History of Library and Information Science
Introduction:
Library science (often termed library studies or library
and information science) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field
that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information
technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection,
organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the
political economy of information. Martin Schrettinger, a Bavarian librarian,
coined the discipline within his 1808 work, Versuch eines vollständigen
Lehrbuchs der Bibliothek-Wissenschaft oder Anleitung zur vollkommenen
Geschäftsführung eines Bibliothekars in wissenschaftlicher Form abgefasst.
Rather than classifying information based on nature-oriented elements, as was
previously done in his Bavarian library, Schrettinger organized books in
alphabetical order. The first American school for library science was founded
by Melvil Dewey at Columbia University in 1887. It is an aspect of the broader
field of librarianship.
Historically, library science has
also included archival science. This includes how information resources are
organized to serve the needs of select user group, how people interact with
classification systems and technology, how information is acquired, evaluated
and applied by people in and outside of libraries as well as cross-culturally,
how people are trained and educated for careers in libraries, the ethics that
guide library service and organization, the legal status of libraries and
information resources, and the applied science of computer technology used in
documentation and records management.
There is no generally agreed-upon
distinction between the terms library science, librarianship, and
library and information science, and to a certain extent they are
interchangeable, perhaps differing most significantly in connotation. The term library
and information science (LIS) is most often used; most librarians consider
it as only a terminological variation, intended to emphasize the scientific and
technical foundations of the subject and its relationship with information
science. LIS should not be confused with information theory, the mathematical
study of the concept of information. Library and information science can also
be seen as an integration of the two fields library science and information
science, which were separate at one point. Library philosophy has been
contrasted with library science as the study of the aims and
justifications of librarianship as opposed to the development and refinement of
techniques.
History
17th century
(Portrait of Gabriel Naudé, author of Advis pour dresser
une bibliothèque (1627), later translated into English in 1661.)
The earliest text on library operations,
Advice on Establishing a Library
was published in 1627 by French librarian and scholar Gabriel Naudé. Naudé
wrote prolifically, producing works on many subjects including politics,
religion, history, and the supernatural. He put into practice all the ideas put
forth in
Advice when given the opportunity to build and maintain the
library of Cardinal Jules Mazarin.
19th century
Martin Schrettinger wrote the second textbook (the first in Germany) on the
subject from 1808 to 1829.
Thomas Jefferson, whose library at Monticello consisted of thousands of
books, devised a classification system inspired by the Baconian method, which
grouped books more or less by subject rather than alphabetically, as it was
previously done.
The Jefferson collection provided the start of what became the Library of Congress.
The first American school of librarianship opened at Columbia University
under the leadership of Melvil Dewey, noted for his 1876 decimal classification,
on 5 January 1887 as the
School of Library Economy. The term
library
economy was common in USA until 1942, with the
library science
predominant through much of the 20th century.
20th century
Later, the term was used in the title of S. R. Ranganathan's
The Five
Laws of Library Science, published in 1931, and in the title of Lee Pierce
Butler's 1933 book,
An introduction to library science (University of
Chicago Press).
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan conceived five laws of library science and the
development of the first major analytico-synthetic classification system, the colon
classification. In India, he is considered to be the father of library science,
documentation, and information science and is widely known throughout the rest
of the world for his fundamental thinking in the field.
In the United States, Lee Pierce Butler's new approach advocated research
using quantitative methods and ideas in the social sciences with the aim of
using librarianship to address society's information needs. He was one of the
first faculty at the University of Chicago Graduate Library School, which
changed the structure and focus of education for librarianship in the twentieth
century. This research agenda went against the more procedure-based approach of
"library economy," which was mostly confined to practical problems in
the administration of libraries.
William Stetson Merrill's
A Code for Classifiers, released in several
editions from 1914 to 1939, is an example of a more pragmatic approach, where
arguments stemming from in-depth knowledge about each field of study are
employed to recommend a system of classification. While Ranganathan's approach
was philosophical it was also tied more to the day-to-day business of running a
library. A reworking of Ranganathan's laws was published in 1995 which removes
the constant references to books. Michael Gorman's
Our Enduring Values:
Librarianship in the 21st Century, features his 8 principles necessary by
library professionals and incorporate knowledge and information in all their
forms, allowing for digital information to be considered.
In more recent years, with the growth of digital technology, the field has
been greatly influenced by information science concepts. In the English
speaking world the term "library science" seems to have been used for
the first time in India in a book in 1916 in the
Punjab Library Primer
written by Asa Don Dickinson and published by the University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan. This university was the first in Asia to begin teaching
'library science'. The
Punjab Library Primer was the first textbook on
library science published in English anywhere in the world. The first textbook
in the United States was the
Manual of Library Economy which was
published in 1929. In 1923, C. C. Williamson, who was appointed by the Carnegie
Corporation, published an assessment of library science education entitled,
"The Williamson Report," which designated that universities should
provide library science training. This report had a significant impact on
Library Science training and education. Library research and practical work,
the area of information science has remained largely distinct both in training
and in research interests.
21st century
The digital age has transformed how information is accessed and retrieved.
"The library is now a part of a complex and dynamic educational,
recreational, and informational infrastructure." Mobile devices and
applications with wireless networking, high-speed computers and networks, and
the computing cloud have deeply impacted and developed information science and
information services. The evolution of the library sciences maintains its
mission of access equity and community space, as well as, the new means for
information retrieval called Information Literacy Skills. All catalogues,
databases, and a growing number of books are all available on the Internet. Information
literacy is the ability to "determine the extent of information needed,
access the needed information effectively and efficiently, evaluate information
and its sources critically, incorporate selected information into one’s
knowledge base, use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose,
and understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of
information, and access and use information ethically and legally."
Education and training
Main article: Education for librarianship
Academic courses in library science include collection management,
information systems and technology, research methods, information literacy, cataloging
and classification, preservation, reference, statistics and management. Library
science is constantly evolving, incorporating new topics like database
management, information architecture and information management, among others.
Most schools only offer a master's degree in Library and Information Science
or an MLIS and do not offer an undergraduate degree in the subject. There are
about fifty schools that have this graduate program and seven are still being
ranked. Many have online programs which makes attending more convenient if the
college is not in a student’s immediate vicinity. According to the US News’
online journal, University of Illinois is at the top of the list of best MLIS
programs provided by Universities. Second is University of North Carolina and
third is University of Washington. All the listings can be found at
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-library-information-science-programs/library-information-science-rankings
Most professional library jobs require a professional post-baccalaureate
degree in
library science, or one of its equivalent terms,
library
and information science as a basic credential. In the United States and Canada
the certification usually comes from a master's degree granted by an ALA-accredited
institution, so even non-scholarly librarians have an originally academic
background. In the United Kingdom, however, there have been moves to broaden
the entry requirements to professional library posts, such that qualifications
in, or experience of, a number of other disciplines have become more acceptable.
In Australia, a number of institutions offer degrees accepted by the ALIA
(Australian Library and Information Association).
In academic regalia in the United States, the color for library science is lemon.
Employment outlook and opportunities
According to 'U.S. News & World Report', library and information science
ranked as one of the "Best Careers of 2008." The median annual salary
for 2007 was reported as $51,400 USD in the United States,
]
with additional salary breakdowns available by metropolitan area, with San
Francisco coming in the highest with an average salary of $64,400 and Portland,
Oregon the lowest at $47,700.
]
This is up from the median salaries in 2006 as $49,060 reported by the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The increase can basically be attributed to keeping pace
with inflation. A $49,060 salary in 2006 was adjusted to $50,457.33, and while
data is not yet posted for 2008, adding the same rate of inflationary increase
for 2008 (1.028%) one could project an inflationary salary adjustment as
$51,894.46 for the 2008 fiscal year.
,
In December 2009, the BLS projected growth for the field at "8 percent
between 2008 and 2018", which is "as fast as the average for all
occupations". Furthermore, the BLS states, "Workers in this occupation
tend to be older than workers in the rest of the economy. As a result, there
may be more workers retiring from this occupation than other occupations.
However, relatively large numbers of graduates from MLS programs may cause
competition in some areas and for some jobs."
Gender and Library Science in the United States
Librarianship manifests a dual career structure for men and women in the
United States. While the ratio of female to male librarians remains roughly
4:1,, top positions are more often held by men; for example, the position of Librarian
of Congress has been held by men since the establishment of the Library of
Congress. Women, however, have made continuous progress toward equality.
,
Women have also been largely left out of standard histories of U.S.
librarianship, but Suzanne Hildenbrand's scholarly assessment of the work done
by women has expanded the historical record., See also
The Role of women in
librarianship, 1876–1976: the entry, advancement, and struggle for equalization
in one profession, by Kathleen Weibel, Kathleen de la Peña McCook, and
Dianne J. Ellsworth (1979), Phoenix, Ariz: Oryx Press.
Gender and Library Leadership
In 1911 Theresa Elmendorf became the first woman elected president of the American
Library Association (founded in 1876); she was also the first woman ever to be
nominated for this position.
,
She was ALA president from May 24, 1911, until July 2, 1912.
,
The current ALA President (2014–2015) Courtney Young, is a woman, and women
have held the ALA Presidency since 2009–2010. Despite this streak of female
leadership, the first 35 years of the American Library Association Presidency
positions were held by men.
,
Leadership is seen as a gender issue within librarianship, as the profession
is majority female, yet often leadership positions are held by men. For
example, as of 2015 no woman has ever been appointed Librarian of Congress. In
large academic libraries, there is less of a discrepancy; however, overall
throughout the profession men tend to hold higher-up, or leadership positions.
,
Professional Association Groups Dedicated to
Librarianship and Gender
There are multiple groups within the American Library Association, dedicated
to discussing, critiquing, and furthering gender-related and feminist issues
within the profession.
The American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table
Feminist Task Force (FTF) was founded in 1970 by women who wished to address
sexism in libraries and librarianship. FTF was the first ALA group to focus on
women's issues. For the past three years, during Women’s History Month in
March, the FTF has dedicated their efforts to expanding women’s library history
online, using the website Women of Library History. The FTF also publishes the Amelia
Bloomer Project list each year, which is a list of some of the best feminist
young adult literature of that year.
The Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL) of the
American Library Association, founded in 1976, represents the diversity of
women's interest within ALA and ensures that the Association considers the
rights of the majority (women) in the library field, and promotes and initiates
the collection, analysis, dissemination, and coordination of information on the
status of women in librarianship. The bibliographic history of women in U.S.
librarianship and women librarians developing services for women has been
well-documented in the series of publications initially issued by the Social
Responsibilities Round Table Task Force on Women and later continued by COSWL.
The ALA also has the Women & Gender Studies Section (WGSS) of its
Division "Association of College & Research Libraries"; this
section was formed to discuss, promote, and support women's studies collections
and services in academic and research libraries.
Finally, the ALA has the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Roundtable
(GLBTRT). While the GLBTRT deals with sexuality, different than gender
identity, much of the roundtable’s work is arguably feminist in nature, and
concerned with issues of gender. The GLBTRT is committed to serving the
information needs of the GLBT professional library community, and the GLBT
information and access needs of individuals at large.
Library and Information Science Scholarship
Relating to Issues of Gender
Many scholars within the profession have taken up gender and its
relationship to the discipline of library and information science. Scholars
like Hope A. Olson and Sanford Berman have directed efforts at the problematic
nature of cataloging and classification standards and schemes that are
obscuring or exclusionary to marginalized groups. Others have written about the
implications of gendered stereotypes in librarianship, particularly as they
relate to library instruction. Library instruction also intersects with feminist
pedagogy, and scholars such as Maria Accardi have written about feminist
pedagogical practices in libraries. Library scholars have also dealt with
issues of gender and leadership, having equitable gender representation in
library collection development, and issues of gender and young adult and children’s
librarianship.
Library Policies Relating to Issues of Gender
The ALA Policy Manual states under
B.2.1.15 Access to Library Resources
and Services Regardless of Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, or Sexual
Orientation (Old Number 53.1.15): "The American Library Association
stringently and unequivocally maintains that libraries and librarians have an
obligation to resist efforts that systematically exclude materials dealing with
any subject matter, including sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual
orientation. The Association also encourages librarians to proactively support
the First Amendment rights of all library users, regardless of sex, sexual
orientation, or gender identity or expression. Adopted 1993, amended 2000,
2004, 2008, 2010." It also states under
B.2.12 Threats to Library
Materials Related to Sex, Gender Identity, or Sexual Orientation (Old Number
53.12), "The American Library Association supports the inclusion in
library collections of materials that reflect the diversity of our society,
including those related to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or
expression. ALA encourages all American Library Association chapters to take active
stands against all legislative or other government attempts to proscribe
materials related to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or
expression; and encourages all libraries to acquire and make available
materials representative of all the people in our society. Adopted 2005,
Amended 2009, 2010."
Diversity In Librarianship
The field of Library and Information Science seeks to provide a diverse working
environment in libraries across the United States of America. The ways in which
to change the status quo includes diversifying the job field with regards to
age, class, disabilities, ethnicity, gender identity, race, sex, and sexual
orientation. The demographics of America is changing; those that were once
minorities will become the majority.
Libraries facilities want to successfully represent the community in which they
now serve by hiring a diverse staff. The American Library Association, as well
as many libraries around the country, realize the issue with diversity in the
workplace and are addressing this problem.
Statistics
The majority of librarians working in the U.S. are female, between the ages
of 55–64, and Caucasian.
[ A
2014 study by the American Library Association of research done 2009 to 2010
shows that 98,273 of credentialed librarians were female while 20,393 were
male. 15,335 of the total 111,666 were 35 and younger and only 6,222 were 65 or
older. 104,393 were white; 6,160 African American, 3,260 American Pacific
Islander; 185 Native American including Alaskan; 1,008 of two or more races,
and 3,661 Latino. (ALA).
Strategies
Scholarships/Grants
To help change the lack of diversity in library jobs in the U.S., more
scholarships and grants are emerging. Most Library and Information Science
students do not belong to an underrepresented group and as a reaction to these
research statistics, the field is creating ways to encourage more diversity in
the classroom.
ALA Annual Research Diversity Grant Program
The ALA Annual Research Diversity Grant Program is a way to encourage
innovation in scholars and professionals to provide insight into how to
diversify the field. The ALA Grant is directed toward those who have valuable
and original research ideas that can add to the knowledge of diversity in the
field of Librarianship. The program awards up to three individuals once a year
with a grant amounting to $2,500 each. The applicants have submission
guidelines, are given a timeline, and are shown the evaluation process online
at
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity/diversityresearchstatistics/diversityresearch.
Spectrum Scholarship Program
The Spectrum Scholarship Program was started in 1997 and still exists today.
It is provided for a chosen applicant or nominee who is a member of an
underrepresented group. The applications can be turned in from October to March
1 of each year.
Contact Information:
- Phone: 1.800.545.2433
- Facebook: Spectrum
Scholarship Programs
Cultural Competencies
One way in which to nurture cultural diversity in the library field is with
cultural competencies. Scholars recommend defining skills needed to serve and
work with others who belong to different cultures. It is suggested that these
definitions be posted in job listings and be refereed to when promoting and giving
raises. Also, In Library and Information Science graduate programs, it is
suggested by scholars that there is a lack of classes teaching students cultural
competences. It is important for more classes to teach about diversity and
measure the outcomes.
Recruitment
Another strategy is to create interest in the field of Library and
Information Science from a small age. If minorities do not desire to become
librarians, they will not seek to obtain an MLS or MLIS and therefore will not
fill high job roles in libraries. A recommended solutions are to create a great
experience for all racial groups early on in life. This may inspire more young
children to become interested in the career field.
Resources
ALA Office for Diversity
The Office for Diversity is a sector of the American Library Association
whose purpose is to aid libraries in providing a diverse workforce, gathering
data, and teaching others about the issue of diversity related to the field of
Library and Information Science.
American Indian Library Association
The American Indian Library Association (AILA)is an organization that was
created in 1979. It publishes a newsletter twice a year and educates
individuals and groups about Indian Culture.
Black Caucus of the American Library Association
BCALA promotes not only library services that can be enjoyed by the African
American Community but also the emergence of African American librarians or
library professionals. By joining the association patrons can have access to
newsletters, the entirety of their website, and networking boards.
CALA
The Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) began March 31, 1973. It
was formally known as the Mid-West Chinese American Librarians Association. It
has members not only in America but in China, Hong Kong, Canada, and more. The
organization promotes the Chinese culture through the outlet of libraries and
communicates with others in the profession of librarianship.
Reforma
Reforma is The National Library Association to Promote Library &
Information Services to Latino and The Spanish Speaking created in 1971. The
association has pushed for Spanish collections in libraries, gives out yearly
scholarships, and sends out quarterly newsletters. One of Reforma’s main goals
is to recruit Latinos into professional positions of the library.
The Deaf community and library science in the
United States
Deaf people at the library have the same needs as every other person
visiting the library and often have more difficulty accessing materials and
services. Over the last few decades, libraries in the United States have begun to
implement services and collections for Deaf patrons and are working harder
every year to make more of their collections, services, their communities, and
even the world more accessible to this group of underserved people.
The history of the role of libraries in the Deaf community in the United
States is a sordid one at best. The American Library Association readily admits
that disabled people belong to a minority that is often overlooked and
underrepresented by people in the library, and the Deaf community belongs in
this minority group. However, in the last few decades, libraries across the
United States have made great strides in the mission of making libraries more
accessible to disabilities in general and to the Deaf community specifically.
The Library Bill of Rights preamble states that "all libraries are forums
for information and ideas" and as such libraries need to remove the
physical and technological barriers which in turn would allow persons with
disabilities full access to the resources available. One of the first activists
in the library community working toward accessibility for the Deaf was Alice
Hagemeyer. When disabled communities began demanding equality in the 1970s,
Hagemeyer decided to go back to school for her master's degree in library
science. While she was studying there, she realized that there was not very
much information about the Deaf community at her library or at the libraries of
any of her classmates. She soon became an activist for Deaf awareness at her
library, and she became the first "Librarian for the Deaf Community"
from any public library in the nation. Hagemeyer also constructed a manual of
resources for Deaf people and those associated with them called The Red
Notebook, which is now online at the website of the Friends of Libraries for
Deaf Action. Hagemeyer was one of the first library activists to make strides
for the Deaf community.
Australian librarian Karen McQuigg states that "even ten years ago,
when I was involved in a project looking at what public libraries could offer
the deaf, it seemed as if the gap between the requirements of this group and
what public libraries could offer was too great for public libraries to be able
to serve them effectively." Clearly, not even so long ago, there was quite
a dearth of information for or about the Deaf community available in libraries
across the nation and around the globe.
New guidelines from library organizations such as International Federation
of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the ALA were written in
order to help libraries make their information more accessible to people with
disabilities, and in some cases, specifically the Deaf community. IFLA’s
Guidelines
for Library Services to Deaf People is one such set of guidelines, and it
was published to inform libraries of the services that should be provided for
Deaf patrons. Most of the guidelines pertain to ensuring that Deaf patrons have
equal access to all available library services. Other guidelines include
training library staff to provide services for the Deaf community, availability
of text telephones or TTYs not only to assist patrons with reference questions
but also for making outside calls, using the most recent technology in order to
communicate more effectively with Deaf patrons, including closed captioning
services for any television services, and developing a collection that would
interest the members of the Deaf community.
Over the years, library services have begun to evolve in order to accommodate
the needs and desires of local Deaf communities. At the Queen Borough Public
Library (QBPL) in New York, the staff implemented new and innovative ideas in
order to involve the community and library staff with the Deaf people in their
community. The QBPL hired a deaf librarian, Lori Stambler, to train the library
staff about Deaf culture, to teach sign language classes for family members and
people who are involved with deaf people, and to teach literacy classes for
Deaf patrons. In working with the library, Stambler was able to help the
community reach out to its deaf neighbors, and helped other deaf people become
more active in their outside community.
Deaf libraries
The library at Gallaudet University, the only Deaf liberal arts university
in the United States, was founded in 1876. The library’s collection has grown
from a small number of reference books to the world’s largest collection of
deaf-related materials with over 234,000 books and thousands of other materials
in different formats. The collection is so large that the library had to create
a hybrid classification system based on the Dewey Decimal Classification System
in order to make cataloging and location within the library much easier for
both library staff and users. The library also houses the university’s
archives, which holds some of the oldest deaf-related books and documents in
the world.
In Nashville, Tennessee, Sandy Cohen manages the Library Services for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (LSDHH). The program was created in 1979 in response
to information accessibility issues for the Deaf in the Nashville area.
Originally, the only service provided was the news via a teletypewriter or TTY,
but today, the program has expanded to serving the entire state of Tennessee by
providing all different types of information and material on deafness, Deaf
culture, and information for family members of Deaf people, as well as a
historical and reference collection.
Theory and practice of library science
Many practicing librarians do not contribute to LIS scholarship, but focus
on daily operations within their own libraries or library systems. Other
practicing librarians, particularly in academic libraries, do perform original
scholarly LIS research and contribute to the academic end of the field.
On this basis, it has sometimes been proposed that LIS is distinct from librarianship,
in a way analogous to the difference between medicine and doctoring. In this
view, librarianship, the application of library science, would comprise the
practical
services rendered by librarians in their day-to-day attempts
to meet the needs of library patrons.
Whether or not individual professional librarians contribute to scholarly
research and publication, many are involved with and contribute to the
advancement of the profession and of library science and information science
through local, state, regional, national and international library or
information organizations.
Other uses of these terms do not make the distinction and treat them as
synonyms.
Powell's widely used introductory textbook does not make a formal
distinction, but its bibliography uses the word
librarianship as the
heading for articles about the library profession.
Library science is very closely related to issues of knowledge organization;
however, the latter is a broader term which covers how knowledge is represented
and stored (computer science/linguistics), how it might be automatically
processed (artificial intelligence), and how it is organized outside the
library in global systems such as the internet. In addition, library science
typically refers to a specific community engaged in managing holdings as they
are found in university and government libraries, while knowledge organization
in general refers to this and also to other communities (such as publishers)
and other systems (such as the Internet). The Library system is thus one
socio-technical structure for knowledge organization.
Information has been published which analyses the relations between
philosophy of information (PI), library and information science (LIS), and
social epistemology (SE).
Types of libraries
Public Library
The study of librarianship for public libraries covers issues such as
cataloging; collection development for a diverse community; information
literacy; readers' advisory; community standards; public services-focused
librarianship; serving a diverse community of adults, children, and teens; intellectual
freedom; censorship; and legal and budgeting issues. The public library as a
commons or public sphere based on the work of Jürgen Habermas has become a
central metaphor in the 21st century.
Most people are familiar with municipal public libraries, but there are many
different types of public libraries that exist. There are four different types
of public libraries: association libraries, municipal public libraries, school
district libraries and special district public libraries. It is very important
to be able to distinguish between the four. Each receives its funding through
different sources. Each is established by a different set of voters. And, not
all are subject to municipal civil service governance. Listed below is a chart
from the New York State Library's library development website. This chart lists
all of the information about the different public libraries.
School/Media Specialist
The study of school librarianship covers library services for children in
schools through secondary school. In some regions, the local government may
have stricter standards for the education and certification of school
librarians (who are often considered a special case of teacher), than for other
librarians, and the educational program will include those local criteria.
School librarianship may also include issues of intellectual freedom, pedagogy,
information literacy, and how to build a cooperative curriculum with the
teaching staff.
The study of academic librarianship covers library services for colleges and
universities. Issues of special importance to the field may include copyright;
technology, digital libraries, and digital repositories; academic freedom; open
access to scholarly works; as well as specialized knowledge of subject areas
important to the institution and the relevant reference works. Librarians often
divide focus individually as liaisons on particular schools within a college or
university.
Some academic librarians are considered faculty, and hold similar academic
ranks to those of professors, while others are not. In either case, the minimal
qualification is a Master of Arts in Library Studies or Masters of Arts in
Library and Information Science. Some academic libraries may only require a
master's degree in a specific academic field or a related field, such as
educational technology.
Archives
The study of archives includes the training of archivists, librarians
specially trained to maintain and build archives of records intended for historical
preservation. Special issues include physical preservation of materials and mass
acidification; specialist catalogs; solo work; access; and appraisal. Many
archivists are also trained historians specializing in the period covered by
the archive.
Special Library
Special libraries and special librarians include almost any other form of
librarianship, including those who serve in medical libraries (and hospitals or
medical schools), corporations, news agencies, government organizations, or
other special collections. The issues at these libraries will be specific to
the industries they inhabit, but may include solo work; corporate financing;
specialized collection development; and extensive self-promotion to potential
patrons. Additionally, special librarians have their own professional
organization known as the Special Library Association.
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is considered a special
library. Its mission is to support, preserve, make accessible, and collaborate
in the scholarly research and educational outreach activities of UCAR/NCAR. NCAR
Another is The Federal Bureau of Investigations Library. According to its
website, "The FBI Library supports the FBI in its statutory mission to
uphold the law through investigation of violations of federal criminal law; to
protect the United States from foreign intelligence and terrorist activities;
and to provide leadership and law enforcement assistance to federal, state,
local, and international agencies. The FBI Library
Preservation
Main article: Preservation (library and archival science)
Preservation librarians most often work in academic libraries. Their focus
is on the management of preservation activities that seek to maintain access to
content within books, manuscripts, archival materials, and other library
resources. Examples of activities managed by preservation librarians include
binding, conservation, digital and analog reformatting, digital preservation,
and environmental monitoring.
Reference: Wikipedia: The free Encyclopedia visit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
