1J. Lau - Foro 07
Jesús Lau, [email protected] / www.jesuslau.com
Director, USBI-VER Library, and Coordinator, UV Virtual Library Universidad Veracruzana / DGB
Veracruz, México
Non-Walked Fields: Mexican Library Education Opportunities
"One Size No Longer Fits Everyone" - Panel: Judith Field, Jesús Lau, and Ken Haycock
Transborder Library Forum, February 22, 2007 – Thursday 11:30-12:30
www.asu.edu/lib/foro
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TopicsTopics
General Introduction
Library school challenges
Employment market
Transborder hiring of librarians
LIS school opportunities
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Mexican SnapshotMexican Snapshot
100 million inhabitantsLargest Spanish-speaking countryA quarter of the US territory 14th world economy – GDP7th in tourismLargest immigration output to USMiddle income countryWith the largest library system in Latin America
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Library StatisticsLibrary Statistics
Public……………. 7,200
Academic………...1,200
School…………….5,400
Special………………230
Librarians…………4,000
Library Schools………10
INEGI, 2006 / SEP 1999
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Library Education HistoryLibrary Education History
Dates back to 1924Oldest LIS school 1945There were only two schools located in Mexico City until 1970There has been a good growth in the last five yearsLibrary education is mostly traditionalExcept distance LIS education (2 programs)
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US Library RoleUS Library RoleLibrary theory and practice are based on US cannonsForeign library degrees are from US universitiesThere was a special library scholarship program in the 1970s-1980s for US universitiesUS Franklin library played an important
promotional role
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Graduates´ ProfileGraduates´ Profile
Strength: Bibliographic skills
Material organization oriented
Limited skills in:Management
English
Computer use
Communication: oral and written
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Schools Need to…Schools Need to…
Change teaching methods
Update curricula
Broaden programs to cover more employment markets
Attract more competent students
Increase their budgets
Integrate IT to the curriculum
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Librarians´ ChallengesLibrarians´ Challenges
Transform libraries into learning organizations
Face constant demand change
Adopt new organizational strategies
Offer new and more relevant services
Offer distant learning information services
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Crossborder Hiring of LibrariansCrossborder Hiring of Librarians
Mexican librarians come to US to work
Their degrees are not fully recognized
There is a need for an international accreditation scheme
Programs may need to be homologated
A good pattern is the European Bologna project
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Foreign Degrees Are not Recognized Foreign Degrees Are not Recognized
Degrees from abroad universities are not officially recognized
There is a lengthy, almost impossible, process to get government recognition
However, in practice, it does not matter much
The annoyances are usually for government paperwork
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AccreditationAccreditation
There are no specific library accredited programs yet, unlike other fieldsThe country has a general evaluation system Those who pass the evaluation can get better federal fundingMexican Library Association (AMBAC) does not play a role in this processThere is a degree-holding guild who could play the legal role of accreditation (Colegio Nacional de Bibliotecarios)
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Actors in the Library SceneActors in the Library Scene
Only 22% academic directors have a library degree
Public and school libraries have almost no librarians
Libraries mostly directed by professionals with other backgrounds
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Universities and Special Hire More Librarians
Universities and Special Hire More Librarians
• Most advanced libraries• Best budgets• Lead in technology• Higher salaries• More professional development
opportunities
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Society's Library Concept Society's Library Concept
A place for lending books
An administrative department
A place for students
Anyone can work at the library
A service that can be replaced by Internet
Salaries are low, more than in other professions
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Personal Hiring ExperiencePersonal Hiring Experience
Attract candidates from miles away
Recruiting is difficult and slow
Insufficient number of candidates
They prefer to work in their hometowns
Family culture ties them to their homes
Institutional contracting procedure is time limited
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UV RequirementsUV Requirements
Vision
Self management
Service oriented
Communication skills
Master English
Information technology skills
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ConclusionsConclusions
There is a need for more librariansNew education roads have to be created to non-library working professionalsDistance postgraduate education is goodA NAFTA library education accreditation scheme is neededLIS schools have the great opportunity to meet the market demand in quality and quantity
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