Librarianship-the science of managing the operations of a library-did not emerge as a distinct and separate profession until the end of the 19th century. Until then, the individuals who oversaw library operations usually combined these duties with their work in other professions. For example, in the Middle Ages priests or university professors often assumed the responsibilities of managing library operations. As education for librarians became standardized during the 20th century, the profession eventually became well established. Librarianship developed further as professional librarians established networks and associations through which they shared a body of knowledge, published professional journals, and instituted codes of ethics. ALibrarians and Library Staff The typical library staff consists of three levels of employees: professional librarians, support staff, and part-time assistants. The proportion of each of these in any given institution depends on the type of library, its budget, and the types of users it serves. Professional librarians usually constitute the smallest number of a library's employees. Most professional librarians have earned at least a master's degree in library science or information science, the study of information and the manner in which it is generated, recorded, stored, retrieved, transmitted, and used. Some professional librarians have earned additional graduate degrees as well. Professional librarians require a wide range of skills and talents. They must have solid bibliographic and technological skills, as well as strong communication and interpersonal abilities. Advances in library technologies have also led to a high demand for professional skills such as database searching and competence in using the Internet and other computer networks and systems. The librarian in charge of administering the entire institution is usually referred to as the director. Other professional librarians typically administer the library's various departments. In small libraries, however, the director may be solely responsible for managing all of the library's departments. In addition to their managerial work, professional librarians assume primary responsibility for providing reference assistance, developing and managing the collections, and overseeing cataloging. Nonprofessional support staff commonly assume most of the responsibility for directly serving library users. Their activities include essential functions such as inputting, coding, and verifying bibliographic and other data; ordering library materials; assisting with catalog development; performing circulation duties such as checking out books to users; and performing other services vital to the library's daily operation. Most libraries employ part-time staff members in addition to full-time professional and support staff. Part-time staff members typically shelve books, perform low-level clerical duties, and carry out other relatively simple but essential tasks. In academic libraries, large numbers of part-time student-assistants play a critical role in the day-to-day functioning of the library. Public libraries also hire so-called library pages to help perform tasks that require no professional training, such as shelving books and periodicals. In addition, many public libraries make use of community volunteers to assist library staff in simple tasks. Many professional librarians were first attracted to the profession while they were working as library assistants, pages, or volunteers. In small libraries, librarians might perform a range of tasks, with one or two librarians and possibly a clerk handling all of the activities of the library. Because of the small size of the staff, a single librarian might combine clerical and professional tasks. In large libraries, the support staff have taken on many of the tasks previously performed by professionals. Much of this transfer of responsibility has been made possible by the introduction of relatively simple and efficient computer technology, which has permitted support staff to accomplish large portions of cataloging that were once done by professionals. Additionally, while professional librarians usually manage library functions such as circulation and acquisition, support staff or part-time workers often perform the bulk of the actual tasks in these departments. The patterns of library staffing vary from country to country. In general, libraries in more developed countries distinguish clearly between the tasks done by professional and nonprofessional staff. In less developed countries, the smaller size of staffs and a lack of new, efficient computer technology have made this separation more difficult. BEducation of Librarians For centuries, young people learned to be librarians while on the job with more experienced practitioners. Librarians often performed difficult tasks, but their duties usually did not require specialized professional training. Since the late 19th century, however, the tasks performed by librarians have become more complex and more dependent on technology. As a result, the study of library science has moved from the work setting to professional schools in universities. In the United States and Canada, education designed for the professional librarian is at the postgraduate level. Prospective librarians attend one- or two-year professional education programs leading to a master's degree in library science or its equivalent, such as information science. Traditionally, professional librarians studied subjects in the liberal arts, such as literature or history, before beginning their professional education. An increasing number of librarians now have undergraduate degrees in the natural sciences, computer science, business, or other related areas. B1Growth of Library Education Programs American librarian Melvil Dewey began the first formal education program for the training of librarians in 1887 at Columbia College (now Columbia University) in New York, where he was librarian. The program moved to the New York State Library in Albany when Dewey became director there in 1889. The success of Dewey's program in training highly skilled professional librarians soon led other universities, institutes of technology, and large public libraries to establish their own professional degree programs in library science. Early library schools largely based their teaching on providing students with experience in actual libraries. However, this practice began to change in 1923 with the publication of Training for Library Service, a book by economist Charles Williamson. The so-called Williamson Report advocated continuing the trend of moving library-science programs to university settings. It also called for an increase in educational theory for librarianship, the development of professional journals and other literature on the profession, and the employment of full-time faculty as instructors of library science. Over time, universities implemented the changes called for in the Williamson Report, and the quality of education for librarianship gradually increased. In the first part of the 20th century, graduates of these schools received bachelor's degrees in library science. These degrees designated completion of four years of undergraduate work and an additional yearlong course of study in library science. In the 1950s universities began making library science a professional degree, generally called a master's degree of library science, or M.L.S. degree. B2Modern Programs The skills and specialized knowledge demanded of librarians have continued to increase, and schools of library science have adjusted their curriculums accordingly. Most schools of librarianship have responded to the heightened use of technology by increasing the number of courses in information science. Information science combines aspects of librarianship with technical elements such as computer programming, telecommunications, database management, and computer graphics. It also includes the study of ways in which humans process information and ways in which people interact with machines.
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