1. Introduction: No organization can work without its staff
strength. The same is true for the library also. So, to meet the demand of the
user of a library the library authority recruits sufficient number of persons
with different academic degrees and / or experience in the library. They are
termed as library staff or Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals.
There are various synonymous terms that are used for LIS professionals such as librarian,
curator, archivist, metadata architects, cataloguer, indexers, information
broker, information architectures, metadata managers, etc.
The information professionals should
have a very good communication skill, capacity for judgment, a service-oriented
mind that is ever willing to work for the benefit of others, a user-friendly attitude, curiosity for the latest
information in all relevant fields, and lastly adaptability for any situation.
Along with the user’s needs that change from time to time, the method and
techniques employed for the dissemination of information also change and the
librarian in particular should be able to adapt to these changes.
2.
Profession: A
profession is an occupation that requires extensive training, the study and
mastery of specialized knowledge, and usually involves a professional
association, ethical code and process of certification or licensing.
Historically, the number of professions was limited. The medical doctors and
lawyers have traditionally held the monopoly on professional status and on
professional education along with the military officers recognized as their social
equals. With the rise of technology and occupational specialization in the 19th
century, other bodies also began to claim "professional" status:
engineers, librarianship, educationalists and even nurses, and today almost any
occupational group can at least unofficially aspire to belong to a professional
rank. There are many other groups that seek to claim the status as a profession
and many others who would dispute that status.
The existence of a traceable historical
record of notable members of the profession can serve as an indicator of a
profession. Often, these historic professionals have become well known to laypersons
outside the field, for example, Clarence Darrow (law) or Edward Jenner
(medicine). In modern times there is no standard definition of a modern
professional, however.
According to Rescoe Pound, in common
parlance, “the term refers to a group of men pursuing a learned art as a common
calling in the spirit of public service - no less a public service because it
may incidentally be a means of livelihood”. A member of a profession is termed
a professional.
Websters Third New International Dictionary
of the English language defines a profession as “a calling requiring
specialized knowledge and often long and intensive preparation including
instruction in skills and methods as well as in the scientific, historical or
scholarly principles underlying such skills and methods, maintaining by force
of organization or concerted opinion, high standard of achievement and conduct
and committing its member to continued study and to a kind of work which has
for its prime purpose the rendering of public service”.
3. Library and
Information Science as a Profession: In modern usage, professions tend to
have certain qualities in common. A profession is always held by a person, and
it is generally that person's way of generating income. Dalton E. Mc Farland in
“Management Functions and Practices” mentions some characteristics of a
profession. Along with the characteristics, necessary arguments are given below
to justify whether librarianship is a profession or not.
a) Entrance is
Competitive: All
professions maintain rigid rules and high standard of qualification for the new
entrants into the profession. As entrance into professions is highly competitive
an entrant typically has to have above-average mental skills.
When we consider the employment aspect
in libraries, at junior professional level, the entry is direct, but even before
that proper orientation into the system, service and professional ethics is
provided in many organizations. At the senior professional level the entry is
by selection among the experienced professionals.
b) Body of
Specialized Knowledge and Technical Skill: A specialized knowledge of the concerned
field is needed by the professional. Those persons who
are engaged in a library should have the required academic background although;
some of them may not possess a LIS degree. To practise librarianship
also requires extensive knowledge and technical skill such as an extensive
knowledge of classification or cataloguing without which one may find it
difficult to run a library.
c) Formal
Training and Experience: Professions also require rigorous training and
schooling beyond a basic college degree for acquiring the needed skill and
methods to put the knowledge into work. Nowadays there is a large body of
growing literature on library and information science for training and
educating the professionals to acquire specialized knowledge and skill in the
field of library science. Specialized journals have also started coming out in
recent years. It has also its own indexing and abstracting services.
d) An Ethical Code
or Standard of Conduct: A set of principles, a social code or ethics is
needed for the professional. Many organizations have codified their conduct,
often designated “code of ethics”, and what they require for entry into their
organization and how to remain in good standing. Some of these codes are quite
detailed and make strong emphasis on their particular area or expertise; for
example, journalists emphasize the use of credible sources and protecting their
identities, psychologists emphasize privacy of the patient and communications
with other psychologists, anthropologists emphasize rules on intrusions into a
culture being studied. Most of the codes do show an overlap in such concepts
as, “do no harm”, “be honest”, “do not use your position for private gain”,
etc. In different parts of the world different professional bodies of Library
and Information Science codified such rules. In India also Indian Association
of Special Libraries and Information Centre (IASLIC)
has evolved a code of conduct and ethics for special librarians in India.
e) A Commitment
to Public Service:
A professional needs to work with the prime purpose of rendering a public
service rather than for monetary gain. It has also been suggested that some
professionals feel an obligation to society, beyond their client relationship.
Doctors may not merely sell their service if a procedure is medically
inappropriate, however much the client may want it undertaken; architects may
refuse to work on a project that would be detrimental to its surroundings, and
lawyers may refuse to take cases which are merely exploitative. The obligation
to educate the client is often seen as a key part of the definition.
Librarianship is a service oriented job and the user of a library is regarded a
king.
f) Guarantees of
the Service Rendered:
The concepts of professionalism may be inferred from guarantees. But these are
inferences only. The idea behind a guarantee is that the person offering the
guarantee is accountable to the extent of damages that will be compensated. One
thing these sources hold in common, implicit or explicit, is the idea of
accountability. Those who are members of these organizations or professions are
held accountable for what they do.
g) Formal
Organization: An
organization generally binds all the members of a group, calling or vocation
together for concerted opinion, to achieve high standard in performance, and to
act as a force to achieve common goal.
The formal organization of
librarianship started with the establishment of the American Library Association
in 1876. At modern times library association are there at different levels i.e.
international, regional, national, state and local. Many associations covering
specialized interest have also come into being. For example, Indian Association
of Special Library and Information Centre (IASLIC),
Medical Library Association of India (MLI), Indian Association
of Teachers of Library and Information Science (IATLIS),
etc.
h) Licensing of
Practitioners: Membership
in the profession is usually restricted and regulated by a professional
association. For example, lawyers regulate themselves through a bar association
and restrict membership through licensing and accreditation of law schools.
Hence, professions also typically have a great deal of autonomy, setting rules
and enforcing discipline themselves. Professions are also generally exclusive,
which means that laymen are legally prohibited from practising the profession.
For example, people are generally prohibited by law from practising medicine
without a license and would be likely be to practice well without acquiring the
skills of a physician.
Generally, professional library jobs require an
academic LIS degree as certification. In the United
States, the certification usually comes from a Master's degree granted by an
ALA-accredited institution. In the United
Kingdom, however, there have been moves to broaden the entry requirements to
professional library posts, so that qualifications in, or experience of, a
number of other disciplines have become more acceptable.
Library Association (LA), UK
maintain the professional register of chartered librarians (professionally
qualified members are known as chartered librarians and are of two categories
i)
Associates who are fully trained and professionally educated librarians and
ii)
Fellow (FLA) who have successfully completed additional work at an advanced
level to prove their ability in special areas of librarians.
4.
Conclusion: Librarianship is as old as the book itself. However,
librarianship started assuming some of the characteristics of a profession from
1876 onwards. This was the year when American Library Association was
established, the American Library Journals was launched, and the first edition
of the DDC and the C. A. Cutter’s Rules for making a dictionary catalogue were
published.
How to Cite this
Article?
APA Citation, 7th Ed.: Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications.
Chicago 16th Ed.: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati:
New Publications, 2020.
MLA Citation 8th Ed: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications, 2020.

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