Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE)

Library Education in AustraliaAuthor(s): John MetcalfeSource: Journal of Education for Librarianship, Vol. 6, No. 4, Comparative Library Education(Spring, 1966), pp. 307-309Published by: Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40321881 .

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Australasia

Library Education in Australia

JOHN METCALFE

EDUCATION for librarianship in Australia has been on Brit- ish lines, insofar as students have taken the examinations and secured the qualifications of a national association, the Library Association of Australia or L.A.A., now operating under Royal Charter. The L.A.A. does not itself provide any schools or teaching, except insofar as its state branches and type of library sections have organized classes work- ing to its requirements. Some of these classes have been in technical colleges or institutes of technology. But a transition is taking place, to a system of school accreditation by the L.A.A. An accredited school conducts its own examinations, which are accepted by the L.A.A. in place of its own, for its professional membership, and associateship (A.L.A.A.). In addition accredited schools may, and do issue their own certificates, diplomas, and degrees. From July 1967, the L.A.A. will only admit as professional members and associates persons who have a degree of an approved university but will not require other qualifications for librarianship to be postgraduate. Those who have qualifications without a degree may be association members distin- guished as licentiates. Although transition is taking place, more schools and especially university postgraduate schools are necessary throughout Australia.

Association and school objectives are teaching for librarianship, documentation and archives management, and for all types of libraries, usually classified in Australia as public, university and college, special, school, and parliamentary. Public includes state central libraries and a national library. Increasingly, only graduate librarians are classified as professional by employing authorities, but many senior positions are still held by non-graduate librarians and there is still school train-

Metcalfe is Director of the School of Librarianship at the University of New South Wales.

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

ing for persons qualified only for university matriculation. There is employment of graduate assistants usually in part-time training, and of workers in clerical and other grades who may receive some in-service training in elements of librarianship but are not trained in 'this respect in any of the accredited schools.

Schools which teach, examine and issue their own certificates, di- plomas or degrees are one in a university, the University of New South Wales in Sydney, one in the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne in the State of Victoria, and one in a technical college, the Sydney Technical College. These represent the transition or tendency towards accredited schools, and have all been established with ac- creditation in view, in the past five years.

The University of New South Wales has as a prerequisite for a Diploma Course a bachelor's or higher degree in any field, but not including any courses in librarianship. At the end of a year's full time successful study, a Diploma in Librarianship is awarded and this, or a qualification recognized as equivalent by the university, is a prerequisite for admission to a course leading to a degree of Master of Librarian- ship. The requirements for this master's degree are attendance at seminars over three terms, the passing of examinations and the ac- ceptance of a thesis. The thesis must be based on original investigation and be of a minimum length of about 50,000 words. The formal course and the thesis requirement may be satisfied in four terms. Melbourne Institute of Technology and Sydney Technical College students may be graduates but need only be qualified for university matriculation. The institute offers a two year course leading to an Associate Diploma of the institute. The college offers a course leading to a College Certificate in one year, with a further stage or course to complete the accredita- tion requirements of the association.

Required hours of attendance, lectures, supervised work, and so on are 360 hours as a minimum, in the university school. Students come to this school from all over Australia and from overseas, mainly from Southeast Asian countries. Students of the other schools are almost entirely from within the state in which they are situated.

The age range of students is wide, partly because some have already been in library employment for some years, partly because some are changing over from other occupations, such as teaching, and partly because of increasing entry or re-entry of married women into em- ployment. Women in library employment and attending schools have been in a great majority over men, but the proportion of men in the

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Library Education in Australia

university school is rising. In 1965 out of 126 full and part time post- graduate diploma and master's degree students, 90 were women and 36 men.

There is a compulsory core of general librarianship in the require- ments of the L.A.A. and in the curricula of all the schools, and specialized options. The Melbourne Institute course also includes some non-technical subjects such as English, Sociology, and Philosophy of Science.

The number of full-time academic staff in the New South Wales University school is three, a full-time director, a full-time senior lecturer, and a full-time tutor; in addition there are part-time lecturers, three from the university library staff and six from outside. There are three full-time and additional part-time lecturers in the Melbourne Institute school, and two full-time and additional part-time lecturers in the Sydney Technical College school. Full-time teachers have from six to sixteen hours a week lecturing depending on other work of an administrative kind, and in the New South Wales university school some research work, and supervision of thesis work for the master's degree.

The educational qualifications of all teachers are at least a bachelor's degree and qualifications in librarianship. Varied qualifications include associateship and fellowship of the Australian and/or the British Library Association, and American graduate school qualifications.

The chief officer of the university school has full professorial status but is designated director, and the school has a full-time secretary. In other schools, the chief officer may be called head, or lecturer-in-charge, and may have a secretarial assistant or share secretarial staff.

None of the schools has separate buildings or quarters. Each makes use of common lecture rooms in the institutions of which it is a part and each relies mainly on the including institution's library for teach- ing and practice material but is able as a constituent school to ensure provision of professional literature in the general library.

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