When I was in China a few years ago I too noticed a
difference in attitude about librarians and archivists. One Chinese acquaintance
pointed out that I got more respect because of my archival connections than if
I'd identified myself as a librarian. I was told that they considered a
university librarian "an old professor who was only good for handing out
books to the students until he retired". Not the sort of image
we have over here.
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