Interviews with Library and Information World Innovators

I came across an item on the blog rebecca's pocket that features a recent interview with Jessamyn West, the creator of Librarian.net (running since 1999).

The conversation is wide-ranging, covering everything from West's blogging tools to how she chooses what to write about, which authors she reads, whose writing (online and offline) she particularly admires, how to handle burn-out, how to limit how many RSS feeds to read, etc.

I particularly enjoy West's practical, no-nonsense philosophy that has allowed her to creatively use technology without losing perspective and becoming overwhelmed by it.

Compare with an earlier interview published on the Ex Libris site.

Ex Libris, created by Marylaine Block, features a number of "guru interviews" - go to the home page of her site and scroll down - the list of interviews is in the lefthand navigation bar. Interview subjects in the past have included Tara Calishain from ResearchBuzz, Greg R. Notess (known for his Search Engine Showdown), Gary Price, Darlene Fichter from the University of Saskatchewan, Genie Tyburski from the Virtual Chase, and many others.

We need more of this kind of personal profile of innovators and creative people in the information field.