Online bibliographic searching and the deprofessionalization of librarianship

The interaction of technological change and a professionalization movement is considered within the context of librarianship and online. In sharp contrast to the theories of Daniel Bell predicting a professionalized post‐industrial society, a number of sociologists suggest a future deprofessionalized society in which many professions lose status, deferential prestige, or other traits commonly associated with established professions. Among these sociologists, Nina Toren has hypothesized that technological advance, notably computerization, may lead to the deprofessionalization of an occupation because the occupation can no longer hold a controlling monopoly over its hitherto esoteric knowledge base. The technology of online bibliographic searching is examined in the light of the Toren theory, and it is argued that in some respects the technology can be seen to threaten deprofessionalization of librarianship. Such a view is in sharp contrast to the more common perception in the library/information science community that online is a professionalizing force for librarianship. Drawing upon interview data, as well as previously published data from two national surveys, it is shown that the status‐enhancing view of online has some credence. Trends in the development of the technology, however, suggest that such status‐enhancement for librarianship may be short lived. A conflict view of occupations and technology is suggested to clarify the forces at work with librarianship.