[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Certification



Here I stand, trembling, about to dip my toes into this very dangerous
debate.  Despite my reservations, here I go.

Let me state for the record that I'm not a fan of certification, nor do I
think it's particularly necessary.  I don't personally believe there's a
tremendous need for test-driven credentialling; I was delighted to get away
from tests, myself.

That said, if I understand the purpose behind the CA, it was to incease the
professionalism of the field.  That is, much like the magic letters "MBA"
indicate to an employer that the candidate in question is intelligent,
driven, committed, and able to write & speak in a language that is Almost
but Not Entirely Unlike English (thank you Douglas Adams, RIP), the "CA"
will give employers the indication that the holder is a member of a
well-qualified group/profession.

We've had numerous discussions of the need for professionalization and
acceptance among the rest of the world of our unique abilities.  What I
think the conversation pro & con certification is missing (and I may have
made this point before) is that employers just don't get it.  Whatever
letters get put behind, in front, below, or tangential to our names, the
powers that be just see "LIBRARIAN", in large, day-glo blinking letters.
They see (probably more than anything else) "not a revenue generating
function", and that just puts the nail in the coffin of us remaining
secondary to whatever else they do.

Sad but true?  Maybe.  Worth correcting by means of CA, PhD, MA I, II & II,
MLS, MD, AC/DC? Eh. It's probably not possible to change the world's
attitude, the hirers (is that a word?) don't really care, and we all have
enough to do.  I've never seen a job posting that said "CA only", ergo I
don't think it's really needed; heck, jobs that ask for MLS would probably
talk to someone with an MA, so the postings never mean what they say anyway.

You want to certify?  It probably won't hurt.  You don't want to?  I don't
really think it will make a lot of difference.  It's far more important,
IMHO, to get practical experience, because I don't care how many titles
you've got, if you ain't workin', you probably ain't getting hired for the
better jobs down the line.

DS

PS - I guess we've gotten off topic today - aren't we supposed to be on
Friday Funnies?

______________________________________
Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
David Taylor Archives
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
155 Community Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
mailto:dsokolow@nshs.edu

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>