[Prodev] ALA accreditation
Bryan Carson
prodev@aallnet.org
Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:41:06 -0600
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I agree. Please don't think that I was suggesting getting away from ALA
accreditation. Rather, I feel that this is a possible change that might
enhance the educational process. Remember also that my perspective is somewhat
based on my own internal situation. We have 3 people from the library who
teach in the program. We actually sit on the committees and do most of the
things that regular faculty do. In our case, we would actually like to
re-design the program around the idea of teaching libraries, but are not sure
that it would be worth it.
I'm the person who has been charged with finding out about ALA standards in
order to see what we would have to do. Once we know what we need to do, we
need to formulate a plan to get there. Only then, a few years from now, would
we be actually submitting anything to ALA. This is really preliminary
research.
Basically, our plan would be for the library to work on training the students.
Although not all librarians would teach classes, there would be about 9 or 10
who would. Each one would teach one class, and would have his or her pay
increased by 1/4 of the amount a full-time faculty would make. The classes
would be related to each librarian's specialty. There would be classes on
science librarianship taught by the science librarian. Our health sciences
librarian would teach a class on health libraries and health informatics. We
would have a class on humanities reference, social sciences reference, music
librarianship, archives management, local history and genealogy research,
government documents, etc. (And, of course, law librarianship.) Each
librarian who participates in the program would have one class per term.
Students would be given practical assignments within the library that would
put the theoretical into pracice. Yet the classes would also still include
theory, so that students understand what they are doing.
Does this sound like a plan for a program that would train students
effectively?
--Bryan
Carol Bredemeyer wrote:
> Maybe a better strategy would be to try to influence the ALA accreditation
> standards first.Then if enough libraries threatened to not require an ALA
> accredited degree for hiring, change might happen. From the academic point
> of view, there is a need for a critical massof full time faculty to handle
> advising and internal faculty governance (committee work, etc.).However, ALA
> should amend its standards to account differently for someone who
> teachespart time in the program, but is a faculty member in that institution
> practicing in the
> profession. ********************************************************************CAROL
> BREDEMEYERASST. DIR. FOR REFERENCE & RESEARCH SERVICESSALMON P. CHASE
> COLLEGE OF LAW LIBRARYNORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITYNUNN DRIVEHIGHLAND
> HEIGHTS, KY 41099-6110PHONE (859)572-5395FAX (859)572-6529EMAIL:
> bredemeyer@exchange.nku.edu"Every man owes some of his time to the
> upbuilding ofthe profession to which he
> belongs". -Theodore
> Roosevelt*********************************************************************
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fullerton, Barbara [mailto:bfullerton@lockeliddell.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 2:39 PM
> To: prodev@aallnet.org
> Subject: [Prodev] ALA accreditation
>
> Bryan Carson said something about ALA in one of his messages (to
> quote Bryan), "One thing that I have come across is that ALA
> accreditation doesn't encourage library school faculty to be
> "practicing librarians.""
>
> Should library schools reconsider their ALA accreditation if it
> hinders them from better serving their students and their needs? I
> have heard rumors that a few library schools are trying to get
> away from ALA accreditation to concentrate on tweaking their
> programs to fit today's librarians.
>
> Should there be something new to replace ALA accreditation? Any
> thoughts on this topic?
>
> Barbara Fullerton
>
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I agree. Please don't think that I was suggesting getting away from ALA
accreditation. Rather, I feel that this is a possible change that might
enhance the educational process. Remember also that my perspective is somewhat
based on my own internal situation. We have 3 people from the library who
teach in the program. We actually sit on the committees and do most of
the things that regular faculty do. In our case, we would actually like
to re-design the program around the idea of teaching libraries, but are
not sure that it would be worth it.
<p>I'm the person who has been charged with finding out about ALA standards
in order to see what we would have to do. Once we know what we need to
do, we need to formulate a plan to get there. Only then, a few years from
now, would we be actually submitting anything to ALA. This is really preliminary
research.
<p>Basically, our plan would be for the library to work on training the
students. Although not all librarians would teach classes, there would
be about 9 or 10 who would. Each one would teach one class, and would have
his or her pay increased by 1/4 of the amount a full-time faculty would
make. The classes would be related to each librarian's specialty. There
would be classes on science librarianship taught by the science librarian.
Our health sciences librarian would teach a class on health libraries and
health informatics. We would have a class on humanities reference, social
sciences reference, music librarianship, archives management, local history
and genealogy research, government documents, etc. (And, of course, law
librarianship.) Each librarian who participates in the program would
have one class per term. Students would be given practical assignments
within the library that would put the theoretical into pracice. Yet the
classes would also still include theory, so that students understand what
they are doing.
<p>Does this sound like a plan for a program that would train students
effectively?
<p>--Bryan
<p>Carol Bredemeyer wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE> <span class=806465919-12032003><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=-1>Maybe
a better strategy would be to try to influence the ALA accreditation standards
first.</font></font></font></span><span class=806465919-12032003><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=-1>Then
if enough libraries threatened to not require an ALA accredited degree
for hiring, </font></font></font></span><span class=806465919-12032003><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=-1>change
might happen. From the academic point of view, there is a need for
a critical mass</font></font></font></span><span class=806465919-12032003><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=-1>of
full time faculty to handle advising and internal faculty governance (committee
work, etc.).</font></font></font></span><span class=806465919-12032003><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=-1>However,
ALA should amend its standards to account differently for someone who teaches</font></font></font></span><span class=806465919-12032003><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=-1>part
time in the program, but is a faculty member in that institution practicing
in the profession.</font></font></font></span> <font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>********************************************************************</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>CAROL
BREDEMEYER</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>ASST. DIR.
FOR REFERENCE & RESEARCH SERVICES</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>SALMON
P. CHASE COLLEGE OF LAW LIBRARY</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>NORTHERN
KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>NUNN
DRIVE</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>HIGHLAND HEIGHTS,
KY 41099-6110</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>PHONE
(859)572-5395</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>FAX
(859)572-6529</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>EMAIL:
<a href="mailto:bredemeyer@exchange.nku.edu">bredemeyer@exchange.nku.edu</a></font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>"Every
man owes some of his time to the upbuilding of</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>the
profession to which he belongs".</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>
-Theodore Roosevelt</font></font><font face="Trebuchet MS"><font size=-1>*********************************************************************</font></font>
<blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<div class="OutlookMessageHeader" lang="en-us" dir="ltr"><font face="Tahoma"><font size=-1>-----Original
Message-----</font></font>
<br><font face="Tahoma"><font size=-1><b>From:</b> Fullerton, Barbara [<A HREF="mailto:bfullerton@lockeliddell.com">mailto:bfullerton@lockeliddell.com</A>]</font></font>
<br><font face="Tahoma"><font size=-1><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, March 12,
2003 2:39 PM</font></font>
<br><font face="Tahoma"><font size=-1><b>To:</b> prodev@aallnet.org</font></font>
<br><font face="Tahoma"><font size=-1><b>Subject:</b> [Prodev] ALA accreditation</font></font>
<br> </div>
<font face="Courier New"><font size=-1>Bryan Carson said something about
ALA in one of his messages (to quote Bryan), "One thing that I have come
across is that ALA accreditation doesn't encourage library school faculty
to be "practicing librarians.""</font></font>
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1>Should library schools reconsider
their ALA accreditation if it hinders them from better serving their students
and their needs? I have heard rumors that a few library schools are trying
to get away from ALA accreditation to concentrate on tweaking their programs
to fit today's librarians.</font></font>
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1>Should there be something new
to replace ALA accreditation? Any thoughts on this topic?</font></font>
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1>Barbara Fullerton</font></font></blockquote>
</blockquote>
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