Dear LM_Net,
Thanks Mike for the clarification on ALA accreditation. I'm glad there are
a few library schools that are under other departments with ALA
accreditation.
I applied and was accepted to the SLIS Ph.D. program at Wisconsin. They
have a wonderful program (and the view of the lake from the 4th floor is
very distracting toward studying). However, I didn't go there because the
School of Education's IT department wasn't the best at the time, and my
minor would not have met my needs. I ended up going to Indiana University
instead because its SLIS and Instructional Systems Technology department
were ranked in the top three for both programs and they were able to meet my
educational needs.
However, an ALA accredited SLIS degree isn't the only way to become a highly
qualified school librarian. As Dr. Eisenberg pointed out to get an ALA
accreditation you must have a program that encompasses all types of
libraries. Many times school librarians don't have access to take IT
courses that would greatly benefit them in the school setting.
I live in the Pacific Northwest and when I was looking to work on my masters
in the 1980s so I could become a school librarian I found few choices to
select from. The University of Oregon had just closed their ALA accredited
library program which left the University of Washington (UW) as the only
school with an ALA masters program in the area. However, one of the top
education school on the West Coast had an Educational Media program for
school librarians. The courses offered at the UW for school librarians was
half the number of courses offered at this School of Education, plus I had
access to superior education classes. It was a no brainer on where I went
for my masters program.
Would ALA ever accredit this program? No, because the entire focus was on
school librarianship. Maybe ALA needs to have a separate accreditation for
school library programs because this program rivaled any ALA school I've
seen.
Second, with all due respect to Mike Eisenberg, SLIS programs are small and
more expensive to run than other schools at universities. When I was at
Indiana we had about 30 student per FTE in the SLIS school. Which was great
for us students to have such small classes and access to the professors, but
from a university budget stand point it's expensive compared to the School
of Arts and Sciences which had 260 students per FTE. Or the School of
Business which had 160 students per FTE. Etc. This what I meant by small.
How can a university justify spending this much money on so few students?
(I'm glad they do).
Third, I was so pleased when Dr. Eisenberg came to the UW. In 1995, the
resources at the UW were out-of-date. I had better library technology and
computers in my elementary library than the UW had for its graduate library
students. Mike was able to build a Ph.D. program at the UW. He reached out
to other programs at the UW, and built the networks needed to expand this
program. He should get all the accolades for improving this program, and
growing it to 350 students.
However, even though this program is growing in the state of Washington
school librarians in our state have lost some ground. Last year, The
Federal Way School District eliminated most of their elementary librarians.
In our school District, we are seeing full-time elementary librarians
reduced to part-time in a couple of our small schools. We have had only one
high school librarian for 2,000 students. It's been like this for almost 20
years. Our state is being sued by some school districts for not providing
full funding of educational programs (it's part of our state constitution
that the state funds education). Hopefully, we'll see some changes in the
future.
ALA accredited programs do make a difference, but so do many Instructional
Technology programs in preparing school librarians. Which program do you
choose? Do your homework. An ALA accredited degree gives you leg up for
many jobs, and it says some about the quality of your degree, but it's not
the only way.
--
Peter G. Mohn, LMS
Snohomish Freshman Campus
Snohomish, WA
pmohn2001@earthlink.net
"You live and learn. Or you don't live long." -- Heinlein
On 8/13/07 2:14 PM, "Mike Eisenberg" <mbe@U.WASHINGTON.EDU> wrote:
> Hi All -
>
> ALA accreditation does make a difference - in quality and standards.
> While I am sure that there are some quality courses and programs
> delivered in non-accredited situations, accreditation requires schools
> to meet a certain level of resources and support including number of
> regular, full-time faculty, facilities, resources, and funding.
> Accreditation also requires schools to regularly review and revise their
> curricula and to meet expectations of students and community.
>
> ALA accredits full scope library and information science programs, not
> just public library or school library ones.
>
> With all due respects to Peter Mohn, a school does not need to be
> independent. ALA accredits programs, not schools. For example, UCLA is
> part of the College of Education; Madison Wisconsin is under Letters and
> Science. The requirement is that a program must have the faculty and
> resources to offer a full program. Also, not all schools of library and
> information science are small programs. Many schools today are thriving
> and large - Syracuse, Illinois, North Carolina, Drexel, Rutgers, San
> Jose State, and more. At the University of Washington, for example, we
> have 350 students in our MLIS programs - day and distance. There are
> more student slots in LIS programs today than ever in history. With
> distance learning options, library education is much more available than
> ever before. The Chicago and Columbia closings were decades ago.
> Although it is true that Clark Atlanta University closed its program,
> Valdosta State University in Georgia very recently received
> accreditation - http://www.valdosta.edu/mlis
> And again, ALA recognized the NCATE accreditation for school library
> media degrees.
>
> I hope this helps. Library education is not in crisis. Could we be
> better? Yes. Could we do more? Yes. But, the ALA seal of approval is
> a help, not a hinderance.
>
> Best to all,
>
>
> Mike
>
> ........................................................................
> ......
> Mike Eisenberg
> Dean Emeritus and Professor
> The Information School of the University of Washington
> Seattle, WA 98195-2840
> Phone: (206) 616-1152 Fax: (206) 616-3152
> mbe@u.washington.edu
> http://www.ischool.washington.edu
> ........................................................................
> ......
>
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