One Size No Longer Fits EveryoneJudy FieldSenior Lecturer, Library and Information Science ProgramWayne State Universityaa4101@wayne.edu

Even in the United States

Before there were Library Schools Librarians learned by

Trial and Error Apprentice-style training in an established library

and imitating what was observed Taking some form of classes, personal instruction

or formal training often in a university library or very large municipal library

The Birth of Our Profession

The First Library School In 1887 Dewey established the School of

Library Economy at Columbia Represented the first steps toward

professionalism Developed a curriculum that was a blend of

instruction and practical experience Library professional associations and library

education began to work together

The early graduates Were responsible for starting:

Pratt Institute (1890) Drexel Institute (1891) Armour Institute (1897)

Others took leadership positions in public and academic libraries

For the next 3 decades Saw the creation of additional library schools. This included several of the Institutes

becoming full-fledged library schools Library schools started creating a curriculum

based on theory and skills Library schools and library associations began

their close association

Williamson Reports (1921,1923) Surveyed the library schools and concluded

There was a lack of minimally uniform satisfactory levels of education

Wanted clearer separation between clerical and professional work

Recommended a bachelor’s degree for admission to a library school program

The library schools were to be affiliated with degree-granting institutions

An accreditation process was deemed necessary to guarantee quality

Accreditation In 1925 the Board of Education for

Librarianship set minimum standards for accreditation

This was the beginning of establishing quality standards for professional library education

University of Chicago (1926) The founding of this school included scholars

from a variety of disciplines who were grounded in academia.

This brought academic study and scientific research to the profession Colloquia A scholarly publication A doctoral program

1940-early 70’s Many changes occurred during this period:

Efforts continued to develop graduate level scholarship for the profession

Accreditation standards were rewritten in 1951, 1972 and 1992;

Total enrollment has varied widely More schools developed PhD programs Research and scholarly writing was done.

In the early 70’s there were 70 accredited programs.

Stand alone Bachelor programs had been phased out.

Some Schools of Education continued to offer a minor in library work for those wanting to be a media specialists

Mid 70’s-early 90’s Technology became a larger part of the

curriculum Schools started to add the word “Information”

into the titles of their programs and degrees The 1992 Accreditation Standards were

written to accommodate these changes

Discussion in our professional journals and at conferences became more strident as the Internet and the Web became more prevalent in newly created courses

Libraries began to demand that new hires be technically competent

The schism between the library and information science faculties became more pronounced

Questions were already being raised as to whether the new accreditation standards adequately dealt with strongly focused information science

1995- 2007 Libraries were not the only employers asking

for more technically adept employees Bachelor degree programs focusing on

developing technology expertise were added to many curriculums.

Initially computer science or business schools developed these programs

By this time accredited library programs had decreased from 70 to 56. many programs had been merged with other campus programs such as communications or journalism.

Soon some LS programs decided to develop bachelor programs in technology; others partnered with other schools to jointly develop such programs

Libraries were also demanding clerical employees with core professional library skills

Several new programs were developed or resurrected.

The increase adoption of technology meant libraries needed to hire full-time technicians.

While all of this was happening… The demand for information workers or

knowledge managers was increasing in areas beyond libraries

A tidal wave of digitizing collections was occurring everywhere.

The USA government has rapidly move into a digital world and paper document collections are rapidly disappearing

Special Librarians no longer have physical libraries but provide their services virtually

Academic libraries are rapidly decreasing their paper periodical collections

Public libraries are becoming computer training centers and a major provider of

E-books

A response to these changes The “I” school movement which is now ten

years old is a model that must be further integrated into all curriculums

Their vision has shown us new ways to be information providers far beyond or library walls,

BUT a holistic, not divisive path needs to be followed

This is no longer the world of leather covered booksOur old friends the books are disappearing inside our computers

This is no longer the world of leather covered booksOur old friends the books are disappearing inside our computers

Our rapidly evolving vocabulary includes from Internet Search Engines Web Blogs Podcasts

Audio Video

RSS feeds Social Networking site

Second life YouTube

Nextgen Wikis Library 2.0 Library 3.0

What does Tomorrow mean for Library Education? Distance education will be a quality product

that will foster networking beyond national boundaries and take full advantage of expertise from everywhere

Library Education must be at the forefront of providing new and innovate ways to provide access and delivery of quality information seamlessly

Library Education is going to need new standards which are more encompassing

More LS programs will join WISE which will establish administrative and technology benchmarks which may help in developing new standards for the profession

The profession needs to help establish competencies that they want from all of their employees

The Bottom Line The information profession will no longer be

defined as those who hold Master’s But will reflect the Information Team

comprised of the Master’s degreed professionals working closely with clerical staff and technicians

We will be the standard bearers for creating quality information sources

We will set the standards for quality customer service.