Comments on: Who Gets Faculty Status?

By: Rose

Rose — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:15:41 +0000

At my institution, librarians are tenure-track faculty, held to the same standards as all other faculty. We must have not only an MLS, but also at least a ‘subject Masters’ degree as well. Several librarians have doctorates in their other subject areas. We contribute extensively to service to the university and the profession, and are required to contribute professionally at a national level in order to become a full professor. Those of us who have instructional responsibilities teach, with heavier loads than faculty in other disciplines (and I’m married to one of those, so I know). And for the final leg of the three-legged stool (service, teaching/librarianship/publishing) – yes, we fulfill that as well. We are held to the same standards as other faculty – and yet we do not get summers off and they do. For promotion to full professor, you’d better have at least one book. perhaps more. So who deserves faculty status? If anyone does, and if you aren’t in agreement that no one should get such a thing, well then we do.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:41:06 +0000

Some good points have been made here, and I agree with several of them, plus I have one of my own.

1) Most MLIS programs are NOT very intellectually challenging or rigorous. The EASIEST class in my Master of Arts in Music Theory (UW, Seattle) was more difficult, more intellectually challenging, than the HARDEST class in my MLIS program (Univ. of N. Texas).

2) Nevertheless, despite its lack of intellectual rigor, my MLIS degree gave me a career; I still describe my MA degree to people I meet as one of the most unemployable degrees ever granted.

3) Faculty status for librarians is great if you can get it. But don’t EVER fall into the trap of thinking that your degree is in ANY way academically equivalent to the PhD that the average tenured teaching or research faculty member has! There lies hubris!

Finally, my own observation: There IS a significant difference in the viewpoint, the outlook, the overall conception of the library and its goals, from the average holder of the MLS/MLIS, than from the average library worker without the degree. Yes, there are exceptions on both sides (people without the degree who truly “get it” and people WITH the degree who don’t). But by and large, in my experience, people with the degree see the bigger library picture better than those who don’t have it.

By: Mr. Kat

Mr. Kat — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:27:49 +0000

I am fine with the degree; however, look at it closely and ask yourself: is this MASTER’S work? I’m still convinced that the majority of MLS courses are no higher then a second year undergraduate level; they are introductory, touching on many individual components, very broad in concept and theory. There is a place for this in Education – but it is NOT the MASTER’S level. The Course Work Questioner has pursued, for example, very well is MASTER’S level work – but that was by that person’s volition.

The problem is not the Degree; it is the Degree masquerading itself as a higher degree than it actually is – and for reasons more POLITICAL than Theoretical.

I apologize to those who get antsy about caps words. The Emphasis should help some people skim my main message: The MLS is a political key and not a true professional measure.

By: Youth Services Librarian

Youth Services Librarian — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:53:18 +0000

I have been thinking about this idea of adding more hours to the MLS/MLIS program, as was Mr. Kat’s suggestion. For me, who went to what I considered a fine program at Florida State University, which apparently requires more course work than some, that would have meant a mere one additional semester. That would have been fine, except it would have increased my student loans. Since I was trying to keep those loans at a bare minimum by having tuition, fees, and a health insurance subsidy paid by graduate assistantships, increasing those loans would not have been fine at all. School for me at least was great in providing a foundation, but that one extra semester would not have made me any better at what I’ve been doing for the last couple years, running a Youth Services department at a mid-size library. My degree, however, has helped me to do that job, particularly in providing a theoretical framework in which to approach a variety of problems. What has not been mentioned is that there is free continuing course work through places like Webjunction. The degree is a beginning and a framework for people who will put the extra effort in, but it is certainly not the end.

By: Dr. Pepper

Dr. Pepper — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:58:44 +0000

Thanks Demosthenes! That was quite an interesting read (one that I think applied both to “librarians” with an MLIS and “library professionals” without one. It would be interesting to see an actual empirical study of this topic.

By: Demosthenes

Demosthenes — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:09:39 +0000

Here you go Dr. Pepper :)

“Deconstructing Faculty Status: Research and Assumptions.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 19(3, July 1993):158-64.

By: Mr. Kat

Mr. Kat — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:53:44 +0000

When books become regarded more as physical artifacts then for the content within their covers, those books no longer have a place in a lending library or even an academic library. In the first place the book circulates, and I hardly imagine anyplace allowing a 500 year old copy of anything circulating like a last week copy of Harry Potter. In an academic setting the information within the book is more imporatant; however, once the information is digitally captured, the academic study can progress uninhibited. This leaves one group of people interested in the book: those people who study books as objects in history, the historical book manufacturing process as part of history, and the preservation process as means to keeping this piece of hisotry intact for a longer period of time then naturally allowed.

The rightful place for these ancient books is thus in a Museum because they are artifacts of past human history. If you look at many specail Libraries, you will see that they more resemble museums than libraries - in process, in facility, in mind. It is an important distinction and it will be more obvious as projects like Google move forward.

By: Youth Services Librarian

Youth Services Librarian — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:00:55 +0000

I had a similar experience, Not a Dissatisfied Grad. My program was 42 units, 12 of which were required to be taken in the student’s field of specialization. Many of us did more than that, and I found that the experience depended upon how much effort was put into it. Choosing the school and classes based upon the professors wasn’t a bad idea, either. It was possible to coast, but the folks (at least those I knew) that did weren’t able to find jobs once they completed the program.

By: Not a Dissatisfied Grad

Not a Dissatisfied Grad — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:14:09 +0000

(Wow, the LJ commenting system is as atrocious as people say!)

By: Not a Dissatisfied Grad

Not a Dissatisfied Grad — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:12:52 +0000

I'm apparently outside the norm, too. I went to Simmons and was incredibly careful about the professors and courses I chose. I worked quite a bit, and learned a lot. For example, my cataloging class was shaped entirely around the intellectual issues Questioner brings up. That seems to make it the opposite of other cataloging classes being described.
I'll also reiterate earlier points that I had to drive myself to learn that much. In some (but not all) courses it would have been entirely possible to coast. But I didn't -- when given a topic I did graduate-level research and turned in graduate-level work. Was it the same work as that done in a PhD program? Of course not -- the degree is a practical, professional degree. However, I was challenged.
Some of the loathing for librarians and the library degree surprises me. I agree that the MLIS needs re-vamping, to make it more consistently challenging and meaningful. I like Mr. Kat's suggestion of a traditional 36 unit MLS program followed by 18 units in an area of specialization. But I'm surprised at his vitriol.