Librarians connect people with information and ideas by organizing and facilitating the retrieval of information in all formats. Dictionaries have long tended to define the word "librarian" as the person in charge of a library. Library users tend to associate the word with anyone who works in a library. Professional associations and those people who work in libraries tend to reserve the appellation for one who holds a master's degree in library and information studies.

Although librarians are becoming increasingly responsible for technology in the library, they are still responsible for the accumulation and distribution of the cultural heritage, including items such as this scroll, which is being handled by a librarian in San Francisco. (Phil Schermeister/Corbis)

The work librarians perform, how and where they do it, and how they are perceived have all evolved in a manner that parallels changes in the way information is produced...