Loss of a profession?

As I read Harris’ article “Information Technologies and the De-Skilling of Librarians,” I feel as though I had many contradictions to her points.  This, however, may have been because I am a female looking to enter this profession which led me to become slightly defensive.  I read each paragraph and then created a “Yes… but what about…” statement in my head.   I found it interesting that she categorized the work in libraries into gender roles, with men acting as more managers and women as replaceable worker bees.  Yes, I do agree that aspects of librarianship are changing.  Some tasks are able to be computerized, and completed quicker than by hand.  However, I think as with any profession, the evolution will create a different standard of work for its workers.  Will all women lose their worker bee library jobs?  No, I tend to think not.  Yes, there may not be a need for as much clerical staff in a library, but the demand is still there for human help and interaction.   But not according to Harris.  She states that “the changes underway in librarianship are likely to lead to the demise of the profession.”  Oh joy.  That is stellar news.  Luckily, I don’t necessarily see it that way.  And for others that may have been distraught by the article… think of this: the article was written in 1992.  Twenty years later women are still working in libraries and there has yet to be a “demise of the profession.”  Good thing I didn’t read this article when I was in 2^nd grade… my career dreams may have been shattered.