The ponderings of a new professional

It was always going to be thus, me becoming a librarian. I am the latest woman in my family to enter the profession, a real-life case study for matrilineal inheritance. Some families have male pattern baldness; I think we got a good deal. So following my destiny, and a graduate traineeship, I enrolled at library school to learn the skills that I would need to embark on my professional career.

Now as I write my Professional Development Report or, Evaluation of Personal Professional Development, as it is now called, I have been pondering on how well the course equipped me for the world of Assistant Librarianship.......

"I could teach you how to use each different business information resource and reference work, but that would be boring, and not teach you anything in the long run". This statement by a lecturer is one of my most memorable because I think it was very insightful. In contrast to when my mother was at Library School, the variety of information sources and the media through which we access them, has changed dramatically; and so continue. So, although we moaned bitterly at the time at the expenditure of effort; we were actually becoming proficient at adapting our search strategies to any given resource and enquiry. Traditional Reference skills modules have been replaced by independent explorations of the modern information network. The emphasis on online database operation and the use of the lnternet also reflects this change, providing new professionals with an advantageous starting point in some respects.

Another feature of the current information environment is the staggering range of careers open to library school graduates. This has lead to the introduction of some technical subjects such as IT networking that those of us wanting to enter the "traditional" world of libraries will either never need, or not be in a position to need before the field moves on further. The expansion of library courses to include these subjects is necessary as the field develops. However, it will not be possible to squeeze every subject into a course lasting only one year. Why not offer a wider variety of modules from which each individual can select the ones most appropriate to their interests and career aspirations; allowing an easier blend of "traditional" and "modern" subjects.

A bit of tradition however is no bad thing, and I am extremely pleased that I studied cataloguing and classification, a module which some departments have dropped. Without the basics, I think that it would have been even more time consuming and irritating for my colleagues to train me. In this case boring classroom work provides a demonstrable advantage when it comes to gaining employment. The drawback with learning theory is that it gives you an idealised image of a library or information service. Some of the management subjects (along with their irritating jargon) did try to ground us in reality, but of course, that is not possible until you experience it first hand. This irony did leave me impatient and at times I did wonder whether it would be better just to get on with it!

After all these ponderings I give my course a definite gold star, but wish I could have had a bit more choice in what I studied. But what the heck, I am in a job that I love and above all, what library school did best was to leave me with some great friends with whom to share experiences and of course ideas for my Evaluation of Personal Professional Development.

Lucy Seffen
Assistant Librarian at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

(Autumn 2002 Easterner)