Here’s a couple of interesting quotes:
“library education is too important to be left to the educators. Yes this is what has happened in the past two decades, and with disastrous results”
“A glance at recent library history helps us to understand the task that the profession faces in restoring the library community to health”
“A survey of library personnel offices in acadmic libraries outlined some of the skills considered important for beginning librarians. A host of nonbibliographic competencies emerged, including business skills, networking and research methods”
No, these are not part of the discussion on the latest COA Standards for LIS education but quotations from a series of articles on the field published in Library Journal a quarter of a century ago, 1983 to be precise. The articles make interesting and depressingly familiar reading today. If you really think we’ve progressed, take a look at this op-ed from the the CSM. I’d comment more on that shrill diatribe if I thought it warranted any further comment, the real point is that LIS education’s natural state seemingly is crisis, permanent crisis. And the chief culprits are:
Library schools in general
iSchools in particular
Faculty
Universities
Library managers
TV
Computing
Twitter
Publishers
Young people
Google
the education system
You and me
Now, if we could just deal with that little list we could get Library Schools back where they belong…….now where was that Nirvana exactly?
now where was that Nirvana exactly? My heart… 🙂