So Ulla de Stricker, by way of LinkedIn, pointed to an absolutely bang on post by Connie Crosby over at the Future Ready 365 blog: We Are Not Alone. Please, DO NOT make the mistake of thinking this might be covering "old ground" for you as in "oh I understand all that stuff about transferable skill sets of librarians." I'd like to believe that IS old ground by this point for those working in and around Libraries and the Information Continuum.
Rather, Connie points to the fact that we work in and amongst many others with equally essential skills and knowledge in driving forward the access to information in any environment. And ultimately thinking of it as a hierarchy, even between (or especially?) MLS and technical degree level educational qualifications is counter-productive. Yes they are different paths with different pieces of paper; but when it comes to service outcomes as measured from the patron's perspective, there is an entire value chain behind every event that has very little to do with the educational attainment of any one person providing the service. Tongue in cheek and all, consider that "reference" is generally the domain of the Masters, yet how true is the Annoyed Librarian's description of the the Scowling Dragon approach to reference?
I know there has been a push on for a more rigorous approach to certification in Librarianship, one more akin to Engineers and Lawyers. At least here in Canada, unless every province agrees to some thing like this it is rather meaningless (check out your ss 91 and 92 of the BNA/Constitution for more on that topic.)
Me, I figure that will just make Libraries more expensive, as the Master's are segregated by a wall of paper.
Don't get me wrong. I love my MLS degree - the technical route wasn't even on my radar, but that's because I really enjoy all that goes along with university education: research, writing papers, (hypothetically) environments wide open for debate . . . But Libraries are bigger than a piece of paper, a credential. The shame of school boards cutting Libraries will be the curse of the next generation, and we'll all pay for it.
Big world, getting bigger all the time.
Libraries are the ultimate interdisciplinary environment, and are essential to navigating the Information Continuum.
