I've been reading some interesting passages from a book this past
week called :
The Education of Science Information Personnel - 1964
: proceedings of an invitational conference / edited by A. J. Goldwyn and
Alan M. Rees
published 1965 by the Center for Documentation and Communication Research,
School of Library Science, Western Reserve University [Cleveland OH]
some of you may be familiar with it -- J. H. Shera gave the Introduction and
Welcome on the morning session of July 27, 1964.
Here are some passages from the Introduction - for those interested & wish
to chew on this too from 45 years ago :
"The *education* of science information personnel cannot await the outcome
of current investigation into the psychology of the information user, the
role of information in the research process, and other subjects of
documentation research. Neither can it await an agreed definition of
information science. The nebulous no-man's land between librarianship,
documentation, information retrieval and information sciences cannot be
instantly clarified, any more than can the confusion between science
libraries, special libraries, information centers, information systems and
information services.
"In view of the lack of general agreement as to the nature of the problem
and the subject fields and methodologies which can be brought to bear upon
its solution, it is not surprising that a number of expedients have been
proposed to alleviate the shortage of appropriate personnel. Library
schools, engineering schools, interdisciplinary programs within
universities, and institutes of information sciences are each in their own
fashion endeavoring to cater to the demand."... p. i
..."There is a certain rightness about the appearance of this book in 1965,
the year which begins a second decade for the Center of Documentation and
Communication Research. That rightness is epitomized by the word
"education" and by the fact that in the field of information-handling there
is beginning to emerge a respect for that word which befits a new
professional stance. It is no longer necessary, as it was ten years ago, to
shout
the alarms of the information explosion in order to establish the importance
of our work. That importance is already signalled by the interest and the
support of information-handling research, and service, by
government, business, industry, and the academic community." p. ii
"We recognize today a constructive and difficult responsibility. It is to
describe our field in terms that will communicate to potential trainees the
challenges and the opportunities that we know exist. It is to devise and to
put into effect courses and curricula that will train new personnel for
places in the field so described. And it is to set and to maintain
standards, both in formal instruction and in the design and conduct of
research, which will give unity and dignity and real meaning to our work."
"It was with some sense of this responsibility that the delegates to this
Conference came together last July."...
---A. J. Goldwyn
---Alan M. Rees p. ii
For those interested, the acknowledgements section p. iii, notes that
"Finally, we were especially pleased at the appearance
of a full and accurate summary of the Proceedings in American Documentation,
written by one of the participants, Mrs. R. W. Swanson of the U.S. Air Force
Office of Scientific Research.
See: Rowena Swanson, "Report on a Conference on the Education of Science
Information Personnel Held July 27-28, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio," American
Documentation, vol 16, no. 1, January 1965, pp. 34-35
Cheers, Karen Weaver, MLS / Electronic Resources Statistician, Duquesne
University, Gumberg Library, Pittsburgh PA email: [log in to unmask]
*"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest."*
*--Mark Twain, Speech, Young People's Society, Brooklyn*
*February 16, 1901*
On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Ken Haycock <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> This was an issue in the first Congress on Professional Education (1999).
> There were a few concerns and suggestions.
> First, there was concern that the master's degree be "upgraded" to a
> greater
> emphasis on principles and theory as well as management and training.
> Second, there was a feeling that a better alternative would be better
> education and training programs for library technicians with a significant
> two year post-secondary (and post-baccalaureate for those just wanting a
> "job" rather than a career) certificate, accepted in libraries as a formal
> qualifications. (For the Canadian perspective on this issue, see: Haycock,
> K. (2007). Education for Library and Information Studies in Canada: A
> cross-cultural comparison. New Library World 108(1/2), 32-39.)
> Third, there was the experience that few proceeded historically from the
> BLS
> (fifth year) to the MLS (sixth year) and salaries overall would decline as
> a
> result.
> --Ken
> Dr. Ken Haycock
> Follett Chair in Library and Information Science
> Dominican University GSLIS
> 778.689.5938
> Inspired minds.
> Amazing possibilities.
>
>
>
