I'm not sure that "certification" is all that unusual. After all, at least four states still allow people to "read the law." Teachers who didn't have college degrees in the first half of the century were allowed to continue teaching. This was also true of engineers and other professionals where certification or additional educational requirements were imposed.
In addition, I outlined in my last message the possibilities of having MLS graduates take an exam, either directly after graduation like the bar exam, or else after working for a period of time. Someone posted a message to me saying that engineers do that, as well as the two professions I mentioned before (accountants and acuaries). Even many teachers are required to get an advanced degree within a specified period of time in order to keep their license. I outlined all the possibilities that I could think of, so that people could say what they think of all these options. However, I am not sure personally that we need to always have tests for MLS graduates. (I am of the radical opinion that in some circumstances J.D. graduates should be admitted to the Bar without the Bar Exam--the Wisconsin Bar agrees with me when the person graduated from a Wisconsin law school.)
This is my first posting on the issue, and I don't pretend to have a monopoly on knowing how something like this should work. It seems to me that our profession is undervalued. We are thought of as being nothing more than clerical employees, and are not treated with the respect of professionals. We need to convince administrators that we are more than just prima donna over-paid secretaries. At this time, the New York Public Library has job descriptions for the professional librarian positions in their new Science, Industry and Business Library that allow people with an advanced degree in science or an M.B.A. to work as librarians, even though they don't have an M.L.S.
Right now, we need to band to gether and take quick action to stem the tide. Otherwise our profession is going to disappear. No other profession has been as passive about letting their duties be done by less expensive and untrained people. Its our jobs that are on the line.
I think that we need a certification body that cuts across the lines of the major organizations, but is assocated with all of them. This has been done by the accountants, the engineers, and many other professions. My idea is not to certify particular fields, although that is what some professions do (such as medicine). Nor do I expect that I would be excluding anyone who currently has the title "librarian." This is not a threat to anyone currently in the profession. It is the way of stopping our threatened field.
Bryan M. Carson, J.D., M.I.L.S.
Reference/Computer Services Librarian
Hamline University Law Library
1536 Hewitt Avenue
St Paul, Minnesota 55104
612-641-2063
bcarson@gw.hamline.edu
*********************************************************************
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves,
or we know where we can find information upon it."
--Samuel Johnson
*********************************************************************
All opinions expressed are my own and not my employer's.
All original content (c) 1997 Bryan M. Carson. All rights
reserved.
>>> Sue Fawcett <sfawcett@mail.utexas.edu> 03/31/97 01:11pm >>>
Such a "certification" practice isn't common practice in any other field,
and I don't think it is appropriate to separate the profession of
librarianship from other fields. Those who obtain an ALA-accredited
master's degree in library science or library and information science
should benefit from their educational endeavor, and be recognized for their
achievements. A person can't be an engineer, social worker, attorney,
physician, or any of a number of other professionals through merely passing
a test, and I can't see that librarians should be defined in a different
fashion. There is a significant difference in the background and realm of
knowledge between a person who works as a "librarian" (as defined via a job
description) and one who is a certified professional (vis a vis a master's
degree).
Sue Fawcett
At 10:37 AM 3/31/97, Bryan Carson wrote:
>I think that there are people who are in the positions now who are doing
>great work. I don't want to cut them out of the profession. However, I
>also think that perhaps we do need some kind of a professional test.
>
>There are bad librarians with the M.L.S. degree. I also know that those
>who are fresh out of library school are often not as good as someone who
>has been in the position for several years but doesn't have the degree. I
>do think library school was good for me. I learned things that came in
>handy after I had been in my career for a little while. However, when I
>first arrived, many of the things I learned were not yet in context.
>
>We need to make use of the highly trained and skilled people who are in
>the profession now who don't have their M.L.S. degrees. At the same time,
>we need to make sure that we value the profession adequately. At one
>time, not that long ago, teachers did not have to have education degrees
>or even bachelor's degrees. In the early part of the century, a person
>with a two-year degree or even a high-school graduate could turn around
>and teach. The increase in status and (albeit small) increase in pay came
>as the profession became more rigid about who was qualified to teach.
>
>Here is my suggestion. Lets institute a professional test. Those who
>pass it would have the right to put the title "Certified Librarian" after
>their name. If they don't pass, legal action can be taken to enjoin
>others from using the title. (We can do this by trademarking the term
>"Certified Librarian.") I dare say that people like Bob Ryan and Amy
>Comeau would easily pass that test, or perhaps (like the teachers) the
>people who are in the positions now can be grandfathered in.
>
>New M.L.S. grads are a little more problematic. Some may say that they
>are qualified by virtue of their degree. Others may remember that not all
>M.L.S. people are good, and want them to take a test right away like the
>bar exam. Still another model is to take a page from the accounting and
>actuarial profession, and require a combination of work experience and
>tests.
>
>The only way to stop the decline in our profession is to formalize the
>requirements. (This will benefit those who don't have M.L.S. degrees too,
>since as "Certified Librarians" they will be able to command a higher
>salary, as well as ending the feeling that some M.L.S. people look down on
>them.) I think we need to form some sort of a certification committee to
>look into the possibility of doing something about this. If the AALL, the
>ALA, and the SLA got together, along with other groups such as the school
>librarians, we could do something. I am willing to serve on such a
>committee.
>
>Just my two cents' worth (and probably not my employer's position). Lets
>now stop shooting arrows at each other, and use the energy to benefit the
>profession.
>
>
>
>Bryan M. Carson, J.D., MILS
>Reference/Computer Services Librarian
>Hamline University Law Library
>1536 Hewitt Avenue
>St Paul, Minnesota 55104
>612-641-2063
>bcarson@gw.hamline.edu
>
>*********************************************************************
>"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves,
>or we know where we can find information upon it."
>
> --Samuel Johnson
>
>*********************************************************************
>All opinions expressed are my own and not my employer's.
>All original content © 1997 Bryan M. Carson. All rights
>reserved.
>
>
>>>> Karen Mahnk <karenpdo@mailhost.netrunner.net> 03/31/97 08:41am >>>
>
>But one is not an attorney merely because she/he has attained a JD - but
>only after passing the bar..
>The same example can be applied to medical school graduates - they may not
>practice as Drs. w/o passing a board exam. And accountants as well...
>Nearly every well compensated profession demands more than an educational
>degree.. perhaps because it is well
>known that a "sheepskin" alone does not reflect competency..
>Only my HO..
>Karen Mahnk
>
>
>
>>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 M.L.S. 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
>>
>>
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