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Re: Certification Discussion



I'm in a position where I cannot afford either continuing classes or the
certification test for the foreseeable future. While I would welcome
continuing formal education, I'm constrained by the stark realities under
which I work and live to pick up whatever additional knowledge I can through
whatever means present themselves. Admittedly, not being certified may be a
hindrance in seeking employment elsewhere, but I have to be content with
doing what I can under the circumstances. And, while my formal education has
been minimal, the proof of competence - at least in this position - has been
in what I've been able to accomplish here in the face of sometimes absurd
odds against success.

Best wishes,

Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@hcea.net
http://www.hcea.net





----- Original Message -----
From: "Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer" <c_crawfo@CULINARY.EDU>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 9:23 AM
Subject: Re: Certification Discussion


> I looked briefly at the CA web pages a while back, and they had a lot of
text on them that seemed to be setting people up to be prepared to fail the
exam the first time (or two or three) that they take it. So what happens if
an archivist gaily sets off to take the exam and fails? It seems that a
person would do well not to mention to a supervisor that they plan to take
the exam. If they then have to report that they failed, it could have
unpleasant consequences for their job.
>
> I paid a large amount of money to take five courses to get a Graduate
Certificate in Archives from Long Island University (on top of the MLS I had
earned many years before), so I resent the idea that people in the field
think I need to pay yet another sum of money to prove that I am competent.
No one asks college or university professors to take an exam to prove that
they are competent; their degrees are accepted as proof. Someone used the
example of an MBA needing to take an exam to become a CPA, but those are two
different animals. My cousin who had only two years of college took a CPA
exam. I doubt that my brother-in-law with an MBA would feel it was
necessary. There are many other professions where a degree is accepted as
proof of competence. There is a certain amount of historical material on the
test that is totally unrelated to job performance, and there are questions
relating to work practices that, if I didn't know the answer when I needed
to know it, I could look up.
>
>
>
> Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer
> Special Collections Librarian/Archivist
>
> Culinary Institute of America
> 1946 Campus Drive
> Hyde Park, NY  12538
> (845) 451-1757
> c_crawfo@culinary.edu
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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>
>

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>