McDonald’s fries. But my favorite question he answered is, “How are libraries still going? Who goes to a library in 2022?” Of course, this question instantly infuriated me as a public library director. Hundreds of thousands of people visit libraries on an annual basis. Obviously, when people ask questions like these, it’s apparent they for one, haven’t stepped foot in a library in at least a decade and two, have no idea all of the resources available to take advantage of in a public library.

Gladwell points out that although the Internet has a lot of information, there is still a lot of information available in books that isn’t on the Internet. And that libraries are also a great place for discovery. Or what he calls “serendipitous search” which, in library terms, is browsing. You may be searching for a specific book in the library and once you find it, you might discover other books that interest you, that you didn’t know about as you looked through the stacks

Experts

Gladwell also goes on to point out that libraries have something else that you can’t find on the Internet – librarians. Professionals whose job it is to find information. Experts even in searching. One of my favorite quotes about libraries is by Neil Gaiman, “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.” That’s not to say librarians swear off Google, it’s just that librarians have Master’s degrees in how to search to assist patrons in finding the information they need whether that’s in a book or on the Internet.

I most likely don’t have to strongly encourage readers of a book blog to visit their local public library. But if you haven’t been in a while, it might be fun to see what you discover. Librarians and library staff are passionate about the work they do in the community. Just ask one what the coolest thing they offer and their answer might just surprise you! Oh, and of course, if you want to check out the Wired video, you can visit YouTube.