Episode 12: Marydee Ojala - From Story Hour to Enterprise AI: The Enduring Value of Librarianship

In this episode of Shush-Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar sits down with Marydee Ojala, Editor-in-Chief of KMWorld magazine, writer, researcher, speaker, and longtime observer of the information and knowledge management profession. Marydee shares her journey from shelving books as a teenager to working in corporate libraries, and ultimately becoming one of the most influential voices covering knowledge management, search, enterprise information, and AI. Along the way, she reflects on the evolution of information work from paper indexes and Dialog searches to semantic layers, agentic AI, and today's rapidly changing knowledge landscape. The conversation explores why reference interviewing has surprising similarities to prompt engineering, how information literacy has become even more critical in the age of generative AI, and why librarians, taxonomists, and knowledge managers may be more relevant than ever. Marydee also offers practical advice for early-career professionals, discusses the decline of corporate libraries, and reminds us that technology is only part of the story. Plus, in the lightning round, as usual, an array of eclectic topics surface, such as Marydee's affection for conference pens and why the topic of theoretical physics fascinates her. **About Marydee:** Marydee Ojala is Editor-in-Chief for KMWorld magazine and co-editor of Enterprise AI World magazine. She also edits and writes for the Online Searcher section within the Computers in Libraries magazine. In addition to writing about libraries, online searching, and knowledge management, she speaks frequently at technology conferences. She plans conference programs for Enterprise Search & Discovery, Data Summit, and Searchers Academy. She contributes to conference planning for KMWorld and Enterprise AI World. Her information professional career began at BankAmerica Corporation, San Francisco, directing a worldwide program of library research, knowledge, and information services. Her undergraduate degree is from Brown University and her MLS was earned at the University of Pittsburgh. **Related Links:** Marydee Ojala | LinkedIn Linked In profile www.infotoday.com/cilmag Online Searcher section in Computers in Libraries www.kmworld.com  KMWorld magazine and conference www.infotoday.eu ILI365 eNews (free monthly newsletter for librarians and occasional blog posts) www.enterpriseaiworld.com Enterprise AI World magazine and conference www.computersinlibraries.infotoday.com Computers in Libraries conference