Few academic librarians ten or fifteen years ago would have believed that those days of flat-lined budgets and miniscule raises could ever seem a golden (or at least silver) age by comparison. It turns out that there is something even worse than uncertainty, however--the absolute certainty of budgetary constriction and unwise decisions.…

Now more than ever school librarians need to be advocates. COVID brought to light so many things that are wrong with the education system around the country. According to the author, they learned that, although they talk about equity and access for their students, they are not even close to equity and access being a reality for all. As the…

Since librarianship is making available and exploiting information for the benefit of people, librarians must know about information resources, about people, and about systems for linking resources and people. They need (1) basic abilities--literacy and numeracy; (2) organizational qualities, including vision, a questioning approach, perspective,…

Concerned with the many pressures to which library education is subject all over the world, this paper concentrates on the relationship between the subject of librarianship, the subject of information science, and the accommodation of information science in library education. The emergence and domain of information science is briefly reviewed, and…

Six myths regarding libraries are discussed: libraries are at center of intellectual life; book is sacred; libraries are responsive to information needs of various publics; objective evaluation is common decision-making practice; librarianship model fosters active client-oriented behaviors; library school education alone provides sufficient…

Outlines theoretical and practical dimensions of the use of bibliometrics (i.e., the scientific study of recorded discourse) to enhance library school curricula. A proposal for a course at the master's level and future prospects for teaching bibliometrics are included. Twenty-six references and a course syllabus are appended. (EJS)

Speculates on why graduate library schools have not, in the persons of their professors, produced theoretical leadership in Library Science. The ideals of professional ethical standards are contrasted with present practice. (RAA)

Surveys the history of library education and publishing from 1876 to the present in order to examine the relationship between the curriculum in library science schools and library literature. The emphasis is on how publishing for library education is influenced by changes in curriculum and how practice in librarianship influences both. (58…

At our present state of development, courses in historical bibliography provide unusual advantages in relating the past to the present and opportunities for linking the different elements of professional study in schools of librarianship. Even if, in some future age, librarians are concerned solely with electronic journals and online services,…

Discusses problems inherent in the contemporary requirement that library educators, as members of university faculties, be scholarly academic personnel. The development of library schools, pragmatic practitioners, the educational trend toward university connection, the graduate school standard, and library educators as academics are considered.…

Citing reasons why library science educational programs are being closed, this essay examines present status and future goals of information science education. A brief outline of the emphasis shift in library science and a discussion of whether information science should be viewed as a discipline or trade school are presented. (EJS)

Discusses the role of the media librarian in promoting media utilization and describes the major assignment of a hypothetical library school course designed to explore the nature and purpose of media. (EJS)

Cautions that present purely qualitative accreditation standards tend to deny disaccreditation as a Committee on Accreditation (ALA) alternative and to reinforce mediocrity. Standards should be revised to accept certain quantitative, structural, and procedural changes to insure quality in library school graduates. (RAA)

After investigating the offerings of library schools and observing the research trends of their doctoral students, this author believes that library education needs a basic theory course to familiarize future professionals with the intellectual history and seminal thinkers of the field. (EA)

This booklet, one of a series of background information papers for the White House Conference, outlines and discusses the important issues of professionalism facing libraries, librarians, and library schools. Public librarians are being asked to assume new roles and perform new tasks for which they are increasingly unable to adequately and…