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----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Hi all, I was also surprised by some of the comments in Mr. Ditchburn's article on dual degree programs. I have an MLS and am part way through my MA from Indiana U. which is one of the few places to offer a dual art history/library science program. I am now a visual resources librarian. I disagree very strongly with him on many of his statements. I think the MLS program offers a combination of very practical skills as well as theoretical ideas about the nature of information. This combination has served me well as I think about how best make the information I am cataloguing available to my patrons. I would rate what I learned in library school as more important than any course I have taken in Art History, because I know how to evaluate what I am learning and can use that information in more ways than the average Art History student can. If Mr. Ditchburn has lost positions because of a lack of experience, despite him having lots of subject knowledge, then I can see where he might have a gripe at librarians doing the hiring. But that should not translate into doing away with librarians in favor of subject specialists. Much of what you learn in library school cannot be acquired during on-the-job training. His comments on the value of a LIS degree certainly don't reflect my experience and I regularly encourage many of my student employees who are interested in a career in library science to think about a dual degree path. Rebecca Anne Moss Director of Visual Resources Department of Art History University of Minnesota [log in to unmask] 612.624.2064 "Andrea B. Cox" wrote: > I just finished Gary Ditchburn's article on Dual-Degree Programs for > Librarians. I am on the verge of applying for library school and I was > interested in hearing other people's reaction to this article. His basic > premise is that although he used to think that dual-degree programs were > the best educational program for librarians, now Mr. Ditchburn believes > that the idea of a MLIS is inherently flawed and that there should not be > any graduate library school programs, only continuing ed training. > > A few of the more inflammatory quotes: > > "A student curious and capable enough to earn admission into a genuine > graduate program should be deterred from the library school path."p.24 > > "We no longer need and can no longer justify the LIS degree." p.24 > > "Supply-side education, driven by a need to maintain university programs > and departments, seems to be producing pseudo-professionals who are too > expensive to do the practical work, but not, as a rule, really prepared > for intellectual work." p. 24 > > Although Mr. Ditchburn has not deterred me from my path to library school, > I was curious what other people in the field thought of his ideas. > > Andrea Bailey Cox > Assistant Visual Resources Curator > x3331 > acox2 > __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]