Omerta. Silence. Sssshhhh...?
Supposedly, there now exists a Pinoy bibliobloggers' mafia. And guess who the "godfather" is? Looking at the photo above, you wouldn't think it's a group of librarians. After all, where are the women? The buns? The shushing fingers?
Before I go any further, those in the photo are, from left: Igor, Charles, Arnold, me and Juned. The photo was taken by and stolen from Zarah. It was shot at the Pinoy Big Biblioblogosphere eyeball held at a different bookstore last 15 September 2007.
Some interesting "facts": No one in the photo is actually working as a librarian. Four have degrees in library and information science. Three are licensed librarians. One did not bother to take the licensure exam. And the other has no official connections with libraries, except as a user. Zarah, of course, was the only woman, and the only practicing librarian. All of us are bloggers.
What do these facts mean? As the titles of Zarah's posts indirectly show—from Live Blogging: Pinoy Big Biblioblogosphere to Live Blogging: Pinoy Biblioblogosphere—the group of Pinoy bibliobloggers is not "big" at all. True, there were some who couldn't make it, and some probably didn't even know about the event at all, but even if everyone showed up, I doubt if we would have made a dent in the Pinoy blogosphere. This does not mean, though, that blograrians have not made an impact. After all, Juned and Arnold are well-known among probloggers and SEO enthusiasts (see A Feed is Born and Our Paradise Philippines), and Zarah writes for the Pinoy Moms Network.
I am more concerned, however, that librarians who blog are less likely to be working in libraries and that blograrians are more likely to be male. Perhaps the former reflects the reality that practicing librarians are too busy to blog—but I don't buy this reasoning because Zarah is one of the busiest librarians in the Philippines, whether at her place of work or as a speaker elsewhere, and she continues to blog. Regarding the latter, are male librarians taking over the profession or are female librarians just not tech-savvy enough? Again, Zarah disproves the last one—and she doesn't even consider herself a techie—while attendance at any event organized by librarians certainly debunks the first.
What's going on? I don't really know. Maybe it's not gender-related, maybe it's a function of age. But this doesn't hold water either because, except for Charles—the lone non-LIS degree-holder—none of us are below 30. And then there's Melchor, who must be at least 50 years old. If you have any ideas regarding the dearth of blograrians, I'd love to hear them. Anyway, I won't be ordering any "hits" any time soon, but I do hope that once the "syndicate" is up and running, that members will get more hits and that this will encourage them to blog more about their profession.
The following are the posts that were written after the event:
What do these facts mean? As the titles of Zarah's posts indirectly show—from Live Blogging: Pinoy Big Biblioblogosphere to Live Blogging: Pinoy Biblioblogosphere—the group of Pinoy bibliobloggers is not "big" at all. True, there were some who couldn't make it, and some probably didn't even know about the event at all, but even if everyone showed up, I doubt if we would have made a dent in the Pinoy blogosphere. This does not mean, though, that blograrians have not made an impact. After all, Juned and Arnold are well-known among probloggers and SEO enthusiasts (see A Feed is Born and Our Paradise Philippines), and Zarah writes for the Pinoy Moms Network.
I am more concerned, however, that librarians who blog are less likely to be working in libraries and that blograrians are more likely to be male. Perhaps the former reflects the reality that practicing librarians are too busy to blog—but I don't buy this reasoning because Zarah is one of the busiest librarians in the Philippines, whether at her place of work or as a speaker elsewhere, and she continues to blog. Regarding the latter, are male librarians taking over the profession or are female librarians just not tech-savvy enough? Again, Zarah disproves the last one—and she doesn't even consider herself a techie—while attendance at any event organized by librarians certainly debunks the first.
What's going on? I don't really know. Maybe it's not gender-related, maybe it's a function of age. But this doesn't hold water either because, except for Charles—the lone non-LIS degree-holder—none of us are below 30. And then there's Melchor, who must be at least 50 years old. If you have any ideas regarding the dearth of blograrians, I'd love to hear them. Anyway, I won't be ordering any "hits" any time soon, but I do hope that once the "syndicate" is up and running, that members will get more hits and that this will encourage them to blog more about their profession.
The following are the posts that were written after the event:
When Pinoy Blograrians Meet, A Mafia is Born
Pinoy Biblioblogosphere
Filipino Blograrians: Blogging Mafia on the Rise (?)
One Library Article Every Week (a.k.a. Homework)
Oh Saturday!
