Steven J. Bell has a great piece in Inside Higher Ed in which he criticizes the library profession for a lack of serious discourse. This is something I’ve been struggling with within my program since I started in the fall. I’ve been consistently disappointed with a lack of serious discussion or debate built into any of my classes. When discussion is included, it’s usually as an afterthought and tends to get cut off just when it starts to get interesting. I had begun to think that this was a problem with my school (which is, for the record, a well-respected and highly ranked MLIS program), but Bell’s piece makes me think that this might in fact be endemic to the profession.
Bell writes that “Library educators should begin to integrate into the curriculum more opportunities for verbal and written discourse, as well as present students with case studies that serve as good examples of discourse and how it advances professional knowledge.” I think that without a focus on discussion and critical thought, any education suffers greatly. But it’s especially disappointing that this element is lacking from a professional education in a field that is so exciting and important.
My experience with my library education has been that while we learn about research and theory, and we learn about technology and practical skills, the two sides exist almost in isolation to one another, and also are rarely applied to real library situations. Instead, we should be learning was to use research and theory as a foundation for coming up with practical or technical solutions to real problems.
The implications of Bell’s piece seem pretty clear: Get out there and start having some discourse. Read articles that address challenging, practical issues that don’t have easy solutions, and pay attention to what the authors are saying. Seek out writers who challenge your point of view. Criticize them. If you’re in library school (or information school, as the case may be), try to think of ways to apply what you’re learning to real library situations. If you’re working in a library, try to pay attention to research that’s going on, and integrate it into your practical experience, or rebut it if it doesn’t reflect your experience.
