Education for librarianship

Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from print media to electronic media, and to information contained outside of traditional libraries. Some call themselves schools of library and information science (abbreviated to SLIS), or have dropped the word "library" altogether. In the United States and Canada, the academic training for a librarian generally consists of a master's degree program in library science (formerly commonly known as librarianship). In Germany, the first step for an academic librarian is a PhD in a subject field, followed by additional training in librarianship. In Australia, the courses are called Master in Information Management or Master in Information Studies. There are also bachelor's, associate, and certificate programs in library science, which provide formal training of paraprofessional library workers (aka library technicians), and clerks—as well as preparation for graduate study in library science. In Australia, the courses for library technicians is known as a Diploma of Library and Information Services. Until the 19th century, the librarian in charge of an academic collection was normally a scholar, often a university professor with a special interest in the library. There were no training programs, and the new librarian was expected to follow the practices of other similar libraries. (Popular libraries in the modern sense had not yet developed.) In the 19th century, although some librarians followed this older pattern, others prepared as apprentices under the direction of established librarians. Charles Churchwell wrote a history of education for librarians in the U.S. before 1975. In Britain, the Library Association was the first body to conduct examinations and accredit librarians in this way, giving its first examinations in 1885. Successful students attained a Library Association degree in librarianship.

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Related concepts (7)

Library and information science

Library and information science(s) or studies (LIS) is an interdisciplinary field of study that deals generally with organization, access, collection, and protection/regulation of information, whether in physical or digital forms. In spite of various trends to merge the two fields, some consider the two original disciplines, library science and information science, to be separate. However, it is common today to use the terms synonymously or to drop the term "library" and to speak about information departments or I-schools.

Information professional

An information professional or information specialist is someone who collects, records, organises, stores, preserves, retrieves, and disseminates printed or digital information. The service delivered to the client is known as an information service. The versatile term "information professional" is used to describe similar and sometimes overlapping professions, such as librarians, archivists, information managers, information systems specialists , information scientists, records managers, and information consultants, but terminology differs among sources and organisations.

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ˈsɪlɪp ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of the Library Association (LA, sometimes LAUK) and the Institute of Information Scientists (IIS). CILIP in Scotland (CILIPS) is an independent organisation which operates in Scotland in affiliation with CILIP and delivers services via a service level agreement.