Advocacy is such an essential component of librarianship that it
should be included in one or more LIS core courses and not just in an
elective course some students might miss. Including the subject in a
required library management course allows all students to discover the
difference between marketing and advocacy; the importance of advocacy
to the future of libraries; and the necessary role of all library
staff in advocacy to all stakeholders, all the time. LIS students,
regardless of their career goals, also would benefit in the job market
by knowing more about finance and budgets. An understanding of where
the money comes from and why, and how it is spent, is the underpinning
of effective advocacy.
Elsa Kramer, MLS
Adjunct Faculty
School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University - Indianapolis
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:58:13 -0500
From: "Crowley, Bill"
<[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Sam's post
Greetings All:
I agree that teaching effective advocacy
has become a necessity for all library and information education
programs that have any interest whatsoever in (a) their futures, (b)
the prospects of their graduates, and (c) the fortunes of the various
components of the library, information, knowledge, and archival
professions. Almost all the chapter authors of Defending
Professionalism: A Resource for Librarians, Information Specialists,
Knowledge Managers, and Archivists, an in-process Libraries
Unlimited work, found themselves dealing with the necessity of
effective advocacy in all the contexts noted. In addition to
describing the need, the authors offered a range of solutions. Once
such solution was the recommendation that all library and education
programs offer a course in advocacy.
Regards,
Bill
Bill Crowley, Ph.D.
Professor
Graduate School of Library and
Information Science
Dominican University
7900 West Division Street
River Forest, IL 60305
708.524.6513 v
708.524.6657 f
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www.gslis.dom.edu