Science Librarian at Penn State

1. Yes...I have it as a live bookmark in fact.

2. I was pretty sure the librarians at Pitt are tenure-line. So curiosity got the better of me and I gave their reference desk a call and the answer is: most of their full time librarians are tenure-line. I never worked there, I just went to school (undergrad and library school) there.

Now to go into pure speculation...I think that they are dis-similar. I think the library school faculty are off on their own and the "workaday" librarians perform similar functions to what we do here. I know they have at least one collaborative venture, which is the Hillman Library intern program that's run by Marnie Hampton. I wasn't fortunate enough to get into that program, but I met Marnie much later. If you're really interested, you could probably give her a call...she's pretty awesome.

How would Penn State accommodate them? That's a lot to ask in a little question. I suspect that you'd have to treat them differently in regard to tenure because they'd be teaching faculty. I don't think their process would be the same as ours. However, I'm wondering if that's what you mean by accommodate them or if you're talking about some larger accommodation. If so, I think you'd have to go larger and ask how Penn State could accommodate a whole LIS school.

I read your blog. I filter it into my google reader.
-Julie

@ Russ

> If so, I think you'd have to go larger and ask how Penn State could accommodate a whole LIS school.

Actually you have divined my true intentions in this post. Really I think it can grow out of IST and given the dynamic way that college came into being, I am hopeful that this would be a possibility. Let me know any thoughts y'all have on this too.

I hate to be cynical, but doesn't it come down to money? Would a LIS school make money for Penn State? I tend to doubt it since the trend over the last, what, 20 years has been to close library schools. I'm going to dig around and find out the last time a new library school opened.

Couple that with the emergence of online MLIS programs offered by the existing schools and I just don't know that any university would have the incentive to open a new LIS school.

However, I'm very much willing to be convinced otherwise.

Yes, John, I read your blog and librarians at the Univ. of Illinois are tenure track faculty and there is a library school there. They interact quite a bit -- more in the last ten years than in the prior years. Library faculty teach at GSLIS and they are sometimes co-PIs on grants. The library employs many graduate students in library science.

Hello! You are absolutely inspirational! Found some of the content from 2004 and discovered how proactive you are in promoting science - will be featuring some of your work on a blog entry later today. :)