At 10:01 AM 3/26/97 EST, Ann Puckett wrote:
>Mr. Ryan, if you went to work in a hospital, would you expect to be called a
>doctor? Nothing in my message suggests or was intended to suggest you are
>inferior to any other human or any other profession on earth. You are not
>a librarian because you lack the professional credentials of a librarian,
>period. People with MLS degrees but no JD, but yet work in law firms,
>are not lawyers because they lack the professional credentials of lawyers,
>however high the quality of the work they do. Would you argue otherwise?
>
>Ann Puckett
>Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law
>University of Georgia School of Law Library
>Athens GA 30602-6018
>Phone (706)542-5078
>Fax (706)542-5001
>apuckett@uga.cc.uga.edu
>http://www.lawsch.uga.edu
>
Ms. Puckett,
I really don't want to get into a slinging match on this but your reply has
a glaring lapse of logic. If I worked in a hospital I would not expect to be
called a doctor for 2 reasons: 1) I would not be doing a doctor's job
because 2) a doctor is a licensed profession for which I do not have a state
required license. The same applies to your argument re working at a law firm
without a JD. As it happens, I am working in a law library, doing the job of
librarian, a position which does NOT require state licensing. Perhaps there
should be licensing required for librarians. There is for cosmetologists and
morticians. But, at present at least, there is not. Therefor I am and remain
(as long as they keep paying me) a law librarian. I am not in any way
downplaying the value and sometimes necessity for the education and training
concommitant with an MLS but the fact is that it is not an absolute
necessity in every case. I run a law library for a 35 attorney firm where
the principle requirement is extensive research capabilities. So, while I
struggle along on the administrative/library science end of things
(fortunately the facility is still small enough to deal with this
shortcoming), my employers seem quite satisfied with my overall performance.
The same might apply for the position in DC. I don't know, but I would not
presume to instruct them on what they might or might not need in a
semi-public forum like law-lib without being aware of all the facts.
Have we all wasted enough time on this now?
Bob Ryan
Law Librarian (Non-Licensed)
Frandzel & Share
6500 Wilshire Blvd, 17th Fl
Los Angeles, CA 90048
213-852-1000, x344
rryan@primenet.com>
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