people, politics and the profession: a view from the tower
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People, politics and the profession: a
view from the Tower
Forbes Gibb
Overview
Historical context The Scottish College of Librarianship The Department of Librarianship The Department of Information Science The Department of Computer and
Information Sciences
Historical Context
1877 - Library Association founded after the first International Conference of Librarians
1880 - A motion to “consider how library assistants may best be aided in their training” was proposed at an AGM in Edinburgh by Henry Tedder
1880 - A Committee on Library Training was established
1885 - The first professional examinations held
Professional Examinations
Preliminary : general educational subjects , for any appointment to a library post
Second Class Certificate: a knowledge of English literature and one other European literature, bibliography, cataloguing, library management and a cataloguing knowledge of at least two other languages
First Class Certificate: advanced knowledge, three languages and two years experience
Professional Examinations
“Give a list of Dickens’s works in order of importance”
“The numbers of yards of paper required to cover the four walls of a room 54 ft wide and 30 ft high is 880, and the breadth of the paper is 7/8 yard. Required: the length of the room, the cost of the paper at 2s 2¼d per piece of 12 yards”
Historical Context
1885 - The first proposal for a “summer school of librarianship” made that year
1893 - The first summer school was held in London (delivered by practitioners)
1895 - The Library Assistants Association (LAA) was formed who sought classes to help prepare for the LA examinations
1896 - The first summer school was held in Manchester
Historical Context
1897 - Classes in librarianship organised in London by the LA
1898 - The LA was granted a Royal Charter and hence a monopoly on the education, examination and certification of librarians
1902 - The LSE offered classes in librarianship within those constraints
1904 - The LA introduced correspondence courses
Historical Context
1914 - Classes at the LSE were suspended 1918 - Proposals were drafted to create a
network of librarianship schools 1919 - A school was opened at University
College London, with support from the Carnegie Trust, awarding its own diploma
1931 - Correspondence courses under the LAA
1933 - A new, three tier, examination system
1938 - A revised syllabus was proposed
Political Context
Universities, in general, had withdrawn from professional education
The (only) school in London fuelled the perceived north-south divide
The Diploma was seen as devaluing existing qualifications (i.e. the Certificate)
Pressure for schools elsewhere in the UK, but only to prepare for LA examinations
Tensions between practitioners and the LA
Political Context
1908 - SLA was founded 1931 – The SLA became affiliated to the
LA “… throughout the 75 years of its life
there has existed in the SLA the belief that, despite denials to the contrary, the LA has never really understood the situation in Scotland”
Robert Craig, 1983
Political Context - Scotland
Classes in librarianship were being held in the High School, Glasgow in the absence of a local school
1933 - W.B. Paton, Chief Librarian of Airdrie, attacked a report criticising the performance of candidates
1938 - W.B. Paton won a motion to withdraw an LA survey of Scottish public libraries
Scottish College of Librarianship 1946 - 1964
1945 - Heriot-Watt turns down LA approach
1946 - Glasgow and West of Scotland Commercial College agree to: Form a School of Librarianship Appoint William B. Paton as lecturer Commence courses on 16th September Set a fee of £25 per session
One of five, rising to seven, schools created in the UK to offer FT and PT courses
A Class at the College
Scottish College of Librarianship 1946 - 1964
Still restricted to preparing students for the LA examinations
Still a strong emphasis on literature and bibliography
Staff levels rose from 1 to 6 1948 - 20 FT and 39 PT students 1949 - 29 FT and 36 PT students 1950 - Bill Tyler becomes HoD 1957 - Teacher Librarian Certificate
introduced
Bill Paton and Bill Tyler
University of Strathclyde 1964 - 1985
1964 - The LA was persuaded that schools should be able to teach and examine
1964 - The University of Strathclyde received its Royal Charter, incorporating the College of Commerce and the Royal College of Science and Technology
1966 - The first BA degree and PG Diploma in librarianship were approved at Strathclyde
1984 - FG arrives as a “new blood post”
University of Strathclyde 1985-1991
Courses had gone through minor modifications but still retained an emphasis on bibliography, cataloguing and classification, and types of library
Staff levels 8-9 1985 - Bill Tyler retires 1985 - Blaise Cronin becomes HoD and
a period of significant change starts
Blaise Cronin
University of Strathclyde 1985-1991
The Department embraces change, technology, business and the digital world
1984 - A ten PC lab was created with Computer Science
1984 - The Glasgow Herald Indexing Project was initiated with MSC funding with 20+ PCs
1986 - A departmental PC LAN was installed with six student machines
University of Strathclyde 1985-1991
1986 - Information Science is created as a merger of Librarianship and Office Organisation and enters the Business School
1986 - Staff numbers rise (briefly) to 18 and deliver three PG courses and 1 UG course
1987 - PG Diploma in Information and Library Studies brought on stream
1988 - PG Diploma in Information Management brought on stream
University of Strathclyde 1985-1991
1989 - Apple Macs employed in Glasgow Online project
1989 - First ESPRIT project (SIMPR) utilising Sun workstations
1991 - FG becomes HoD and there are 7 to 9 staff delivering three PG courses and 1 UG course, and contributing to MBA and BITS courses
1991 - Blaise Cronin leaves
Charles Oppenheim
University of Strathclyde 1992-1995
1992 - Charles Oppenheim becomes HoD
1995 - Charles Oppenheim leaves 1995 - FG becomes HoD
University of Strathclyde 1995 -
1995 - TQA Excellent rating 1996 - RAE Grade 4 rating 1996 - UG offerings withdrawn 2001 - RAE Grade 4 rating 2001 - Bespoke course agreed with RBS 2001 - Merger with Computer Science and
move to Science Faculty 2006 - 1000th PG student graduated 2007 - Organisation of Knowledge returns!
The Cost of Education
Summary
A shift from professional examinations to accredited courses
A shift away from UG provision to PG A shift from exclusive curricula to
selective sharing of classes A shift to a larger domain of interest
and contribution A shift between faculties
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