After reading Susan's e-mail below, I feel compelled to say a few words
about the dual ma/mls discussion. I can only speak about the Indiana
University program so please keep this in mind. Susan assumes some
dilution of the ma in art history by being in such a program and I am
unsure where this assumption is coming from. At IU, you take TWO master's
degrees without "losing" substance in either degree. What happens is a
cross listing of the courses which I teach. For example, the REQUIRED
research bibliography class for all MA students in art history also counts
towards the MLS for the student in the dual program. By being in the dual
program, students are mentored by me, AND by grad. advisors in art history
and the School of Lib. & Info. Science (SLIS). They also take a Seminar
in Art Librarianship which I teach that was solely designed for this
program. If you doubt its rigors, you can check the no. of published
papers in ART DOC that have come out of this class, e.g., papers by Sigrid
Mount, Erika Dowell, Terrie Wilson & Andrea Chemero & Caroline Siegal,
Martha Neth and Peter Blank.
Students also take a practicum class as part of this program wherein they
have opportunities, under my direction, to work at the Indpls. Museum of
Art (with Ursula Kolmstetter), the IU Slide Library (with Eileen Fry), &
myself and staff of the F.A. Library. This program is quite intensive and
the extraordinary list of successful art librarians in the profession who
have been students at IU (all not necessarily in both degree programs
here) attest to the value of their degree experience in the School of
Library & Info. Science. [Some students already enter the program with a
2nd MA.]
I think it is unfortunate that this discussion is based on an article
that was not related to the realities of the two actual ma/mls programs in
art librarianship. Perhaps Ditchburn's paper would have found a more
logical audience if published in LIBRARY J. or AMERICAN LIBRARIES.
B. J. Kish Irvine, Ph.D., Fine Arts Librarain, Assoc. Professor,
School of FA/History of Art and School of Library & Info. Science
(part-time).
On Wed, 13 Jun 2001, Bresnan, Susan Melick wrote:
> Mr. Ditchburn has certainly opened a Pandora's Box. The key point is that
> Librarianship is a profession being transformed in the digital age. Library
> Programs are also in flux. His experience has been a negative one. There
> are plenty people who have had positive experiences.
>
> Like Mr. Ditchburn, I have been working towards a MS in Library and
> Information Science (Palmer School, Long Island University) after a rigorous
> MA in Art History (IFA, NYU). The Library degree is a totally different
> beast. I also worked for ten years with a professional rank as a Slide
> Librarian before deciding to get the MLS. So, why get another degree when I
> was already a "professional?" The world of libraries and visual resources
> have changed with the advent of digital technologies. The library degree
> (at least the program I'm enrolled in) attempts to address some of these
> issues. Every course I have taken (except maybe the management course) have
> dealt with digital technologies and their effect on traditional
> librarianship. A requirement for the degree at LIU (and I believe most of
> the other Library programs in the NY City area) is an Internship. I can't
> get out of it even though I've been working as a professional for all these
> years. Perhaps Mr. Ditchburn's mistake was his choice of program, not the
> profession itself.
>
> I can't speak to dual programs. My instinct is that one would not get the
> as thorough a training in art history at a dual degree program. This is a
> supposition on my part.
>
> Is the MS in Library and Information Science still valid? Obviously I think
> so. The MS automatically confers professional status. Coming from the
> world of visual resources where professional status is not a given, I think
> this is important.
>
> Libraries and librarians are redefining what they do. Library schools are
> making the attempt to do the same. My husband got his MLS about 15 years
> ago from the same program I am attending. His coursework and experiences
> have been totally different from mine. I think it is an exciting time to be
> a librarian.
>
> Susan Melick Bresnan
> Associate Museum Librarian
> The Photograph and Slide Library
> The Metropolitan Museum of Art
> Phone: (212) 650-2331
> Email: [log in to unmask]
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