Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:30:19 -0500
From: "Brown, Mary E." <[log in to unmask]>
To: Gretchen Whitney <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: History: MLS, MIS, MS, etc
?Formal library education in the United States was inaugurated in 1887,
but it was not until 1961 that the American Library Association defined a
graduate qualification as the only acceptable basic professional
qualification for librarianship? (Large, 1997, par. 4).
?As the policy statement of the Council of the American Library
Association expressed it in 1988: 'The master's degree from a program
accredited by the American Library Association is the appropriate
professional degree for librarians.' Entrants to the schools offering such
Master's programs must have completed an undergraduate degree, and
normally this will be in a discipline other than library studies? (Large,
1997, par. 2).
Large, Andrew. (1997). Undergraduate library and information studies
programs in North America. Education for Information, 15(2), 137-151
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Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2012 20:41:16 -0500
From: Gretchen Whitney <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: History: MLS, MIS, MS, etc
Greetings, and Happy Holidays.
I am looking for references to the history of library education. I have
a colleague who is interested in when the Master's degree was required for
a librarian, rather than the Bachelor's degree. I could not answer his
question. I do not know when, nor how, this transition happened. While I
can remember reading this literature in the 1970s, I can't recall it nor
justify the distinction now.
Background: I ran into an interesting conversation a few days ago that
was debating the need for a master's degree in library education (and I am
being very specific in not saying LIS education) and the need for a
master's degree as opposed to a bachelors degree for working in, and even
running, a library.
I am asking the iSchools to stay OUT of this discussion for now. This
concerns library schools. This concerns schools, both graduate and
undergraduate, who are trying to educate librarians.
The conversation is at
http://21stcenturylibrary.com/2011/12/19/why-not-a-bachelors-in-library-science/
I could not answer their questions about why a master's degree was
required. I could recall vague ideas about why a librarian needed to have
a subject specialty because understanding library science underlaid all of
the other disciplines. And the collaboratory in a library of these
subject specialties with the understanding of library sciences made the
building work.
I can't refer this colleague to a history of why librarians need a
master's degree rather than an undergraduate degree. Neither the ALISE
nor ASIST website is a help. I have no idea where to send him/her
Can someone refer me to a decent explanation of why the Master's degree
is needed to be a "librarian" (and I use the quotes specifically),
historically or in present terms, and why a Bachelor's degree would not
suffice?
Have a great holiday.
--gw
PS This is a library education problem. I ask the iSchools to stay out of
it for a while. IT issues will come in later.
--ggww
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
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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Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:17:35 -0500
From: Gretchen Whitney <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: History: MLS, MIS, MS, etc (fwd)
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:07:32 -0500
From: "Martens, Betsy V." <[log in to unmask]>
To: Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: History: MLS, MIS, MS, etc
------------------ John Richardson's entry, "History of American Library
Science: its Origins and Early Development," in the Encyclopedia of
Library and Information Science, edited by Mary N. Maack and Marcia Bates
(Francis and Taylor, 2010), addresses some of these questions, and is
certainly a most useful reference.
Betsy Martens
Betsy Van der Veer Martens, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Library and Information Studies
University of Oklahoma
4502 East 41st Street, Room 1J30
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135
(918) 660-3376
http://slis.ou.edu
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End of JESSE Digest - 21 Nov 2012 to 22 Nov 2012 (#2012-258)
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