The MLS Project
An Assessment after Sixty Years- Authors:
- Publisher:
- 2010
Summary
In 1951, the American Library Association (ALA) Council approved new standards for accrediting library education programs. These standards shifted accreditation from the bachelor's degree to the master's degree, making the master's degree in library science the professional credential for entry into the profession. At the time, librarians believed this change would transform the practice of librarianship, the nature of library education, and the social standing of librarianship as an occupation.
In The MLS Project: An Assessment after Sixty Years, Boyd Keith Swigger examines the reasons the American Library Association enacted the change and looks at the consequences of this decision. Reviewing the last several decades, Swigger addresses a number of concerns: What were librarians' and library educators' arguments for changing the system of library education? What problems were they trying to solve? What were their objectives? Did the change in the structure of library education solve the problems perceived in the late 1940s? Have the objectives set then been accomplished in the half century since? What have been the intended and unintended outcomes of the change?
In his review, Swigger draws general conclusions about the MLS Project, the perception of librarianship, libraries, the developments of curriculums in library schools, and how librarianship compares to the new information professions. The MLS Project is an informative and critical evaluation that every librarian should read.
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Bibliographic data
- Copyright year
- 2010
- ISBN-Print
- 978-0-8108-7703-0
- ISBN-Online
- 978-0-8108-7704-7
- Publisher
- Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 164
- Product type
- Book Titles
Table of contents
- Contents No access
- Acknowledgments No access
- Ch01. An Overview of the MLS Project No access Pages 1 - 10
- Ch02. Goals of the MLS Project No access Pages 11 - 22
- Ch03. Librarians’ Standing: Status, Prestige, and Income No access Pages 23 - 36
- Ch04. Recruitment of New Librarians No access Pages 37 - 66
- Ch05. Intellectual Foundations and Library Schools No access Pages 67 - 88
- Ch06. Librarians’ Work No access Pages 89 - 106
- Ch07. Librarians and Professionalism No access Pages 107 - 134
- Ch08. What Could Be Done? No access Pages 135 - 154
- Index No access Pages 155 - 162
- About the Author No access Pages 163 - 164





