Hi, Allyson, Sylvia, and all,

Sylvia and I talked about this issue during the ALCTS preconference on cataloging education in the summer of 2007 in DC. I am glad some progress has been made. Although my school does not have a doctoral program, I am willing to be involved in mentoring and guiding students and practitioners who are interested in doing research in cataloging and information organization. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

Best regards,
Ingrid

Ingrid Hsieh-Yee, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Library and Information Science
Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.  20064
Phone: (202) 319-6270
Fax: (202) 319-5574
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

Ingrid Hsieh-Yee, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Library and Information Science
Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.  20064
Phone: (202) 319-6270
Fax: (202) 319-5574
E-mail: [log in to unmask]



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From: Discussion List for issues related to cataloging & metadata education & training on behalf of EDUCAT automatic digest system
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Subject: EDUCAT Digest - 19 Aug 2008 to 24 Sep 2008 (#2008-26)
 
There are 5 messages totalling 391 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Doctoral Education in Cataloging (5)

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Date:    Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:05:48 -0700
From:    Allyson Carlyle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Doctoral Education in Cataloging

Hi everyone,

At ALA I attended a meeting of the ALCTS Committee on Education (Sylvia, th=
at's the name of it, yes?).  Sylvia Hall-Ellis is the chair. In a small gro=
up discussion, we discussed the shortage of cataloging faculty - full time,=
 tenure track faculty whose main area of research is cataloging - and how i=
mportant it is for schools with LIS programs to have a such a faculty membe=
r.  At the very least, it means that there is someone who is part of the fu=
ll time faculty who can fight for cataloging curricula.  I think I don't ne=
ed to lecture you all about of the other reasons why it is important :-)

An idea we had was to have an information session at the next ALA annual wi=
th a panel of folks who can speak to why one would want to get a phd with a=
 research focus in cataloging, where the best places to go to get such a ph=
d might be, how to apply, etc.  I helped organize an event like this in Ana=
heim aimed at encouraging librarians of color to apply for phds in LIS.  It=
 was very successful, and I would hope that if we advertised widely, we mig=
ht meet with some success next year offering one aimed at doctoral educatio=
n in cataloging.

While it is true that there may be some schools that would not want to hire=
 a tenure track cataloging faculty member, I believe that there are more th=
an one might think that would hire if they found someone who knocked their =
socks off.  Many faculty postings these days are open - that is, there are =
no specific areas of expertise listed.  I am afraid that we are not educati=
ng enough doctoral students to fill these positions, and that as a conseque=
nce cataloging courses either disappear or are marginalized in the curricul=
um because they are not associated with a regular tenure track faculty memb=
er (this is not to disparage any of you fabulous practitioners who teach ou=
r cataloging courses - far from it - it is, unfortunately, a reality that w=
hen you have full time faculty associated with courses these courses are vi=
ewed as more central to the curriculum).

If I remember correctly, the group who met to discuss this included me, Syl=
via, Cheryl Boettcher-Tarsala, Elaine Yontz, and Karen Snow.  If anyone els=
e would be interested in helping me (us) organize and work on this, please =
let me know.

Finally, I'd like to ask all of you out there who are full-time faculty mem=
bers in cataloging and can supervise doctoral students to come to such a pa=
nel session should we be able to organize it.  In Anaheim, we had represent=
atives from almost every single doctoral granting institution available to =
meet with prospective students, and I think it worked very well.

Thanks all,
Allyson

Allyson Carlyle
Associate Professor and Chair, PhD Program
Information School
MGH 370
University of Washington
Seattle, WA  98195-2840
USA

(206) 543-1887