The Role of the Academic Librarian, 1876-1976

Information literacy as professional legitimation

“…Dix's circumstance was not an isolated occurrence, particularly during the early part of the twentieth century. Downs (1976) indicates that even as late as 1900, only six of the 20 male leaders surveyed had any formal training in librarianship. This type of rhetoric, which highlighted the need for scholarly competence, would eventually be democratized and used to articulate the necessity of faculty status for all academic librarians.…”

The Changing Role of the Academic Librarian: Drift and Mastery

“…An instructive, and occasionally discouraging, revie~ of this struggle was provided by Robert Downs in his ALA Centennial article "The Role of the Academic Librarian, 1876-1976." 7 Downs reports that H. A. Sawtelle proclaimed in 1878 that the college librarian ought t9 work closely with the students and provide guidance in the development of literary taste. Sawtelle " ... concluded that such college librarianship as he described ought not to be annexed to a profes'sorship, but be itself a professorship.…”

Measuring Levels of Work in Academic Libraries: A Time Based Approach

“…Works noted the insufficient distinction made in libraries between clerical and professional types of service. 5 More recently Asheim 6 and Dale E. Shaffer7 recommended better ways to distinguish between the professional and nonprofessional tasks performed in libraries. Olga B. Bishop further documented the failure to separate professional from nonprofessional duties.…”

“…34 The content of any work activity is distinctly different from the purpose or goal of that activity, and it cannot be assumed that any two people with the same 1ob title are doing the same level of work. 5 The results of applying the time-span of discretion measure led to the discovery of stratification in bureaucratic organizations. It revealed a pattern of discontinuous levels of work.…”