(Office, 1992). One of the hallmarks of the new accreditation standards is their emphasis on "broad-based, continuous program planning, development and improvement," (Office, 1992, p. 3) and their emphasis on "systematic planning process [es]" (Office, 1992, p. 11. Additionally, the new standards emphasize the need to develop a curriculum which "reflects the findings of basic and applied research from relevant fields," and which takes into account "the statements of knowledge and competencies developed by relevant professional organizations" (Office, 1992, pp. 11-12). Since 1983, the DLS Faculty have utilized a five year process of continuous curriculum revision which begins with a comprehensive search of the literature about education for librarianship and competencies needed by librarians.Following is a summary of the competencies and suggested curriculum components which were indicated in the literature about librarianship, 1988-1994.
Library Science Graduate ProgramsLiterature about graduate education in library science points to a definition of the process as a "pluralistic," -i.e., interdisciplinary and diverse -mix of multiple traditions, standards, methods, and userneeds (Robbins, 1990;Lowry, 1990;Te es, 1991;Bradley, 1993;Koenig, 1993;Ostler, 1995) within which there exist theory (Boyce, 1994) and skills which should be mastered by all MLS graduates, and whose content shoul dEducation Ubrariea • Vol 19, No. 3 be placed within international (Fang and Nauta, 1991;Tallman, 1991;Kibirige, 1993) social, economic, cultural, and political contexts (Association of College and Research Libraries, 1992;Sineath, 1992). It is stressed that this process of integration will help to assure that library professionals have a common fo cus (Oen and Cooper, 1988), pride in their accomplishments (Martin, 1995), and a leadership, self-confident mentality (Penniman, 1991; Wh ite, 1995 ). In addition, the knowledge gained in library school should be applicable at an entry level to a variety of library environments (Preschel, 1988;"Dean's ... ," 1994). Some writers debate the need for certification of librarians (Ford, 1989;Lindberg, 1990;Kaatrude, 1992;Martin, 1994); others stress the need to provide library school students with field experiences, or internships which provide on-the-job training (Meiseles and Fe ller, 1994) and which also can be used as recruitment vehicles for minority students (Diaz and Starkus, 1994;Kendrick, Lipkind, and Clinkscales, 1990). Curricula must keep up with new technology (Kaula, 1988;Hurd, 1988;Main, 1990; Sharma, 1992;George, 1994) and that they should include the foll owing components: discussion of ethics (Rogers, 1994) and issues such as equal access to information (McCook, 1992b); balance of theory and practice ( Oack, 1993; Curras , 1993 ); systematic study which integrates basic knowledge and skills into a unified structure (Eisenberg, 1991; Intner, 1991); study of communication theory (Lester, 1993); recognition of the impact of information on individuals and institu...