HOMEPAGE
Certifying Information Professionals
By Marydee Ojala • Editor |
The issue of certification for librarians and other information
professionals is one of long-standing—it's never
been completely resolved and is not destined to fade into
the sunset. There are those that come out firmly on the
side of academic degrees as representative of certification,
obviating the need for a certification program. Associations
representing academic librarians are the most vocal in
affirming that a master's degree should certify the worth
of the librarian, just as the Ph.D. certifies the professor.
But what of those not in academia? Many
information professionals work in a non-academic environment,
where a degree is the entry-level requirement. Would
you trust a doctor who relies on a medical degree gained
several decades ago? Or a lawyer whose certification
rests on a law degree earned before recent changes
in law took place? These professions not only demand
certification, they insist upon continuing education
to keep that certification valid.
Certification of librarians in the U.S. is almost
entirely restricted to school librarians, many of whom
don't have a master's degree and who are certified
at a state level, conforming to the norms for teacher
certification. The other group that supports certification
is the Medical Libraries Association, although it favors
the term "credentialing." Its Academy of Health Information
Professionals (AHIP) cites seven areas of competence
and requires professional experience and continuing
education.
In the non-academic world, information professionals
don't necessarily possess an advanced degree in library
science, information science, or a related field. Certification
could help these professionals validate their professional
credentials gained through experience and training.
One barrier is the extreme differences among professional
librarians. What test can we devise that would adequately
evaluate the skills of a public library reference librarian,
a university library cataloger, and an independent
online searcher?
Another avenue for certification is certifying a
particular skill set. Thinking in terms of online research
rather than professional librarianship, this type of
certification could be done either at a subject level
or a search engine level. Perhaps one could qualify
as a patent-certified, scientific-certified, or business-certified
online searcher. Alternatively, when considering certification
by search engine, we could have Dialog, LexisNexis,
CSA, Questel•Orbit, or Factiva certified searchers.
If it's the latter, these companies should devise courses
and examinations, much as Microsoft certifies its engineers.
For the former, I think certification requirements
would have to come from a professional association.
One impetus for certification just might come from
the U.S. Patent Office. It is considering outsourcing
some of the searching now done by patent examiners,
but will only outsource to certified companies. Nobody
yet knows what a "certified company" would be or whether
a sole proprietor would qualify. Early indications
are that certification would be by areas of technology
and that certification might involve some of the quality
criteria included in ISO 9000. This perspective is
quite different from what most information professionals
consider to be the elements of certification but should
help further frame the discussion. If online searchers
think that certification in a subject area and/or on
a particular search engine would be valuable, now is
the time to move on the issue by enlisting the aid
of online search companies and professional associations.
 Marydee
Ojala [marydee@xmission.com] is
the editor of ONLINE. Comments? E-mail letters
to the editor to marydee@xmission.com. |
