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Educating and training library practitioners: a comparative history with trends and recommendations - includes appendix on history of library education
Library Trends, Wntr, 1998 by Anthony M. Wilson, Robert Hermanson
APPENDIX
LIBRARY EDUCATION CHRONOLOGY
Date Event
1829 Schrettinger (Germany) proposes that there
must be schools to train librarians
1876 ALA established
1887 Dewey establishes School of Library Economy at Columbia
1890 Pratt Institute begins library training
1891 Drexel Institute begins library training
1892 M.S.R. James recommends pre-employment training
1897 Armour Institute begins library training
1900 A.G.S. Josephson advocates two-year (vs one-year) training
programs for library work
ALA committee recommends stronger participation in library
education, including endorsement
1901 Plummer describes three methods of learning librarianship,
one of which is formal schooling
1905 ALA recommends minimum of 2-3 years' college as prerequisite
for admission to library school
1906 First MLS conferred
1911 ALA Round Table of Library Instructors formed
1915 Association of American Library Schools founded
1923 C.C. Williamson's Carnegie Commission Report, "Training for
Library Work," advocates appropriate levels of training for
both professional and clerical levels of library work
1924 Board of Education for Librarianship formed
Draft report of Temporary Board provides for classes of
library schools
1925 Minimum requirements for accreditation (standards) developed
1926 University of Chicago Graduate Library School founded with
Carnegie money
1933 Accreditation standards revised
1936 Munn study finds: library education overemphasizes details
1937 Los Angeles City College offers one course in library
assistance
1942 Metcalf study finds library school instruction is low
quality and too elementary
1946 J.P. Danton advocates junior college library training
J.L. Wheeler study shows there has been little improvement
since Metcalf study
Wheeler makes recommendation for inclusion of Administration
as a subject for library curriculum
1948 USDA Graduate School offers the first library technician
training program
ALA midwinter conference recommends professional librarians
be trained only at graduate level and technicians only
outside universities
1949 Ballard School of New York City YWCA, with Special Libraries
Association, establishes clerical practice course for
special libraries
Errett W. McDiarmid coins phrase "library technicians" and
defines "nonprofessional duties"
E.J. Reece expresses concern about image of librarians doing
routine work in "Tasks and Training of Librarians"
1951 New accreditation standards, along with move from Board to
National Councils for Accreditation
1958 ALA-recognized technician program in Middleton, New York,
fails due to professional disagreements; leads to persistent
negative attitude in ALA
1959 California gets state-level endorsement of two-year
technician training programs
Standards for undergraduate training put forth
1962 First Canadian library technician program instituted
Manpower Training and Development Act passed
1963 Vocational Education Act, Title III leads to expanded
vocational training programs
John Sherrod at American Documentation Institute Meeting
asserts that lack of trained support staff is weakness in
library education
1964 ALA concern about manpower shortage, together with
Economic Opportunity Act, sets scene for expanded use of
para-professionals
ALA Office for Library Education founded
1965 "New careers" becomes buzzword in vocational education and
ALA takes stand to discourage two-year programs which are
seen as producing "cheap librarians"
1966 Society of Library and Information Technicians founded
Canadian Library Association affirms need for library
technician category of employee
US Civil Service GS 1411 series recognizes library
technician grades 4-7
1967 ALA Administration and Education Divisions endorse junior
college programs
Council on Library Technology (COLT) formed (by professional
librarians)
MARC Pilot Project instituted
Washington Library Network becomes concrete proposal
1968 ALA's Deininger committee recognizes both library clerks and
library technical assistants
Louis Shores et al. publish The Tex-Tec Syllabi, a
curriculum for training library technical assistants
in Texas
1969 Vocational Education Act Section 1V C leads to summer
institutes on training library technician teachers
Lockheed develops DIALOG search language
World Group on International Standard Bibliographic
Description (ISBD) set up at International Meeting of
Cataloguing Experts meeting in Copenhagen
ALA publishes "Criteria for Programs to Prepare Library
Technical Assistants: Statement of Policy"
1970 Asheim statement, "Library Education and Manpower," becomes
ALA policy
1971 OCLC goes online
U.S. Office of Education publishes Library Technical
Assistant: A Suggested Two-Year Post-High School Curriculum
1972 DIALOG becomes online service
Accreditation standards revised
1973 COLT affiliates with ALA
1974 H. Martelle, Sacramento, proposes civil service test for
librarians to become certified without MLS
ALA publishes Ch. 6 of Anglo-American Cataloging Rules,
North American Text, to incorporate ISBD
1975 Medical Library Association adopts new certification code
for librarians and library technicians
E. Gains, Cleveland Public, proposes route to professional
status via field experience and demonstrated competence in
the field
1976 COLT affiliation with ALA becomes official and implies
mutual recognition of value to library community
Australia adopts national guidelines for library technicians
Bibliographic Retrieval Service (BRS) founded
1977 Washington Library Network is online with default keyword
title searching
1978 Graduate School of Librarianship closes at University
of Oregon
1979 Library Technician Section formed in Library Association of
Australia
1980 Conant Report appears
1982 COLT assists in revision of S-1411 series of federal civil
service system and in library series in Occupational Outlook
Handbook Canada adopts guidelines for library technicians
1987 New Jersey Association of Library Assistants becomes first
state wide independent library assistant association
1988 New York State Library Assistants' Association ratifies
constitution and becomes second statewide assistants
association
1989 John Berry editorial "The Other Librarians" appears in
Library Journal
North Carolina Library Paraprofessional Association formed
Library Mosaics begins publication
1991 Oberg editorial "Paraprofessionals: Shaping the new reality"
published in College & Research Libraries (Jan.)
Forerunner of ALA Support Staff Interest Round Table has
first meeting
World Book/ALA issue papers published
COLT incorporates
National Directory of Library Paraprofessional Associations
published
1992 In January, Oregon Library Association Library Support Staff
Round Table is established
Accreditation standards revised
Larry Oberg's article "The Emergence of the Paraprofessional
in Academic Libraries: Perceptions and Realities" appears in
March issue of College & Research Libraries
"The Role, Status, and Working Conditions of
Paraprofessionals: A National Survey of Academic Libraries"
authored by Oberg, Mentges, McDermott, and Harusadangkul,
appears in College & Research Libraries
LIBSUP-L, the discussion list for library support staff, is
created Washington Association of Library Employees (WALE),
a division of Washington Library Association, conducts its
first statewide conference for library support staff
1993 Southeastern Library Association (SELA) Paraprofessional
Round Table is formed
Paraprofessional Donnetta Sheffold is elected secretary of
Oregon Library Association Board
Paraprofessional Stephany Liptak is elected president of
Colorado Library Association
1994 In July, first issue of ASSOCIATES: The Electronic Journal
for Library Support Staff is published
Support Staff Interests Round Table of American Library
Association is officially formed
1995 Soaring to Excellence teleconference for support staff is
held Winter 1995 Journal of Education for Library and
Information Science (36:1) devotes entire issue to library
support staff
NYSLAA implements "Certificate of Achievement" Program
Entire Spring 1995 issue of Southeastern Librarian (45:1)
coordinated by SELA Paraprofessional Round Table
During entire month of June, workshop entitled "The Library
Support Staff Movement: the Milestones, the Vision and the
Road Yet Travelled" conducted online via LIBSUP-L
University of Pittsburgh advertises for Electronic Text
Librarian (MLS); required skills include HTML, SGML, HTTP,
and Novell Netware
Library Support Staff Resource Center officially
opens Web site
1996 Second Soaring to Excellence teleconference is held
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