Congratulations to Radical Reference mainstay Lia Friedman and her pal Char Booth for authoring the May 15th 2008 Library Journal NextGen column, "Finding Your Inner Moxie."

The article, which starts off teasing librarians about our know-it-all personality profile, is about encouraging and empowering experimentation and innovation in libraries. I like the way that although it's in the NextGen column, it acknowledges that,

"Much has been made of the purported difference between tech-savvy Web 2.0 librarians and the old guard. In practice, we know this is largely an ageist mischaracterization. All of us work with colleagues who are meeting the challenges of a changing field head-on, regardless of experience or status. That said, the digital librarian divide isn't the point. The point is what individuals are able and motivated to do within our institutional contexts."

Lia and Char put the onus on libraries (meaning, I kind of hope library administrators) to create an atmosphere where library workers and library users can take chances.