More on Education and Training

One last look at education and training seems in order before resuming comments on the ARL Final Status Report.

The instructor of the upcoming Introduction to Special Collections Librarianship course at Rare Book School next week, Alice Schreyer, is a member of the task force and the author of Education and Training for Careers in Special Collections: A White Paper Prepared for the Association of Research Libraries Special Collections Task Force, Nov. 2004. (a pdf version can be found on the ARL website: http://www.arl.org/collect/spcoll/SCTEED.pdf).

The goal of the paper is to convey the current employment situation and consider areas of education and training for special collections librarians in the rapidly changing world we work in today. After reading both papers, Rippley's and Schreyer's, the importance of a basic set of core competencies is evident, with the caveat that these core competencies may vary within the skill set of an individual and the needs of the hiring institution. This idea of flexibility, both on an individual and institution basis, is important and greatly needed. Special collections are part of the unique identity of an institution. Pairing librarians with a specific skill set that matches an institutional need is the ideal we'd all like to strive toward. The goal of each one of us as we search for a position is to find that place that not only suits our needs but our skills. A perfect match.

Recruitment is another topic addressed in this white paper. Mid-career librarians and career-changers are considered ideal candidates for special collections recruitment with consideration extended for life skills and work experience. As a career-changer myself, the skills I developed throughout my former career as a bricks and mortar/internet bookseller, appraiser, and collector have proven to be a firm foundation for pursuing a library science degree. These skills have also proven beneficial to my day to day activities in the rare book room.

Qualifications discussed for special collections librarians begin with the masters degree. Graduate study is considered a way to insure competencies with research methodologies and scholarship. Again, language skills are part of the package. A description of general competencies and those that would be considered uniquely suited to particular collections are also discussed.

New to me is a term used to describe a candidate's personality, the "pizzazz factor." For many of us this may be an unexpected requirement for a librarians' skill set but as development and relationships with donors become more important, that "pizzazz factor" becomes increasingly important as well. After all, little of Traister's day, back in 1986, was actually spent in the office.

The balance of the paper addresses educational opportunities, such as those offered at Rare Book School. Training options such as internships, specialized courses and programs are also included.

An emphasis is placed on developing a "shared culture" between rare book librarians and archivists. This is certainly an area that needs to be developed. Some of us may well wish to furthur our training at RBS by taking a new course offered for the first time this year, Introduction to Archives for Rare Book Librarians. I'll be adding this one to my RBS wish list.

That's it for this post. We'll return to our task in the next one.