ruffling feathers
I'm working on writing my master's thesis. It's fun.
SILS is gonna hate me, but I'm going to make them look at some stuff that really needs looking at. Here's why:
Each year, approximately 70-80 students graduate from the master's programs at UNC's School of Information and Library Science. The school offers degrees in Library Science and Information Science. Apparently, at some past time, a well-placed dean decided that Information Science (IS) was the direction that the field was headed, and she decided to hire faculty accordingly. Of the full-time faculty, now only about 6 are Library Science (LS) professors. There are about 12-13 IS professors. The course offerings at SILS have likewise reflected this opinion of the former dean's. Unfortunately, the present dean is also of the IS persuasion and is seeming to continue the trend toward designating the majority of the school's resources toward the IS program. This fall, of the non-required, master's level courses, only 5 are in the LS field, whereas 13 are IS.
What's the problem with this, you ask? Perhaps you think that the deans are right - that more students are going to decide to take IS classes and work in IS jobs. Perhaps, like a handful of vocal others, you believe that libraries and librarians are obsolete. Hmm.
The story at SILS seems to illustrate a far different situation in the field. Approximately 3 out of every 4 SILS students
chooses the LS track. We're not admittedly to the specific programs, just to the school. 75% of the students at the country's #1 ranked LIS program
choose library degrees. The choose to work in
libraries, as
librarians, following graduation. And they can't enroll in courses at SILS, because SILS is only offering three sections of database and systems analysis this semester. IS courses are cancelled because they don't gain enough enrollment, and 30 students are placed on waiting lists for Advanced Cataloging, Children's Services, and Government Documents because they fill up quicker than you can imagine. And the interest in the LS program at SILS is
growing, not diminishing, as the IS crowd would have them believe. In previous years, for every applicant that seemed to indicate a preference for an IS degree, 5 applicants leaned toward the LS track. This year, for every IS application received, there were
9 LS applicants! So far, the predominantly IS faculty seem to be ignoring this. It reminds me a little of the current political administration - thinking that if they say something enough, that it will become true: Yes, we're winning the war in Iraq. Yes, the field of Library Science is disappearing, and more students want Information Science degrees. Neither appears to be coming true, but it isn't for a lack of trying to make it so by repeating it by the powers that be.
Okay - done ranting now. Did I mention I've been selected to represent the LS community in SILS on the curriculum reform faculty committee? That should be fun too. (=
Today's Weather: blustery, even!
