Librarians also work as "knowledge brokers" for me, connecting me to people who have knowledge I want, or who want the knowledge I have. They become hubs of sorts. (Did anyone ever do a network study on a corporate librarian?)

But that seems quite different from the level of work that most librarians of thirty years ago did. Like everyone else, they are having to rejustify their existence. They have to do something more than simply tend books and periodicals, or even online databases.