Here Swigger breaks down his negative analysis of the outcomes assessment of the MLS Project:
- Recognition of the MLS as a prestige/status degree of higher learning and competencies: By focusing all efforts at the master’s degree level, the ALA and other proponents of the MLS overlooked the crucial necessity of undergraduate-level (entry level) training. With no where to get that kind of training, the MLS became the defacto dumping ground for those courses: “The MLS is not only an entry-level degree to the profession, but the courses are also entry level to library science.” (p.95)
- Technological ignorance: “A major unforeseen consequence of the MLS project is that is rendered library education inadequate in scope to deal with preparing librarians for the information technology revolution.” (p.96)
- A caste system: “The economic and status gains of those who have accredited degrees have been accompanies by a sharp declines in the status and pay of library technicians, yet it is not clear that the work itself is different.” (p.97)
- Inconsistency and confusion: “The MLS project sought to achieve status for librarians without clarifying their roles except through credentials. The persistent problem is how to define the role of librarians, if it is different from the support staff.” (p.98) Here Swigger also addresses the insidious rise of “knowledge workers” in the corporate world, the information wranglers behind such behemoths as Google and Amazon, who are often practicing information science at very high levels of expertise without any sort of relationship to the library (information studies) profession.
Swigger ends the chapter with the statement that librarians themselves are at the root of the problems. I pretty much agree with him down the line, particularly as my own graduation date draws ever nearer. I remember vividly the conversation with one of my peers who stated that he simply wanted to work in the industry, not go back to school, and that if the MLIS program we were both enrolled in had proven to be “difficult and demanding like other mater’s programs” he would not have bothered to pursue it. Quite frankly his opinion is not a minority one, in my experience.
If this is the expectation we have of our own professional training, then yes, we are the root of the problem.
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