Continuing on my “Summer of Nostalgia” blog tour and revisiting past favorites, next is my “Nancy Drew as a librarian?” post from Dec. 3, 2013.

Once again, I’ll pause to give you the opportunity to read the original post…

This post was inspired by playing the Nancy Drew computer game, The Silent Spy, which is set in Scotland. About 2/3 of the way into the game, a librarian reference was worked into a phone conversation between Nancy and her father, Carson Drew (he’s a lawyer and protective single father).

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Why this post?

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1. I love Nancy Drew.
2. I love that the phrase “library sciences” is used.
3. I love that librarians are referred to as “the world’s unsung heroes.”
4. Rereading this post makes me smile.
5. See point #1 again. ♥

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New thoughts?

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I still stand by what I wrote back in 2013:

Nancy Drew as a librarian? Gotta say, Nancy Drew would be an AWESOME librarian. Am I right or what?! Her ability to recognize patterns and organize information would definitely be put to good use as a librarian. As would her lifelong quest to ask questions and find out info relevant to whatever adventure she is currently pursuing.

And:

For  librarians — especially those of us who work with the public at the Reference Desk, like yours truly — every day holds the promise of learning something new, every day is like a scavenger hunt, every day is an opportunity to hunt down useful information. So there actually are quite a few similarities between detectives and librarians, however much our tools in trade and work locales may differ. And similar to private detectives, our job is to locate relevant info as efficiently and seamlessly (read:  quietly) as possible.

And I’m not the only one who has connected the dots between private investigation and librarianship! I did a quick search on Google (keywords included similarities, librarians, and private detectives), and uncovered some interesting results, including:

• A personal essay, “Weary Helper: From Private Investigator to Librarian,” written in 2006 by Felicia A. Smith, a former private-investigator-turned-librarian. As Smith wrote:

“I must begin by explaining that the two jobs are not quite as contrary as one might think. Basically, both  jobs require effective searching skills. Both jobs require accuracy and a great deal of thought. Both require attention to detail. Both are customer-focused. Clearly one is more dangerous than the other; I have not decided which!”

• A 2012 entry on the LIS Careers site that goes into detail about the similarities between library research skills and “skip tracing,” which is defined in the post as the process of locating a person’s whereabouts, an essential skill of private investigators.
• This page from the Career OneStop website that compares the two professions of private detectives/investigators and librarians. This side-by-side comparison reveals the following skills and knowledge that the two professions have in common, including critical thinking, active listening, psychology, speaking, and judgment and decision making:

So, would Nancy Drew make a good librarian? A resounding YES! I wonder if there’s a librarian-shaped hole in the world of Nancy Drew fan fiction… 😉

I’ll be back next week to revisit another Reel Librarians favorite!

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Sources used:

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• “Compare Private Detectives and Investigators & Librarians.” My Skills, My Future, Career OneStop.
• Liscareers. “Private Investigation: The Job Where You Get to Look for Stuff!” LIS Careers: Thinking Outside the Library, 13 Nov. 2012.
• “Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy” (video game). Her Interactive, 2013.
• Smith, Felicia A. “Weary Helper: From Private Investigator to Librarian.” LIScareer.com, Feb. 2006.
• Snoek-Brown, Jennifer. “Nancy Drew as a librarian?” Reel Librarians, 3 Dec. 2013.