Jesse Ephraim says: Libraries schools need to teach (and librarians need to
accept) that
technical skills are required to be a librarian
I respond: More power to you, as you pursue this thought. I have been
agitating since 1985 to get library schools to spend just a teensy-weensy
bit more of the curriculum on teaching cataloging, with only limited
success. The reforms necessary for what you want are extensive, starting
with extending the LIS masters program to more than the "quick 36" or so
hours currently required, and including strengthening of the accreditation
standards. Resistance to both is strong and persistent, and based on
economic considerations ("people won't pay more for a degree, or stay longer
in it if the field doesn't pay more"; "if my school requires more credit
hours, the students will go to another program"; etc.), on realities of the
professorate (we are graduating precious few PhDs in LIS, and that's what we
need to expand the professoriate; PhDs in related fields don't want to teach
in LIS; you can only do so much with adjuncts), and on various intangibles.
Personally (and this is definitely only speaking for myself) I think that a
part of the problem is that too many people active in librarianship don't
have a very high opinion of themselves or of their own field, and so they
don't think that it's possible to demand more in terms of education,
salaries, or respect, so every time someone or some group pushes for an
enhanced educational construct they reject it out of hand because they just
can't see it succeeding.
If you (generic you, not directed at any one person) want to try to improve
the educational situation, you might try infiltrating the bodies that have
some influence ..... like ALISE, like ALA and its Committee on Accreditation
and its Education Assembly, and like the library schools you may be close to
(either geographically, electronically, or by other ties.
Go for it.
Janet Swan Hill, Professor
Associate Director for Technical Services
University of Colorado Libraries, CB184
Boulder, CO 80309
janet.hill_at_colorado.edu
*****
Tradition is the handing-on of Fire, and not the worship of Ashes.
- Gustav Mahler
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Jesse Ephraim
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 11:39 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Library Technologies and Library School (was
Commercial Vendors and Open Source Software)
>I don't think anyone really believes that
>librarians are going to get more help in the future,
>then based on this I can certainly understand that
>someone who has lived through these events would
>have a rather hopeless attitude.
...
>Librarians are supposed to learn these new skill sets
>and keep up with developments, while still being
>swamped with our "traditional work."
How is that different from the situation faced by any information
professional (IT, knowledge management, etc.)?
I did that as a programmer for
a decade, and I was working 80+ hour weeks. I was paid a lot more, but
I was working twice the hours of a typical librarian, with mass amounts
of stress and business travel. Someone working closer to 40 hours a
week should be able to keep up with the basics of new technology, at
least.
Librarianship can not simply be about books anymore. That will continue
to be an important facet of it, but higher level information management
and a decent number of tech skills are just as important nowadays. If
libraries continue to rely on third party companies and groups to supply
all of that expertise, then they are giving up any claim to
professionalism.
Jesse Ephraim
Youth Services Librarian
Southlake Public Library
1400 Main St., Ste. 130
Southlake, TX 76092
Email: jephraim_at_ci.southlake.tx.us
Phone: (817) 748-8248
FAX: (817) 748-8250
www.southlakelibrary.org
uncommonly friendly service
Received on Mon Sep 29 2008 - 10:10:14 EDT