Hello
I have to agree with your assessment that
the questions did not necessarily apply to “real” job
scenarios. In working with a small museum archive, I felt very few of the
questions really applied to my daily work life. Additionally, at my
library school the archive’s principle mantra was “it depends.”
Much of archival work is situational and cannot have a definite answer. Therefore,
I agree that the exam left me feeling very upset. I do not know if it was
the exam and the manner it was set-up or this was the lack of knowledge given
at my library school or my own lack of knowledge. Furthermore, I agree
that there should be a way to defend or define why a person answered a question
in the method (purpose, approach) he or she did.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Kelly
From: Archives &
Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006
6:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: CA Exam
Dear List,
This past week I
took the certified archivists exam and wanted to share my experience and
generate feedback from others, especially from those who took it as well.
My honest opinion was that the exam was not a great tool to assess our
professional archival skills, or to put it another way, I thought the exam was
awful. I felt many of the questions were poorly written and
poorly worded. There were other questions that I felt were very
obscure and not necessarily something most archivists have to deal with on a
daily basis, or ever for that matter. Some questions asked were of the
"what should you do in this situation" type question. The
problem with these type of questions is that they do not account for other
factors. While the literature says, or suggests what should be done, this
can only be applied under exact or similar situations provided in the
literature. Other circumstances sometimes dictate that an archivist needs
to make a different decision. Therefore, a question like this does not
have a right or wrong answer unless the exact details of the situation are
known. Also, there were some questions that I felt were really
irrelevant in determining whether or not we are capable archivists.
Now, again, this
is just my opinion. Maybe some felt it was a good
exam. However, I am not one of them and I have the feeling
there were other individuals who took the exam who were not happy with it
either. While I understand that all the questions are taken from the
literature, this does not mean these answers are best, or even the
correct. The literature is written by human beings and no human is
perfect. In fact, I am the first to say I have many flaws and far from
being perfect. It also needs to be considered that the literature
reflects the opinions and beliefs of that given author, which is most likely
formed due to their experience. However, another person may have a
different answer opinion based on their experience, which may have
differed from the other individual. Nevertheless, I felt that
asking questions that came only from literature is an
inaccurate way to measure the capabilities, experience, and knowledge of an
archivist. Memorizing facts is a true way to assess someone's merit as an
archivist. What would be an accurate method for this? I am not sure
there is a method that is 100% accurate. However, adding a component to
the exam, like an essay/short answer type question, that allows for
subjectivity and flexibility for questions where other circumstances can
dictate how and why an archivist comes to the decision that he/she makes should
perhaps be added to the exam (or at least considered).
Again though,
this is just my personal opinion. Feel free to disagree if you do not
share this same opinion. The purpose of this message is just to generate
a friendly discussion about the exam and to see if other individuals felt
similar about the exam as I do, or if I am the only one who had difficulty with
it. I look forward to reading the responses to this message.
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