How to Observe the Librarian

Abstract

This article presents four perspectives for observing changes in librarianship in Denmark in the twentieth century. These perspectives give rise to the following questions: 1) How has librarianship renegotiated the concept of the professional according to demands from society and in the light of different definitions of the concept?; 2) Which identities have librarians held in the twentieth century?; 3) How has the identity of the public employee been articulated in the twentieth century?; 4) How have curricula from the Royal School of Library and Information Science defined librarians in relation to society? The article is not empirical in its scope but should be seen as a reflection on how to view observations on librarianship. The conclusion of the article presents aspects for further study. These further studies could be focused on the relation between librarianship and the articulation of the public employee.