People, politics and the profession: a

view from the Tower

Forbes Gibb

Overview

Historical context The Scottish College of Librarianship The Department of Librarianship The Department of Information Science The Department of Computer and

Information Sciences

Historical Context

1877 - Library Association founded after the first International Conference of Librarians

1880 - A motion to “consider how library assistants may best be aided in their training” was proposed at an AGM in Edinburgh by Henry Tedder

1880 - A Committee on Library Training was established

1885 - The first professional examinations held

Professional Examinations

Preliminary : general educational subjects , for any appointment to a library post

Second Class Certificate: a knowledge of English literature and one other European literature, bibliography, cataloguing, library management and a cataloguing knowledge of at least two other languages

First Class Certificate: advanced knowledge, three languages and two years experience

Professional Examinations

“Give a list of Dickens’s works in order of importance”

“The numbers of yards of paper required to cover the four walls of a room 54 ft wide and 30 ft high is 880, and the breadth of the paper is 7/8 yard. Required: the length of the room, the cost of the paper at 2s 2¼d per piece of 12 yards”

Historical Context

1885 - The first proposal for a “summer school of librarianship” made that year

1893 - The first summer school was held in London (delivered by practitioners)

1895 - The Library Assistants Association (LAA) was formed who sought classes to help prepare for the LA examinations

1896 - The first summer school was held in Manchester

Historical Context

1897 - Classes in librarianship organised in London by the LA

1898 - The LA was granted a Royal Charter and hence a monopoly on the education, examination and certification of librarians

1902 - The LSE offered classes in librarianship within those constraints

1904 - The LA introduced correspondence courses

Historical Context

1914 - Classes at the LSE were suspended 1918 - Proposals were drafted to create a

network of librarianship schools 1919 - A school was opened at University

College London, with support from the Carnegie Trust, awarding its own diploma

1931 - Correspondence courses under the LAA

1933 - A new, three tier, examination system

1938 - A revised syllabus was proposed

Political Context

Universities, in general, had withdrawn from professional education

The (only) school in London fuelled the perceived north-south divide

The Diploma was seen as devaluing existing qualifications (i.e. the Certificate)

Pressure for schools elsewhere in the UK, but only to prepare for LA examinations

Tensions between practitioners and the LA

Political Context

1908 - SLA was founded 1931 – The SLA became affiliated to the

LA “… throughout the 75 years of its life

there has existed in the SLA the belief that, despite denials to the contrary, the LA has never really understood the situation in Scotland”

Robert Craig, 1983

Political Context - Scotland

Classes in librarianship were being held in the High School, Glasgow in the absence of a local school

1933 - W.B. Paton, Chief Librarian of Airdrie, attacked a report criticising the performance of candidates

1938 - W.B. Paton won a motion to withdraw an LA survey of Scottish public libraries

Scottish College of Librarianship 1946 - 1964

1945 - Heriot-Watt turns down LA approach

1946 - Glasgow and West of Scotland Commercial College agree to: Form a School of Librarianship Appoint William B. Paton as lecturer Commence courses on 16th September Set a fee of £25 per session

One of five, rising to seven, schools created in the UK to offer FT and PT courses

A Class at the College

Scottish College of Librarianship 1946 - 1964

Still restricted to preparing students for the LA examinations

Still a strong emphasis on literature and bibliography

Staff levels rose from 1 to 6 1948 - 20 FT and 39 PT students 1949 - 29 FT and 36 PT students 1950 - Bill Tyler becomes HoD 1957 - Teacher Librarian Certificate

introduced

Bill Paton and Bill Tyler

University of Strathclyde 1964 - 1985

1964 - The LA was persuaded that schools should be able to teach and examine

1964 - The University of Strathclyde received its Royal Charter, incorporating the College of Commerce and the Royal College of Science and Technology

1966 - The first BA degree and PG Diploma in librarianship were approved at Strathclyde

1984 - FG arrives as a “new blood post”

University of Strathclyde 1985-1991

Courses had gone through minor modifications but still retained an emphasis on bibliography, cataloguing and classification, and types of library

Staff levels 8-9 1985 - Bill Tyler retires 1985 - Blaise Cronin becomes HoD and

a period of significant change starts

Blaise Cronin

University of Strathclyde 1985-1991

The Department embraces change, technology, business and the digital world

1984 - A ten PC lab was created with Computer Science

1984 - The Glasgow Herald Indexing Project was initiated with MSC funding with 20+ PCs

1986 - A departmental PC LAN was installed with six student machines

University of Strathclyde 1985-1991

1986 - Information Science is created as a merger of Librarianship and Office Organisation and enters the Business School

1986 - Staff numbers rise (briefly) to 18 and deliver three PG courses and 1 UG course

1987 - PG Diploma in Information and Library Studies brought on stream

1988 - PG Diploma in Information Management brought on stream

University of Strathclyde 1985-1991

1989 - Apple Macs employed in Glasgow Online project

1989 - First ESPRIT project (SIMPR) utilising Sun workstations

1991 - FG becomes HoD and there are 7 to 9 staff delivering three PG courses and 1 UG course, and contributing to MBA and BITS courses

1991 - Blaise Cronin leaves

Charles Oppenheim

University of Strathclyde 1992-1995

1992 - Charles Oppenheim becomes HoD

1995 - Charles Oppenheim leaves 1995 - FG becomes HoD

University of Strathclyde 1995 -

1995 - TQA Excellent rating 1996 - RAE Grade 4 rating 1996 - UG offerings withdrawn 2001 - RAE Grade 4 rating 2001 - Bespoke course agreed with RBS 2001 - Merger with Computer Science and

move to Science Faculty 2006 - 1000th PG student graduated 2007 - Organisation of Knowledge returns!

The Cost of Education

Summary

A shift from professional examinations to accredited courses

A shift away from UG provision to PG A shift from exclusive curricula to

selective sharing of classes A shift to a larger domain of interest

and contribution A shift between faculties