Karen M. Drabenstott
Associate Professor
School of Information
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092 USA
Voice: (734) 763-3581
Fax: (734) 764-2475
karen.drabenstott@umich.edu
New topic -- "Into the Rapids: Prospects for Students in New Degree Programs"
Many thanks to Ray McInnis, our editor for the topic "What's in a Name? Active/Passive Connotations of Information." Despite the abstract nature of this topic, we had lots of message activity. Let's thank Ray for suggesting this topic, giving it a substantive introduction, and guiding us through two weeks of discussion.
We will now turn to our new topic entitled "Into the Rapids: Prospects for Students in New Degree Programs." Jennifer Bauer is our guest editor. She is a student in the master's program in information science at Indiana University (IU) from which she will graduate in May 1998. She is also a programmer and technical editor at IU's University Information Technology Services where she works on the "Knowledge Base," a resource that was recently named the No. 1 Technical Support Page on the World Wide Web by "Yahoo! Internet Life." She also is co-owner and assistant editor of The Quiver, an independent monthly newspaper distributed in the Bloomington, Indiana, area. In the past two years, she has worked as a Web developer, senior assistant in an instructional support office, and corporate library intern.
Please be part of our discussion on "Into the Rapids: Prospects for Students in New Degree Programs."
Jennifer McDaniel Bauer
InfoSci student
UITS Knowledge Base editor/programmer
Quiver publisher
jmbauer@indiana.edu
Since the members of the list had discussed the possibilities for using the MLS degree outside of traditional libraries over the summer, I'm going to focus on students of the relatively new degree programs -- those with names such as the Master of Information Science, MS in Information Management, etc. (In order to avoid bias, I'll just use the phrase "new programs" for the rest of this piece.) Many of these programs popped up in library schools in the early 1990s; now, the first sizable graduating classes are hitting the pavement, looking for a way to apply their skills.
But what exactly are those skills? The architects of MLS programs have always had some sort of guidance for what to put into their curricula, from the demands of local libraries to ALA accreditation criteria. Designers of the new program curricula are wading in relatively uncharted waters, with the changes in information technologies making for quite a rapid current.
To me, the worst-case scenario for the new programs would be for them to turn out people who don't quite know enough of any one thing to be productive. What if the program isn't technical enough for a career in information technology, not schooled in traditional librarianship enough for work in a library, not well-versed enough in LIS theory to help the graduates move on to a doctoral program, etc.? The best case would be that the graduates would know just enough of all those things to do well at those jobs, plus more.
Perhaps the students who are the first to complete these new programs can give some initial indicators of their success. What I would like to discuss is how those students have done so far on the job market, and how their schools have helped them.
Here are a few focus questions, one set for each segment of CRISTAL-ED's audience:
Ray McInnis
rgmc@nas.com
Jennifer, let me get into this fray by posing another question. Is the current MLS curriculum too narrowly focused on technology? What about "cultural literacy" and "academic pedagogy" issues?
I don't come to this discussion entirely naive, since several years ago I wrote an article titled, "Why Library Schools Need To Change Their Curriculum." (ERIC ED400821) I put the argument within the domain of "academic strategic planning and institutional accountability," because from my 30-plus years experience at Western Washington University (as a reference librarian), it seemed to me that new MLS recruits had a lot of catching up in the realm of what I am calling "cultural and pedagogical knowledge." My approach to "cultural literacy" is much broader than Ed Hirsch's popularization of the concept. In "cultural literacy," I include "multicultural literacy," probably more along the lines of "the Renaissance Man," because to be effective today, reference at your typical undergraduate institution, I believe that you do need a very broad understanding what today we call "culture."
Example: Without knowledge of how to help the institution implement its strategic plan, can the inexperienced librarian truly help the institution meet its goals for student learning? Highlights of this article include: the pedagogy of higher education; the shift from "what" to "how" people learn; learning as a transformation in values; the 1960s movement to reform teaching/learning; student literacy in an academic culture; cultural literacy; communities of discourse; different formats of communication among discourse communities; the essential role of reading skills today; the teaching of writing; evidence that reading and writing are fundamental to inquiry; and assessment. An appendix even proposes four library school courses.
Naturally, the response to this proposal was "zip"! And realistically, I have to admit about what I expected. However, at the same time I don't consider my effort wasted, because I genuinely think that the issues I addressed in the article are truly lacking from today's MLS grads.
Ellen McGrath
Head of Cataloging
Charles B. Sears Law Library
State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York 14260-1110
Voice: (716) 645-2254
Fax: (716) 645-3860
emcgrath@acsu.buffalo.edu
I read Jennifer Bauer's introduction to this topic on prospects for new degree programs and a question occurred to me. I should say first that I am a practicing librarian, of which group Jennifer asked some questions at the end of her message.
In thinking about whether to hire someone with a degree from a new program, the question that I would be asking is what "traditional" library courses had to be dropped from such a program in order to make way for the "new" courses? I am in an academic law library, so I realize that a graduate of one of these new programs might not be interested in applying for a position at my library. But if they needed to for geographic or whatever reasons, I think I might wonder about what was missing from their education.
Those of us who have been in the field working for a while have certain assumptions about what has taken place in library school, even though training on the job for new grads is also essential. The change to these new programs may make those of us in traditional library settings more wary of hiring new program grads, since they could be viewed as an unknown that might require even more training.
Just a few initial thoughts ...
Michael Seadle
University of Chicago, Ph.D. 1977
University of Michigan, MSI 1997
mseadle@si.umich.edu
"...new programs may make those of us in traditional library settings more wary of hiring new program grads, since they could be viewed as an unknown that might require even more training."
When I first thought about going to library school in the 1970s, people warned me that the training would be mindless and boring, that it would have nothing to do with ideas and everything to do with busywork. At long last, after working with and for some major libraries like Chicago and Cornell, I finally enrolled at the University of Michigan's School of Information to get the professional degree.
Instead of busywork, I found real intellectual content. The social sciences are well represented in the form of economics and psychology. Explicit technology training is offered. And the curriculum forces students to read and think and do exercises which help them to come to grips with contemporary issues. Courses like cataloging and collection development have not disappeared from the curriculum, nor are they likely to in the near future, but the emphasis has changed. The goal is not to memorize DDC or LC, but to understand the principles behind them.
To a certain extent this probably does mean that students need extra training on their first job. I certainly cannot just sit down and code a MARC record on OCLC. But in the long run students from these new programs will learn faster and be able to adapt more readily because they learned enduring principles, not just technical skills.
Among other things I have been a computer professional for 15 years, and in that time I have hired a lot of people to do very specific and challenging technical jobs. More and more I have ignored the details of whether a person knew a particular language or operating system, and hired those who understood the broader issues. They were my successes, and they can be yours.
Jennifer McDaniel Bauer
InfoSci student
UITS Knowledge Base editor/programmer
Quiver publisher
jmbauer@indiana.edu
We have not had an enormous number of responses so far to my questions about job prospects for students in new programs, but the points which have been raised so far have been quite interesting. I'll respond to each of them individually, then try to broaden the discussion.
Raymond McInnis brought up the need for cultural literacy for new librarians, particularly those in academic institutions. I have had a couple of jobs now with educational professionals as colleagues, and I (partially) understand the importance of not only having a grasp of the things being taught to an institution's students, but also the changes in the way those students are being taught. And those who will work reference desks of all sorts need to understand the users they are working for, not just the technological tools involved.
My only question would be, how would a curriculum committee (such as the one I'm a student representative for) go about adding this important material without either bumping out something else or making the program intolerably long for most of its students? Students in our schools (MLS or new program), in particular, often are working (many times in libraries, sometimes not), and it's quite a sacrifice to complete the 36-42 hours which are already prescribed. (For the first half of my program, I worked full-time and started a business.) I'm not criticizing, just attempting to practically implement it.
I was glad to hear from a practicing librarian. Ellen McGrath, quite understandably, said that she wondered what would be missing from the new programs.
I know a lot of the MIS students in Indiana have wound up wanting to take some of the MLS core classes, such as reference. It initially was only allowed as part of the six "outside" credits which were allowed in the program, but that was recently changed, and MIS students may now treat MLS courses as any SLIS elective.
Also, MLS students have always been allowed to take MIS classes (such as user-centered database design and strategic intelligence) as electives, and from what I understand about enrollment stats, Indiana's MLS students do so quite often. In fact, there have even been requests for a joint MLS/MIS program.
I have been running a student-only mailing list for curriculum discussion for a few months now, and the predominant theme from the vast majority of both MLS and new program students is that both technology and traditional librarianship are very important.
Finally, Michael Seadle told about his transition from a career which included both academic librarianship and technical work to the new program at Michigan. His positive experiences generally agree with my own here at Indiana. I used to be a cognitive science student, so the emphasis on human-computer interaction was what drew me to the program. An emphasis on the principles of how people organize and use information will be useful to us whether we wind up designing a Web page, software package, or answer to a reference question.
I'd still love to hear what everyone on CRISTAL-ED thinks about my original questions, but I'll go ahead and add a few more:
Robert M. Ballard
rballard@bambi.acc.nccu.edu
I note that the response to this topic has been very slow. Responses to the previous topic swayed from the subject to a discussion of the differences,in the meaning of the words knowledge and information. I will suggest a topic if it is not "too hot to undertake." What is a "School of Information"? Would it make just as much sense to say "School of Knowledge"? What do the subscribers view of what a school of information is or should be? Neither "pun" nor criticism is implied not should be inferred.
William Arthur Liebi
Academic librarian
Stadt- und Universitaetsbibliothek Bern
CH-3000 Bern 7 Switzerland
Voice: +41 +31 320 32 259
Fax: +41 +31 320 32 99
liebi@stub.unibe.ch
General versus Focused Programs
In her introductory remarks, Jennifer Bauer is aware of the risks of an all-round program:
"What if the program isn't technical enough for a career in information technology, not schooled in traditional librarianship enough for work in a library, not well-versed enough in LIS theory to help the graduates move on to a doctoral program, etc.?"
In her best-case scenario, graduates "would know just enough of all those things to do well" at their jobs. According to Jennifer, in adding new courses to the traditional ones, a program becomes intolerably long. For Ellen McGrath it is difficult to choose which "traditional" courses should be dropped from a program in order to make way to "new" courses.
I think that to cope with these difficulties, both new and traditional programs must have a focus. Electives can be offered. It is generally accepted that a first degree constitutes a starting point to enter a career, and that subsequent training on the job and continuing education deepen and complement the received basic education.
New Programs: Writing Criteria
Jennifer asks practicing librarians what criteria they would apply in hiring someone with a degree in a new program. In my view, the criteria correspond to the usual ones:
Ilene Frank
Reference Dept.
Tampa Campus Library, LIB 122
University of South Florida
Tampa FL 33620
Voice: (813) 974-2483
ifrank@lib.usf.edu
I'm a practicing librarian who's also teaching an "Internet Resources" class for our School of Library & Information Science here at the University of South Florida. We're definitely going through a transition! Students are longing for more technologically oriented course work. They have a real fear that they are not going to be prepared to the world of work without more stress on computer resources.
However, as a member of search committees, I sure wouldn't want to hire someone who didn't understand the importance of libraries as an institution. I've run into some adept technologists who have NOTHING good to say about libraries. This puts me off. Students in "new degree" programs, what do you see happening in this regard? Do you think you are getting a sense of the mission of libraries?
Ray McInnis
rgmc@nas.com
Please, Jennifer, consider me a "practising librarian," too, since I've "practiced" for over 30 years! But I appreciate your thoughtful answer. In a sense, the solution to my dilemma is coming in the form of requiring multiple degrees being the norm for position advertisements; e.g., "MLS plus second master's or doctorate in 'X'." (At our institution, where we just went through a rather heavy recruitment, these requirements of multiple degrees for most of our advertised positions was the norm.) And in sense, Jennifer, isn't this reality of today's job advertisements for academic positions (in many public service areas) simply an actual demonstration of your point? [from your response I quote]:
My only question would be, how would a curriculum committee (such as the one I'm a student representative for) go about adding this important material without either bumping out something else or making the program intolerably long for most of its students?
What's a solution, however, that anchors the student in one program? How about having certain MLS depts combine their programs with other depts at the same institution for a degree that amalgamates their MLS with broad subject discipline (say, adult education in the humanities)? I'd like to hear what MLS faculty have to say about this.
Joanne Twining Williams
twining@texoma.net
Robert Ballard wrote:
"...if it is not 'too hot to undertake.' What is a 'School of Information?' Would it make just as much sense to say 'School of Knowledge?' What do the subscribers view of what a school of information is or should be? Neither 'pun' nor criticism is implied not should be inferred."
I like our dean's take on the "I-word" question, shared in a recent brown bag on user needs: with all the switching to the "I" word by library schools, perhaps TWU's School of Library and Information STUDIES should change its name to "The College of Knowledge!" Of course, he's right, because that's what it is.
William Liebi quoted Jennifer Bauer's introductory remarks:
"General versus Focused Programs
"'What if the program isn't technical enough for a career in information technology, not schooled in traditional librarianship enough for work in a library, not well-versed enough in LIS theory to help the graduates move on to a doctoral program, etc.?'"
As a recent MLS graduate (who got out WITHOUT taking cataloging) and now a Ph.D. student near the end of my coursework (and who saw the light, thanks to a summer seminar on "madness" with Michael Gorman, and is now enrolled in cataloging,) the GOAL I had from our program is not to learn to "do" something, but to "be" educated about our field. This can only happen in an environment where THINKING is the central skill, not the "doing" tasks to which it may be reduced for measurement's sake. I hope to never catalog for a living, and certainly NEVER to do original cataloging all the way down to making those old-fashioned catalog cards again...but I've found great enlightenment studying the philosophy and structure of the catalog. No question about it, the catalog is the heart of it. Our 36-hour MLS program is based on three core courses: Information Storage and Retrieval, Information Professions, and Technical Services, plus a required practicum and professional paper. I "did" my MLS in three semesters, while working time-and-a-half as a computer and information consultant, commuting 130 miles for class, and being a single head of my household. This in no way implies it was an easy or undemanding program, far from it...but the thing I'll treasure most , and that will be of most value to my offering, was not something I learned to "do" (I can learn to "do" anything), rather a carefully cultivated appreciation for the beauty of what we do and why we do it.
Beyond these core courses, our program is elective, and there's a wide range of them, from the latest technologies to the oldest of arts...whatever sparkles the brain, and each is rigorous and a challenge, which means each "librarian-to-be" can be whatever kind of librarian they fancy. But its is not so much the content of these classes that is critical (though they are carefully constructed to be so multi-tasking and multidimensional it sometimes makes the brain swim!), rather, it's the way they are taught that makes so much sense. (Again, I speak only as a recent MLS graduate and current Ph.D. student., and from no other voice of authority.) Each course integrates all aspects of information work with librarianship, past, present and future...this done craftily by professors who do not miss an opportunity to fire BOTH barrels simultaneously...while being secure enough to allow the student to follow their bliss. I believe this is possible primarily because we are PRIMARILY a university for women...and make no mistake, this makes us no woosies! I'd bet any future hope of tenure there's no one coming out of our program who's not fully equipped to perform whatever aspect of librarianship or information work for which they present themselves capable, and who is not prepared to learn and adapt to whatever it takes to keep the system running. This, I believe, is because we are primarily guided in our thinking, and right thinking is what librarianship is all about.
One thing about it, when I say "I'm a librarian" I get treated with reverence and respect, but when I say "my graduate degree is in information studies" I get paid a whole lot better, and taken a lot more seriously ... same job, different take on it. It must be the mystery of "being in the know" and the fear of being "out of the information loop." Personally, I like to start with the "I" word, get their attention, then blow them away with how WAY cool librarianship is! This, I believe, is the ultimate sensitivity to user needs...give them what they think they want, then give them what they really need, and help them enjoy it. This year alone I've heard at least a dozen times, from checkbook-wielding clients, "gee, I never knew librarianship was so interesting and exciting!" or, "gosh, I never thought librarians were so smart!" ... and I haven't tired yet of seeing the stereotypes fall when "I" introduce myself with the "L" word ... but bottom line, it was the "I" word that prompted me to enroll...people just think it's sexier, though it'll be the "L" word that keeps me interested...and the foundation of an "all around" education based on the value of thinking.
Mark T. Bay
School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University - Bloomington
Voice: (812) 323-1483
mbay@indiana.edu
Gotta agree with that last posting. I too entered IU's program for the information science component, but am having second thoughts about it and just may switch to library science (the course on systems analysis is THAT bad!) Incidently, I am looking into a career in cataloging, since to me it seems fascinating. Yes, I might be a bit strange!
As for careers, it seems to me that while IS people get paid more, librarians have a bit easier time finding jobs due to the ALA accreditation thing. Until the MIS degree is more widely known and accepted, I think it will be more difficult for IS graduates to find jobs that take advantage of their strengths.
William Arthur Liebi
Academic librarian
Stadt- und Universitaetsbibliothek Bern
CH-3000 Bern 7 Switzerland
Voice: +41 +31 320 32 259
Fax: +41 +31 320 32 99
liebi@stub.unibe.ch
Mark T. Bay thinks that librarians find jobs more easily. This is true for actual employments in libraries. But it is not necessarily true for actual and future employments within other environments than libraries.
Joanne Twining Williams illustrates this: While the "librarian" label induces "reverence and respect," the "information studies" label leads to a substantially better salary.
Bob Watson
Executive Director
Franklin Park Public Library District
10311 Grand Avenue
Franklin Park, IL 60131
Voice: (847) 455-6016
bwatson@linc.lib.il.us
An interesting discussion so far.
As a public library administrator, my interests tend to be on what library personnel "do" in the library rather than with the issue of defining "what librarianship is." My "non-theoretical view" is simply "that which needs to be done in a library." The issue of degree requirements, as discussed, seems to lie between "a different degree," a "traditional degree," and a watered-down compromise that satisfies only a few.
I am looking for employees to satisfy my institution's needs. I need people to "build databases" (call them catalogers, if you wish), either "on site" or at some remote. I need people to "maintain the mechanism" (which used to be the simple card catalog, but now includes such things as intranets, LAN managers, and webmasters). And I need people to provide direct patron services, which is to say that I need expert "library users" to serve as interpreters and gatekeepers to in order to meet both adult and juvenile needs.
These "job descriptions" do tend to flow together, but I find them sufficiently distinct to warrant separate educational requirements. A "middle ground" will not serve -- I rather think a "post graduate school" apprenticeship is simply an admission that current programs do not serve the real, and diverse, needs.
Robert Bauchspies
Middleburg, Virginia
Coordinator@foxcroft.org
"Instead of busywork, I found real intellectual content.... Courses like cataloging and collection development have not disappeared from the curriculum, nor are they likely to in the near future, but the emphasis has changed."
-- Michael Seadle
"...but the thing I'll treasure most , and that will be of most value to my offering, was not something I learned to "do" (I can learn to "do" anything), rather a carefully cultivated appreciation for the beauty of what we do and why we do it."
-- Joanne Twining Williams
Wonderful statements. In the first, Michael presents conceptualization. A bigger view perhaps, at one level found with a well-rounded MLS, and the other a reminder that unless we keep perspective and mindful of context, we are no better than running on a wheel.
In the second, Joanne echoes the building blocks expected to have been acquired with an undergraduate education and taken to a level of professional and perhaps even, poetic engagement.
The following:
"Until the MIS degree is more widely known and accepted,..."
-- Mark T. Bay
reminds me of the harp on an MLS, the cat brimmed glasses, the ssshhhh, etc. of which "library science" screams of need for respect in social science and professional circles outside their own domain (a bit harsh but meant to make a point, and yes, the MIS has been around quite awhile itself).
I happen to work in a quasi-corporate/government institution in a host of information-related activities involving information needs and services pertaining to political economy. Organization of information, as just one core course for example, finds fruitful permutation in many things I do. Reference Sources and Services is another.
Hot IT jobs can be found with certification and experience. Careers in the information field require perspectives which are not necessarily found in the readily employable IT sector. Nonetheless, as tech credentials change and evolve, concepts remain the foundation. For those of you in library school, more power to you. There is just reward if you keep your perspective and understand your value and the values inherent in your profession.
Ben Speller
North Carolina Central University
SLIS
Durham, North Carolina
Speller@nccu.edu
I have watched with interest over the years the discussion of what should be taught in library education programs. I just noted some of the jobs expectations that are presented in the last response. Some of the expectations could be met quite adequately by non-library educated individuals. The interpretation and counseling expectations should be taught in library education programs. There are some library job requirements that require technical knowledge taught outside the normal library education curriculum. We need to be realistic and look for individuals meeting these expectations outside the library education arena.
I get very nervous when I see all of the how to do it and lab-related basic computer literacy/technology training being given top priority in a "graduate library and information science(s) program." The current library and information environment is very dynamic and unstable. In this context critical thinking, reading comprehension, communication skills, situational competence, and knowledge of world events, history, and culture are a must for "the librarian" as defined in this discussion.
Finally, I hope that I am not beating a "dead horse", but, educational background and competence before library school appear to be the issue in my environment. Is this unique? Some of the educational areas causing us to think we need two or more years for the MLS degree are really basic education that should have been learned in undergraduate school general education programs.
For those individuals planning to enroll in library school who have been out of the educational arena for a very long time, or who need to take lacking undergraduate general education, I suggest that these up-dates or remediation be taken at a local community college.
Several community colleges in our area have designed special programs to meet this need.
Michelle R. Swain
Reference/Technical Services Librarian
Learning Resource Center
Rend Lake College
468 N. Ken Gray Pkwy.
Ina, IL 62846-2408
Voice and Fax (618) 437.5321, extension 276
swain@rlc.cc.il.us
I find it difficult to sympathize with those library administrators out there who have a hard time filling positions because of their narrowly defined skills/abilities/experience framework of what a "cataloger" or a "reference" worker should be. Internships and assistantships aren't a luxury, but a necessity, not to make up for a lack of preparation in graduate school but because recent graduates must compete with experienced professionals for ENTRY LEVEL JOBS!
Regardless of program completed, be it traditional librarianship (which is really just a myth, isn't it?...libraries haven't remained static long enough to have traditions, and we have always been on the cutting edge of technology) or techno-guru information scientist, there are commonalities shared among those who are prepared to do their best in whatever setting they find themselves. These qualities include:
This discussion is not about the differences, if any, between librarianship and information science. It's about preparation and success in whichever employment arena we choose. I call myself a librarian, and my profession is librarianship. (Side note: check out the cover of the 1997-98 Neal-Schuman catalog for a cool definition of librarian. I wish they'd make it into a poster.)
The only thing that I find intolerable is students of "information studies" who find it necessary to bad-mouth librarianship in some feeble attempt to make themselves appear more important or legitimate. I agree that individuals need at some point to move beyond being generalists to specialize in whatever area they most enjoy or are the most successful. But this specialization can't possibly happen in library/information school; people need life experiences and interactions with other professionals to really be able to make informed decisions. Choose your focus carefully, and then live out your career accordingly, but don't build yourself up by tearing down the beliefs and actions of others.
Jennifer McDaniel Bauer
InfoSci student
UITS Knowledge Base editor/programmer
Quiver publisher
jmbauer@indiana.edu
First of all, I'd like to thank those of you who have participated in this discussion. While I didn't get some of the more statistical data I was initially curious about, the discussion of what place the new programs have in LIS schools was very interesting, and (I hope) will make for a good transition into Steve Wooldridge's "The Dreaded L-word" discussion next month.
There was some discussion about what should be in an information-related program of any sort, which I hope (and am pretty certain) will continue in future CRISTAL-ED discussions. One of the biggest challenges for those who work on curricula is the incredibly diverse set of backgrounds from which students come to these programs. I was a cognitive psychology major, and I know colleagues from education, computer science, folklore, etc. So, it's hard for a school to instill a set of common values, as well as all the skills demanded, in the limited time available. Challenging as it may be, though, those common values are incredibly important; I think Joanne Twining Williams summed it up my own feelings best when she said:
"...but the thing I'll treasure most , and that will be of most value to my offering, was not something I learned to 'do' (I can learn to 'do' anything), rather a carefully cultivated appreciation for the beauty of what we do and why we do it."
There was also some concern about the respect given to either traditional or new fields. Mark Bay (a colleague of mine in Indiana's MIS program) is frustrated by the lack of familiarity that people have with it. This agrees with my own experience to a certain extent. Here's a breakdown of what I've faced when interviewing this fall:
Meanwhile, Ilene Frank and Michelle Swain are concerned about those who prefer working in IT either knowing little about or looking down on traditional librarianship. It also does happen, but I've noticed in the last two years here at Indiana, exposure to what librarians do during the core classes seems to decrease that considerably for the majority of MIS students. It's those people who never get to see (quoting Ms. Williams again) "how cool librarianship is," such as the 10 percent of my interviewers I mentioned earlier, that tend to have that problem.
Roma Harris' book, Librarianship: The Erosion of a Woman's Profession, speculates whether "information science" is a label for men who don't wish to be called librarians; my reply to her is that it's a great label for a woman who doesn't wish to be known as a just a hacker. What I mean by that is I do think that the human side is an important consideration in working with information technology, as several people here have said.
Anyway, if there is anything you would like to add, feel free to E-mail me personally. (I'd especially love to hear from other students.) The end of a two-week discussion period on a topic doesn't mean that the topic goes away. Again, thanks to everyone.
Bob Watson
Executive Director
Franklin Park Public Library District
10311 Grand Avenue
Franklin Park, IL 60131
Voice: (847) 455-6016
bwatson@linc.lib.il.us
As a public library administrator, my interests tend to be on what library personnel "do" in the library rather than with the issue of defining "what librarianship is." My "non-theoretical view" is simply "that which needs to be done in a library." The issue of degree requirements, as discussed, seems to lie between "a different degree," a "traditional degree," and a watered-down compromise that satisfies only a few.
I am looking for employees to satisfy my institution's needs. I need people to "build databases" (call them catalogers, if you wish), either "on site" or at some remote. I need people to "maintain the mechanism" (which used to be the simple card-catalog, but now includes such things as intranets, LAN managers, and web-masters). And I need people to provide direct patron services, which is to say that I need expert "library users" to serve as interpreters and gatekeepers to in order to meet both adult and juvenile needs.
These "job descriptions" do tend to flow together, but I find them sufficiently distinct to warrant separate educational requirements. A "middle ground" will not serve--I rather think a "post graduate school" apprenticeship is simply an admission that current programs do not serve the real, and diverse, needs.
You may join the discussion and look over the list of past and future topics.
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