Many thanks to all those -- at last count, 159 students,
graduates, educators, and employers -- who responded to my
survey on computer competency. Briefly, the questions I
posed were these:
>Here's a quick, rough-and-ready survey--two questions,<
>addressed to any librarian who received an MLS in the past<
>five years from an accredited program. To get your degree,<
>were you required to acquire or demonstrate basic<
>microcomputer competency (beyond typing/keyboard skill)?<
>Was the computer knowledge you graduated with adequate for<
>the library job(s) you subsequently found yourself doing?<
The quick, rough-and-ready summary of the results is this:
of the 131 recent graduates who responded to the first
question, 94 (approximately 72%) said that their MLS
programsOdid require some microcomputer competency. Of the
120 recent graduates who responded to the second question,
81 (approximately 68%) said that what they left school with
was adequate.
But the most informative part of the results were the "Yes,
but..." answers. Two-thirds of the "yes" responses to the
second question were qualified by comments which attributed
the respondents' computer competency to previous job
experience, optional courses or other training, or other
personal factors that had nothing to do with the
requirements of their MLS programs.
The required computer-related courses described by
respondents were general introductions to the history and
theory of information science and/or lessons in the use of
microcomputer software -- word processing, database, and
spreadsheet programs and DOS; a few also reported having to
learn some programming, mostly in BASIC, or being introduced
to e-mail. Many respondents also cited training in using an
OPAC system, OCLC, and/or on-line or CD-ROM reference
sources as contributions to their computer competency. A
number of respondents said that computer competency was
"built into" their MLS programs because professors required
that papers be prepared with word-processing software rather
than typewriters, or because students had to use campus e-
mail for some of their assignments. In any case, "computer
competency" was almost universally assumed to mean
proficiency in using microcomputer software. Only six
respondents mentioned computer hardware; those respondents
all felt that librarians needed to be able to put together
the components of a workstation and to do at least
elementary trouble-shooting (correcting loose cables,
printers off-line, etc.), and all six felt that MLS programs
were remiss in not requiring such skills of graduates. Not
one respondent mentioned LAN technology, either software or
hardware components, as something librarians should be
familiar with. Six respondents also specifically mentioned
familiarity with UNIX as something important to
librarianship but missing in library science curricula.
Several respondents felt that a brief introduction to
microcomputer software was sufficient because of the
rapidity with which particular programs become obsolete.
These respondents preferred to keep up with computers --
i.e., software -- on the job, as specific needs or
opportunities arose. Others felt that a little computer
knowledge was enough because "...librarians shouldn't be
required to be computer support people."
Overall, in the picture of MLS education drawn by these
respondents, computers are still peripheral -- helpful and
time-saving, good to have and to know how to use, but not
central to libraries' mission of collecting, preserving, and
disseminating information, or to the processes by which that
mission might be fulfilled. Computer know-how is still an
addendum to the library science curriculum, an option
package. As one respondent put it, "Computer skills don't
fall within our profession; we use computers just like
almost every other profession." The point here is that
although many respondents themselves felt that computer
technology was vital to the mission and methods of
libraries, they seemed to feel that library science
faculties either did not agree, or lacked the resources to
effect a greater role for computing in the curricula.
In the view of this survey's respondents, it appears that
while it is possible, by judiciously choosing one's elective
courses and extracurricular activities, to emerge from an
MLS program with a solid, practical understanding of current
and potential applications of computers in libraries, it is
also still possible (indeed, common?) to emerge without
knowing where to look for the "on" switch.
This is only a preliminary summary of the survey's results.
If you would like to receive a copy of the final report when
it is prepared, please let me know. And by all means,
further comments are encouraged!
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