"Professional" Libraians

[collegecate]

I've talked before about what I think of the MLS credential and it's relation to librarianship (if not here than in person) but to summarize: you don't really need 2 years and a Master's degree to do the things a profession Librarian (with a capitol L) does. I don't just mean fixing the printer and shelving, I mean the real work of being a

Comments

Policy is very similar.

[rustycoon]

Being in the field of producing a public good is a rough gig.

I do like to think, however, that bitching and moaning rights is one of the (few) perks we do get. :) If we don't complain, after all, the cost we bear becomes even more invisible to the public. (Of course, most often we're just bitching and moaning to each other, which is poor, but we gotta keep those skills sharp for the day when someone else will give a damn, no?)

XD

[hermionesviolin]

> and business school grads (what do you become when you graduate from business school again?)

A consultant.

I was talking to one of my friends the other day, and she's decided to go into consulting for a few years to pay off her loans, which makes her sad because she's graduating with a joint MBA/MPP (Master of Business Administration & Master of Public Policy) and has learned that she really has no interest in the for-profit world ... but she has loans to repay, plus she feels like she's learned basically nothing about business in her time in the MBA program, so she wants to acquire some real knowledge through real world experience before she tries to move into her actual career path of choice.

oh, and related to your comment about Information wants to be free...

[hermionesviolin]

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/shor-jaron-lanier-oct10?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DG_10_06%20%281%29&utm_content=

[speacechilde]

As someone who did Option 2, I have to say I'm glad I have the degree. But perhaps that's because--as a result of being a parapro--I had a realistic expectation of what being a librarian would entail upon entering the field

[antimony]

My mom did it all backwards; work at a tiny non-profit special interest library that couldn't (at the time) afford someone with a degree; work her way up to head, doing collection development and putting together curricula etc. Then leaving it to be a full-time mom for a few years, and then being unqualified for the job she'd already had, because any place that wasn't just-starting insisted on the degree.