Spring 2000
Educational Partnerships: New Directions for SIRLS
In hearing the concerns and requests of the professional library community in the state of Arizona, SIRLS has developed a plan to devise a new partnership with the statewide library community and other relevant academic areas to better prepare information professionals for the future.
I. An Enhanced Internship Program
The best place for training in practical skills is at a working library or information center. The present internship program is fairly loosely structured and requires that the student find a site, and develop a project. What SIRLS envisions is a more structured program, with specific library sites offering projects and training in a given area of library practice. As we build up the number of cooperating institutions, the number of graduates with specific skills will grow. SIRLS would look to not only institutions in southern Arizona, but other areas where students in the distance program may be residing.
The goal for the internship program will be to build a cadre of sites where students can seek experience and training in specific areas. For instance if a student wishes to gain experience in cataloging in a medium sized public library we will be able to identify such a library ready to cooperate as a site. If a student wants to work with a particular OPAC we will be able to identify a cooperating library. The possibilities, while not endless, will vastly expand the horizons of SIRLS students, and provide specific skills needed in the field.
What Needs to be Done
In order to make this work there are two areas that the School and our partners need to agree upon. First is a list of skills to be addressed by the practical components we are proposing to add to the School's repertoire.
Second, we need to identify a number of sites willing to host internships in those specific knowledge/skill areas.
After identifying the highest priority practical components to be addressed we need to start moving towards identifying those institutions willing to serve as internship sites in specific areas. Keep in mind that internships are only part of the overall program and that workshops, short courses, etc, will be offered as well. With 76% of the population of Arizona living in Maricopa and Pima counties it is our expectation that at the onset the majority of cooperating institutions will be within those two counties, with perhaps some support in Coconino County as well. As we all gain experience with the program we expect to be able to expand our list of cooperating institutions. Developing a cadre of committed libraries in those three counties is the foundation upon which to expand into other areas. This table is a starting point for a discussion as to matching skill areas and libraries willing to undertake responsibility for hosting interns in those areas. These are suggestions only.
| TOL: | Academic | Public | School | Special |
| Specialty/Skill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skill etc. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
II. A Workshop Series
Workshops would be offered throughout the academic year, and summer session, on a variety of skills. Workshop topics will depend, in part, on the skills identified as important to the field, and the expertise (and availability of funding) for additional instructors. Other offerings would depend, in part, on the willingness of local librarians to participate, on the availability of visiting specialists, and on skills possessed by existing or new faculty and staff members.
The success of a workshop series is very much dependent on the cooperation of the professional community. While there are some resources within the School success in this area will depend on expertise external to the School.
III. Expanding the MA Degree
The School is deep in conversations with various other University of Arizona units about expanding possibilities within the MA program. We have a working proposal, for instance, aimed at producing exceptionally skilled librarians for Arizona K-12 schools, in cooperation with the College of Education. We are moving towards developing joint degree programs with the various area studies programs (Near Eastern, Latin American, for example) within the University. The possibility of information specialties in law or medical librarianship are also being discussed.
Further development of the MA degree will depend, in part, on the new director of the School, and the availability of appropriately experienced new junior faculty.
IV. Certification Programs
SIRLS proposes to establish a series of certificate programs both as part of, and in addition to, the MA curriculum. Depending on availability of internships, workshops, and curricular offerings, SIRLS envisions certification in specific areas such as youth services, cataloging, public services, information technology, etc. The certification would require a combination of coursework, an internship, and workshops all aimed at acquiring expertise in a specific area. The certification program would be rigorous, yet flexible enough to provide the student some latitude in the exact path taken to achieve certification in a given area. Developing the certification program is a task that will clearly require more cooperation between SIRLS and the professional community, first to develop a list of desirable certificates, and secondly to provide the opportunities for learning that will have to exist outside of the University of Arizona campus.
V. Looking to the University
In addition to the skills oriented proposals above, S1RLS is aggressively reviewing the curriculum of the University of Arizona, and available distance education courses from other schools of library and information science to broaden the possible offerings for our students. In reviewing the university-wide curriculum SIRLS will identify courses from other departments that would augment, or even be an alternative to, SIRLS offerings.
The review of distance offerings by other departments of L&IS contributes to the same goal. Given the number of distance students, both within Arizona and the rest of the country, taking full advantage of course offerings from other L&IS departments, even as they take advantage of some of ours, benefits the student, and the field, in the long run.
VI. Cooperation is the Key
Even with an expanded faculty and staff SIRLS cannot, alone, provide either education or training in all possible knowledge areas desirable in knowledge workers. We can, however, take better advantage of already existing educational and training opportunities both within the University, and the larger university of distance education. The proposed enhancement of internships, development of a workshop series, and the possible certification program all raise the level of cooperation required from both SIRLS and the library community. it will not work without active participation from everybody concerned.
Cooperation is not new to either SIRLS or the professional community. Last fall SIRLS offered a course in Special Collections and Museum Libraries jointly developed and taught by cooperating librarians from the University of Arizona and the Arizona State Museum, with some curricular oversight from SIRLS faculty members. This three-way cooperation has added a badly needed component to the SIRLS curriculum based solely on cooperative effort. Many institutions have, in the past, hosted student internships, and many individuals have cooperated in teaching the existing curriculum. What we are proposing is to expand on, and better organize, already existing components of the program. Discussions are still going on with other departments and colleges in the University. Agreements have been reached with the College of Education to implement a graduate degree program that will take certified teachers through a program and give them a Master's of Art in Library Sciences, specializing in school librarianship with administrative certification. Eight school districts are considering what level of participation they will have next fall in this cohort program.
Additionally, SIRLS will be working with various school districts in the state to develop information technology and literacy plans. Some of these school districts are rural and have many challenges to present to this discussion.
SIRLS can initiate some of the proposals above, but without cooperation and commitment from the professional community they will come to naught. We trust that a genuine partnership between SIRLS and the library and information professionals of Arizona and beyond will lead to a new generation of graduates better equipped to deal with both the future and immediate problems of the present.
University of Arizona
School of Information Resources and Library Science
1515 E. 1st St.
Tucson, Arizona 85719
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