Bill,
   I never accused anyone, least of all recent graduates of anything.
My post was in reply to one by Susan Hamson, who is not one of those who
took the most recent ACA exam.   If you had read the thread with
more care, you might have realized that.
    I usually take care NOT to post extreme messages to this listserv
because I wish to avoid the conflicts of personality that discussions of
these 'professional' issues often engender.   When I have an extreme
reaction to a post, I usually email the sender directly, rather than
posting to the listserv.
   Regarding the posts by those who sat for the most recent exam, many
of their observations were legitimate and should be considered by both
ACA and SAA in future plans.
   I also believe that if you read the posts by myself and Ms. Hamson,
although they may not be cordial, at no time did they descend to
personal name calling.


Sharon A. Pullen, C.A.
Archivist
Office of the County Clerk
Historic Documents Library
310 Center Drive
Riverhead, NY 11901-3392
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: (631) 852-2000 extn. 700
Fax: (631) 852-2004
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Landis [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2006 9:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: CA Exam

Yikes, Sharon Pullen's post is a bit draconian, IMHO! It is one thing to
honestly state your opinion, but to accuse recent grads of endangering th
e
profession because they try to generate a healthy debate about an issue,
like archival certification, about which reasonable people might disagree
?
Lighten up! I think having a certification exam that recent graduate prog
ram
graduates  don't see the value of having studied for and sat through is *
at
least* as dangerous to the profession as airing reasonable negative
commentary on the exam.

Certification works for some and not for others (myself included among th
e
latter, in the interests of fair disclosure), but it surely won't make on
e a
better archivist and in my experience has never even remotely been a fact
or
in  applying for and interviewing for archival positions.

Just my $0.02, 

Bill Landis
Metadata Coordinator
(not currently working as an archivist, but using my uncertified archival

knowledge, graduate degree, training, and experience on a daily basis in 
my job)
California Digital Library
University of California Office of the President
Oakland, CA

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