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:
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"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.
