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Education for librarianship
Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from print media to electronic media, and to information contained outside of traditional libraries. Some call themselves schools of library and information science (abbreviated to SLIS), or have dropped the word "library" altogether.
In the United States and Canada, the academic training for a librarian generally consists of a master's degree program in library science (formerly commonly known as librarianship). In Germany, the first step for an academic librarian is a PhD in a subject field, followed by additional training in librarianship. In Australia, the courses are called Master in Information Management or Master in Information Studies.
There are also bachelor's, associate, and certificate programs in library science, which provide formal training of paraprofessional library workers (aka library technicians), and clerks—as well as preparation for graduate study in library science. In Australia, the courses for library technicians is known as a Diploma of Library and Information Services.
Until the 19th century, the librarian in charge of an academic collection was normally a scholar, often a university professor with a special interest in the library. There were no training programs, and the new librarian was expected to follow the practices of other similar libraries. (Popular libraries in the modern sense had not yet developed.) In the 19th century, although some librarians followed this older pattern, others prepared using the apprenticeship approach under the direction of established librarians.
Charles Churchwell wrote a history of education for librarians in the U.S. before 1975.
In Britain, the Library Association was the first body to conduct examinations and accredit librarians in this way, giving its first examinations in 1885. Successful students attained a Library Association degree in librarianship. Apart from the library-related subjects (encountered in the second set of examinations), students were tested in English grammar, arithmetic, history, geography, English literature, and another European literature, and had to demonstrate a working knowledge of at least three languages. Before the degree was granted, two years' experience of working in a library was also essential. Library schools did not exist, and there were no courses to help with preparation for the three levels of exams.
A library school is an institution of higher learning specializing in the professional training of librarians. The first library school in the world was the Columbia College School of Library Economy, established by Melvil Dewey, creator of the Dewey decimal system, in 1887 in the United States; this initial institution subsequently became the Columbia University School of Library Service. Since then many library schools have been founded in the United States and Canada, with Canada's first formal librarianship program established at McGill University in 1904.
Inspired by Dewey's example at Columbia, several British librarians pushed for a formal system of education in the UK. The first step was the organisation of some summer schools in London between 1893 and 1897, with the first formal library science course at university level established in 1902 at the London School of Economics, which was interrupted by the First World War in 1914. The first formal library school was established in 1919 at the University of London. From these beginnings arose a split between public librarians, who for the most part took the Library Association examinations, and academic and special librarians, for the most parts the university graduates. Eight library schools were established around the country in the post-WW2 period, but it was not until 1964 that the LA stopped conducting exams and reduced its role to that of an accrediting body overseeing the quality of the courses given in library schools.
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Education for librarianship
Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from print media to electronic media, and to information contained outside of traditional libraries. Some call themselves schools of library and information science (abbreviated to SLIS), or have dropped the word "library" altogether.
In the United States and Canada, the academic training for a librarian generally consists of a master's degree program in library science (formerly commonly known as librarianship). In Germany, the first step for an academic librarian is a PhD in a subject field, followed by additional training in librarianship. In Australia, the courses are called Master in Information Management or Master in Information Studies.
There are also bachelor's, associate, and certificate programs in library science, which provide formal training of paraprofessional library workers (aka library technicians), and clerks—as well as preparation for graduate study in library science. In Australia, the courses for library technicians is known as a Diploma of Library and Information Services.
Until the 19th century, the librarian in charge of an academic collection was normally a scholar, often a university professor with a special interest in the library. There were no training programs, and the new librarian was expected to follow the practices of other similar libraries. (Popular libraries in the modern sense had not yet developed.) In the 19th century, although some librarians followed this older pattern, others prepared using the apprenticeship approach under the direction of established librarians.
Charles Churchwell wrote a history of education for librarians in the U.S. before 1975.
In Britain, the Library Association was the first body to conduct examinations and accredit librarians in this way, giving its first examinations in 1885. Successful students attained a Library Association degree in librarianship. Apart from the library-related subjects (encountered in the second set of examinations), students were tested in English grammar, arithmetic, history, geography, English literature, and another European literature, and had to demonstrate a working knowledge of at least three languages. Before the degree was granted, two years' experience of working in a library was also essential. Library schools did not exist, and there were no courses to help with preparation for the three levels of exams.
A library school is an institution of higher learning specializing in the professional training of librarians. The first library school in the world was the Columbia College School of Library Economy, established by Melvil Dewey, creator of the Dewey decimal system, in 1887 in the United States; this initial institution subsequently became the Columbia University School of Library Service. Since then many library schools have been founded in the United States and Canada, with Canada's first formal librarianship program established at McGill University in 1904.
Inspired by Dewey's example at Columbia, several British librarians pushed for a formal system of education in the UK. The first step was the organisation of some summer schools in London between 1893 and 1897, with the first formal library science course at university level established in 1902 at the London School of Economics, which was interrupted by the First World War in 1914. The first formal library school was established in 1919 at the University of London. From these beginnings arose a split between public librarians, who for the most part took the Library Association examinations, and academic and special librarians, for the most parts the university graduates. Eight library schools were established around the country in the post-WW2 period, but it was not until 1964 that the LA stopped conducting exams and reduced its role to that of an accrediting body overseeing the quality of the courses given in library schools.