----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Hirsch" <[log in to unmask]> > Steven, > > It was not my intention to dis you or your achievements, which I do > respect. Much of my life up through my mid-forties, was spent in pretty > much the same boat and I probably have accomplished a good deal less > than you in the areas you describe. I just tried to give some > perspective on what might be the motives and justifications of a HR > dept. writing such a job description. No one pursuing a graduate degree > in Library Science would have the time or means to accumulate all the > valuable experience you describe in their course of study. A good deal > of this experience would be quite valuable to a librarian/archivist, but > so would a lot of other things that tend to come up in library school. I > would be eager (seriously) to take your discography 101 course, but I > stick to my guns on what might be quantifiable and of most value in an > institutional setting like the one in the original posting. > > Anyhow, I was just musing about what I value in my background and it > was never meant to denigrate a kindred spirit. > > Regards, > > Peter Hirsch Well, my comment wasn't intended as a "dis(s)"...it was just my thoughts on the subject! At the ripe old age of 62.9, I'm unlikely to be looking for work in the field (or have time for grad school!). This all goes back to a decade or more ago; I had been working with the National Library of Canada on a sequel to their "Roll Back the Years" and found out the current music librarian was retiring (which eventually ended the project). I inquired about the post, and was told that I would need at least a Master's...PhD preferred...in Library Science to avoid my application immediately being placed in "File 13" (the dustbin!). My real point was that folks in upper-level archiving positions often lack the innate knowledge which they really need to complete their tasks...and I don't think anyone is able to provide that knowledge, which is unfortunate and which also affects the quality of our archives and archival data. Dunno how to fix that, though... Steven C. Barr (Who would, of course, be available for consultant positions in the field...)