[Publib] Standards

[Backwage at aol.com]

I recall being rather surprised, and not pleased, when I discovered years  
ago that librarians did not have to pass any sort of qualifying examination or  
take a certification test.  The reason for this is that the profession  
consists of quite a few distinct skill sets, any of which may be easily  isolated, 
quantified, and standards produced therefrom.
 
As a sidelight, it is also true that the less-quantifiable aspects of  
librarianship, once so highly valued, are fallen by the wayside.  The very  high 
degree of literacy and deep familiarity with books of all sorts is not  sought 
today.  There were once entry exams for library school, heavy with  questions on 
literature and non-fiction subjects--no more.  
 
[It almost goes without saying that the librarian of the past, those very  
well-read folk who did the job for far lower pay than today, were women who  
could not get other work because the professions were closed to them, and the  
entire culture and society unsupportive.  Society profited greatly, up  through 
the fifties, from discrimination against women.  Women who today  are 
aerospace engineers, college professors, business tycoons and astronauts  were then 
forced to be "merely" nurses, teachers, librarians.  This is  roughly the same 
situation as in the pre-G.I. Bill era, when a very small  percentage of men 
could attend college, and you had some very brilliant  insurance salesmen, store 
clerks and tradesmen out there.  Photographs of  union meetings from the old 
days show dignified masses of men in  suit-and-tie--it looks like a political 
convention.  Alas for  progress.]
 
I work for two firms:  a union/management trust, and a for-profit  testing 
and certification agency which creates and maintains examinations for  those in 
the plumbing/piping/air conditioning and associated trades.  Some  of you will 
know how many tests that entails, and how complex the whole  apparatus is.  
We have tests for plumbers: not merely for the basic trade  but for the many 
subsets of the work--for the plumbing codes of particular  areas, for 
advancement, for the use of tools and methods.  And plumbing is  the small end of it.    
 
One of the problems with librarianship is that its practitioners haven't  
insisted on accepting the standards of their own profession.  Now it may be  too 
late.  Imagine establishing performance standards for librarians  now!  
Imagine making tests mandatory for advancement!  The howl could  be heard on the 
moon.  But think of this:  California union plumber,  $52.00 per hour.  
California union librarian, $26.00 per hour.  90% of  union plumbing applicants can't 
pass the course or the entry exam.  You can  get into library school without 
having cracked a dictionary or a decent book or  even taken the GRE in many 
cases.  Want higher wages?  Define your  profession by rigid standards; raise them 
when you can.  Exclude poor  practitioners.  Get tough with your own.  Have 
something to  sell.
 
M. McGrorty
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy 
steps! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=De
cemailfooterNO62)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/attachments/20090122/e5ff764c/attachment.htm