Greetings,

   Now we are going to look at programs for the high school graduate. 
(WHATT??  Yes, it is a program for these folks sponsored by the American 
Library Assn.)  Read on.

   In this thread, we have covered the lead-up to the requirement for the 
Masters degree for the well-fought for and earned designation of a 
"professional librarian" from a historical perspective. Those mentioned 
are great resources.

   Yes, we are leading up to a taxonomy of educational principles and 
strategies for LIS education for the worker in some kind of institution or 
society, from high school through the doctorate. I carefully distinguish 
between what the consumer of information needs to know, from what the 
individual person who claims to KNOW that the consumer of these 
information resources needs to know, and presumes to instruct them (the 
latter being LIS people, information professionals, or whatever).  All of 
these exist programs exist today.

   We have looked at undergraduate components to some sort of degree for a 
librarian.  We have looked at community college contributions to some sort 
of instruction and knowledge base for those in that setting as Dr. Mrs. 
Joe Biden asks us to do.

  We can assume knowledge in this audience about master's programs, and PhD 
programs.

   We have not looked at undergraduate programs for the general 
undergraduate student in LIS issues, such as evaluating information 
resources.


   I must add to the mix programs prepared for high school students and 
graduates.  I call your attention to

   http://ala-apa.org/lssc/
   the American Library Assn / Library Support Staff Certification program, 
sponsored by the ALA-APA (Allied professional Association).
   I had never heard of this organization until a few days ago.

   I note their competency sets at
   http://ala-apa.org/lssc/for-candidates/competency-sets/
   (I'm avoiding being snarky about wishing that Master's students had 
these)

   I note their info about course providers at
   http://ala-apa.org/lssc/for-course-providers/
   (Don't have to have much re academic qualifications)

   I note approved courses at
   http://ala-apa.org/lssc/for-course-providers/
   (I looked at 
http://ce.fresno.edu/cpd/ParaProfessional/coursedetails.aspx?courseCode=LIB-77
     as an IT course, it is not so bad or inadequate.  At least it covers
     assistive technologies. I invite graduate teachers to look at these
     syllabii and comment.


   Most of the links to approved courses take you to an 
institution/enrollment page, and not the actual syllabus itself.  This 
makes it hard to evaluate these courses.


   But the point here is that there is an LIS educational system in LIS 
designed for high school graduates. Sponsored by the ALA.  I had no idea 
it existed until a few days ago. I can't tell who is teaching the courses 
because the links are just e-mail addresses to non-descript addresses with 
no web pages or accountability.

   Based on the examination of one course only,  I don't see much 
difference between this high-school level course and one that could be 
offered at a graduate level.  Again, I can't get to the actual syllabi 
for other courses.

   We as a discussion group continue to work on the taxonomy of LIS 
educational programs and opportunities offered by institutions of higher 
learning and certified by professional associations such as ALA. Workshops 
sponsored by conferences and the like don't count in this analysis.

   Interesting problem/discussion.

   --gw

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Gretchen Whitney, PhD, Retired
School of Information Sciences
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA           [log in to unmask]
http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/
jESSE:http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/jesse.html
SIGMETRICS:http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html
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