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.
Showing posts with label Training and education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training and education. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
A little digression on the subject of jobs.
Although not part of the course reading list, I happened to stumble across Susan Stenkel Rippley's paper The Education and Hiring of Special Collections Librarians: Observations from a Recent Recruit, (http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/rbm/backissuesvol6no2/stekel06.pdf) which I read with great relish. The paper is chock full of important information regarding the core competencies for special collections librarians (where we left off last night in our review of the ARL Task Force Final Status Report) and the current outlook on the job situation.
Rippley's article deliniates core competencies in two venues, both traditional competencies such as knowledge of descriptive bibliography, reference work with primary sources, preservation, and subject knowledge. I think we can all agree that these skills should certainly be considered required core competencies for any individual wishing to work in special collections.
But Rippley's article extended beyond these traditional views of the skills needed by special collections librarians and addressed competencies of a contemporary nature including such hot topics as a knowledge of copyright and intellectual property issues as well as an understanding of image permissions, and the ability to discuss these issues with lawyers for the protection of collections.
A proficiency in multiple languages could be said to linger on the side of traditional competencies but Rippley ups the ante on this one by saying special collections librarians not only need to have a familiarity with European languages but others as well that may be represented in the collection, as evidenced by a librarian working with documents from the Korean and Viet Nam wars.
Ouch! How do we special collection wannabes do it all? How do we develop the traditional research skills, master a variety of languages, and move beyond to incorporate copyright and property issues? That's where the training of special collections librarians come in and that is the next item on Rippley's agenda.
On this subject the paper relates, as we all know, that most education for special collections is available in the "continuing education mode." UVA's Rare Book School provides an invaluable service to that end. This class will be my third course at RBS. I began with a course in the area I wanted to specialize in, publisher's bindings and the 19th century in general, then moved on to tackle one of the core competency areas with what I refer to as "bibliography bootcap," otherwise known as Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography. The course next week will assist me in the larger arena of my chosen field, Introduction to Special Collections Librarianship. But again, I digress. The point I'm trying to get to and that Rippley conveys so much better than I am, is that more is needed. More courses need to be offered more often in library programs. Simple. More rare book schools have sprung up to help fill this need, but library schools need to address this issue with a strong curriculum in this area.
As we near the end of the article Rippley turns her attention to the dearth of positions and the requirements often given for those few positions available. Yes, my dears, it's a jungle out there. Years of experience, at least three to five, are the minimum requirements. Hopefully my years as a rare book room volunteer will stand me in good stead when I am ready to face the market. If your intent is to work in archives, so much the better. There are more positions in archives than for rare book librarians.
And so it goes. Return tomorrow for more points to ponder from the ARL report.
Rippley's article deliniates core competencies in two venues, both traditional competencies such as knowledge of descriptive bibliography, reference work with primary sources, preservation, and subject knowledge. I think we can all agree that these skills should certainly be considered required core competencies for any individual wishing to work in special collections.
But Rippley's article extended beyond these traditional views of the skills needed by special collections librarians and addressed competencies of a contemporary nature including such hot topics as a knowledge of copyright and intellectual property issues as well as an understanding of image permissions, and the ability to discuss these issues with lawyers for the protection of collections.
A proficiency in multiple languages could be said to linger on the side of traditional competencies but Rippley ups the ante on this one by saying special collections librarians not only need to have a familiarity with European languages but others as well that may be represented in the collection, as evidenced by a librarian working with documents from the Korean and Viet Nam wars.
Ouch! How do we special collection wannabes do it all? How do we develop the traditional research skills, master a variety of languages, and move beyond to incorporate copyright and property issues? That's where the training of special collections librarians come in and that is the next item on Rippley's agenda.
On this subject the paper relates, as we all know, that most education for special collections is available in the "continuing education mode." UVA's Rare Book School provides an invaluable service to that end. This class will be my third course at RBS. I began with a course in the area I wanted to specialize in, publisher's bindings and the 19th century in general, then moved on to tackle one of the core competency areas with what I refer to as "bibliography bootcap," otherwise known as Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography. The course next week will assist me in the larger arena of my chosen field, Introduction to Special Collections Librarianship. But again, I digress. The point I'm trying to get to and that Rippley conveys so much better than I am, is that more is needed. More courses need to be offered more often in library programs. Simple. More rare book schools have sprung up to help fill this need, but library schools need to address this issue with a strong curriculum in this area.
As we near the end of the article Rippley turns her attention to the dearth of positions and the requirements often given for those few positions available. Yes, my dears, it's a jungle out there. Years of experience, at least three to five, are the minimum requirements. Hopefully my years as a rare book room volunteer will stand me in good stead when I am ready to face the market. If your intent is to work in archives, so much the better. There are more positions in archives than for rare book librarians.
And so it goes. Return tomorrow for more points to ponder from the ARL report.
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