Libraries are constantly under the gun to prove they are worth the money their parent organizations spend to maintain services and pay staff. As information becomes ever more accessible, the notion that libraries, and by extension, the librarians who staff them, are obsolete appears more frequently. One answer has been for librarians to drop the “L” word from their titles, becoming information specialists, taxonomists, research associates, information analysts, scholarly communication consultants, or some other non-L title.

That, however, is a cosmetic change. I think the real issue with value propositions for information professionals is invisibility. Our resources are increasingly in electronic form, and thus invisible. No one walks into a room and sees actual databases, ebooks, or websites. These may show up on a screen—maybe a phone, a laptop, or some other device—but people have to know the resources are there, click on an icon, or use them regularly. It’s a different experience from that of physical books sitting on shelves. Electronic resources are largely invisible.

More and more, we tend to serve a population that is remote. University courses are delivered over the internet rather than in person. Students are spread out geographically. How does the university library become visible to students and faculty who will never visit in person? Corporations have grappled with this for decades. My first job, at a multinational bank, involved marketing library services to employees spread out, literally, around the globe. Making my department noticeable was a major challenge. I thought it was a great coup when the bank’s Asia division contacted me about writing an article about the library for its dvisional magazine. It turned out to be a wonderful article and made us much more visible and respected in that part of the world.

Paradoxically, it is our success at online searching that contributes to our invisibility. Our fingers on the keyboard look just like those of someone who’s not an information professional. The difference is that we are constructing well-thought-out search strategies on subscription databases, specialty websites, and even the open web. Most people conflate research with restaurant reviews on Yelp and one-word Google searches. Without our telling them, our funders and clients may not recognize how we bring value to search. Otherwise, our expertise is invisible.

Bringing our skills and services to the attention of management, clients, the public, and anyone else who matters in our particular work environments involves making the invisible visible. Attend meetings, speak up, participate in social media, become an influencer, invite people to learn about your electronic resources, highlight your digital presence—all outside of the library and information sphere. We don’t need to convince librarians about our value; we need to convince non-librarians. We need to present our case forcefully, demonstrating what we can do that others can’t. Concentrate on visible outcomes over invisible process. Make library and information services indispensable.

Making the invisible visible should be an integral part of our value proposition.