RSS Feed for LISNews: - Information, Knowledge and Wisdom

LISNews: - Information, Knowledge and Wisdom
Librarian And Information Science News

• A Piece of Thursday Photography
  posted on September 02, 2010 04:46:20 pm
  

  

  The State Library of Ohio's Mobile Computing Lab outside Conneaut Public Library in Conneaut, Ohio. The lab will be providing service at Kingsville Public Library next week. Click on the picture to view a larger version at Flickr.

• It's Not Too Late...I Love My Librarian Award
  posted on September 02, 2010 03:15:02 pm
  

  Nominations for 2010 stay open through September 20. Nominate your librarian (or yourself?) for the third year of the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award! From this page, you can nominate a school librarian, public librarian or university librarian.

  Here's the page for promotional tools (tweets, etc.) and here are handsome badges for your website, such as the one below.
  
  Up to ten winners will be selected this year and receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and $500 travel stipend to attend an awards reception in New York hosted by The New York Times. In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.

  The award is administered by the American Library Association with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times.

  Join us on Facebook for updates on the award throughout the nomination process. You can read about last year's winners here.

• The Master's Degree Misperception
  posted on September 02, 2010 02:47:02 pm
  

  “I didn’t know you needed a master’s degree to be a librarian.”

  If you haven’t experienced this statement firsthand, you’ve certainly read about it. It is the notion that what we are doing as a career, a calling, and an occupation requires an advanced degree of study. It’s an image issue that pops up for the public librarian on a fairly regular basis. And, like it or not, it is here to stick with public librarians for a long time.

  Once upon a time, there was no degree requirement to become a librarian. Anyone with a degree could be a librarian; it was simply a matter of learning the collection, the classification system, and the established policies and procedures of the library. With the advent of the MLS and MLIS programs, this has created a new layer of requirements for budding librarians but has not been accompanied by a shift in duties and workload. On any given day, I can be standing at the circulation desk side-by-side with a support staff member doing the same thing that they are doing. So long as this arrangement exists, the perception that librarianship does not require an advanced degree will continue to taint the image of the profession.

  (Two things to note before I continue: first, that this is certainly not the full limit or extent of my job duties. If there is a line of people waiting to check out, I’ll step out and lend a hand. It’s good business, it’s a good show of support for my fellow staff member, and it’s a nice reminder about that aspect of the library experience. Budget tightening measures have also reduced our staffing numbers so that there isn’t another staff member around or on the desk to help out. Second, I don’t think there is anything wrong with a librarian doing these tasks. However, I’d like to imagine that I got an advanced degree so that checking out books would be a once in a while thing, not a regular gig.)

  It is a disservice to the education, to the degree, and to the profession when the bulk of a librarian’s daily tasks could be performed by someone with a GED. It does not take a master’s degree to place a hold on a book, clear a copier, push in chairs, tell people they are being loud, shelve items, or other similar tasks. When librarians are seen doing this and then told there is an advanced degree requirement, there is a reasoning dissonance that occurs in the outside observer.

  Our professional focus should be on the management and organization of materials; these are the things for which we are schooled and trained to do. So, this leads me to a question: how can we separate the MLS from the paraprofessional? Should the profession insist on a greater separation of duties? Should we surrender the reference desk over to the paraprofessional and adopt “research hours” where we can sit down with people who have actual reference questions? What needs to change in how we approach the job in the context of the library?

  Author’s note: I’m not ignorant of the fact that this post will not apply to some libraries that have a smaller staff; nor that there will be times when there is a crossover of duties between librarians and paraprofessionals. I’m simply saying that this will continue to be an image problem so long as it is found in the majority of public libraries around the country.

  AndyW

• September 8 is International Literacy Day
  posted on September 02, 2010 01:24:31 pm
  

  International Literacy Day, traditionally observed annually on September 8, focuses attention on worldwide literacy needs. More than 780 million of the world’s adults (nearly two-thirds of whom are women) do not know how to read or write, and between 94 and 115 million children lack access to education.

  Celebrate International Literacy Day by joining IRA on either September 7 or September 8 for webinars on Building Support for Effective Reading Instruction featuring IRA President Patricia Edwards, Richard Carson (Rotary Representative to the OAS) and Instructor Judy Backlund (IRA member and Rotary Club President). The webinar will be held twice, so choose the time that works best for you!

  Tuesday, September 7, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. EST
  This is a virtual event. Go to this URL to join the Tuesday webinar...or

  Wednesday, September 8, 2010 from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. EST
  This is a virtual event. Go to this URL to join the Wednesday webinar.

  Other live events, fact sheets, celebration ideas and award certificates can be found at the IRA Website.

• Eat the Director's Brain: Zombies Attack The Collingswood Public Library!
  posted on September 02, 2010 10:55:42 am
  

  “Eat the Director’s Brain”: The Second Annual Collingswood Book Festival 5K Race to Raise Money for the Collingswood Public Library’s Teen Area