Mike Pemberton writes – “Many universities and colleges hire archivists, but in order to give them a "professional" level position, they must have the same basic credentials as "professional" librarians--the ALA accredited Masters. This is, on its face, crazy!” “Here's a nightmare scenario: a person gets the SAA/archivists preferred
masters in archives and are properly trained to be an archivist. Then in order to
be an archivist reporting to a college/university library director they have to
get an LIS masters--and with wretched pay to boot. Ridiculous!”
Well, hmm. The vast majority of graduate archives programs are located and thriving in LIS programs (with a smaller number in history departments). The focus ought to be on where you can receive the best education, and for the moment that is largely in LIS schools. The archival profession can speak out and seek a change – such as requiring a unique, separate masters degree – but it has not done so in the U.S. (in fact, it has backed away from this). In fact, the records management community could do likewise, but it has not pursued this either.
There is no conspiracy out there; we are where we are because of a variety of historical and other circumstances.
--
Richard J. Cox
Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Editor, Records & Information Management Report
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice: 412-624-3245
FAX: 412-648-7001
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
homepage: http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/%7Ercox/
"What we would like to do is change the world - to make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do. And we can change the world: we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world." - Dorothy Day
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "J. Michael Pemberton" <[log in to unmask]>
> This is a recurrent problem mentioned on this list. Many universities and
> colleges hire archivists, but in order to give them a "professional" level
> position, they must have the same basic credentials as "professional"
> librarians--the ALA accredited Masters. This is, on its face, crazy! I agree
> with Ray that the "L" degree is not necessary and should not be required. I say
> this as a full-time faculty member at an ALA-accredited program. There may
> college and university HR policies that require this; I don't know. There are
> other positions in libraries (e.g., systems, micrographics/reprography) that
> don't need an LIS degree but have to have one to get a "professional" level job.
>
> Here's a nightmare scenario: a person gets the SAA/arachivists preferred
> masters in archives and are properly trained to be an archvist. Then in order to
> be an archivist reporting to a college/university library director they have to
> get an LIS masters--and with wretched pay to boot. Ridiculous!
>
> The only solution is moving the archives program out of the library (they don't
> understand archivy anyway) and into the president's office, university
> historian's office, you name it. The way it is makes no sense.
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: "Cunningham, Ray" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Sent: Jun 14, 2006 10:13 AM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: The L Word
> >
> >I notice with regularity that many see book and periodical repositories (the L
> word) as interchangeable with Archival repositories. I know many archivists work
> for these repositories (the L word) and languish in the low salary pool as those
> who work in book repositories. I notice that job postings for positions in
> libraries are frequently posted here with salaries that are incredibly low.
> >
> >Archivists are not librarians and librarians are not archivists. (There, I used
> the L word). I think there is too much confusion between the two. Could it be
> that those with an MLS degree can suddenly put out a shingle as an archivist?
> Have libraries co-opted archival repositories and brought archivists into their
> structure thus bringing salaries down? Some libraries even require an MLS to be
> an archivist at their institution (often a tenure track requirement).
> >
> >How do archivists differentiate themselves from librarians? Do you ever have
> problems with being confused as a librarian? Should you wear a "No. I am not a
> librarian." button?
> >
> >What do you think?
> >
> >Raymond K. Cunningham, Jr. CRM, CA
> >
> >"When I hear someone using librarian and archivist in the same sentence I reach
> for my revolver."
> >
> >A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society
> of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
> >For the terms of participation, please refer to
> http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
> >
> >To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
> > In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
> > *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
> >To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
> >
> >Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
> > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
> >
> >Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
> J. Michael Pemberton
> Information Management Associates, Inc.
> 10515 RAven Court
> Knoxville, TN 37922
> 865-693-8907
> http://www.theimpros.com
> [log in to unmask]
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society
> of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
> For the terms of participation, please refer to
> http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
> In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
> *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
*or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>