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 the 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 program 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 the latter, in the interests of fair disclosure), but it surely won't make one a better archivist and in my experience has never even remotely been a factor 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 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]>